Media Diary

MEDIA DIARY JOUR1111

After logging my media activity for a period of 10 days there wasn't much I could see except a whole bunch of numbers in a table. 

Media Use

So 10 days of my media use looks something like this;

Table showing my media use recorded over the ten day period.

The table is divided into each media area I used and is recorded across 10 days with an approximation of the minutes spent looking, listening, or reading at each place or on each site.

I divided up my media use into 4 main categories; computer, smart phone, radio and TV. I did this so that I could see the main portals in which my media use was focused and also to gage which was used most to view this media.

Pie graph of the percentage of time spent on media use.

The majority of my media use is done on the computer. It accounts for over 76% and is all on the internet. This could be explained by the fact that I am very paranoid that I will go over my internet limit on my phone and don't want to pay any more than I have to already on that bill. Another reason is that in my house in Brisbane we don't actually have a working TV so my TV use was done when I visited my mum and younger sister on the Sunshine Coast. Also there isn’t anything on TV to watch so it’s a bit of a waste of time. All the music I listen to is mostly on my ipod. I chose not to include music listening in this diary as I am constantly listening to music. I find that I always have some form of music on but I did choose to include the radio. The radio use recorded here is from trips in the car when I was on the Coast and from the portable radio that my housemate has. I believe the time spent on each category would vary each week but they would most likely stay in the same order of most use. 

 
Column graph showing each media use category and the total time spent on each over the ten day period.

I created this graph to better show the time spent on each article. As you can see the time spent watching movies towers over the others. This is because, firstly, I love movies and secondly because much more time is invested in watching a movie. To watch a film you are devoting 2-3 hours each time, depending on the film of course. Youtube comes at a not so close second. The amount of time watching this was so high due to the fact that Youtube always offers the videos that are related to the one you just watched so when you watch one you end up watching quite a few and before you know it the time has accumulated and you’ve been there for hours...And  facebook. It can just be so addictive and I always feel like I have to check it at least a few times a day but nothing is ever any different from when I check it that first time. 

In this record, I mention news. This appertains to written news on the internet accessed via my computer or my smart phone. Most of the time I look at the BBC news page to see what’s going on around the world or at a local webpage (this varies. There is not one specific news site that I visit). I do read newspapers but only really when I am at a cafe or somewhere that provides a paper. I never actively go out a buy a newspaper just to read what going on. The internet is just so much easier and works better for me. And I do watch show like Media Watch and Q&A whenever I get the chance.

Media Production

Table showing the recording of my media production over the ten day period.

This is the table I created for my media production. As is quite obvious, I don’t do much production. I will occasionally write a post or two on Facebook, if I can be bothered and I email only when necessity dictates. The blog however I put quite a bit of time into. (It’s really fun and I thank this course for forcing me to write one.)

Regardless of the minimum media production, I still created a few graphs. Both of which clearly show that the time I spent writing blogs is far higher than the other forms of media production that I recorded and what they all accumulate to is that I don’t do much media production. 

Pie graph depicting my media production and the percentage of time spent.

 
Column graph showing the total time spent on media production over the ten day period.

I believe that part of the reason that I don’t do more production of media is that I am a little selfish in this respect. Most of the time I would much rather watch what someone else has created rather than make something myself for others to watch. But just because I prefer to watch doesn’t mean that I never create things myself. I do produce things myself just very rarely. Maybe if I had chosen a different 10 days the result might have been different but I don’t think it would have effected it much. This record of the 10 days of media use and production rings pretty true for me. 

From the survey that was taken, the results show that I am very much in the majority most of the time. I am female as are 75% of the class, I am in the second biggest age bracket, 18-20, I am studying a Bachelor of Journalism and Arts and I am a domestic student. It also shows that the majority of my peers use their internet enabled smart phones to access Facebook but I use it mostly to access news sites to check the headlines.

 This is mainly because it takes a ridiculously long time for my Facebook app to load my Facebook page so I avoid it because it’s a waste of my time when I can always just check it when I get home. The majority of my peers, as shown in the results of the survey said they spend 2-3 hours on the internet a day. I don’t think I fit into this category. I think my internet use is less than this but it all depends on the assignments I am doing and if they need the internet and also how much procrastinating I am doing.

So does this limited use and production of media affect my relationship to journalism and communications? I don’t believe so. There may be many people out there who are more in the know than I am as they spend much more time looking, watching and listening to various things and surfing the internet and many people who promote themselves by creating YouTube videos or multiple blogs etc but I look at what I want to and believe I have a fairly well rounded view and knowledge on the things that interest me. Just because I don’t spent much time on media production doesn’t mean I don’t have anything to say in this world, it just means that I express it differently. 

I also, like I have mentioned previously, enjoy watching films and spend quite a bit of time doing so. I love reading and I can spend hours reading especially if it is a really good book. And in saying that, I do not own an E-Reader or Tablet as I am against these devices and believe in the true hardcopy book. And if the weather is good, outside is the best place to be. I love playing sport and spend many hours a week doing so if the rain hasn’t cancelled it.

