Infographics in Journalism

Infographics, which are essentially a combination of images and text, have evolved into a popular means of communication on many media platforms. They are particularly useful for demonstrating more complex information, presenting data and even jazzing up boring (but important) information. Infographics are a great tool for investigative journalists as it provides an interesting and engaging means of dishing out important facts or evidence in the context of their article.

Designing an infographic is quite an exact act, but seems to be growing as a necessary skill for modern journalists. Not only do they have to be a designer but a content writer as well, to produce a seamless combination that works together to impart knowledge on the audience.

For example, here’s an infographic that compares fast food advertising with the real meal! This one did not require much text as in this case, a picture really does paint a thousand words.

 

Finally, this is my attempt at an infographic for another of my journalism courses. My article was about people using memes as a form of vandalism and so I used Twitter Archivist to get an idea of how topical the phenomenon of memes was and what people were saying about it.

 

 

If you want to check out some more interesting infographics go to this site: http://visual.ly/



JOUR1111 Lecture 11

Week 11’s lecture explored investigative journalism. The immediate thing that springs into my mind for this topic was the Watergate scandal, the investigation by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein that ended in US President Nixon resigning in disgrace. I feel that investigative journalism is very much the same as regular reporting however, the journalist just has more time and resources to compile their story.

Investigative journalism is critical and thorough, as the journalist makes a substantial effort through observation, interviews and analysis of artefacts (documents, leaks, data etc.) and is an active participant. You may wonder why journalistic investigations always seem to involve some kind of corruption or wrongdoing. This is because one of its key purposes is to serve as the custodian of conscience whereby they hold breaches of society’s morals and norms up to public scrutiny. And possibly because those stories are more interesting (we do want people to read/watch/listen to the stories, after all)!

Journalistic investigations expose stories that are in the public interest, serving as a watchdog and a voice to the voiceless, holding the powerful to account. This brings us to the notion of the fourth estate (a term I had been pondering since it was mentioned in The Newsroom!). It refers to journalists balancing the power of the government by representing the interests of those without power.

All this is a very idealistic way of looking at investigative journalism. It certainly does paint a glorified picture of journalists doggedly pursuing a story, staked out in a van with tinted windows and secret rendezvouses with mysterious whistle blowers all in the name of the revealing the truth.  However, the lecture also outlined the threats to investigative journalism. The increase in online news means that the media outlets have less money, so therefore fewer journalists with less time and this domino effect results in less investigative journalism.

In addition, the growth of public relations is bringing about the shrinkage of journalism. PR uses selective facts to make a persuasive case to the public and so with PR dodging questions and resisting exposure, what do journalists have to report on? Bruce’s Star Wars analogy with regards to PR versus journalism is quite apt, both are so similar and yet they are ‘mortal enemies’, though which group is the Dark Side is all a matter of perspective.

A Guide to Singing Musical Theatre

The singing voice is the most individual and versatile instrument which throughout the ages has been a popular pastime. A person’s voice is strictly unique regardless of their level of skill, whilst other instrumentalists such as flutists or trumpeters must master their instruments to develop a recognisable and personal sound. Essentially, everyone can sing! It is simply a matter of training the voice, developing stamina and preventing pain and strain, much as an athlete must do if they wish to become a professional. However, as opposed to building up muscle mass or reducing their race time, a singer can improve their tone and push the limits of their range so that they can sing higher notes. Whilst training is not necessary for a person to enjoy the benefits of their singing voice, professional artists do require very specific vocal technique and care to survive in a demanding and competitive industry. Musical theatre is one such field which places a large amount of stress on the voice, and the body in general, over an extended period of time, including an average of five shows a week and an intense rehearsal period in the lead up to opening night. How do they do it and still maintain high performance standards?

The character of Elphaba, from Wicked, is required to sing a lot throughout a show, across a massive vocal range.

 

Breath support is arguably the most important aspect of singing technique as it results in less strain being placed on the voice and allows the vocalist to better maintain pitch, particularly on a sustained note. Incorrect breathing technique is the most common error made by aspiring singers and often results in the performer being slightly below pitch. Therefore, singers must be very conscious of how they breathe until correct breathing technique becomes second nature. This is particularly relevant to a musical theatre performer who would be focussed on portraying a character and producing emotional believability during a song as opposed to the techniques that must be used.

