JOUR1111 - Annotated Bibliography

Preface:

This annotated bibliography will explore the current news stories associated with the celebrity endorsement surround the 2012 United States Presidential Campaign. The following mediums were analysed; two online articles and a news broadcast. Each medium communicated parallel and differing opinions on the event, often dependent on the target audience and credibility.

Inthorn, S., Street, J. (2011). Celebrity Politics: Simon Cowell for Prime Minister? Young citizens’ attitudes towards celebrity politics. Media, Culture and Society, 33 (3). 479-489. DOI: 10.177/0163443711398765

The authors, Sanna Inthorn and John Street, are both faculty members of the Arts Department at the University of East Anglia. Ms Inthorn is a Senior Lecturer of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies and Professor Street is a Professor of Politics and the author of several books, therefore both a credible sources (University of East Anglia, 2012). The article focuses on the influence of celebrities in politics on young citizens in the United Kingdom. The method of content collection used in this study was reliable as first hand opinions were taken from UK adolescence’s. Throughout the analysis, it was found that young citizens associate a level of trust with a celebrity that they do not associate with politicians, as they believe that celebrities share the truths of their lives through music or performance and politicians keep personal information quiet. Despite this, the information regarding the overall influence of celebrities in politics was conflicting. It was recognised that people who have a strong interest in celebrity culture ‘are the least likely to vote, and their political interest is low’ (Couldry and Markham, 2007). However, in the USA and Canada there is evidence of celebrities having a positive impact on the willingness of young people to support specific causes (Jackson and Darrow, 2005) or to vote in elections (Austin et al., 2008).

Cited below are some commercial media texts which emphasise both the negative and positive celebrity influences in regards to supporting a cause and voting, in particular the 2012 United States Presidential Election.

Wong, V. (2012, September). Obama vs Romney Celebrity Endorsements: Why Stars Continue to Shine in Election 2012. PolicyMic. Retrieved from http://www.policymic.com/articles/15082/obama-vs-romney-celebrity-endorsements-why-stars-continue-to-shine-in-election-2012

Freelance journalist Vicky Wong wrote a story last month which discusses the impact, both negative and positive, of celebrities on the 2012 United States Presidential Election. The site PolyMic, founded by Harvard and Stanford graduates Chris Altchek and Jake Horowitz, is a democratic online news platform which aims to engage readers in open debates (PolyMic: About Us 2012). Being an open news platform, its source material is only as reliable as the author, and as Vicky Wong is a graduate in Politics and International Relations (PolyMic, 2012) the source has been deemed credible. As mentioned in the academic article, it was found that celebrity endorsement had an impact on the younger demographic, with the number of voters increasing from 2004 to 2008. Contradictory, celebrity endorsement was said to be patronising towards those who take genuine interest in politics, and this high-profile endorsement assumes that nobody people don’t understand politics and need to have it explained to them. The article continues to touch on this patronising nature and compares celebrities to cheerleaders, implying that they lack knowledge but are useful in rallying support. Despite the slight tendencies to render celebrities stupid, there is little bias in the article as it covers both the negative and positive impacts of celebrity endorsement. 

Harper, J. (2010, April 27). Celeb Support Doesn’t Help Candidates. The Washington Post. Retrieved from http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/apr/27/hollywood-fame-brings-candidates-political-fortune/?page=all

Journalist Jennifer Harper wrote an article in 2010, analysing a study released by North Carolina State University. The study was conducted by an Associate Professor of Political Science, Michael Cobb. The Washington Times has gained reputation for hard hitting investigative reporting and thorough coverage of politics and policy, therefore this is a reliable source (Washington Times, 2012). The study, which gathered the opinions of 800 college students, found that celebrity endorsements do not help political candidates, they can hurt them. The study even refuted a study conducted by the University of Maryland, which estimated that Oprah’s endorsement of Barack Obama in 2008 was responsible for around one million votes. Mr. Cobb contradictorily claims that data indicated Oprah’s ratings declined in the wake of her political endorsement. The article contains strong bias as it almost entirely focuses on one study, therefore one set of findings. These findings suggest the negative impact of celebrity endorsement; therefore the article also reflects this viewpoint.  This strong political bias is not as prevalent in either of the other commercial media sources, which leads us to question the author’s personal bias and credibility.

