Chapter 14 - Featuring writing and Kell's say

1. The story related to famous Australians and their childhood homes, which brought back their memories of growing up in that place.
Link

The introduction says: Some grew up in the burbs, some in the bush. When Mike Safe asked well-known Australians about their childhood homes, the memories came flooding back.

Conley and Lamble describe a justifier as a story's reason, or justification, for being published.

This particular story didn't really have any specific reason for publication, in my opinion. It was definitely interesting to read, but news values such as timeliness, impact, prominence, currency or conflict were not evident.

The writing style struck me as a very puff piece of writing.

Liz Ellis was the first Australian interviewed. Of the six paragraphs the story on Ellis, four paragraphs were complete quotes.

However the following stories contained less "puffery".

All articles were interesting to read, which justifies why the news value of human interest is certainly relevant. Proximity, to a small extent, would be evident because it looks at famous Australians.

A quote was used as the very last sentence of the whole published story. It doesn't really have any relevance to the introduction, only that it does illustrate a childhood memory.

However have a more relevant closer would have been a relevant ending.

2. I think it depends on the feature story being published.

In defence of newspapers, I think they already publish sufficient feature stories through the lift-out magazines, particularly in the Sunday papers.

In regards to promoting good writing to increase newspaper sales, or whether people are too busy or too interested in the hard news to care, I think it comes down to time.

Sometimes the hard news can be quite depressing, so I believe reading an uplifting feature story makes for a good change. But often the features stories are quite lengthy. Unless a reader has a particular interest in the story, they won't buy the paper or magazine.

As mentioned on page 316 of the text book "the best feature writing requires a creativity and way with words that cannot be taught". This quote sparked my interest and I will discuss this as part of Kell's say at the end of this blog.

But I do think newspapers should promote their feature stories because as I mentioned earlier, it makes for a nice change from death, war, drugs and crime.

3. From a profit perspective, I think it's important to publish stories the readers will read. Afterall, if they aren't interested in the story, they won't buy the publication.

In addition, I think the soft entertainment news originating from Hollywood is what readers want to read about!

But is that a result of not publishing as many Australian stories?

Whatever the reason, it would be a great idea to limit the Hollywood stories for Australian writers and subjects.

Not only does it provide exposure for the story-teller, it also provides exposure for the journalist writing the story. Perhaps then, Australian feature stories can become prominent in the Hollywood market!

So, of course market forces dominate what is published, but if there was the opportunity to limit the imported stories for Australian writers and subjects, I would definitely be a supporter.

4. Feature writing is definitely an interest of mine.

I really enjoy finding out more about people and their background and current situation, especially those people who have overcome adversity and have made a life for themselves.

This Link
explains what feature writing is and I was interested to read "If you ask the question "how and why" things happen, then you probably like reading feature stories in newspapers and magazines." The quote certainly justifies my own reason for being interested in feature writing

To be able to write about and tell their story to the wider, I feel, would just raise some awareness of much some people really are struggling/have struggled in life.

Writing medical feature stories is also of interest to me. Given I would ideally like to work for the Cancer Council in the future, I would love to write feature stories about new breakthroughs or possible medications etc.

Unlike most traditional news stories, these kinds of issues are about hope, change and awareness. For me to be able to pass that information onto readers would be an unbelievable experience.

5. In my opinion, a columnist publishes stories of opinion more than fact. Feature stories are more often than not, about another person or issue.

Columnists tend to be more of a "my say" type of journalism.

Feature writing are regarded by many as a newspaper's glamour journalists (pg.316). Feature writers have more autonomy about what they can write and how they write it.

Feature writing requires a great deal of creativity to construct a story.

However another difference is editing. A columnist may be less distressed if the story they compiled in less than an hour is edited. On the other hand, a feature writer might be more stressed if their article is edited. This could particularly be the case if the writer has spent days or weeks on a story only to have it edited.

Conley and Lamble also note criticism as a difference between reporters and a feature writer (pg.317).

Ultimately, the biggest difference between a columnist and a feature writer is a columnist is about opinions. Feature writers deal more in creativity.

KELL'S SAY
"the best feature writing requires a creativity and a way with words that cannot be taught"

What a great quote!

Feature writing is a lot about creativity which cannot be taught. However I do believe writing structure can be taught.

Before studying journalism at Uni, I had absolutely no knowledge how the industry of journalism worked. The only pyramid I had any knowledge about was the one in Egypt!