 

There is much controversy over the best breath support techniques and so many vocalists approach it in a different way, however, regardless of the means it is important to engage the lower abdominal muscles whilst singing. This is done by expanding the belly and sides whilst inhaling and dropping the diaphragm which is a large, dome-shaped muscle that separates the lungs and abdomen. There is no use worrying about looking ‘fat’ whilst singing because if the stomach does not fully expand then the singer did not inhale enough air for sufficient support. As singing is essentially sustained speech, the air cannot be let out in a rush. The diaphragm must remain low and the sides expanded whilst exhaling, using a steady air stream to set the vocal folds in motion. A common mistake for untrained singers is to raise their shoulders whilst breathing. This shallow, upper-chest breathing is only superficial and doesn’t supply sufficient air to sing long phrases. For musical theatre performers who must develop a great deal of vocal stamina, taking a full and supported breath is paramount as shallow breaths makes it significantly harder to maintain a steady air stream and relax the vocal instrument, placing much more stress on the voice and exhausting it very quickly.

For anyone wanting to give singing a go, I hope this is slightly helpful and gives you an idea about how to get started!

JOUR1111 Lecture 10

In lecture 10 we discussed agenda setting and the overwhelming amount of power and influence held by the media. The media play a large role in constructing and shaping the social world and have the capability to dictate what issues are important to society. The prominence and frequency of an issue in the media leads the public to believe that it is more important. An example given in the lecture was the issue of AIDS. Because AIDS is currently taking a backseat to celebrity gossip, the public care less and so the significance of the issue is downgraded. The sickening fact that Justin Bieber’s haircut is getting more coverage than a life threatening disease is another matter altogether.

The AIDS case was an example of agenda cutting, as in most of the truth or reality of the world isn’t being represented. Perhaps the media realises that the public may not want to know the ugly truth that 1.8 million people died of AIDS in 2010.

Media gatekeeping is a member of the agenda setting family which controls the exposure of an issue to the public and is essentially what the media chooses to reveal. This can have a significant impact on political processes. Political campaigns must address the prominent issues in society. And who decides what issues should be at the forefront of public attention? The media, of course. If it wasn’t for the climate change hype in the media a few years ago then the face of world politics may have turned out very different to what it is now. This also links with media advocacy, which is the purposive promotion of a message like “going green”, through the media.

The portrayal of issues in the media is critical in how it is perceived by the public. Thankfully for society there are many media outlets with many different portrayals that allow us to create our own perception of an issue. Without some diversity in the representation of issues in society, the media would reflect the hypodermic needle model in which they inject direct influence into the audience resulting in a one-way, non-thinking uniform reaction from the public.

Other components of agenda setting theory have been evident in the media over the past few years. Agenda surfing, when the media follows the crowd and trends of society was most evident early this year when the media jumped on the Kony bandwagon that was sweeping through cyberspace. The diffusion of news which is the process by which important news is communicated to the public was seen in the reporting of the death of Osama bin Laden. And the new media dependence on Facebook and Twitter, which has become a way of life, means that people are far more susceptible to media agenda setting.

“The press may not be successful much of the time in telling people what to think, but it is stunningly successful in telling its readers what to think about” (Bernard Cohen,1963)

So, why does the media set the agenda?

Because they can!

Words of Wisdom from the Man of Steel

For more than 70 years, Superman has fought off enemies and saved the world from disaster but finally the Man of Steel has been forced to submit to a greater enemy; the state of modern journalism (who would have thought?).

In DC’s newest Superman comic, his alter ego, Clark Kent has quit his job at The Daily Planet in protest of the state of modern journalism.

"Why am I the one sounding like a grizzled ink-stained wretch who believes news should be about – I don't know – news?" he asks.

His question prompts White (The Daily Planet publisher) to respond with a devastating critique of newspaper journalism: "Times are changing and print is a dying medium. I don't like it but the only hope we have of delivering any news at all is to give the people what they want to read and God help me if a front-page story about some reality star gets them to pick up a paper and maybe stumble on some real news."

 

That quote was taken from an article on The Telegraph website. Good on DC Comics for addressing present-day issues like the balance of journalism and entertainment, the role of new media and citizen journalists. However, while Superman is no stranger to being news material for the fictional newspaper, The Daily Planet, articles about Clark Kent’s latest career move from newspapers to the blogosphere have cropped up in the Sydney Morning Herald, Los Angeles Times, The News International and San Francisco Times, just to name a few.

Isn’t this an example of the very thing that Superman was protesting? The career move of a fictional (albeit, well loved) superhero is actually making news! But perhaps it really does take a superhero to bring the state modern journalism into the public eye.

Check out the article in The Telegraph: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/9628552/Superman-quits-The-Daily-Planet-over-the-state-of-journalism.html

The News: “We’re in the same business as the producers of Jersey Shore”

As a fan of The West Wing, I was extremely excited when Aaron Sorkin’s new show, The Newsroom was aired in Australia. And how convenient that it aligns perfectly with my own study of journalism. Issues that are addressed every week in my lectures are played out for me on my television, in a quick, witty drama.

