Goodbye University... Hello life.

It feels strange to know that when I walk out of this class in 59 minutes time, I will have left my last university class - ever. After four years at the University of Newcastle - one year of an Arts degree and three years of Communications - this phase of my life is coming to an end.

I'm actually going to miss my last two weeks of classes because I've landed my first full time job! I begin my client communication role with Mezzanine Media next week. I feel very grateful to have secured a position before officially finishing uni - and to be located in Hunter Street means I don't have to leave Newcastle at the moment which I am happy about.

I'm in the middle of putting together my final university assignment - the Journalism feature. It's been really interesting finding out what people think about citizen journalism as opposed to traditional journalism. Erica Bartle, Girl with a Satchel blogger, has provided me with some thought-provoking information. She believes that magazine publishers and PR professionals need to forge better relationships with bloggers. Interviewing Hugh Jonas, an amateur blogger who recently covered the Masters Games, has forced me to think about how journalism is changing. Gone are the days when journalists need to be professionally-trained and paid by a specific organisation - the term 'journalist' appears to be increasingly broader than this.

The need for objectivity.

I find it interesting that ACP has launched a new campaign focusing on editorial standards.

Apparently this is what it’s all about:

“We are excited about the quality of a number of more recent appointments and we are setting out to make our titles more interesting, more credible, more believable, and more influential” (Lynette Phillips, ACP online).

The promotional campaign features 14 editors in a print based campaign that began in national newspapers at the beginning of this week.

In our last seminar presentation we were informed about the need for objectivity in journalism. The need for objectivity involves balance and lack of bias, editorial independence, public interest vs privacy, conflicts of interest and intrusion of entertainment values (Lumby 2006: 303).

The question has to be asked – why does ACP feel the need to launch such a campaign? How does their campaign reflect on current magazine publishing standards? Have their titles been observing the need for objectivity in journalism?

We will have to wait and see how the public responds to ACP’s ‘coming out party.’

Truth + objectivity report.

This is a report on one of last week's seminar presentations:

Truth and objectivity are of the utmost importance in the practice of journalism, according to Rebekka Hodges.

Hodges presented a report to her third-year Journalism class today as part of a group investigation into the concepts of truth and objectivity in journalism.

Hodges began her presentation by providing the class with an overview of the Code of Ethics.

According to Hodges, journalists have an obligation to society to report the news accurately.

“Professional integrity is the cornerstone for a journalist’s credibility.

“A newspaper’s most literate story can also be its worst story if it is inaccurate,” she said.

It was made apparent throughout the presentation that truth is imperative to the practice of journalism.

A quote by Joseph Pulitzer was used to illustrate one of Hodges’ main points.

“Three rules for reporters: Accuracy, accuracy, accuracy.”

Hodges provided the class with a definition of objectivity, explaining it as, ‘the fact or quality of being accurate, unbiased, and independent of individual perceptions’ (Encarta Encyclopedia).

In doing so she was able to establish that objectivity is not only a crucial aspect of quality journalism, but to demonstrate that it is extremely difficult in practice.

“A reporter is expected to keep their own biases and other ‘subjective’ factors out of the news,” Hodges said.

The extent to which journalists are able to remain completely objective, however, is questionable.

Because of numerous instances where journalists have reported incorrect facts in a story, society has an increasingly low opinion of the media.

“Audiences have become very skeptical and cynical of the reporter,” Hodges said.

She referred to quotes from Cunningham and Turner (2006) as she summed up her presentation.

Two more reporters continued the presentation with a further investigation into infotainment and the role of public relations in journalism. 

Thoughts from a professional blogger.

I am an avid reader of Erica Bartle's Girl with a Satchel blog. She provides some really interesting food for thought in her Media Musings. Erica's resume includes a period as Deputy Editor of Girlfriend magazine and she is now doing freelance work while regularly updating her popular blog. Erica is an example of a citizen journalist who is widely read and does actually spend enough time in the real world to ensure that her writing is both relevant and based on reality.

Earlier this week Erica posted a piece directly related to what we have been discussing in regard to citizen journalism and the new/online aspect of journalism. She wrote: "It astounds me that more Aussie magazine publishers don't embrace the power of the blogosphere by giving bloggers (yes, like moi) a heads-up on content, innovations, etc., in order to drive traffic to their own sites. While some PRs and internal marketing teams are forging relationships between bloggers and the magazines they represent, others still prefer to go down the traditional media route to generate publicity" (Bartle 07-09-09, online).