Raaflaub, L (Presenter). (2012, September 10). Celebrities in Politics [Academic Newscast]. Denver, United States of America: The Met Report

Presenter covered the effects of celebrity endorsement in the 2012 Presidential Campaign during a segment of the Met Report. The Met Report is an academic newscast from the University of Denver, and has been nominated for ­two Emmy Awards for Outstanding Student Achievement in Television Broadcasting, making it a highly reliable source. The segment offered an ‘expert’ opinion from Dr. Robert Preuhs, a Professor of Political Science, who explained the lack of evidence suggesting that celebrities sway voter opinion. However, he further explains that public opinion leaders; well know and well respected individuals, can influence voters perceptions of a candidate. The segment is brief and only one ‘expert’ is consulted, leaving little room for bias or political debate. Consequently it is less informative than the other commercial pieces, and rather than discuss the negative and/or positive impacts, it just claims that there are no real impacts or influences at all.

APA Style Reference List

Harper, J. (2010, April 27). Celeb Support Doesn’t Help Candidates. The Washington Post. Retrieved from http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/apr/27/hollywood-fame-brings-candidates-political-fortune/?page=all

Inthorn, S., Street, J. (2011). Celebrity Politics: Simon Cowell for Prime Minister? Young citizens’ attitudes towards celebrity politics. Media, Culture and Society, 33 (3), 479-489. DOI: 10.177/0163443711398765

Metro Student Media. (2012). The Met Report. Retrieved from http://metrostudentmedia.com/about/met-report/

PolyMic. (2012). PolyMic: About Us. Retrieved from http://www.policymic.com/info/ourStory

PolyMic. (2012). PolyMic: Vicky Wong. Retrieved from http://vickywong.policymic.com/

Raaflaub, L (Presenter). (2012, September 10). Celebrities in Politics [Academic Newscast]. Denver, United States of America: The Met Report

The Washington Times. (2012). Staff Members: Jennifer Harper. Retrieved from http://www.washingtontimes.com/staff/jennifer-harper/

The Washington Times. (2012). The Washington Times: About. Retrieved from http://www.washingtontimes.com/about/

University of East Anglia. (2012). Academic: Sanna Inthorn. Retrieved from http://www.uea.ac.uk/psi/People/Academic/Sanna+Inthorn

University of East Anglia. (2012). Academic: Prof John Street. Retrieved from http://www.uea.ac.uk/psi/People/Academic/John+Street

Wong, V. (2012, September). Obama vs Romney Celebrity Endorsements: Why Stars Continue to Shine in Election 2012. PolicyMic. Retrieved from http://www.policymic.com/articles/15082/obama-vs-romney-celebrity-endorsements-why-stars-continue-to-shine-in-election-2012

JOUR1111 - Lecture 10

Listening To: Everybody Knows - John Legend

My Mood:

This lecture reinforced my view that investigative journalism is essential in providing a voice to those without one. As I already do an investigative journalism course (JOUR1710) I thought I already knew everything there was to know about this particular area. Surprisingly, whether it has anything to do with my lack of attention in JOUR1710 or not, I learned a few new things.

“Isn’t all journalism meant to involve questioning investigation of facts and opinions presented to us?”

           

         - Ross Coulthart

When writing we should always analyse and be sceptical of every piece of information in order to ensure the quality of our work. I also learnt that there has been less investigative journalism in recent years due to the development of online news. And with the rise of social networking, it appears that it shall soon fill the investigative gap.