With the internet providing your own personal choice of news at the touch of a button and the pressures from advertisers, a problem has arisen for broadcast news. How do we get people to still watch our program?

For many news programs the answer is simple: show only what the people want to see. The aim is for people to watch TV, be sucked in by the ads and thus appease the advertising giants. This leads to a problem in itself, and that is the public living in the shadow of ignorance. Broadcast news is spoon feeding us the information we want to hear, sensationalised dramas of overseas conflicts and the latest antics of the Kardashians, as opposed to the factual information we need to hear to be a well-informed community.

In the sermon from the gospel of Aaron Sorkin, delivered by the character, Will McAvoy, the failings of modern broadcast news is brought to bear.  

“The reason we failed isn’t a mystery. We took a dive for ratings”

The Newsroom plays out the dream of any journalist, to win out the battle against ratings and deliver ‘real’ news. But in the real world, is there any room for the media elite? The simple fact of the matter is, that regardless of how hard-hitting and superior the show is, if people don’t want to watch it, then it is all for nothing. One can only hope that people still have a genuine interest in the news and the world around them, not just what occurs in Hollywood.  

Assessment 4: Annotated Bibliography

Coleman, R. (2011). Journalists’ moral judgement about children. Journalism Practice, 5(3), 257-271. doi: 10.1080/17512786.2010.523588

As an academic at the University of Texas, Renita Coleman focusses her research on visual communication and ethics in journalism, resulting in a well-informed insight into journalists’ moral judgement and treatment of children in the media. The author outlines that there are very few written standards to guide reporters on dealing with children in the media and so she initiated a controlled experiment whereby she examined if 99 journalists in the USA held different attitudes, made different decisions and held themselves to a higher standard of moral judgement when children were involved. While the study revealed that journalists are more concerned with correctly representing, protecting and maintaining the privacy of children than adults, their actions did not align with their words as they did not use significantly higher levels of moral judgement with regards to children. The conclusions of the author were justified and well supported by the data and results gathered from the experiment. In addition, the large number of citations throughout the text added credibility to the views put forward by Coleman with regards to this ethically questionable subject. This issue is currently highly relevant with the large media coverage of the international custody battle for the 4 Australian-Italian sisters.

Cary, G. (2012, May 14). Grandmother Kate with Greg Cary.  4BC – Mornings with Greg Cary. Retrieved from http://www.4bc.com.au/blogs/greg-cary-blog/please-help-us/20120514-1ym4m.html

This radio interview with the grandmother of the four girls in the custody dispute is obviously significantly biased towards the view of the mother’s family. As such, the accounts of events given by the grandmother may not be credible or reliable due to her direct involvement in the dispute. The scope of the interview is the ruling for the girls to be taken back to Italy and the series of events that led them to move to Australia in the first place. Greg Cary is a respected media identity in Queensland and hosts the morning radio program on 4BC. The questionable credibility of the article is of no fault of Greg Cary or the media organisation due to the one-sided nature of interviews and it was evident throughout the interview that Cary possessed differing information relating to the legal action. This is not representative of the coverage of the issue as a whole, but rather only a snapshot. With regards to the issues discussed in Coleman’s article, the journalists showed no interest in pursuing information about the children further than enquiring about their legal situation. However, although she was a family member, the grandmother was in a position to possibly misrepresent the children as she gave apparent quotes from the four sisters, as well as a second-hand quote from the father.

McKerrow, G. (2012, October 4). Deported. Channel 7 - Sunrise.  Retrieved from http://au.tv.yahoo.com/sunrise/video/-/watch/30773999/sunrise-news-break-october-4/

This report by reputable Channel 7 journalist Georgina McKerrow on the popular morning news program, Sunrise, is an account of the 4 sisters being taken from their mother and brought to Brisbane International Airport so as to be returned to their father in Italy. The television medium lends itself to the most dramatic and emotional telling of the story and this can often lead to exaggerated and misrepresented reports. However, in this case, the credibility of the report cannot be doubted as the reporter’s commentary is paired with the actual footage of the four girls being forcibly removed from their home. The credibility and unbiased nature of the report is evident as the footage of the distraught mother is followed by the court ruling which declares that the girls had been unfairly influenced by the mother and her family. On the other hand, it does raise the ethical questions posed in Coleman’s article with regards to representing the children through the media. While the faces of the girls and their mother were pixelated for privacy from the public, they have certainly not received privacy from the media who have taken extensive footage of the family.

