Lecture Six

The Australian media landscape is comprised of commercial and public media. This week's focus was on that of commercial media.

As we discovered in the lecture, commercial media is a proft-driven media production which exists so that, according to Dr. Bruce Redman, advertisers can "get to the eyes and ears of the viewer". A risky business, its survival depends solely on business success generated through its selling of advertising to the audience. Thus, commercial media is driven by this audience and the quality of its ratings.

The major players in the Australian commercial media arena are News Limited, Fairfax Media, APN news and media, Nine entertainment company, WIN corporation, Southern Cross Broadcasting, Seven West Media, and the Ten network holdings.

We learnt that their production varies within the commercial realm. News Limited produces newspapers, cable TV, film, magazines, books and sports such as The Australian, Foxtel, 20th Century Fox, Harper Collins Publishers and NRL coverage. Fairfax produces chiefly newspapers and digital media such as The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, domain.com.au and RSVP. APN generates regional newspapers, digital media, radio and outdoor advertising such as The Gympie Times, finda, 97.3FM and Adshel. Nine entertainment co. are obviously associated with free to air tv, but also magazines, digital media and events like Channel 9, GO, Women's Weekly, ninemsn and ticketek. WIN is interested in free to air TV, radio, sport and tele-comms such as WIN television, i98FM, St. George Illawarra football team and TPG, whereas Southern Cross is only concerned with free to air TV and radio like Southern Cross Ten and b105 (105.3FM). Seven West Media has its interests vested in free to air TV, newspapers, magazines and digital media such as 7 and its associated channels, Sky News, Who and Yahoo 7. Finally, Ten is more focussed in its commercial interests, only producing free to air TV like ten, one HD and 11.

The more minor players in the commercial media field are Telstra, Optus, Macquarie and Austar.

Commercial media's form is obviously commercial, fuelled by subscription (eg. foxtel), sponsored (eg. channel nina) and subsidised (government) dollars. Its function is threefold - commercial, propaganda and social.

The Hutchins Commission of 1947 established that the social responsibility of the media in a democracy was to be:
1. a truthful, comprehensive, and intelligent account of the day's events in a context which gives them meaning;
2. a forum for the exchange of comment and criticism;
3. the projection of a representative picture of the constituent groups in the society;
4. the presentation and clarification of the goals and values of the society;
5. full access to the day's intelligence

Despite this, it is still queried whether or not commercial media can deliver on both commercial and social functions. I believe this is a very appropriate question to be asked in today's society where money is so frequently the primary concern. Like anything else which impinges on the goings on of everyday life, commercial media is controlled by formal state requirements, legal prescription and state oversight.

In order to guarantee these commercial-social functions, there exists something known as "the public sphere" (Jurgen Habermas), which is a space between commerce and government where people can debate freely and form public opinion.

The style of commercial media proves to produce quite negative results. John McManus explains it as being "corrupt" and "lack[ing] quality". Not only this, but he sees it to be something where "profit over-rides social responsibility". Professor Michael Bromley sees the sheer commercialisation of this form of media to be "at the expense of their social function" which is "a zero-sum game". The style lends itself to a universal 'dumbing-down' of news and information as well as tabloidisation, the 'desire to please' and 'mickey mouse' news. 

There are numerous challenges associated with commercial media these days. Firstly, advertising revenue is down and continues to go down. A loss of revenue leads to a loss of investment which leads to less money for quality production and finally more bought-in, unoriginal content as well as sitcom repeats. On the Internet the evidence is in the number of 'clicks' that each story attracts. This reveals that the popularity of tabloids and the superficial trumps hard-hitting news. Despite this, there are business solutions such as an increase in quality, greater competition and a move to digital by enforcing paywalls or the like. 

The future of commercial media can be seen alternatively in relation to corporate media dominance vs. an expanded public sphere, government interference or a new business plan like that of The Global Mail which almost heroically proclaims, "our audience is our only agenda". 

A heavily content-based lecture, it is interesting to reflect afterwards on the immense commercialisation of broadcasting in the Australian media landscape. The decrease in news quality in favour of money, through superficial tabloid stories, says an awful lot about the similarly diminishing values of our privileged society. Considering the fact that we are so incredibly immersed in commercial media on a daily basis, it is worrying to know that its content is frivolous at best. Triviality is a primary issue in relation to commercial media quality. I think it is important that my generation reconsiders the focus of Australian media's efforts. 