There are also many rules and ethics in regards to journalism. These too can be taught, obviously people are not going to be born with the knowledge of journalism ethics and rules!

Feature writing requires creativity, but I think it also requires a genuine love of writing. Perhaps one comes with the other. Either way, creativity is something you are born with or without.

So ultimately I think the "how to do journalism" can definitely be taught, but I agree that creativity is something which can't be taught.

Chapter 13 - Journalism's strands converge and Kell's say

1. Companies need to train their employees before they can expect them to work in converged news rooms.

Not all journalists would feel comfortable reporting in different methods, so I think it is the responsibility of the employer to provide adequate training in this area.

This is even more so the case if a news room was previously strictly a print news room, or broadcast journalism, and then developed into a converged news room.

For this reason it is important employers make employees feel comfortable reporting in different formats and provide training. This will also provide the journalist with more experience in a range of areas.

2. The likely outcome is that the potential employee would probably not work for company. This issue was pointed out by Haiman, who said "that not every good print journalist possesses the physical attributes television viewers have come to expect from on-air reporters" (pg. 298).

If a reporter is not comfortable with a particular form of medium, I do not think they should be disadvantaged from a potential job opportunity. However if the company specifically advertise for journalists with converged journalism experience, I believe the company have the right to reject applicants who do not fit the criteria.

Media General believe converged journalists produce "better news and better journalism". (pg. 297). While I understand Media General's perspective, that converged journalism offers journalists a broader scope of reporting, I do not think journalists should feel they have to be part of a converged news room. Some journalists may prefer to write print material or cover broadcast journalism. Those journalists shouldn't be disadvantaged because they do not feel comfortable reporting for a different type of medium.

3. I do not think journalistic convergence is a fad, but I do think companies should be aware that convergence doesn't appeal to all journalists.

With new media such as the internet becoming a popular form of media, I think it's important for most organisations to report for the various forms of medium. For example, a womens magazine such as Cleo - the magazine will have print reporters but they will also employee journalists with web journalism experience. However there is no need for broadcast journalism in this instance because the magazine is not published for TV viewing.

Channel 9 program '60 Minutes' on the other hand, have journalists who report for the web and broadcast journalism but not print journalism (ie there is no '60 minutes magazine or newspaper).

As Conley and Lamble state "If consumers like the products journalists create and produce, ratings will follow, and advertisers will jump on the bandwagon" (pg. 313).

4. One of the implications of relaxed cross-media ownership laws would see media organisations not making enough profit from their online operations (pg.312). If organisations can advertise or publish online, free of charge to the consumer, how will the organisations make a profit?

However, as Conley and Lamble mention "advertisers can be persuaded to make the jump to promoting their products on online news sites, there will be money to be made".

Personally, I think it would be a good idea for organisations to perhaps print headlines of stories or a short overview of a story, which would entice consumers to purchase the newspaper or magazine. In this case, the organisations are still utilising the web media form, but could minimise any potential loss of profit.

5. I think the future of web, radio and television is a bright one.

With most people having access to all forms of media, they can all produce stories in various ways. And all three forms of media are of little cost to consumers (other than electricity costs!). I think TV and web journalism are perhaps slightly more appealing because they give consumers a visual aspect to stories/report. Radio does not have the same advantage.

6. I think there should be an option for students to multiskill, but I also think it should only be for students who are interested in multiskilling. I do not think it should be made compulsory for all journalism students.

Some students are only interested in print journalism or broadcast journalism, so I don't think it is necessary for those students to be "multiskilled". However, if other students would like to broaden their journalism skills, then I think offering a multiskilling course would definitely be beneficial for them.

So I definitely think a multiskilling course should be available to journalism students, however I don't think it should be made compulsory for all journalism students to undertake the course.

7. Yes, I think we are.

The internet and web are used world-wide, all day, everyday. Consumers do their banking, check emails, organise holidays, research, and communicate with friends and family all via the web.

With most consumers having access to the web, and it seems people are restricted for time to meet face-to-face with friends, the internet and web are taking over as the most used communicative tool.

If the internet and web were not available, I think life would become much busier. People would have to travel to their local bank to pay bills or transfer money. Employers would have to revert to paying employees by physically going to the bank, students would have to visit their local library to complete school/uni research etc etc.

The internet and web are definitely making life much easier and freeing up consumers' time, but it is my opinion that people are becoming less and less socially interactive because of the internet. The long term effects of that might one day be realised.

KELL'S SAY
My answer in question 7 incorporates Kell's say for this blog.