I also learnt about the “IN’s” of investigative journalism, an ideal that I had never heard of before;

INtelligent

INformed

INtuitive

INside

INvest

The most interesting segment of the lecture though, was the investigative journalism trailblazers. It is fascinating to see how long investigative journalism has actually been around for and what kind of an impact there reports had on the community, and the world.

Em

JOUR 1111 - Lecture 9

Listening To: 'Turn My Swag On' - Alexa Goddard (Cover)

My Mood: 

This week’s lecture focused on Agenda Setting: How the Media Constructs Reality. Our reality is ‘socially constructed through a process of communication using shared language’. In laymen’s terms this means that our perception of the world is dependent upon the representation of things that surround us. As upcoming journalists, we will share a role in constructing public perception, which is a fear inducing thought.

We also looked into the Agenda Setting ‘Family’, which consists of seven ‘members’:

1. Media Gatekeeping: what the media chooses to reveal to the public. A great example of this is the United States media censorship of the atomic attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. Mostly statistics of infrastructure damage was widely released, and any personal media (pictures, stories) was kept quiet.

2. Media Advocacy: the purposive promotion of a message through the media. A prime example of this is advertising, whose aim is to manipulate people into consuming a product. Another good example could be political campaigns.

3. Agenda Cutting: most of the truth and/or reality that is going on in the world isn’t represented. For example, celebrity news may take prime time precedence over the outbreak of war in a third world country.

4. Agenda Surfing: the media follows the crowd and trends. A great example of this is the STOP KONY 2012 campaign, which was repeatedly circulated through the media at the beginning of the year.

5. The diffusion of News: the process through which an important event is communicated to the media. This applies to all mass media news.

  

6. Portrayal of an Issue: the way an issue is portrayed will often influence how it is perceived by the public. This applies to any news stories that are tainted with political or personal bias. Visual components play a major role in the perception of an issue.  

7. Media Dependence: the more dependant a person is on the media for information, the more susceptible that person is to media agenda setting. A good example of this is ‘fake’ news, such as celebrity deaths, that circulate around social media sites.  

Bruce also shared with us the four types of Agenda Setting;

Public Agenda: topics that the public think are important

Policy Agenda: issues that decision makers think are important

Corporate Agenda: issues that big business and corporations think are important

Media Agenda: issues discussed in the media

“The pictures in our heads – the mass media creates images of events in our minds”

                                                                           

Walter Lippmann

A way to understand the full impact of visual media on the general public, yourselves included, is to play a word and image association game. By sharing the first visual material that comes to mind, it represents a true reflection of how you perceive a certain issue.  

The elite medias have taken it upon themselves to set an agenda for what we see, read and hear – it’s scary how much they control us.

Emily

JOUR 1111 - Lecture 8

Listening To: "Made of Stone" - Matt Corby

My Mood: 

This week we had a guest lecturer, Donna Meiklejohn, who spoke to us about ethics in journalism. Now, it is not a common conception that journalist actually have a code of ethics, little alone that they actually follow it. It was just yesterday that I started thinking about the ethical code of journalism, when somebody in my COMU1000 tute said that journalists in fact have no code. Well, IN FACT, they do. 

So, as journalists are  already scrutinised for having bad journalistic practices, we must avoid this and apply the principals of the code of ethics to our work. These include the three ethical theories; Deontology, Consequentialism and Virtue. 

We also looked at ethics in advertising, and although I wouldn't say I was an unethical person, none of these advertisements were in anyway offensive. They were either clever, or something I couldn't be bothered with. I did notice, however, that different generations have different codes of ethics. Our guest lecturer seemed to be more offended by the advertisements than we were, or more concerned that we would be offended by them than we actually were, and I would say most of our generation is not too uncomfortable saying the world 'penis' in front of people in their late teens and early 20's. 

It was very interesting though, to learn the importance of the fine line of ethics.

