JOUR 1111 - Media Use Diary

Media has become a fundamental part of our society and through the media use diary, the frequent use of media was observed. It is so difficult to imagine a society without any media and this would be same for many others. So, why is it so important?

Above, is a graph of my media use over the 10 days and as shown in the graph, Facebook, Twitter and general surfing was most frequently used as it was used every day. This was due to the easy access of social media by phone applications which is accessible throughout the whole day. Also, my interest towards K-POP and Korean boy bands leads me to check and browse twitter and internet all day.

The graph above is the results from the survey monkey, answered by 436 JOUR 1111 students. Through this, the type of media students spend most of their time doing was shown which was Facebook followed by general browsing. This represents how “socialising” is a significant matter to many people and how it has developed from the past. Compared with my results, however, twitter wasn’t so popular, in fact, 70.8% didn’t have a twitter account before they enrolled into JOUR 1111. I believe this is due to the vast arrays of social networking site, thus, twitter being slightly infamous would not be a popular use to many people.

So, how is social networking sites relate to journalism? I believe social networking sites soely relate to journalism and communication as it is an online space where you can post your thoughts and interests. Blogging is considered as a type of journalism, for the previous reasons. Blogging is a social networking site, so is Facebook and twitter.

Old media, such as television, radio, news papers and magazines, are still very significant and popular today. Many people still get their news off these old media, as shown in the graph below. In fact, 71.1% consume their news through TV, followed up by “online newspaper.” Personally, hours spent watching TV over the 10 days was 12 hours. All the hours however, were spent watching either KPOP singers or Korean dramas. This is because, I prefer reading the news through online or by the papers unlike the general pattern of watching news on TV. Through the survey, however, it is also evident that nearly 50% get their news from Facebook. Due to such popularity of the site the news spreads very rapidly and out of curiosity many people ‘click’ on the link to figure out the reason why it has so many “likes.” Also, it is an ideal site to catch the mainstream of the week instead of having to read through numerous uninteresting articles. The fact that you can debate and share your ideas about the news and that any news can spread worldwide greatly relates to journalism. It doesn’t have to be some kind of formal news report, journalism is simply expressing your opinions and engaging and interacting with others.

Through the survey and my media use diary, I have realised how significant media are, to me and to the society. It has also come to my attention how much I, personally use social media and how journalism is represented through my posts and ideas. Also, that online media plays a fundamental role in our lives as it helps to engage and interact with others and the world. Media will develop and we would move along with it in order to stay engaged with everyone.

Can you believe photos..?

Picture stories, was the “headline” for lecture number 4 (19 March 2012). The first thought that came into my mind when I read the word, was a children’s book. Of course, the lecture was about something that was more in depth and related to journalism. There are many different picture stories, in fact, they are everywhere in our lives. They are on TV, magazines, phones, computers, billboards, movies and many more. Many facts about photos were discussed in the lecture including the basic history and the developments. In the past, photo was a way of communicating or telling a story as the people with the ability to read were limited. In the modern society, however, photo is used to support or to add more aspects to the story. Most of all, photo can be changed through programmes such as, photo shop to manipulate the audience. The fact that a photo can be changed, personally, seemed to be a downside of the development as false stories can be told through it. So, the question is, ‘is this development of photo journalism, good or evil?’

The second major aspect of photo journalism discussed in the lecture was “What makes a great photo.” There were many elements that made a “good” photo, such as, framing, focus, angle and point of view, exposure, timing and capturing ‘the moment.’ Personally, however, a quote by Eetu Sillanpää was stuck in my mind. The quote states, “A picture has no meaning at all if it can’t tell a story.” It made me think about how a picture could effectively tell a story. Well, taking a photo using the above elements would create a “good” picture, but would it necessarily tell a good story?

 
I have been trying to answer these two questions and it hasn’t been fully answered it yet. I, however, believe the development of the photo journalism is a positive factor and that it is a new opportunity to many journalists. Also, I believe that when a picture holds the ‘truth,’ it tells a good story, thus, as a journalist we should try and manipulate audiences to believe the "truth" not attracts them the most. Well, nothing would ever have a meaning if it isn't true.

My First ever Lecture!

Honestly, all I can remember from memory is how I felt in the lecture. Well, for many people and especially for me, it was the first lecture. I was somewhat very nervous and scared but excited at the same time. The lecture was about what we would be learning in the course and what assessments we needed to complete. I personally though journalism was not related to media so much, however, through the overview of the semester, I was proven wrong. Words and writing may have been the major part in journalism in the past, however, media is rapidly evolving and journalism should not be focused purely on text.

The second lecture was about web iterations and old media. Through this base topic the different webs were discussed and how the web focuses on different aspects. Web 1.0 which is also called the information web is very advertising friendly, thus focuses more on the companies. The New media or Web 2.0 is the ‘social web’ such as Facebook, Twitter, msn etc. This web focuses on the social groups. Finally web 3.0, the semantic web makes sense of information and multi layered questions which focuses on the individuals the most. The most interesting part of the lecture was the ‘jelly beans.’ How the concept of ‘entitlement’ was imaged through the packet of jellybeans. Also, the fact that many people including me think that we are entitled to free online news, which isn’t quite true. We are privileged to be able to watch news online, thus, we cannot complain if the company puts up a “paywall.” It made me think about how we, as a journalist will work in such industry where it is known to be “dying,” and how the definition of ‘journalism’ will developed throughout the years.

Hello to everyone and to myself..

Before I start anything about the lecture or my blog I would like to announce that I am “Korean.” The reason I am announcing this is not to look cool or different, but to explain to everyone who reads my blog how I felt at the beginning. I have been living in Australia for about 15 years. I attended A.B. Paterson College in Gold Coast and have quite a few of Australian friends. My parents, however, does not speak a single word of English at home, and I must say my English is not perfect (as you would recognise in ANY post I write). Despite this, I love writing and I have a passion of being a producer in the radio field. My first preference is to work over in Korea, however, if I get to, I would not hesitate to work in Australia. That is one of the main reasons why I am studying at UQ.

At first, I was scared more than excited when I heard about blogging. I was scared because I didn’t know what to write or how to write anything. I am still a bit confused and not 100% sure what to write about the lecture, but I will hopefully work it out.

Well, in lecture 3 (12^th of March 2012) the fact that ‘text’ could be presented in many different ways was a surprised. I knew it was not ONLY writing on paper or on a computer screen, but the fact that photos, motion and even games are considered as a text was somewhat, unique. Through this, I started to elaborate on other ways ‘text’ could be represented as. To be honest, there was not much I could think of, but ‘tone’ and ‘expression’ was the words that came into my mind. They are not ‘literally’ text, however, as text is a way of getting “a message” across I thought ‘tone’ and ‘expression’ could be considered as ‘text’ as well. As I stated above, I believe my English skills aren’t great, thus, I personally would like to learn more skills on writing, such as writing effective headlines (as I learnt how important headlines are in journalism.) Overall, I thought it was a very helpful lecture to me and through this lecture I started to think more deeply into journalism. There would be hard times throughout the course, however, I believe I would make the most out of it.