Au Revoir.

So this is it. My farewell blog post to my little spot of cyberspace that I started all the way back at the start of the semester. To be honest, starting a blog was a little bit daunting, because in my head only interesting people with interesting things to say have blogs, and suddenly I had to be one of them. From the first week in JOUR1111 I was told that I was the journalist, and so I tried to start writing a bit like one. And as I started writing, I learnt lots of little things about my writing style, and the kind of things I like writing about.

Throughout JOUR1111, I learnt about all different aspects of journalism, from radio to news values to investigation. Some of it I already knew, and some I didn’t. It opened my eyes up to what the world of journalism is about, and all the different facets of it. I’d like to think that I’m coming out of this semester a little bit more of a journalist, and a little bit more knowledgeable about it. I know I’ve still got a long way to go, but this semester, and this blog, has enabled me to dip my toes into the ocean of journalism.

I’ve kind of liked blogging, and I might keep at it somewhere else. But for now, it’s au revoir, and I’ll see you somewhere else in the media world. 

Just Around the Corner.

The world is so full of opportunity, and there’s a million and one ways in which you can do something. With a dash of creativity and a stroke of luck, anyone can make something new happen. This applies to the world of journalism. There are so many different kinds of journalists out there, and journalism can operate on so many different platforms. You don’t need a degree to be a journalist, even though that’s what I’m doing right now. Anyone can pick up a camera or start writing. All you need is an issue and some passion.

Our guest lecturer today, Steve Molks, was talking to us about his story as a journalist, and all the different kinds of journalism out there. There are so many different types of journalism, and a lot of it is interconnected, and it can get pretty overwhelming thinking about it all. But it got me thinking about exactly what kind of journalist I want to be, and the kinds of things I want to write. Now, I’m not naïve. I know that sometimes you just get given a story, and that sometimes there isn’t much choice in the matter. But every journalist should have their own style and their own voice. Every journalist should have something unique about them.  I want to have that dash of creativity and luck, and be a journalist that stands out a little and thinks outside the box.

If I’m completely honest, I have no idea exactly what kind of journalist I want to be yet, but I’m okay with that. I’m more than happy to dabble in a few different styles until I find my niche. Steve Molks was talking about what he does, I was thinking about what I want to do. But something important that I took away from it is that you don’t need to be writing for a newspaper or magazine to be a journalist. The online world is changing the face of journalism, and is making it much more accessible to the public. It’s easier than ever to get your thoughts out there, and find other people who think the way you do, and also people who don’t. Because the world can’t just be all one sided, can it?

The fact of the matter is I don’t have to wait until the end of my degree to be a journalist, and I can be any kind of journalist I want. Because the world really is full of opportunity, and there’s always room for something new. 

Detective Work.

Everyone wants to be remembered, and some events will go down in history, never to be forgotten. A quote from our first lecture said that ‘journalism is the first rough draft of history’, and I think it’s true. Through the news, events are recorded and remembered. But in an increasingly fast-paced world, particularly with the birth of online news and the 24 hour news cycle, news seems to be just getting churned out, with little being remembered. Stories get lost in the ocean of news that is presented to us every day, and it seems like journalists just don’t have the time to delve deeper into their stories, because people want information now. But some of the best, most memorable pieces of journalism have been the result of months and years of work, with journalists devoting themselves to digging deeper and finding out the truth. That’s what investigative journalism is all about: getting to the bottom of a story, and finding out the truth.

One of the most important jobs of the media is to hold the powerful to account. Journalism has the ability to reveal massive scandals and wrongdoings, and that’s a big part of what investigative journalism is about. Journalists work as ‘custodians of conscience’, and investigative journalists in particular fall into this category. Investigative journalism is all about exposure, and bringing to light some of the things that are happening in society. The media brings certain issues to the public’s attention, and investigative journalism goes beyond the straight news, and looks for a deeper story. Its news that’s been well researched and well thought out, with journalists investing something of themselves into bringing the truth to light.

You could be forgiven for believing that this kind of journalism is dying, however. With increasing pressure on newsrooms to get the news out fast, journalists have less and less time to probe into the deeper issues that hide behind the surface of a story. And the simple fact that newsrooms are getting smaller and journalists have just got to do more doesn’t help either. Chances are that the six o’clock news won’t have much in the way of investigative journalism, and online news is all about getting the information out first, rather than getting in-depth into an issue. But investigative journalism still does exist. The Global Mail and Australian Story are just two examples of local investigative journalism. The truth is, people still have curiosity, and a desire to find out what’s really going on. And as long as this exists, investigative journalism will survive. And now more than ever investigative journalism stories stand out against the regular news stories churned out by the hundred in newsrooms every day. Investigative journalism has the potential to make history, and to be remembered. So maybe spending a little more time diving into a story is worth it after all.