Emily

JOUR 1111 Assessment 2: Factual Storytelling

Preface: For this piece of assessment I interviewed my friend, and fellow volunteer, Bernadette O'Sullivan over Skype. The piece was originally intended to be a video, however I had major difficulties with the Skype recording software and Skype itself. Therefore, I have presented a text interview, accompanied by photographs that enhance certain aspects of her story. 

Bernadette undertook a three month volunteer placement in India's capital, New Delhi. She worked for an organisation called Swechha, a local youth run and youth focused NGO. Whilst here she took daily classes with disadvantaged children, many of whom lived in the local slum community, and assisted in the organisation of a charitable rock concert. 

Question One: Why did you decide to go on this trip?

“Honestly, I had no idea what I was going to do. I decided to defer uni, I wanted to see the world and volunteering seemed like a great experience. And the brochure looked amazing [laughs]. It looked really good and I just kind of wanted to do something good for society. I don’t know that sounds a little bit cheesy doesn’t it [laughs].”

Question Two: What were some of your most memorable moments? Apart from the time you spent with me, of course.

“ Nawwww [laughs]. That time I spent with you in the hills was amazing, all like two days of it. It was probably one of the highlights of my trip.” 

“And when I was teaching at the school, when one of the girls that I was teaching found out that I had like two weeks left she started crying and saying that she loved me and would miss me and then the whole day she spent giving me little presents and giving me little love notes and things.”

“There was this one time one of the Slim Funky Boys, that was our dance funky group. Their rock stars, don’t diss them [laughs]. Anyway, they accidentally locked me in the port-a-loo with a rat. They forgot I was in there, and they were cleaning up the space and then they left. So I was locked in there until someone from the organisation came back with keys after two hours. In the dark, stuck in that port-a-loo, I didn’t tell you this story. It was horrible. This was in the middle of Delhi in 47 degree heat. It was amazing [laughs]. It was a drop down toilet too, and all the kids use it. And like I love the kids, but they have no sense of hygiene, and it was bad.” 

“Also one of the awesome things was when I went to Amritsar. I absolutely loved it, it was the best. Everyone I met there was so beautiful and they’d always give me hugs, and try to teach me Hindi and I was really bad at it. And they were really good at English, so that was embarrassing [laughs].”

Question Three: What was the hardest part, well, other than the rat experience?

“That wasn’t even hard [laughs]. But seriously, I had quite a lot of hard times in India. The hardest part was definitely being away from my family for so long. I was really fragile, like I’d get a phone call and I’d just cry.”

Question Four: What do you miss the most about India? 

“You and Shari, of course! [laughs] And the kids, and Swechha, the organisation I volunteered for.”

“I want to go back all the time. Did you not feel that in India everything was exciting, everyday was an excitement? Everyday you’d plan, and on the weekend you’d go and do something crazy. And every afternoon me, Nat and Mareid made sure we went out in Delhi and we did something crazy or we went to a restaurant, we tried different suburbs, like every day was an adventure. I miss that adventure.”

Epilogue: I would like to thank Bernadette for her time, and thanks a lot to Skype and Evaer for failing me. I speak on behalf of both of us that this experience was an amazing one, and trust me, she had plenty more stories to tell. 

I am going to leave you with these wise words from Harriet Naylor;

Volunteering can be an exciting, growing, enjoyable experience. It is truly gratifying to serve a cause, practice one's ideals, work with people, solve problems, see benefits, and know one had a hand in them.  

JOUR 1111 - Lecture 7

Listening To: Send Me On My Way - Rusted Root

Wise Words: "I am constantly torn between killing myself and killing everyone around me" - Unknown

This week’s lecture looked at public media, a good comparative to last week’s lecture on commercial media. The purpose of public media is to serve or engage the public, and it is often a more reliable source for factual and truthful news.

Bruce talked about public media corporations such as the ABC having less bias than other outlets, which I also believe to be true. Instinctually, when looking at online news, I will visit news sites such as ABC or BBC first, or to ensure that I story I read elsewhere is in fact true.