She raises an interesting point. It comes back to the fact that journalists really need to be embracing new technology and using it to their advantage rather than shying away from it. Erica's suggestion provides thoughtful insight into the way the media is constantly changing and developing.

Online: A 'new' journalism.

We delved into the world of online/new journalism in class last week which began with investigating the history of journalism. It is obvious that the field has come a long way since the 16th century!

One of the things we touched on in our presentation was multi-skilled journalists. It is no longer acceptable for journalism graduates to be competent in only one aspect of the industry. The University of Queensland puts it this way: “Journalists today don’t just write a story. They take photographs, compose audio and video, develop websites and much more. In addition they must understand their audiences and produce content that is relevant to a diverse range of needs. To do this, journalists of the future need to be multi-skilled, adaptable, resourceful and creative" (University of Queensland website, 2009).

Another aspect of 'new' journalism is convergence. We live in a world where convergence is necessary for journalism to survive. In a lecture a few years ago titled 'Media convergence and the changing face of media regulation', the Chairman of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission declared, "Consumers’ demands for speed, convenience and quality will continue to rise... And suppliers of media content will have to find ways to embrace the challenges these new demands pose." (ACCC website, 2005)

We also discussed citizen journalism - it is worth noting that the phase is a growing trend that is contributing to ‘new’ journalism’. Type the phrase into google and you’ll have more than four billion hits at your fingertips.

Breit contends that globalization has affected the role of journalism within society. She believes that, “Concentration of media ownership into the hands of a few TNC’s is threatening the integrity of journalism.” (Breit, 2001) The formation of transnational corporations also means that audiences are becoming more standardized. Instead of targeting their news towards specific audiences, news tends to be for the most part aimed at a middle-class Western audience, which means that large parts of the world are left unrepresented.

The internet isn't going to disappear anytime soon so it is a matter of embracing new technology and ensuring that journalists can adapt as society continues to change.

Rocking the cornerstone of society?

Have a look at this video for a commentary on the issue of globalisation and its affect on journalism.

The clip is an investigation into the issues that transnational companies present for quality of news. 

When all of our media sources are owned by the same few companies - think Disney, Sony, News Corporation and Viacom - how can we be sure that our news remains high quality?

According to this source, globalisation is producing news that is, "high on sensationalism and low on information" (McChesney and Miller, 2006).

As Rhonda Breit contends, “Concentration of media ownership into the hands of a few TNC’s is threatening the integrity of journalism.” (Breit, 2001) 

The formation of transnational corporations also means that audiences are becoming more standardised. Instead of targeting their news towards specific audiences, news tends to be for the most part aimed at a middle-class Western audience, which means that large parts of the world are left unrepresented.

To quote Robert McChesney: "To have a democratic society, you need to have a vibrant, healthy journalism."

Journalism has been labelled 'the cornerstone of society'. Does the impact of globalisation mean that we are on shaky ground?

The times they are a-changin'.

Apparently Mr Murdoch isn't happy with his $4 billion News Corp loss, and his response to the problem is a pledge to make consumers pay for news within the next 12 months.

It goes without saying that the issue calls for further investigation. Is 'pay for use' really the solution? While there are a lot of questionable sources available on the web, audiences are used to being able to access the online version of quality print news for free. What would it take to convince them that news has a monetary value?

In a lecture titled 'Media convergence and the changing face of media regulation' back in 2005, the Chairman of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission declared, "Consumers’ demands for speed, convenience and quality will continue to rise... And suppliers of media content will have to find ways to embrace the challenges these new demands pose."

Yes, it is true that news sales are falling and News Corp's loss is a blatant example. But the tide is turning - magazine publishers were last week celebrating a slowing rate of decline. Whether consumers will embrace Murdoch's sales pitch remains to be seen.

A concept discussed in class last week involved the concept of convergence. Gone are the days of complete separation between print, broadcast and online news. The way forward involves a combination of a number of mediums in one platform. ninemsn seems to be adapting to the changing media scene. The question is, can other mainstream news sources follow suit?