Petersen, F. (2012, May 15). Australia: four sisters go into hiding to avoid repatriation with father to Italy. Global Post. Retrieved from http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/asia-pacific/120515/australia-teenage-girls-italy-hague-convention-child-abduction  

Freya Petersen, a reputable journalist and previously a reporter and chief of staff for the Sydney Morning Herald, is the Queensland correspondent with Global Post, an American news site that focusses on international reporting. This article, written in May 2012, was relatively early in the media saga of the four girls caught in the middle of the custody dispute. It reports that after having lost the family court appeal, the four girls had gone on the run with their great-grandmother to avoid being returned to their father in Italy. The author portrays the girls as victims and uses statements from them as evidence to support the abusive nature of their father, therefore creating an obvious bias towards the plight of the children and totally neglecting the viewpoint of the father. Through use of the direct quotes, the author was able to appeal emotionally to the readers through the text medium. While the article has respected the privacy of the girls to a certain extent by not using their names and photographs, the issues discussed in Coleman’s article (cited above) with regards to misrepresentation of children in the media and the credibility of ‘vulnerable parties’ as sources, places doubt upon the overall reliability of the article. 

JOUR1111 Lecture 9

“News is what a chap who doesn’t care much about anything wants to read. And it’s only news until he’s read it. After that it’s dead.” (Arthur Evelyn Waugh)

News values refer to the degree of prominence a media outlet gives to a story and the attention that is paid by an audience. But what makes a story newsworthy and how do they know?

What makes a story newsworthy?

Over the years there have been a number of lists compiled, spelling out the importance of certain values in the news. One value that continues to crop up is negativity or bad news. This is certainly obvious when you turn the TV on and you are bombarded with stories of car crashes, murder and natural disasters. If it bleeds, it leads, right? Another value that occurs frequently on these lists is that of elites and celebrities. People seem to want to know what their favourite movie star is up to and keep track of the activities of people in power. Proximity and the notion of if it’s local, it leads, is another key value.

The big six values which encompasses most of the defined news values, including the values mentioned already, are significance, proximity, conflict, human interest, novelty and prominence.

Essentially, newsworthiness involves telling the factual stories that people either need or want to know and of course by extension has the all-important role of selling newspapers and maintaining high ratings.

How do they know?

According to Harold Evans, having a “sense of news values” is the defining quality of an editor, serving as “human sieves of the torrent of news”. Realising and creating a story that people want or need to know about is apparently an instinctual thing. There are no formal codes or rulebook to follow, but rather journalists learn on the spot and ‘go with their gut’.

Shift in power

News is no longer one way and there has been a shift in power to the audience. The audience now has a means to speak whereas they used to have to passively accept what and when a story was presented to them. The people have more of a role in dictating news values and highlight the weighting of certain values in society as they are able to openly discuss and report on stories on the new platform (the Internet, Twitter, Facebook, blog and the list goes on).

JOUR1111 Lecture 8

Let’s be honest, journalists are certainly not renowned for upholding a high standard of ethics. It’s not uncommon to hear people complaining about invasion of privacy and misleading stories. However, there are numerous codes of ethics which are meant to control the behaviour of journalists (MEAA), advertisers (AANA) and public relations (PRIA). Yet, codes of ethics are only as strong as the sanctions behind it and the willingness of the ‘code keepers’ to uphold it.

There are times when journalists feel as though they can justify invading people’s privacy and this brings us to the concept of public interest.
Does the public need to know?
Does the story directly impact the public?
Is it in the national interest or does it impact national security?

Ethics has always been a hazy area as all people have different standards of what is “good” or “right”, not to mention that there are a range of different ethics theories that each dictate what is ethically correct.

Firstly, deontology refers to doing the right thing ethically by following the rules. However, just because it is within the rules of the organisation you work for it doesn’t necessarily mean that you are doing the right thing at a personal level. For example, the lecturer told us of how she had to get an interview of the parents whose child had recently passed away. There was a flock of media hanging around like vultures in the family’s front yard, all of which following their duty and reporting on a story that was within the public interest. Yet, while deontological ethics say it was right, was it truly the right thing to do to pester a family grieving over the loss of their child?

Consequentialism is an ethics theory that is all about the outcomes. The end justifies the means and so by providing a story that is in the public interest it will result in the greatest good for the greatest number of people and so it doesn’t matter how we got there. And finally, there is virtue which is more to do with personal standards of what is right or wrong. This is also reflected from cultural and social standards which play a significant role in people’s behaviour.

I imagine journalists are frequently confronted by ethical dilemmas as it certainly seems to be a risk in the profession. The question is what wins out in the end; their job, ambition and the story or their own personal belief system? Or is there a way to balance both (I hope so)?

Jersey Boys: Oh What A Night!

