Week 4: Chapter 4, "A 'know' for news".

Reading: Chapter 4 - A 'know' for news in The Daily Miracle: An introduction to Journalism / David Conley & Stephen Lamble. Melbourne, Victoria. Oxford University Press, 2006. 3rd ed.

• How did Australian news outlets gives proximity to the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami?

Proximity is the 'where' element of a story. It relates to whether something happened with a newspaper's circulation area or if it is of sufficiently wide interest to attract readers in the circulation area. The latter is how Australian news outlets gave proximity to the 2004 Tsunami.
Firstly, Australia's population is clustered around its often low-lying coastline and we are very close neighbours to the worst hit nation, Indonesia. This gives great proximity value to the Tsunami story.
Additionally, some of devastated areas like the waterfront tourist areas of Thailand, are very popular amongst Australian tourists. I think we can all say that someone we know has travelled to Thailand for a holiday.
That's how Australian news media gave proximity to the Tsunami, virtually everyone could relate to the disaster because we have all either been to the places most significantly affected, or we know someone who has been there.

• If you were a reporter covering a story about a mentally ill Australian woman who was found by Queensland police in Cairns talking what they thought was German, who was subsequently arrested and found herself locked up in an immigration detention centre in South Australia for 10 months, what main news value would you focus on when writing the story? In order of importance, what would be the next two subsidiary news values?

1. Currency, when the story was first reported, Asylum seekers and the rights of illegal immigrants was one of the most popular and controversial topics in the news. Even now, when the debate arises, it features very prominently in the news. It would definately be a prominent news story today due to the Rudd Government's changes to immigration laws. If this situation happened now, many would be asking how it happened and why. It would definately spark some editorial and public debate.
2. Timeliness, this is a companion to Currency. Timeliness gives a story an edge to outbid competing stories for publishing and readership. If this scenario came up, no matter when reported, it would still grab the attention of an editor or reader, it would be timeless. The story would definately stand up for the next days publishing.
3. Human Interest: Although Human Interest is commonly associated with 'soft', feature style articles, it does arise in news stories. Human interest stories can 'inspire empathy, spark curiosity, or arouse community concern' the scenario does all of those things. Like children in human interest stories, an elderly woman locked up for 10 months instead of getting the help she needed, will command the interest of any reader. Human Interest elements can also be tied to basic needs of people and to emerging social issues, both of which are in this scenario.
   

• As a reporter, which information would you feature more prominently:

1. a mayoral announcement about an urban renewal plan to resolve inner-city crime problems; or
2. a comment by Prince Charles, in Australia on a visit, who says after the mayor's speech that such problems can often be attributed to building regulations formulated by city councils?

By definition alone, 'Prominence' "generally relates to a person who is highly recognisable on a local, state, national, or international basis". Prince Charles ticks all of those boxes, a local mayor does not.

• Define 'news' in 20 words or less.

News is something that breaks the flow of normal events, it is something that interests the audience of the publication or program that it is written for.

• Should Kipling's Six Strong Serving Men be assigned equal value when writing a news article?

I don't think that in every piece, the who, what, when, where, how and why should take equal precedent. The majority of the time, they should at least all be mentioned to give context to the story. The time of an event may be the most important factor of a story, or who did something may be more important. It all depends on the individual story at hand. As the text states, each of the W's and H should be mentioned as close to the beginning of the story as possible and be naturally linked with associated news values.

Week 3: Chapter 2, 'Agents of power'.

Reading: Chapter 2 - Agents of power in The Daily Miracle: An introduction to Journalism / David Conley & Stephen Lamble. Melbourne, Victoria. Oxford University Press, 2006. 3rd ed.

• Which media function do you think is the most important and why?

The most important function of the media is to serve as a system to check up on, and monitor the activities of the government and the people elected by the Australian public to represent them in Parliament.
Conley & Lamble (2006, p.26) indicate that the 'media play a critical role in providing information about, and informed criticism, on parliaments and their members'. Chapter 2 provides an extensive debate on what style of news best informs the public, television is by far Australia's most popular medium for news consumption (66%). Newspaper reading is a less popular form of media consumption (22%), but newspaper readers seem to be more well informed and their depth of knowledge appears to be far greater than their square-eyed counterparts.
Despite television media being more popular than newspapers, I think newspapers, especially those considered to be 'quality' press, serve the most important function of the media.
'Quality' press, as Chapter 2 indicates, have a higher sense of responsibility to present an unbiased, opinion forming and educative news experience to readers.
Their appears to be a popular school of though that believes that despite the medium, the bottom line comes down to the fact that newspapers are a commercial enterprise and Journalists wages and job security rely mostly on advertising revenue, therefore the advertiser reigns supreme.
'Quality' press is also defined by the subdued advertising and it is also this 'quality' press that seems to ruffle the most feathers by upsetting advertisers and politicians, somewhat dispelling the aforementioned theory.
I therefore feel that the 'quality' press is the most important format as it functions the best at holding elected politicians accountable for their actions.

• To what degree should journalists be concerned about their employer's profitability and readership/viewership figures?

Profitability and readership/viewership figures are inevitably going to have a great affect on an employee. If a news source is not profitable and has low readership/viewership, employees are going to lose their jobs.
Evidence shows however, that there is room for quality journalism to be profitable. Mayer (1968, cited by Conley & Lamble) developed the categorisation system that distinguishes the difference between 'Quality' and 'Popular' press. By Mayer's standards, there are clear distinctions that make The Australian, The Age, Australian Financial Review, and The Sydney Morning Herald 'Quality' newspapers.
Table 2.2 'Newspaper Circulations' (Conley & Lamble, p.41) clearly shows that, despite not leading the pack, that circulation of 'quality' press in Australia is high.
Profitability and numbers should never affect what or how a journalist reports. Journalists know wrong from right, and if the owner of a paper is slanting what they report, it may be time to move on.

• Is it reasonable for the owner of a media outlet to direct editorial policy and to make editorial decisions on political and other issues?

It is never reasonable for an owner of a media outlet to direct editorial policy or to make any decisions regarding what is reported by their outlet.
Bruce Guthrie, former editor of The Age (cited by Conley & Gamble, 2006, p33) indicates that 'the biggest threat to newspapers comes from a management desire to please shareholders and readers'
Guthrie also contends that breaking down the 'church-state' separation of editorial and management may be profitable, but it is devastating for thinking readers.
Again, editors are not stupid, and readers are also often fairly intelligent. Readers are going to spot ownership input, they have many times in the past, and it has a very negative affect on the reputation of the newspaper. It's not only a morally reprehensible act, but it's ultimately going to affect circulation and sales, therefore the bottom dollar of the owner, maybe a good decision to sit this one out!

• Does investigative journalism really matter? Does it sell newspapers or increase ratings?

Investigative journalism really does matter. Does it sell newspapers or increase ratings? One word... Sort of? IGUANAGATE!