My inactivity has been due to the onslaught of assignments as of late. But they're all finished now!... Except I still have to study for exams... shit.
I read this on The Drum the other day. It's about politics AND the media. My two favourite things ever!!
Ultimately our political culture is strengthened by a strong media. We rely on journalists to ask the questions that we can't. Imagine how our democracy would look if there was the same level of interest in policy as there was in personality. At the moment it's a pretty disappointing affair, with way too much sizzle and not enough sausage.
What I want to ask is: how is what the media IS asking relevant?
All we hear about is the fighting between the two major parties. It's rare that policy is debated. And when it is, all they do is berate the other side.
As a politics student I understand the desire for power. But what I don't understand is how neither side will ever compromise or agree with one another. That's what strong political leadership is, being able to do what is right regardless of your political persuasion. I mean, the Liberals are about free markets and liberal economics. And they have come forward saying that they support the reforms in aged care and disability pensions. But they still go on about the cost! They're ignoring what is morally right. And what is right is that we look after our most vulnerable citizens. That is what a liberal democracy does.
I know I'm always having a go at the Liberals on here, but Labor really isn't any better.
And as a journalism student, I don't understand why the media makes such a big deal about the fighting between the two parties! We're taught to be objective and to seek the truth. What the hell were our current journalists taught?! I want to know what the government and opposition propose we do about issues such as climate change, asylum seekers, and gay marriage. I don't want to see Tony Abbott standing next to signs calling Julia Gillard a liar or saying that she's Bob Brown's bitch.
A few weeks ago on ABC Radio they were having a discussion about Australian politics and the Westminster system itself. I can't for the life of me remember who was on, but what they all said was so true. They said that the Westminster system creates an adversarial political system. So no one can agree with their opponents for fear of the consequences from their own party.
See why I believe so strongly in an Australian republic??
I am sick of the bullshit that fills the news when it comes to politics. I want to see objective, truth seeking, and reliable reporting when it comes to politics.
That's what a news value is. What deserves to receive attention.
I don't really know how to feel about that... I mean, I understand that there is just too much going on for it all to be reported. But everything that happens is going to have an affect that will impact someone. So shouldn't people know about this? What do I know? I'm a first year uni student, I'll learn in time.
In this modern age we need to make everything appealing, even the news, because lets face it, people need to know what's happening around them no matter how dull it is. So everything is transient according to the general public. Life is only a series of unrelated events...
As Arthur Evelyn Waugh puts it:
News is what a chap
who doesn't care much
about anything wants to
read. And it's only news
until he's read it. After
that it's dead.
There are four main aspects of news values:
IMPACT
AUDIENCE IDENTIFICATION
PRAGMATICS
SOURCE INFLUENCE
These aspects result in what news values is all about
NEWSWORTHINESS
Despite all sources of media trying to be relevant to the public, we can't say that news values are universal across all cultures and societies. And to me, that will make working in the media fun. I intend to travel and work overseas after uni, so I'm really looking forward to the challenge of working with a new culture and new people. My education is going to teach me to how report what is worthy of people knowing about, while travelling is going to teach me what is worthy to different people.
But there are two values that people who work in media across different cultures believe in:
If it bleeds, it leads
It it's local, it leads
People are drawn to tragedy. A sad and morbid fact. So, serious hard hitting stories are going to get people's attention. And of course, people want to know what's going on in their local community.
News values shape these ideas because news values determine them. News values are what makes journalists chose stories full of blood and tragedy, and at the same time, stories close to home. Values vary from place to place, but they serve the same function: to keep an audience.
I think John Sergeant sums up news values pretty well:
Journalists rely on
instinct rather than
logic when it comes
to the defining a
sense of news
values.
There have been three main hypothesise about news values. Firstly by Galtung and Ruge, second by Golding and Elliot, and third by O'Neill and Harcup. They all try to explain what is newsworthy, essentially. And my first thought about them is that they appear very Western in their outlook... But that's just me and I haven't read anything else about them to really back up my claim.
However, news values have been threatened over the past couple of years by three factors:
Commercialisation of of Media and Social Life
Public Relations
Journalism's Ideals/Journalism's Reality
These three factors are limiting the reliability and quality of news in various forms of media. This then makes people question the values held by journalists and discredits the field.
One particularly interesting threat to news values is something called 'churnalism.' This is when journalists just churn out information from press and media releases by PR companies rather than write original reports that contain relevance to an audience.
Like I said in a previous blog post, I'm a massive fan of British comedy. It's just so much better than American comedy, and most Australian comedy for that matter. My favourite British comic (and lets face it, my favourite comic of all time) is Stephen Fry. I'm sure most of you know him from shows like Blackadder, A Bit of Fry and Laurie and QI. But he was in another show called Absolute Power, which is my favourite show with Stephen Fry in it.
Absolute Power is about a PR company, headed by Stephen's character Charles Prentiss, who disregard all forms of ethics and morals in order to do their job. I find hilarious as well as a quite thought provoking about the media. And it wasn't until I started JOUR1111 that I really began to fully understand the dynamics of the company and media in general.
In this episode, they are hired by a right-wing political party to handle their PR. Absolutely hilarious and raises questions about values in the media (sorry for the awful quality)
Part 1
Part 2
Another questionable client. They go ahead with it, by the way.
Another episode about politics
Part 1 This time with people that matter
Part 2 Taking it a step further...
Shaping public opinion
And my favourite episode. A comedy actor beats his heavily pregnant girlfriend in the car park at Ikea. And Charles takes on the challenge to sort out the wife beater's PR, with absolutely hilarious results.
This episode needs to be watched to be believed. The degree of manipulation and moral cowardice is enough to make you cringe yet piss laugh hysterically. Truth be told, Absolute Power is what got me interested in the media. I was really tempted to study PR. But I decided against because I knew I would never be as brilliant as Charles Prentiss, even though I lack a moral compass.
In our tute for JOUR1111 on ethics and news values, Carmel showed us this video about churnalism and the relationship between PR and journalism (I couldn't link the video like I did with the others for some reason...).
See any connections between Absolute Power and Chris Atkins' investigation?
Watch a full episode of Absolute Power. It will blow your mind how similar it is to Chris Atkins' video. And it's bloody hilarious. More than anything, watch it because it's funny and has Stephen Fry in it.
Values underpin everything in society. Not only do I have values as a (future/aspiring) journalist, I also have values as a student.
I went with good grades and enough sleep. I'm going to be a socially inept journalist/foreign affairs adviser one day. I try to make the right decision and I'm still disadvantaging myself.