There are some spoilers!

Recently I saw the Brisbane production of Jersey Boys at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre. Jersey Boys follows the story and music of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons. There have been a number of musicals, called jukebox musicals, which are based around the music of successful groups like Mamma Mia (ABBA) and We Will Rock You (Queen). However, whilst Jersey Boys has the music of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, it is NOT a jukebox musical, as it is the real story Frankie Valli, Tommy DeVito, Nick Massi and Bob Gaudio, their personal struggles and their rise to becoming one of the greatest vocal groups of all time.

The musical explored themes of brotherhood and friendship, love, loss, determination and passion for music. The storyline took the whole audience on a rollercoaster, one minute they would be laughing and the next wiping away a tear.

The music of Jersey Boys is amazing and I was surprised about how many of the songs I recognised considering it originally came out a long time before I was born. Some of the songs include, “Oh What a Night”, “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” and “Sherry”. The band was flawless and I particularly enjoyed how the band was incorporated onstage.

 

The acting and vocal performances of all the characters, particularly the Four Seasons was incredible and they sounded remarkably similar to the original iconic group. Jeff Madden did an outstanding job in the role of Frankie Valli. Jeff is reprising the role here in Brisbane after being in the Canadian cast. The vocal demands of the character are certainly very high and I was blown away by the quality of singing from his very first song to the final bows. Not only did he have to maintain the falsetto (really high!) singing, but he had to play a character who had a very turbulent life, dealing with a rough neighbourhood, the rise to fame, divorce and the death of his daughter.

I really recommend going to see Jersey Boys. Brisbane audiences only have until the 14^th October but don’t worry as it will be continuing its Australian tour.

 

JOUR1111 Lecture 7

Public media has a mission to serve and engage the public. It is the type of news we should be consuming, the equivalent of our daily intake of fruit and vegetables. But of course, commercial media provides the public with a more tasty meal, albeit full of junk food which ultimately attracts the mass audiences. That being said, everything in moderation is fine! I admit that I am far more likely to consume commercial broadcast media than public media.

However, 41% of Australians still receive their news from the ABC, the major public media organisation in Australia. While commercial media just wants to break the story, public media checks and rechecks the ‘true’ story. Public media publishes serious stories and places importance over interest, so instead of celebrity ‘scandals’, public media covers political activity. With 12.6 million people watching ABC TV every week, this just goes to show that people still want quality.

Public media has the responsibility to produce quality, to make themselves relevant, to engage with democratic process, to inform the public and to be independent. Public media certainly walks a fine line when it comes to remaining independent and portraying an unbiased view of politics.

While public media is held in common by the people, it is the government that allocates the funds. You can see where the tension arises as the media serves as the government watchdog, alerting the public as to their actions and reminding them of election promises that may have slipped their minds. Essentially, public media is stuck in a position where they must bite the hand that feeds them.  As the government has control over legislation and funding of public media it is inevitably highly politicised.

“The difference between commercial broadcasting and public broadcasting is the difference between consumers and citizens”

Public broadcasting treats their viewers as citizens with a vested interest in current and political affairs. In addition, as it belongs to the people it needs to provide public value in the sense that it is embedded with a public service ethos, it consults the public, it places public value over market impact and simply provides the value of the license fee money.

I often find it hard to think of commercial and public media being in competition. Both provide a very different service and yet they seem to be complementary. A person often craves some ‘junk food’ and would rather be entertained just as a person may get tired of commercial media and want a dose of ‘healthy’ or serious news.

Assessment 3: Factual Storytelling

Bob Copley – Officer, Grandfather, Hero

I

n the dry, brown Canberra suburb of Weston, retired Lieutenant Colonel Robert (Bob) Copley would look over his manicured grass tennis court and bounce his grandchildren on his knee.

“More, Grandad,” they would giggle and he would happily comply. His little bambinos, as he called them, had him wrapped around their little fingers.

 

 

Though forty years earlier, instead of tennis whites and picture books, Bob wore the khaki uniform of an officer in the Royal Regiment of Australian Artillery and served in the deadly jungles of Vietnam in 1967 as a forward field observer. Through dense jungle, open grassland and war-ravaged towns, Captain Copley travelled deep within hostile territory with the infantry soldiers, targeting and engaging the enemy. When the first shots rang out and the cacophony and chaos of battle ensued, Captain Copley would have to identify the coordinates of the enemy. This would be radioed back to the artillery so as to wreak large firepower upon the Vietcong. Getting it wrong could prove to be a fatal mistake for the Australian troops. 