Wall Street Journal and TIME

My two favourite news blogs:

http://lightbox.time.com/

LightBox, a new blog by TIME’s photo department, explores how photography, video and the culture of images define today’s world. They seek to immerse the viewer in the visual side of the news and highlight photography that pushes boundaries in the art world. Working with some of the most iconic image-makers of the day, TIME magazine has always tried to showcase the best photojournalism - letting readers witness what is happening on the front lines and giving them a chance to examine, through portraits, the faces of the people who are changing history. 

http://blogs.wsj.com/photojournal/

Photo Journal is produced by the photo editors of The Wall Street Journal. From their commissioned projects to world news stories and national coverage, Photo Journal shares the best of news photography. Not only featuring enthralling images and their supporting articles but also links to other areas within the WSJ site, this blog gives an in-depth and aesthetically pleasing view into the stories featured in the renowned Wall Street Journal.

Take a peek: blogs I love

Here are the links to my five favourite blogs:

http://www.thesartorialist.com/

The pioneer of fashion photography in the blogging arena, Scott Schuman's 'The Sartorialist' is my very favourite fashion blog. In creating this blog, he sought to develop a two-way dialogue about the world of fashion and its relationship with every day life. Most of his images are raw street-photography shots, echoing how the eyes of the fashion industry view everyday trends.

http://www.garancedore.fr/en/

A French illustrator and keen fashionista, Garance Dore's blog began simply as an arena for the display of her drawings and snippets of her daily life in an attempt to connect more directly with readers. It has now grown into an extremely successful site, with her love of fashion at its core. Inspired by The Sartorialist, her focus is now chiefly on fashion photography, shooting international editorials and ad campaigns. Her blog is her source of freedom.

http://www.stylelist.com/

Stylelist is a go-to blog for all things from fashion and celebrities, to journalism and culture. It is a hybrid of photographic pieces, journalistic entries, advice forums, videos, news, design and entertainment. I love how it employs a range of interest areas within which all different voices are heard. It is very socially-aware and it accumulates the knowledge of professionals from every field. Always a good read!

http://elephantine.typepad.com/elephantine/page/1/

I stumbled across Rachel Ball's blog, Elephantine, only recently. However, it has now become a daily fixture in my blog crawl! An endearingly simplistic and 'pretty' blog, she uses her page as a forum for collecting and sharing the things she likes, specifically fashion, accessories, housewares and photography. Her history in design evidences itself in every element of her blog. I love her unique and natural photography, beautifully shot videos, and 'Friday Fiction' - a weekly installation in which she writes very short narratives which are always a pleasure to read.

http://lingeredupon.blogspot.com.au/

I found this blog, Lingered Upon, by clicking on its link which was featured on Elephantine's favourite blog list, and it has become one of my new faves too! Alice Gao, the blog's creator, says the title was taken from one of her favourite T.S. Elliot poems, "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock". This literary reference immediately had me interested! She said that in this arena the words lend themselves to her lingering upon a moment, a simple reality, and capturing it in photograph form - "photos and accumulations of small realities", she says. Her images are absorbing, her words beautifully crafted and the layout homely and clean.

Jouir!!

In the words of Goodman, Woolf and Duras...

In journalism, there has always been a tension between getting it first and getting it right.

ELLEN GOODMAN, Boston Globe, 1993

To write weekly, to write daily, to write shortly, to write for busy people catching trains in the morning or for tired people coming home in the evening, is a heartbreaking task for men who know good writing from bad. They do it, but instinctively draw out of harm's way anything precious that might be damaged by contact with the public, or anything sharp that might irritate its skin.

VIRGINIA WOOLF, The Common Reader

Journalism without a moral position is impossible. Every journalist is a moralist. It’s absolutely unavoidable. A journalist is someone who looks at the world and the way it works, someone who takes a close look at things every day and reports what she sees, someone who represents the world, the event, for others. She cannot do her work without judging what she sees.