I really believe the internet is convenient and in most cases user friendly. Newspapers and magazines are available to read on-line, academic journals can be viewed on the net and you can even chat to friends on the internet these days!

I think social interaction is definitely being affected by the net, with the introduction of chat rooms etc. and I don't think that is a good thing at all.

But for the purpose of information searching the internet is certainly a useful tool!

Chapter 12 - Broadcast journalism: the world's town crier, and Kell's say

1. I don't really have an opinion either way because I am not a regular viewer of the ABC station, therefore do not have a full understanding of its programs or their content.

However, from the few times I have watched a program on the ABC and in conjunction with the chapter in the text, I feel the ABC should stay the way it is. Reports appear to have a less 'entertainment' value and more factual, informative approach.

Pages 268 and 269 explain how politically influenced the ABC is, but I think journalism in general is politically influenced. For example, News Limited would more likely be inclined to favour the Liberal Party and their policies opposed to the policies or opinions of the Labour Party.

I do not think any government funded program could be less 'political'. If one political party funded the ABC and the ABC in turn broadcast stories against that party, do you think the government would want to continue funding it?

I think not.

2. I agree with Dagan (2004) in that the key quality is passion.

I also agree that, because TV is a visual medium, beauty could be an important element.

If Sarah O'Hare, or Elle McPherson, were regular news reporters on one TV station, and Cornelia Francis or Rowena Wallace were reporters on a competing channel, which would you tune in to watch? Perhaps women are more inclined to watch the more informative, but I think men might have different reasons for watching a particular station!

Such a similar example was given on page 289, with 'National Nine News political correspondent Laurie Oakes, identified as a journalist whose talent and ability override aesthetics'.

In light of the above, I would hire the 38 year old, despite the high ratio of women to men.

It could be the case that a journalist is quite good looking but is not comfortable in front of the camera or does not have an authoritative voice. All these issues need to be considered when hiring broadcast journalists, not just their physical appearance.

3. Time constraints, space limitations and the need for strict time deadlines are elements which have all been mentioned as restrictions, as well as strengths, between TV, radio, web and print.

But I think the 'best' news medium is television and web because of their ability to include images to support stories. While print medium gives journalists more space in which to write their stories, and can therefore be more descriptive to an extent. often viewing images assists the audience to better understand a story.

As noted on page 277, while print has more room in which to print a story, 'newspapers can't match the warmth and intonations of human voice'.

From a personal perspective, I often need to read stories/articles multiple times before I fully understand them, so I find it easier to comprehend TV news broadcasts.

I was relieved to read on page 277 Conley and Lamble mention retention rates are improved when TV news is expertly presented.

Given broadcast and print journalists share the same news values, and all mediums report each value differently, it is important that journalists relay the story with maximum effort.

4. In my opinion, the last election was probably more issues based. Issues such as GST, Healthcare and petrol prices etc were covered in the media.

However I do feel it is important for the audience/voters to gain an understanding of the personalities of those running in the election. If voters know candidates on a more personal level, it might give voters an insight into the candidate's policies and influence the voters to vote, or perhaps even change their vote, for a particular candidate.

In parallel to this, it is important the media do not focus highly on personality. Just because you might like one candidate more than another does not mean you will like their policies. But if the media present the personality of candidates, it may also have a negative effect on the audience.

For example, images of Kevin Rudd rocking a baby may not appeal to all audiences.

The best way to report on political matters, in my opinion, is to do it fairly and combine both issues and personality when reporting in this area of journalism.

KELL'S SAY
I found the issue of chequebook journalism (pg.272) an interesting topic in this chapter.

To be honest, I'm not sure how I feel about the issue of chequebook journalism.

It is certainly beneficial to the story-teller because they are making money, in some cases lots of it.

And by paying top dollar to a story-teller, the magazine/newspaper can claim to have the 'exclusive' news.

But the problem with chequebook journalism is that readers, and the interviewer, can't be sure the information isn't being enhanced. This could in turn stop the truth from being told.

Journalist Kerry Straight has written about the benefits, or otherwise, of chequebook journalism.
Link

I really am not sure about the issue of chequebook journalism even after having read a couple of stories on the issue. On one hand it's a form of bribery - we'll pay you if you tell us your story'.

On the other hand, how do you know what you're reading is the truth? A company could pay a large sum of money for a story which is completely untrue!

Here is another opinion from Chris McLeod on the issue:
Link

As for Kell's opinion, I think the jury is still out! (But if you pay me top dollar I'm sure I can make something up!)