 

Being in the forward teams, there was no leniency given for errors of judgment and the troops were constantly on edge, never knowing when they may stumble across the enemy. Recalling his time in Vietnam, Bob said, “I was scared sometimes though I was mostly very busy. And I felt tired as I never got much sleep.”

While on patrol, the Vietcong ambushed Captain Copley’s regiment as they passed through a wide clearing. With nowhere to hide and certainly no opportunity to run, the Australian soldiers hit the ground, propped on their elbows so as to return fire, with only the top of their helmets visible above the tall grass. Captain Copley’s shoulder pressed up against a sapling, his elbows grazed against the coarse ground as he shot into the ranks of the Vietcong soldiers. After receiving back up and the enemy had cleared, Captain Copley drew himself to his feet and noticed that the sapling had been sliced clean in two by a bullet that had missed his head by mere inches.

 

“Keep your head down and don’t do anything brave,” Bob’s wife Anita had demanded of him before he left for Vietnam. At home with their two young sons, Anita was always faced with the looming nightmare that he may not make it back. Anita opened the newspaper one day to find Bob mentioned in despatches for extreme bravery in action. She was riddled with emotions; anger, pride and overwhelmingly sick with worry.

Captain Bob Copley was a hero. His regiment had been trapped under enemy fire for an extended period of time and the Australian troops were being battered down by the enemy. Bullets shrieked through the thick, jungle air and the earth shuddered with explosions. The enemy was literally close enough to touch and the troops had to fight tooth and nail for survival, grappling with the Vietcong soldiers in hand-to-hand combat. Despite this, Captain Copley remained calm and collected enough to continue calling the artillery fire onto the enemy. There is no doubt that he turned the tide of the battle in favour of his regiment.

 

After a year of service in Vietnam, Bob was able to return home to his family. Anita was fearful that her eldest son, Bob Junior who was now three, would not remember his father. Anita waited at the airport buzzing with anticipation, Bob Junior’s tiny hand clasped in her own. Dozens of soldiers, all dressed identically, flooded towards the eagerly awaiting families. Bob Junior slipped from Anita’s grasp and ran amongst the sea of soldiers straight into the arms of his father.

“I don’t think there was a dry eye that day,” Bob Junior laughed. “I think this was the turning point, perhaps a critical moment of closure for Dad. He was able to put what had happened in Vietnam behind him and slip back into family life.”

The remainder of Bob’s military career saw him promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and travel all over the world with his wife, two sons and his daughter. Bob has travelled down many walks of life as an executive in an automotive business, an accomplished author and poet and established his own e-book publishing business. Aetherbook Publishing even received an iAward along with other such companies as Foxtel, recognising his business as one of the best Australian information and communication technology innovations. Yet, his most treasured job and pastime was that of being a father and grandfather.  

“The ‘sliding door’ moments in Dad’s life are what made him such a dedicated father and grandfather,” Bob Junior stated. Growing up without a father from age 7, Bob had thrown himself into being everything a father and grandfather ought to be. Certainly, serving throughout the Vietnam War was scattered with pivotal flashes of fate and life changing moments.

“I don’t remember him talking about his experiences in Vietnam until my children were old enough to start asking about it,” Bob Junior explained. Bob’s love and focus on his family grounded his perspective of his service and near misses in Vietnam and his greatest sadness is that of his fallen mates who never got to have grandchildren.

 

Bob Copley - an officer, author, poet, loving family man and hero - joined his beautiful wife Anita in Heaven on her birthday in 2009.



Musical Theatre: In the Spotlight

Musical theatre is a booming industry and shows like Glee have brought it even further into the spotlight of public attention. For me, nothing can compare to when you get chills, a totally subconscious and physical reaction to a brilliant performance. The exact ingredients that make that spine-tingling moment will always remain a mystery to me. Could it be that the music from the orchestra seems to swell and fill every inch of the theatre, the performer sings with note-perfect accuracy and gut-wrenching emotion, the visual spectacle, a moving storyline or a culmination of all of the above?

I love watching and performing in musicals as you can see by my stash of musical programs, though unfortunately for me, it is an expensive hobby to have! So luckily there are a number of musicals which have been translated onto the big screen (and vice versa). Musicals like Lion King, Mary Poppins, Hairspray and Mamma Mia enjoy great success both on film and on stage.

 



The first major production musical I remember seeing was The Phantom of the Opera with Anthony Warlow (an Australian musical theatre legend) as the title character. I know some musicologists question the originality of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s (the composer’s) melodies though it doesn’t alter the beauty of the songs and orchestrations, the spectacular set and a storyline that despite being overly dramatic has resonated with so many people. You wouldn’t believe it but The Phantom of the Opera has earned more money than both the hit movies Titanic and Avatar. Phantom has recently celebrated its 25th anniversary with an elaborate concert staged in London with successful up and coming musical theatre performers, Ramin Karimloo and Sierra Boggess as Phantom and the leading lady, Christine.