However, I often get bored with public media on television, as their news shows do not engage me like those do on commercial media networks. Television programs such as The Project or Good News Week, although less factual and reliable than public media news programs, are more engaging and therefore I am more likely to actually take in what I am hearing.

Bruce also touched briefly on how channels such as ABC and SBS aren’t Government run; they are run by the people. This was an interesting fact for me as I always assumed that these networks were sponsored by the government. Better go and edit my post about last week’s lecture. This makes them less susceptible to media censorship, and although in Australia we do not have strictly censored media, it is a big issue in other parts of the world.

So let’s keep our fingers crossed that we maintain our right to uncensored media,

Emily

JOUR 1111 - Lecture 6

Listening To: No Tears - James Blunt

Wise Words: "We are all faces with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations." - Charles R. Swindoll

This week’s lecture looked at commercial media. What I gathered from this lecture is that commercial media is more focused on business and financial objectives, rather than presenting factual accounts. It’s not surprising really, considering that commercial media is driven by advertising, as opposed to networks such as the ABC which is sponsored by the government people, and therefore does not need to appeal to advertisers.

With all this in mind, commercial media lacks quality and truth, and the corporations in this industry are far more interested in a pay day than fulfilling their audiences. Rather than existing solely to provide information to their audience, they are driven by profit.

Commercial media also has a habit of over dramatising certain events, which is particularly apparent in television programs such as Today Tonight and A Current Affair. This overdramatic flair becomes particularly apparent when the clips and phrases are all mashed together in a montage. We looked at the following one in our tutorial this week, which showcases clips from commercial media channels in the United States.

Next week’s lecture is about public media, so it will be interesting to compare the core values of each media type,

Emily

JOUR 1111 - Lecture 5

Listening To: Back to Black - Amy Winehouse 
Wise Words: "Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen." - Winston Churchill 

This week we talked about how telling stories through images had developed throughout history. Advancements in digital technology have resulted in increase in this form of storytelling, incorporating both still images and video.

"If it makes you laugh, if it makes you cry, if it rips out your heart, that's a good picture."

In order for a picture to tell a good story, it must conjure a certain emotional reaction from the viewer; sadness, happiness, shock, anger, disgust, fear, excitement, anticipation, love. I believe they have a more of an ability to impact an audience than words.The photograph below, taken in Barcelona, Spain on the 27^th of May 2011, is a depiction of a police clash with protestors over high unemployment issues throughout the country. The protestor at the centre of attention holds up his hands, covered in the blood of a fellow demonstrator. Within me, this image evokes anger, sadness, fear and I can almost feel the subjects despair.

Videos work in much the same way as still images, however, they have the ability to say so, so much more. With the rise of modern technology, in particular mobile devices, it seems that anyone can be a photo journalist to some degree. In the past few years, some of the most influential news videos have been retrieved from portable recording devices, such as mobile phones. An event that was widely covered by amateur footage was the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami. Below is compilation video of the amateur footage taken on the day.  

So a picture does really tell a thousand words, and a video tells so, so much more.

Emily

JOUR 1111 - Lecture 4

Listening To: Jump Into The Fog - The Wombats

Wise Words: "Never say goodbye, because saying goodbye means going away, and going away means forgetting...." - Peter Pan

The first thing I took from Richard Fidler is that television and radio are two very different mediums, which work completely differently. He goes on to say that radio is a much more intimate medium, unlike tv, which is a high impact media that is almost shouting at you, radio almost becomes a voice in your head while you are undertaking another activity.

He also gave advice on the methods for telling stories effectively on radio. His main point is that you must make the listeners feel included; empathise with them, entertain them and capture the moment. Another point that really struck me was to never be afraid of silence, as silence is really powerful in radio; it’s truthful and revealing.

Steve Austin also touches on this point, saying that you need to give the audience some space to reveal themselves; rather than a constant bombardment of questions.

