3.3: Are you worried about surveillance on or through Facebook? Why? Why not?

“Teens today grow up in a state of constant surveillance where there is no privacy. So they can’t really have an idea of it being lost. The risk of the government or a corporation coming in and looking at their MySpace site is beyond their consideration” (Westlake 2009 p. 32 quoting Berton 2006:A1).

My days of being a teenager are long gone, but I am also not worried about Facebook surveillance. I am aware that Facebook is in many ways a public place and, as with any public place, I understand that I do not have full control over what happens in it. I can only control what I submit to the site.

I could be filmed on CCTV when walking down the street, or be filmed on security cameras when entering a shop. I assume someone, somewhere is keeping a record of my credit card transactions, phone calls, TV shows I watch through pay TV,  tax returns, when I pay my rent, travel overseas, get a parking fine or visit the doctors. Be it they are different government departments and different businesses monitoring all these things that make up daily life but they are still monitored. Facebook to me just feels like an inevitable extension of this. I am not sure if its right, but it is reality.

 I am fine with Facebook collecting my data, as I am with other businesses and government departments doing the same thing, but in the same regard I don't want it used for immoral, unethical or illegal purposes. Facebook surveillance seems to me to be a big issue when put into the context of surveillance in every day life.

Westlake, E. J. 2008. Friend Me if You Facebook Generation Y and Performative Surveillance. Project Muse 52 (4): 21-40. https://auth.lis.curtin.edu.au/cgi-bin/auth-ng/walkin.cgi?url=http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/the_drama_review/v052/52.4.westlake.pdf (accessed 14/11/11).

What does 'personal journalism' mean, and what are the consequences?

According to Wall, bloggers who use  a personal narrative style, who share personal accounts of events and include personal information in their blog posts can be seen as non-professional as they are not remaining impartial during their report.

On the flip side Wall notes that use of personal opinion can also create a sense of intimacy between the blogger and the viewers and conveys "a sense of transparency" of "someone who is not manipulated by a corporate boss"(Wall 2005 p.165).

For people who are not totally trusting of news corporations, this sense of intimacy can  make personal journalists seem more credible as their reports are not seen to be tainted or influenced by the corporate world.

Wall, M. 2005. Blogs of war: Weblogs as news. Journalism 6 (2): 153 - 172. http://jou.sagepub.com.dbgw.lis.curtin.edu.au/content/6/2/153.full.pdf+html (accessed 8/11/11).

3.2 - Can you suggest any problems with the concept of postmodern journalism?

As Wall states in her article that Post modernity is the counter argument to Modernity.

 Modernity is explained as “a worldview associated with scientific knowledge and other so-called grand narratives that legitimize certain epistemologies and focus on professional/elite control over knowledge (Wall 2005 p. 158 referencing Lyotard)

In working against this worldview - Postmodern journalism revolves around the idea that there are many versions of the truth and each persons take on reality differs according to their own experience. The role of the postmodern journalist would therefore be to collect as many different versions of reality based on personal experiences.

A good example a postmodern gathering of information would be Wikipedia that works with the collective intelligence of volunteers to provide and check information. As Wales stated in the Ted talk Wikipedia is “open-ended” - new information can be entered at any time (TEDGlobal 2006); therefore the history of certain events is never set in stone. Although Wikipedia is not a relay of totally experiential stories it does include the viewpoints of many.

The problem with the concept of postmodern journalism is the issue of credibility and the reliability of the journalist to gather stories wide and varied range of people. Wall also states (quoting Moore) that postmodern journalism “rejects the meta-narrative” (Wall 2005 p.158) meaning that no-one ever steps back and takes a look at the bigger picture and facts are not checked, making a system solely reliable to the words of others.

To me the top down model of journalism and bottoms up models are two extreme ends of the scale. Journalism should encompass facts, figures, scientific evidence and the recollections of people in order to maintain balance.

TEDGlobal. 2006. Jimmy Wales on the birth of Wikipedia. In TED Talks. online video. TED Ideas Worth Spreading.