MARGUERITE DURAS, foreward, Outside: Selected Writings

Lecture Five

Having explored, in the last two lectures, the innate value of text and imagery in the field of journalism, it was only natural to address the one remaining sensory element - sound.

A uniquely structured lecture, it required us to listen to two radio interview podcasts - one with Richard Fidler, a well-known ABC radio reporter, and the other with Steve Austin, a Brisbane-based broadcaster who currently hosts the Morning show on 612 ABC. As they spoke of their personal views on becoming radio journalists and the nature of their role, they agreed upon the fact that they can be viewed as doing a public service - asking questions the public seek answers to, probing contentious topics and harnessing raw emotion. Both reporters held the position that interviews on radio have the ability to carry much more impact than those in newspapers and magazines, as the listener is presented with not only what the answer is, but how it is answered. As Fidler communicates, radio is a much more "intimate" forum than many other journalistic mediums. It is free from the distractions of advertisements or competing headlines, thus able to focus completely on a single story, emotion, word or breath.

Both Fidler and Austin's associations with talk-back radio mean that their interaction with emotional interviews rather than mere informational interviews, are plentiful. Although this dialogue can be tricky to navigate at once probingly and respectfully, good reporting has the power to cover all shades and colours of human emotional experiences - from the happiness of the sporting record breaker to the helplessness of a mother whose child is missing. Both reporters maintain that in these journalistic environments, silence is as powerful as any spoken word. And this pertains to both parties. Silence from the interviewee can express a state of incommunicable turmoil or thoughtful pause, while the same from the interviewer can illustrate an environment of respectful listening and comfort. Fidler and Austin both place great value in employing silence in this regard.

There also seems to be great importance in putting aside the interviewer's personal agenda and approaching the subject both objectively and curiously. A genuine interest in what the person has to say will create a comfortable atmosphere, which increases the possibility for deeper, revealing responses. As Austin said, "a magic moment is when someone reveals something about themselves personally", where the interview flows so effortlessly that the knowledge of place and time is no longer necessary.

Radio is an arena in which one can let their guard down - but only if the interview is conducted effectively with utmost investigative grace.

The Radio Reporter

The job of the reporter is to "get the information, get the audio, get it right, and get it on the radio - and fast." Radio reporters know where to go to get information and the best people to talk to. They have an instinctive "nose for news". Hard work, enthusiasm, determination and attention to detail lie behind every well-reported story.

As broadcast journalists, Paul Chantler and Peter Stewart proclaim: "Reporting is probably the most exciting part of radio journalism. By doing what radio does best - going on air from a scene quickly and describing a dramatic event so listeners can visualise what is happening - we are using the most powerful tools we possess: immediacy and imagery."

A good reporter needs a touch of scepticism or suspicion. They tend to accept little at face value and often realise that lurking behind a chance remark, a single fact, a few obscure sentences or an official silence, there may be more to be revealed. The ability to create 'word pictures' which so vividly recreate an event, a mood or an emotion is one of the most powerful and compelling tools available to journalists in every field.

Radio Journalism

Radio journalism is the most primitive broadcasting form. Its purpose has shifted over time from being an instrument of propaganda, to one which circulates news and debate (as well as a source of entertainment). In the last few years we have begun to experience the impact of a new technological revolution which has radically changed the efficiency and way that radio journalists can operate. The digital age, 'multimedia' and the implications of communication through the Internet have liberated journalists from the viewpoint of individual research, and expanded the opportunity of freedom of expression and commercial application of radio news operations.

Gone are the days where the word 'journalism' conjured up images of newsrooms thundering with the clatter of manual typewriters, the cries of copy tasters and the litter of analogue tape. Radio is now a fast-moving medium of broadcast news, where journalists are at the mercy of a telephone call and a clock, seeking the fastest possible release of quality information. There has undoubtedly been widespread warning that radio is a dying medium; a mere victim of television's popularity and remorseless expansion. Yet much evidence points not only to radio's survival, but its success far beyond the expectations of its fiercest critics.

Radio paints the pictures that television shoots, honouring the beauty and power of language. It is this assertion that eliminates the lingering criticism that radio journalism is simply an interruption of music output. The innate value of news as being discovered through individual efforts must prevail over that which simply appears on a screen.