Battles over Breakfast with Bingle

 Image sourced from: http://iamstarstruck.tumblr.com/post/24946329967/whats-hot-on-the-box-tonight-being-lara-bingle

 

Lara Bingle has often been the target of criticism, media scandals and negative publicity. The first episode of her new reality show ‘Being Lara Bingle’ aired on Tuesday 12^th June and, as part of advertising for the release; Bingle was interviewed by B105 morning hosts Labby, Stav and Abby less than a week before the show went to air. However, as Bingle discovered, not everyone is a fan of reality TV. After recently being involved in a nude photo scandal, criticisms were fresh for the controversial star. Some comments made by the hosts offended Bingle saying that she was like Kim Kardashian in that she was, “Australians answer to a question we never asked in the first place.” The interview was awkward for not only Bingle, but also for listeners of the segment. The interview audio can be heard here:  http://www.couriermail.com.au/entertainment/confidential/lara-bingle-hangs-up-on-b105-after-awkward-interview/story-e6freq7o-1226387960768

 

Bingle then took to Twitter saying: “Labby, Stav and Abby from @B105LSA and the worst radio presenters I have ever spoken with. They should be taken off air. No respect!” However, the next morning, the competition of Brisbane breakfast radio ramped up as B105’s competitor NOVA had Lara on their show to sympathise with her and target B105 for their rude and “attention seeking” comments. Bingle told NOVA that she wasn’t Einstein, she wasn’t trying to achieve anything else other than having a reality show. Lara’s response to B105’s interview on NOVA can be heard here: http://www.novafm.com.au/audio/lara-bingle-talks-tv-and-vicious-media.

Many critics have said that Bingle should be able to handle criticism if she is revealing so much about her life to the nation. But, others could speculate that these comments from both radio stations, may have simply been attempts to gain support and listeners. You be the judge. 

No iPhone 5 for Apple fans

I love technology and I’m constantly amazed at how it develops so quickly from one year to the next or even one update to the next. It is no secret that Apple has very much become the leader in communications technologies through its range of iPhone mobile phones and there MacBook laptops. Every year the company holds a convention to announce new technologies and updates to the world. The Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) was held in San Francisco from the 11-15 June. 

Image sourced from: https://developer.apple.com/wwdc/

 

The ‘keynote address’ presented by Apple executives, which opens the week-long conference is a significant presentation, as audiences are exposed to new and revolutionary technologies which will soon be launched by the Apple team. 

For over a year now, many people have anticipated the release of the iPhone 5. After the release of the iPhone 4 in 2010, Apple fans had been eagerly awaiting the release of the next instalment when they were instead given the iPhone 4S. Many were disappointed by the decision which has now added further anticipation for the 5^th generation iPhone. So, Tech bloggers and experts were certain that this year’s WWDC conference would bring information and possibly even a release date for the next iPhone edition. However, fans were again disappointed when no mention of the iPhone was given.

The address did bring some exciting news about the release of the new MacBook Pro which is now available from the Apple Australia website (http://store.apple.com/au-hed/browse/home/shop_mac/family/macbook_pro/select). The new retina display on the computers is revolutionary as it means that from whichever angle the screen is viewed, pixels cannot be seen.

Other announcements also included the new iOS system as well as the OS X Mountain Lion software. More information about the conference and announcements are below:   

http://au.ign.com/videos/2012/06/12/wwdc-2012-wrap-up?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ign%2Fvideos+%28IGN+All+Videos%29

 

AND http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/wwdc-2012-apples-show-satisfies-but-is-it-saving-real-fireworks-for-later/2012/06/13/gJQAsHw7aV_story.html

The much anticipated iPhone 5 will I’m sure, like any Apple product, certainly be worth the wait. 

Procrastination at its finest

As exams have been approaching over the past few weeks, like any uni other student, studying has become somewhat of a priority. However, with study, comes procrastination. Often music is my greatest distraction and this semester was no different. Although, rifling through YouTube to find new music and after recommendations from friends, I did find two amazing young artists. I can’t help but continue to listen to their music and covers of popular hits. Their take on the songs and their creativity is incredible.  

The first artist is UK singer-songwriter Ben Howard who, as I discovered, has an album and a YouTube VEVO channel. The BBC Radio YouTube channel has a recording of Howard performing Carly Rae Jepsen’s current hit ‘Call Me Maybe’. The cover is an acoustic version of the song and showcases the incredible way that songs can be interpreted by different artists. Check it out:

Video sourced from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPU8V-nvUEk

 Ben Howard

Image sourced from: http://www.glitterazi.com/tag/article/

Another artist which I found has an entire channel of amazing covers and already has a supportive band of followers. Noah an 18 year old singer-songwriter from North Carolina, has 55 videos on his channel, many of which are creative covers of hit songs. Possibly his most popular cover is his version of LMFAO’s Sexy and I Know It.

  Video sourced from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsvlsuLau5c

 Noah 

Image sourced from: http://www.covermesongs.com/tag/noah

Lecture 12: The Grand Finale

This is it. Our final lecture for the JOUR1111 course. I feel I have learnt so much about the field of journalism through this course; but, of course there was one last topic to ‘investigate’. 

This week for our JOUR1111 lecture, Bruce decided to slightly change the topic from ‘Political Economy’ to Investigative Journalism, which I was excited to hear about. Each form of journalism is different and investigative journalism has always seemed to me to be very intense and often risky. So, it was interesting to hear about the profession from the viewpoint of journalists themselves such as Ross Coulthart who said: 

“Isn’t all journalism meant to involve questioning investigation of facts and opinions presented to us?”