What's Your Value?

Values are funny things. When you ask someone what their values are, there tends to be a lot of umming and ahhing while they try to put it into words. Everyone has values, but we rarely stop and think about what they actually are. Values tend to be those intrinsic things that seem to be buried deep down inside of us, things that we just have. But values are relative, cultural things, and we weren’t born with them. Everyone has different values, and this rule doesn’t stop at news outlets. They have values too.

News values, however, vary slightly from the values held by people. Whereas a person’s values tend to be based upon what we see as important in life, news values are all about what makes news newsworthy. Exactly what factors make stories newsworthy is a topic of debate, with people of all different ages and from all different places trying to come up with ‘the list’ of news values. A perfect list, however, is impossible, because news values vary across countries, states, and even news outlets. The news values of ABC and Channel 9 are likely to be different, just as the news values in Australia are likely to be different to the news values in China. So how do we know what makes good news?

Despite all these differences, some news values are pretty universal. The idea of ‘if it bleeds it leads’ and ‘if it’s local it leads’ is seen across the world, with news of disasters, death and tragedy taking priority in the news. Proximity is also a big one. People want to hear about things that are close to home and that affect them, and so stories that are close geographically tend to get more news space too. There are lots of other factors, including currency, uniqueness, simplicity, exclusivity and size, plus a whole host of others that all change depending on where you are and what outlet you work for.

News values, however, aren’t hard and fast rules. Just like the values held by people, journalists often just have a sense for what makes news worthy, and for what their news values are. They don’t often think about it, and I dare say that if you asked a journalist exactly what their news values are there’d be a bit of umming and ahhing as well. But news values are important to understand, even if they are a bit illusive, and nobody can make ‘the list’. Everyone has news values, just like everyone has values.  And maybe it’d be worth doing some umming and ahhing and figuring out exactly what they are. 

Curiosity and Cats.

Curiosity is a marvellous thing. People find out about the most interesting things and places just by being a little curious. Being a little inquisitive makes life interesting, and people love finding out new things. Curiosity may have killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back. If people weren’t a little curious, the world would never get anywhere.

In the world of journalism, public media is kind of like that. The ABC is famous for its news analysis and current affairs programs, and public media stations are often seen as the place to go for some good, in-depth analysis. In contrast to commercial media’s tendency to be about shocks and thrills, public media tends to be a bit more serious and factual. Public media is kind of like the textbook of the news world, whereas commercial media is the magazine.  The news is a bit more about facts, and a bit less about fun.

The problem comes, however, when this just isn’t the kind of thing people want to watch. Because the truth is, very few people would read a textbook over a magazine. Public media might be deeper, but commercial media looks like more fun. Sometimes people just want light and fluffy, easy to digest things.

So why does public media stick around? Who but old, boring people watch it? In today’s fast paced world, people don’t seem to have time to sit down and really dive into issues. But public media offers something that commercial media, generally, doesn’t. Investigative journalism, the kind that dives right in and makes people think, is everywhere on the ABC. Robert Richter said that public media is the “last bastion of long-form investigative journalism”, and I think it’s true. Public media doesn’t have to think about its shareholders, or making a profit. It has to think about following people's curiosity, and making really good news.

This, I think, is a big part of why public media sticks around. Because people are curious, and they want to go deeper into the bigger issues. Sure, public media isn’t prefect. It’s got a lot of problems to face, and keeping up with the popularity of commercial media is no small challenge. But public media offers something that no one else does, and in order for the world to keep working properly, its needs to stay.

A Bit of Backblogging.

I found out recently through the wonders of Blackboard that I need to post about our first lecture. Something, I soon realised, that I'd failed to do.

I have the memory of a goldfish, so looking back on things is always and interesting challenge for me. But if there's one thing I remember about my first lecture, apart from the inevitable nerves and map-reading as I tried to find the room, it was the quotes. Granted, I didn't actually remember them. No, the slides helped with that. But I remembered sitting there, thinking about how true these quotes where, and how exciting they made the world of journalism seem.

Quite possibly my favourite was one written by a fellow called Phillip Graham, who was a publisher at the Washington Post. He said that "Journalism is the first rough draft of history." It's really exciting to think that something written for a newspaper or the 6 o'clock news could one day be the basis of what's written in a history textbook. Every day, history is getting written and recorded, and we're all a part of it. Everyone wants to make history, and to be remembered. Really, who wants to die without a mention of their name? But I'm studying to be one of the history-writers, one of the people that determines what is remembered. What journalists write decides on what will be remembered about an event in 50 or 100 years time. That's a lot of responsibility, but it's also very exciting. And I can't wait to start writing history.