"Just another way of talking to people..."

"Forensics is fantastic, but it's people that solve crime, this is just another way of talking to people" says Inspector Payne, a self confessed 'twitterer'. After conversations in class today with other students regarding the emergence of social networking sites, I couldn't help but wonder whether law enforcers and forensic investigators too have jumped on the 'blogosphere bandwagon'. For now it seems as though police really are opening up to social media and embracing resources in helping them to solve crimes. But I'm undecided as to whether this is a good or bad idea???? Much more research and and investigating will have to take place before I prove my own case! Here goes...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8363064.stm
 

Unpaid yet invaluable?

After an extremely interesting, thought provoking seminar given by two Singapore students in my journalism class, I felt compelled to do some of my own research. The seminar focused on Singapore's media industry and highlighted many aspects I was unaware of for example, censorship of internet sites. Having been to Singapore myself, I could relate to the issue of maintaining a 'postive media' where journalists are expected to avoid reporting on negative issues concerning Singapore. From my own experience, it was obvious how hesitant the media industry is in providing coverage on crime, war, poverty, human error and disasters.

After class discussions a few weeks ago on citizen journalism in the 21st century, I couldn't help but research Singapore's situation and provide a comparison with Australia. Interestingly, Singapore has a website specifically dedicated to the citizen journalist (CJ) - http://theonlinecitizen.com/. I particularly enjoy reading the stories on the 'Press Muse' page, where the CJ's keep a watchful eye on the media industry, much like our Media Watch program or Four Corners.

Ben Bland, a blogger on the 'Asia File' http://asiancorrespondent.com/the-asia-file/bloggers-strike-a-blow-for-investigative-journalism-in-singapore makes some valid points on citizen journalism in Singapore and argues that it's not all negative. He says he, "wants to pay tribute to The Online Citizen, one of Singapore's most popular citizen journalism websites, for demonstrating both the importance of investigative journalism and its positive benefits for society." He further discusses such benefits explaining how the government continues to insist that homelessness does not exist in Singapore, however the CJ's seem to be constantly reporting on the increase of peope living on the streets?

"Last week, TOC published a story on the plight of homeless Singaporeans camping out in Sembawang Park, on the northern coast of the island state. It was well known among a number of social workers that there were Singaporeans living under canvas on a semi-permanent basis (I mentioned the issue in a story about loan sharks I wrote for Asia Sentinel in August). But TOC went down to Sembawang and told the story of these people, whose predicament gives the lie to the government's (at best ) arrogant and (at worst) dishonest insistence that there are no homeless in Singapore."


This example of course supports the idea of the CJ carrying out investigations on current issues in society. The story also provides proof that without CJ's, the 'real' stories may never be told, never reported, never heard of, never dealt with...

Like Australia's situation, I think the Singaporean 'Online Citizen' is a much needed news resource. It allows the important truths and honest, acuurate stories to be told by "unpaid reporters who provide a valuable service to the nation!"

To 2010 and beyond....boredom!

I must confess my dissapointment...I was completely and utterly embarrassed after watching the poor efforts of our much loved Channel 7 newsreaders on election night. Not only did Mel Doyle decieve viewers with her skin coloured cami (I thought she was busting out the cleavage until I looked closely), their faces just said it all! Bored...Bored and more bored...Yes, we could feel sorry for them, poor things having to pull an all nighter, tired, bored, their makeup cracking after holding their fake smiles for hours and hours. But come on guys, at least show a little enthusiasm!!! Most of us would agree that politics can be dry, but isn't it the job of journos and news readers to give it a bit of flair, lighten it up, tell a story, keep readers INTERESTED? Sadly, last night both Mel and Kochie failed on all grounds. As a budding journo myself, I suppose all I can do is learn from others mistakes so thankyou Channel 7 for the lesson!

You too can click on the link and find out what NOT to do as a journalist...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHJPpVihhfc

Who's got the power?

Who will pay for journalism in the future? This was the question that myself and the rest of my journalism seminar discussed in class today. I couldn't help but jump online and check out the current  situation of magazines and whether or not they are heading down the same path as newspapers. It seems to me that the current aim of the media industry is to scrap traditional media and have the internet as the main disseminator of news. I've provided a link below to a you tube clip that discusses the future of 'Time' magazine which I found very interesting. In particular, Nancy Gibbs (2010) believes, "the choice is ours" (as the audience) and the power rests in our hands as to whether or not we utilise the internet as a news source.  I strongly agree with her view that journalists will struggle keeping audiences interested in longer stories as readers probably won't want to be scrolling through dozens of screens. In regards to getting to the 'guts' of a story and finding out the deep information that may not be published in the limited online space, the power of choice is at the reader's fingertips, to further their research online. However I believe if this is the case, we will only see the flipside of the coin and the readers will be faced with the problem of not having the time to delve in as deep as they wish...So my point....Is online news really going to prove beneficial? I think not, unless of course you have massive amounts of internet megabytes!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NI8hI7m-yBc

Lost in the process???

Is traditional journalism long gone?
Has citizen journalism really taken over?
Or...is society seeing an emergence of an active partnership between the two?
After listening to a presentation in class today, I think the latter definitely prevails.
Take the London bombings for example, the first vision actually used came from a member of the community who recorded the event as it unfolded! And they say pictures tell a story! This noble citizen definitely helped tell this one. The vision was immediately uploaded on the BBC news website and the journalists were straight onto it to unveil the rest of the story.
Citizen journalism and professional journalist need to co-exist for news to unfold. Professional journalism cannot occur without citizen journalism and I look foward to working in the media, alongside other journalists, but of course with the help of the rest of the community.

Journalism in the 21st century

After last week's journalism seminar, it got me thinking seriously about- What IS journalism and Who IS a journalist in the modern world. This question bugged me for the whole 2 hours of the class, so I came home and sat down to come up with an answer to the above questions...
I was forced then to reflect on my own personal experiences I recently undertook as part of my placement at NBN television. It was here that I came to a better understanding of the role of a journalist and the common misconceptions society (particularly viewers) have of the industry. Three things I observed whilst at NBN:

1. Journos love coffee (and need it regularly)
2. Journos structure their whole lives around the precise hour of 4:00pm (deadline!!!)
3. Journos are extrememly passionate, determined and driven and will even give up their coffee in order to get a story in by 4:00pm