Ross Coulthart

Image sourced from: http://au.news.yahoo.com/sunday-night/people/article/-/5289027/ross-coulthart/

 

Bruce introduced us to the theory surrounding Investigative Journalism and the words which put the ‘in’ in Investigative. These words described Investigative Journalism as ‘Intelligent’, ‘Informed’, ‘Intuitive’, ‘Inside’ and ‘Invest’. We also thought about the importance of this style of journalism and why it is relevant in our world today. An interesting avenue which was looked into during the lecture was whether Wikileaks could be considered a form of journalism. 

 Julian Assange

 Image sourced from: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/jul/14/julian-assange-whistleblower-wikileaks

Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks, has become a somewhat household name; but I did find myself wondering whether he could in fact be considered a journalist. Obviously, being an aspiring journalist, I would like to think that all journalists work for the good of the people whose stories they are privileged to be telling. So, having to consider whether such a controversial figure is, in fact, a journalist I found quite difficult. 

  Image sourced from: http://www.cartoonstock.com/directory/n/news_room.asp

 

At the end of this lecture, like any other, we were taught about the threats which Investigative Journalism faces. Again, we were warned about the possible threat placed on Investigative Journalism from online news. These threats included the fact that online news is leading to less money which means, less journalists and, in turn, less investigative journalism. Another threat includes the growth of PR and how that, consequentially, shrinks the possibilities of journalism. As a final note, before we were dismissed for the last time from JOUR1111, Bruce explained the future of Investigative Journalism and how YouTube is contributing by creating a channel specifically for Investigative Journalism related videos.  

Throughout the duration of this course, I have learnt fundamental skills and information which will help me in further journalism studies and into the workforce. 

Lecture 11: Hidden Agendas?

After a relaxing day off last Monday, we were back this week for Lecture 11 of the JOUR1111 course. This week, it was all about ‘Agenda Setting’. I had no idea what the concept meant before the lecture, so I was ready to learn. 

The lecture began with an insightful definition quoted from Bruce himself. He said that: “Agenda Setting is a theory, but like all good, solid theories is all a bit obvious really!” I was still unsure of what exactly to expect but, we were eventually taken into the concept’s meaning and its relevance to journalism.  

Similar to the concept we learnt last week, News Values, Agenda Setting decides the relevance of a new story but instead judges the relevance on four distinct agendas and interest groups. The four agendas include:

• Public Agenda- topics which members of the public feel is important. 
• Policy Agenda- issues decision makers think are salient.
• Corporate Agenda- issues big business & corporations consider important.
• Media Agenda- issues discussed in media.

A simple definition of Agenda Setting says: “the more coverage an issue receives, the more important it is to people” (Coleman, McCombs, Shaw, Weaver, 2008). In this way, many could view the media as manipulating what they want audiences to see. Much like propaganda, Agenda Setting is a form of power for the media and Bruce says: “Why do the Media set the agenda? Because they can!” An agenda could be anything from deciding which stories air, to motivating audiences to view a story in a certain way.

Lecture 9: Does it really matter?

When we pick up a newspaper or read news stories online, we accept that they have been written for the purpose of informing an audience. However, I had never thought much about how and why these stories end up in the news as opposed to others. In this week’s lecture for JOUR1111, we learnt about the importance of ‘News values’ or how to judge a story’s ‘Newsworthiness’. 

 Image sourced from: http://www.cartoonstock.com/newscartoons/cartoonists/mfl/lowres/mfln3001l.jpg

 

News Value is, by definition, “the degree of prominence a media outlet gives to a story, and the attention that is paid by an audience.” But, as aspiring journalists, how can we ensure that what we write about is interesting in the eyes of our audience? There are four values which help to find the answer:

• Impact

“news is anything that makes readers say, “Gee Whiz!” –Arthur MacEwen, US Editor

• Audience Identification

“news is anything that’s interesting, that relates to what’s happening in the world, what’s happening in areas of the culture that would be of interest to your audience.” -Kurt Loder, US Journalist

• Pragmatics

“ethics-facticity-practice/practical current affairs- everyday (24-7 news)”

• Source Influence

“Journalism loves to hate PR… whether for spinning , controlling access, approving copy, or protecting clients at the expense of the truth. Yet journalism has never needed public relations more, and PR has never done a better job for the media.” –Julia Hobsbawm, UK PR executive

These four terms were helpful for me to see what it means to engage an audience and how to implement techniques to ensure that my work is engaging. A strange term used to sum up the entire concept of News Values is “newsworthiness”. This relates to how valuable a story is for the audience and whether the story is ‘worthy’ for publication.

Image sourced from: http://imgc.allpostersimages.com/images/P-473-488-90/61/6149/XDCG100Z/posters/j-p-rini-we-don-t-care-where-it-is-as-long-as-it-isn-t-newsworthy-cartoon.jpg

 

After learning about the basic principles of News Values, we then learnt what kinds of stories make the front pages. For example, the phrase ‘If it bleeds, it leads’ is used to describe the way that stories such as shootings and deaths often dominate the news cycle due to their “newsworthiness.”

This concept was especially relevant for this week’s lecture as, in the week leading up; there was continual coverage about missing Brookfield mother of three, Allison Baden-Clay. The information regarding News Values was pertinent considering the news which we had been exposed to nightly about the incident.  

Apart from learning about the significance of News values, we also learnt about the potential threats and the future of News Values. Potential threats include:

• Journalism/Commercialization of media and social life
• Journalism/Public Relations
• Journalism’s ideal/Journalism’s reality

This topic was relevant to learn as we will continue to consider these concepts in our future studies and into the real world of Journalism.