The Phantom of the Opera now has a sequel called Love Never Dies which is certainly a rare thing for musical theatre.

Another of my favourite musicals was Wicked, which branches off The Wizard of Oz and tells the story of the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda before Dorothy landed in Oz. Wicked cleverly intertwines with The Wizard of Oz and portrays Elphaba (the Wicked Witch) as a misunderstood heroine as opposed to the evil villain. Since its first performance in 2003, Wicked has been immensely successful all over the world and seems to be a permanent fixture on Broadway and West End. I have been lucky enough to see it in Sydney and then on Broadway. I went into the Gershwin Theatre in New York with very high expectations and left feeling incredibly proud of the Australian performers. The Australian production of Wicked easily measured up and even surpassed the quality of performance on Broadway, the musical theatre capital of the world. Australian musical theatre is on a much smaller scale than in the US however perhaps this leads to increased competition to get into the shows and so creating very high quality performances.

On the wish list...

On the very top of the list of musicals that I would love to see is Les Miserables. I am quite sure the last time a professional production was in Australia was before I was born! So hopefully it will be gracing the Australian stages in the near future. In the meantime though, a movie musical adaptation by director Tom Hooper (The King’s Speech) is being released in December with a star studded cast including Hugh Jackman, Russel Crowe and Anne Hathaway. In addition, Samantha Barks is reprising her role as Eponine, a character she played on the West End stage. I was certainly relieved to see that they casted bona fide musical theatre stars (of which I include Hugh) alongside the Hollywood actors. In a musical like Les Miserables, having incredible acting ability isn’t enough, you have to be an amazing singer as well.

The musical theatre scene in Brisbane...
Brisbane performers are very lucky to have an opportunity to be involved with a range of musical theatre companies such as Harvest Rain, Ignatians and Savoyards. Harvest Rain only recently finished the first Brisbane production of Hairspray, Ignatians performed Sweeney Todd earlier this year at UQ’s Schonell Theatre and Savoyards is in the midst of rehearsing for Anything Goes after a successful season of Miss Saigon. While we do not have the gorgeous old theatres that you can see in Melbourne, there certainly is a wonderful musical theatre culture and appreciation is Brisbane.

If you are interested in watching some of the talented local performers on stage come and check out Savoyards’ production of Anything Goes.

 

You can get tickets at: http://www.savoyards.com.au/#!Anything Goes/c7f9

 

JOUR1111 Lecture 6

Commercial media = media to make money.

Big names in the broadcast and distribution of media like Foxtel, Ten, Seven and Nine are really only a useful tool for the real beneficiaries of commercial media... the advertisers. A popular TV show with high ratings is an advertising playground and advertisers cleverly use these opportunities to bombard viewers with the latest products, styles and the newest addition to the McDonald’s menu. There is little wonder why I always crave McDonald’s after watching television!

And with the new news and semantic web, consumers are being handed to the advertisers on a silver platter and are unwillingly but certainly not unconsciously assailed by ads. Who can ignore the ads that coat a webpage or the commercials that interrupt your favourite show every ten minutes?
Commercial media is first and foremost a business and like almost all businesses their highest priority is to make a profit. Sure, they have a responsibility to be entertaining but it all links back to money; the more they please their consumers, the more dollars they can rake in. The focus now is on ‘Mickey Mouse’ news or profit over quality and has lead to the tabloidization and the ‘dumbing-down’ of news to appeal to the masses.

The great influence of advertisers on commercial media is reflected in the organisation, News Limited. Rupert Murdoch’s big money makers include 20^th Century Fox and Foxtel and on the opposite end of the spectrum are the newspapers like The Australian and The Courier Mail. As said by Dr Bruce, newspapers are only a vanity project for ‘Uncle Rupert’ and once he is gone, what is the likelihood that they will survive without him? With much easier and visible ways to advertise, the advertisers have very little need to use a medium that seems to be on its way out and so there is very little money left in the newspaper game.

Commercial media treads on a fine line between the drive for money and fulfilling its social functions with regards to upholding public trust. It has a role in a democratic society to provide ‘full access to the day’s intelligence’, truthful and comprehensive accounts and project a ‘representative picture of the constituent groups in society’. Commercial media often slips over into the field of propaganda (e.g. the political opinions of Fox News in the US). I feel that powerful figures within media organisations do not have the right to manipulate the opinions of the public simply because they have access to the eyes and ears of many people.

Commercial media organisations have to be wary they do not overstep the ethical wall between their advertising and political agendas else sacrifice their responsibility to the public.

