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.