In conclusion, my media use as well as my production could be considered lower than average but it is still a quite significant amount of time that I spend on my computer and on the internet. I don't believe this affects my relationship to Journalsim and communication in a negative manner as I still spend a fair amount of time doing other sorts of things that contribute to journalism and communication.

Week 4: Pictures

So, no more rolls of film, no more dark rooms, no more developing photos. Just shoot, click and upload. And then if you want...photoshop.
Christine Rosen, who is senior editor of The New Atlantis (a journal of technology and society) says:
           Photoshop has introduced a new fecklessness into our relationship with the image. We tend to lose respect for things we can manipulate. And when we can so readily manipulate images--even images of presidents or loved ones--we contribute to the decline of respect for what the image represents...
But manipulating photos goes way back, prior to the age of digitalisation. Back near the beginning of the 20th Century, Joseph Stalin used to manipulate his photos so that, if he was in a photo with someone he didn't like or someone who he had killed or had removed or even just for propaganda, they were just taken out of the shot. For example;

As simple as that. Now you see him, now you don't.

Susan Sontag, an American Essayist, vehemently protested against manipulated images in her 1977 book On Photograhy. She says; "photographs, which fiddle with the scale of the world, themselves get reduced, blown up, cropped, retouched, doctored and tricked out".

There are  many people that object to the use of photoshop as it falsifies the photo and in most cases people seem to have less respect for digital manipulated images than those that are 'real'.

There are many cases where photographers have manipulated the photos and caused much controversy. In 1982, National Geographic published a cover where the photo was manipulated to move two of the Egyptain pyramids closer together so that they would fit on the vertical cover. It sparked much debate about the appropriateness of photo manipulation in journalism.

National Press Photographers Association (NPPA) have set out a Code of Ethics that promote the accuracy of published images. It advertises that photographers "do not manipulate images [...] that can mislead viewers or misrepresent subjects."

Then there are the photos that alter body image and appearance, especially the photos in magazines, that are seen to contribute to self-esteem issues in men and women. 

They are creating these false body images of models and celebrities that are in no way achievable in reality. And people try to model themselves on these fake figures.

thechive.com/2012/03/20/one-tiny-hand-ill-leave-it-at-that-25-photos/ 

(It may take you a second, but she has one tiny hand!!)

But photoshop can be used for some great fun, like this picture in a series of Tiny hand pictures. Its hilarious!

So is photoshop an evil manipulation machine or just a tool to create some funny photos?

Stress of Kony Too Much?

Apparently the stress of the Kony Project has been far too much for its creator.
What does this mean for Make Kony Visible?

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/health/2012/03/19/kony-2012-creators-breakdown-highlights-stress-of-criticism/

Has it lost all credibility?

KONY

Kony: Major success or big flop?

Everyone has seen the video and there is no way anyone could have missed the millions of posts on facebook and other social networks. It was a massive explosion across all media networks. The news covered it, The Project covered it and even mums knew about it. If you type "kony" into google it will give you over 22 million results. The word was out and then it was all over almost as fast as it began.

People stopped posting statuses that supported the Make Kony Famous project and starting critising it and then it all disappeared into a distant memory. So although the video may have caught the attention of millions all around the world, did it work? No other subject has taken advantage of this new technological age and spread so far so quickly. But did this porject rely too heavily on facebook? News of Kony travelled so fast that a few days after it hit, people were already thinking it was old news. People who were late to pick up and posted the video a few days later received comments suggesting they had missed the entire thing. But its not over. The video talks of the April the 20th. So will people still care that far in the future. More than a month after the initial boom in the media, will Kony still have the power to effect the world. Will people still care enough to act?

 
Do we have any power to effect the world the way the video inspires you to believe? What does this mean for the future? What does this type of attention to a topic like this show? Could this affect the way we see news and could it be used to our advantage?


The video states that is was only made to create attention to the subject of Kony and to make people aware of the events in Uganda with child soldiers. If you look at the video in this light then the video was a major success. It was even bigger than a major success. The attention it received was bigger than anything we have ever seen. But will it do anything to help the children in Uganda whose lives are in danger? That, we can't be too certain about. The Australian government has stated that there isn't much a whole lot that it can do. America has sent in troops already but could this escalate into another Vietnam War situation? Time and time again we see America (and its allies) sticking its head into problems all over the world. At heart they might be trying to help but has this type of action ever done any good. If Uganda is already working to try to locate and stop Kony and people like him, this video is almost like a call to war. War, as we have seen over and over throughout history, is not the way to solve problems.

We see all the people who believe that this video is out right crap and that ordinary people sitting on their computers in their safe homes cant do a thing. But negative attention is still attention and that is what the video was aiming for. All it wanted was attention.

...So now we wait for April 20th...

Week 3: Pirating for Fun

Cutthroat Capitalism.