“Its primary office is the gathering of news. At the peril of its soul it must see that the supply is not tainted”

Greater competition will encourage commercial media organisations to lift their game. It is not all bad news for commercial media as many people want quality and so are willing to pay for it.

Tennis juniors not living up to their idols

Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have been dominant and fierce competitors on the tennis court for many years, jostling with each other (and recently Djokovic as well) for world number one. Nadal’s sheer power and Federer’s finesse make them vastly contrasting as players yet both maintain their composure and cool on and off the court. Both players are widely considered as two of the best players ever, they have achieved enormous financial success, sponsor their own foundations and show integrity and humility. All in all, they are incredible sportsman and are wonderful role models for young tennis players all over the world. They are even able to have a bit of fun occasionally.

 

Despite having such fantastic role models for the sport this doesn’t seem to be reflected in the behaviour of junior tennis players. Having younger brothers who have played on the junior tournament circuit in Queensland, I have seen firsthand the very poor behaviour of some junior players and their parents. I have spent more hours than I care to remember on the tennis sidelines being bemused by the antics of 12 year old tennis players.

It is very common to see some of the children (and parents) strutting around the tennis centre with an air of superiority. At junior tournaments they are expected to umpire their own matches and this causes all sorts of issues with dubious line calls and blatant cheating. And of course there are the not-so-subtle mind games of the little boys, not to mention the parents! The ball may be a metre within the lines but the player will still question the call just to provoke their opponent. Or my personal favourite, when the parents will clap the point even when the ball is out to make their child’s opponent look they made a wrong call. It’s appalling!

It is only a minority that behave in this way but it destroys the experience for the other players. Over the years I have seen children drop out of these tournaments simply because they don’t want to have to deal with the poor attitude and behaviour. Of course, it is understandable that many of these children are under enormous amounts of pressure from their parents and coaches as they attend special tennis schools. However, this is no excuse. The pressures of an under 12 tournament in Brisbane doesn’t even measure up to the pressures of professional sport and yet you never see Federer or Nadal step a foot out of line.

Perhaps it is just kids being kids or perhaps it is an unfortunate culture that has developed in Queensland tennis circles but it is a shame that some young players do not follow the wonderful example set by their tennis idols.

JOUR1111 Lecture 5

Picture stories are everywhere! There are pictures all over the internet, on TV, hanging on your wall at home and even on the back of buses. There is just no escaping them. Pictures have always seemed to be intertwined with human lives, dating all the way back to cave paintings, then stain-glass windows, movies and Instagram. So obviously, pictures mean something to people. In the lecture we were told the features of a good picture include:

·         Framing

·         Focus

·         Angle and point of view

·         Exposure (light)

·         Timing (shutter speed)

·         And most importantly in my opinion is capturing ‘the moment’

Regardless of the technical aspects of photography what really makes a good picture is summed up in the quote, “If it makes you laugh, if it makes you cry, if it rips your heart out, that’s a good picture”.

Rips my heart out! (To be honest, give me any sad photo with a dog in it and I get emotional. Or movie... have you seen Eight Below?)

 



A picture can often hold much more meaning and portray much stronger emotions than words. The same very much goes for film and moving pictures. There is really no other medium that can convey as much depth in emotion.  

Photos and film are wonderful tools for journalists to tell a story. With digital capture and upload it is becoming easier to capture a moment and present it to the world. News and live television even make it possible to witness the moment while it is happening. In addition, while articles in the newspaper may have a couple of images, online news can include a photo gallery for each story as well as related videos which can serve as evidence  or assist in telling the more emotional side of the story.

Digital manipulation is also a highly talked about aspect of visual journalism. Who hasn’t seen the airbrushed and manipulated photos of celebrities on the covers of magazines?

 

Digital manipulation certainly has ethical implications with regards to news as it is not right to falsify an image and then present it to the public. I am sure this will link in with the lecture on ethics in a couple of weeks.

Today's News on Wordle

So I have just discovered Wordle in JOUR1710 where they discussed how to use it as an investigative tool. It really does make it so much easier to find the important points within text.

This Wordle has been made using the information from the ABC news website. It is a much faster way of seeing the major news from today.

Some headlines from today include:

Molloy loses appeal over Cornes defamation

Man jailed for sharing ‘worst’ of child porn
UN to play no part in Nauru, Manus Island Centres

These headlines are among some of the major talking points on the ABC website which can be extrapolated from the picture.

A website as simple and straight forward as Wordle can serve as a useful tool for journalists as it would save a lot of time searching through documents. Of course, there are more technical and accurate means of text analysis however, Wordle is certainly a good place to start!