I guess silence really is golden,

Emily

JOUR 1111 - Lecture 3

Listening To: My Kind of Love - Emeli Sande 

Wise Words: "Even bad years are pretty good years, I think" - Robert Downey Jr

Text media is the journalistic field that interest me the least, so it’s safe to say that I was not overjoyed about this week’s lecture. Never the less, guest speaker Skye Doherty still managed to keep me interested as she shared her professional opinions and knowledge about text.

“Text dominates online”

This is a questionable statement; I personally believe that currently text dominates every aspect of media, but it is online media that is seeing the biggest increase in visual communication. Although most online news is in text form, and short text communication site Twitter is becoming more popular than ever, these two sites still rely on visual aspects to make them great. And largely visual sites, Tumblr and Instagram, have gained great popularity in the past few years. So text may dominate right now, but is it the future of online journalism?

Skye went on the showcase how the Inverted Pyramid works; in which the most important information leads, followed by more specific details and then some general background knowledge. Then she went on to discussing headlines, which I often find are the hardest part about writing a story. I often find myself spending upwards of an hour simply staring at my computer screen trying to come up with a headline that screams READ ME! And I more often than not come up empty. Luckily for me, Skye garnered some helpful hints when it comes to headlines;

• Don’t make the headline too tricky
• Don’t use puns until you are more experienced
• For now, stick to verbs and accuracy

I’ll let you know how that all works out for me,

Emily

JOUR 1111 - Lecture 2

Listening To: The Dark Knight Rises OST - Hans Zimmer

Wise Words: "A hero can be anyone." - Batman

First point of call; the jellybeans (oh and lesson they were associated with, entitlement and the paywall). For the past few years, online news content has been a FREE service, but now an increasing number of news services are beginning to charge for their content. Now, traditional print media has almost always come at some cost for consumers, so why is it such an issue that online media is beginning to charge? Cue the jellybeans. After being allowed a small sample of the delicious treats, they were taken away from us, and we were asked to pay if we wanted more. Two words for you Dr Redman; NOT FAIR. And this is exactly how consumers of online news feel, why should they pay for something that they feel they are ENTITLED to for free? But if quality paid journalism continues to be offered for free where does it leave those employed in the industry? Honestly, at that point I didn’t really care much, as long as I got my jellybeans back. And I did :D

Secondly, I want to mention the concept of the Wed 3.0, which gives users the ability to tailor their World Wide Web. So basically this ends the hassle of scrolling through endless information that is of no interest to you, and welcomes a world customised to you. However, through Web 3.0, consumers run the risk of hyperlocalisation; becoming trapped in their own little bubble of information while the rest of the world continues outside.

Emily

JOUR1111 - Lecture 1

Listening To: Biding My Time, All of This - Busby Marou

Wise Words: Forever is a long, long time. And time has a way of changing - Fox and the Hound

My first university lecture ever - cue awkward mid-year-er. Not yet equipped with an iPhone, and the wonderful UQ maps app that comes with it, I found myself hopelessly lost. After exhausting all my life lines, including an unsuspecting doctor I happened upon in the John Hines building, I finally made it. I was fifteen minutes late and totally flustered, but I had made it. After grappling with my desk for a few painstakingly uncomfortable moments, I finally settled in and attempted to absorb the words of Dr Redman.

I’ll admit that the whole lecture was kind of a blur; I couldn’t manage to calm my nerves enough to focus on anything much in particular. That was until four simple words slipped from Dr Redman’s mouth; “You are the journalist.” You, as in me? I am the journalist? To say the least, I panicked. And now, after having a few weeks to think about, I wouldn’t say I am any less frazzled. Does this mean that whatever I write (included these far from newsworthy blog entries) is considered journalism, what responsibilities come with this title, do I deserve it?

It seems every other student is happily and courageously embracing this ideal, while I sit on the other side of the room sceptically staring at it. And for the time being I am content to stay there, but I’ll keep you posted.

Emily