News games are a very interesting way to look at certain news events and problems that are happening in the world. On the one hand it allows you to simplify a situation and to create, sometimes, a much better understanding of such situations for some people; like pirating in Somalia. But then on the other hand you have to problem of simplifying it too much and taking away the reality of the problem so that it could become trivialised. Then there is the chance that people may not take it seriously. And the situations that could suit being turned into a game like Cutthroat Capitalism, are not things to be taken lightly. But for me, although this game was quite entertaining and fun (and I am not going to lie, I was getting quite good at being a fake pirate), I could still see the serious implications that the game was trying to portray.

On a whole, the concept of turning these subjects into game type situations is a very interesting new media and could be a very effective way to communicating an understanding of certain events.

This topic of games as a medium of telling or helping to explain news events lead me to a website http://www.playthenewsgame.com/portal/home.action. This website allows you to explore and make desicions about certain news events and it explalins how and what your actions have affected and why in much the same way as Cutthroat Capitalism. In my oppinion Cutthroat Capitalism is a much more effective game but both websites show that there can be much development in this area and to some success. Who knows, in quite a few years this could be the dominate medium for news...

Batman

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLOps4qA5rM

 Toronto's own Batman. Is that cheating? I thought he only looked out for Gotham City....

Kids and Art Galleries

Young kids are great. They are entertaining and full of energy and can be very cute...BUT something seems go go wrong when they are near an art gallery. Whilst travelling around Europe with my older sister last year, we visited one of London's  galleries, the Tate Modern. It was a Saturday afternoon and there were literally thousands of people at the gallery, and not just people but a lot of families with their yound kids.
Amongst the pieces being exhibited at the time was Ai Weiwei's work, "sunflower seeds". This is a beautiful work made up of ten tonnes of porcelain sunflower seed replicas that are presented in a pile on the floor in a perfect circle. Now the young children in the gallery, whether it was because they had been there all day or were hyped up on sugar or something, were all going feral. Running around chasing each other and trying to make their parents as frustrated as possible and not only that, putting the works of art being displayed in danger. One child in particular, decided it would be awesome to climb over the small rope border that protected Ai Weiwei's work. Luckily his parent/s finally caught up with him and got him out before the small porcelain seeds had time to get stood on or destroyed by the boy. Seeing in the news the other day that the Tate has actually bought some of the seeds, reminded me of this young boy and how children and art galleries dont seem to mix.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-17256535

Week 2: Jellybeans

JELLYBEANS
"They are cheap, everywhere and they serve their purpose"
The day was Monday, and a group of journalism students were handed false hope in the form of small bags of jellybeans by their lecturer. And these weren't just any jellybeans, they were Jelly Belly jellybeans. Every students' eyes lit up as they were told they should try a few. Pains were taken to remind them that, as the jellybean flavours are so good, so unique and individual, they should be eaten one at a time, to savour them. Oh what a delight it was to have those few, precious jellybeans in my hands with each flavour bursting in my mouth. But no! The worst happened. The jellybeans were taken away (even though it was for a small amount of time, but no one knew that then).
The devastation in the room was evident. Some students had the shocked look of those who have just found out their dog has been hit by a car, others sat mouth opened, eyes glazed knowing they had been too trusting and that the jellybeans were too good to be true, some were pinching themselves as they were convinced they were dreaming; who would do something this awful? Others were just trying to hide their obviously flowing tears.
Never have I witnessed such horror as on this day.

The Jellybean analogy was brilliant. Well first of all, the jellybeans tasted amazing so thanks, but secondly it really made me understand that people do take things like the news for granted. They believe its their right to hear/read it and are they right? Everyone is so used to the news being cheap and everywhere that having to pay for it like Rupert Murdoch is attempting could be a real shock. Personally I think everyone should be able to access the news or some form of new free of charge. Its been like this for too long, changing it now could definitely shock people (just like taking away someone's jellybeans). But in the end, if you have to pay for it, then i think people will end up accepting it.
But haven't people always paid for the news? Newspapers are cheap, but you still pay for them. News is on TV but then you had to pay for the television and you have to pay for the electricity to run it, so news on TV isn't exactly free. And just the other day a man in Gympie paid for the news with his life as he went out, as he did every other morning, to get the daily newspaper. As he was driving back his car was caught in flood waters and he was found a few hours later (lhttp://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/man-drowned-going-for-morning-paper-20120306-1uf3a.html).
I guess there has always been some sort of price, it will all depend on what kind of price and whether people are willing to accpet that price.

Week 1: Quotes

"Journalism is the first rough draft of history."
I really like this quote, especially as I am an history student. I think that in many ways this quote is very true. History relies on a lot of primary sources, so in this way, journalism can be a direct rough draft of history. Things like reports in newspapers or similar are a good way to sample what and how people of a certain time were thinking or feeling.Regardless of bias, they are good source to get an idea of the situation of the time.
Plus if they are reporting on big events then it really is a rough draft of something that an historian will one day be writing about in some sort of text book. He would just be rewriting and elaborating on what the journalist has written.