Wall, M. 2005. Blogs of war: Weblogs as news. Journalism 6 (2): 153 - 172. http://jou.sagepub.com.dbgw.lis.curtin.edu.au/content/6/2/153.full.pdf+html (accessed 8/11/11).

3.2: What is News?

In her article Blogs of War,  Wall quotes Carey as stating “News is the media’s interpretation of events”, quotes Stephens as stating “news is about a subject of some public interest that is shared with some portion of the public” and MacDougal and Reid as saying news is “timely, it concerns the nearby, it involves the well know and the prominent” (Wall 2005 p.154).

Wall also notes that traditionally news reported to the general public was about primary institutions within society but since its commodifiation – news items have been subjected to an editorial process (Wall 2005 p.155) in order to boost sales figures. Therefore news does fit Stephens definition of being “about a subject of public interest” but could also be said to control the subjects the public are interested in by only reporting on certain news items.

Blogging adds another sector - as it allows people to comment on news stories, to add opinion, to critique reporting or to add more information. Therefore news as it stands today could be seen not only as “the medias interpretation of events” but also includes the public’s interpretation of the information presented.

One thing that can be said is that news is timely. Blogging and other forms of social media allow companies and and the general public alike to report news stories quickly and efficiently. While news today doesn't necessarily concern the nearby (as we are now a more global community thanks to the internet) it does usually involve the well known and prominent  (be it a heiress of a hotel chain or a politician) so maybe MacDougal and Reid sum it up best.

Wall, M. 2005. Blogs of war: Weblogs as news. Journalism 6 (2): 153 - 172. http://jou.sagepub.com.dbgw.lis.curtin.edu.au/content/6/2/153.full.pdf+html (accessed 8/11/11).

ASSMT 1: 3.1 Notes on News Media

The ilecture this week by Mingnon Hardlow really opened my eyes to the role news media plays in a democracy. Hardlow states that the four estates that make up a democracy are the Judiciary, the Government, the Executive Government and Free Press who plays a watchdog function and keeps the general public informed (Harlow 2011).

With such an important role in society, I started to wonder about the credibility of news sources. It has long been known that magazines pay people for interviews and report gossip and rumor - often referred to as tabloids but does this cross over into the world of news? Especially online news, where anyone with an internet connection can become a reporter, quickly and easily uploading video, photos, sounds and text at any given time.  Who controls it? Who reads it? And does anyone believe it?

The power and control of traditional news sources was discussed by Harper in his article Journalism in the digital age where he notes that “many online publications depend on major brand names as the primary sources of information” (Harper 2003) inferring that while we may be able access news in more places than ever, it is likely that what we are reading online comes from the traditional media sources. This certainly rings true for me. I tend to read the smh online rather than blog posts and if news is ever reported by friend on facebook I will usually go to traditional news sites to validate it or seek further information.

Harper also outlined the power of editors in the news world who act as gatekeepers – determining which stories are newsworthy enough for publish, and therefore controlling the issues that are thought about and discussed by the general public. Prior to the internet there were not many alternative ways to find out about news stories not presented in the press and although online news is still dominated by traditional media there are alternatives. For example twitter allows people to follow multiple new sites, celebrities and friends from all over the world – a news item published in one country can circulate via social media and become public knowledge before publishing by traditional sources as was the case of the Occupy Wall Street protests (Gruen Planet: Episode 6  2011).

Then comes the issue of money. As much as free press is good for a Democracy it is also a business so who pays for online newspapers? Harlow advised that traditionally classified advertising paid for newspapers. Upon flicking through the October 28 edition of the Daily telegraph I found nothing more that 5 pages of classifieds - 3 of which were dedicated to jobs, cars, real estate and obituaries and the other 2 solely decided to "personals" (Classifieds  2011) . Classifieds in newspapers it seems are no longer popular, and with the benefits of online sites such as my career and eBay its not hard to see why,  although there were also sections that mixed journalism with commercial products such as the card guide. 


Harlow also stated that some online news sites are part of larger conglomerates that also own online classified sections with the online newspaper works as branding for their other products (Harlow 2011). This is certainly the case with the new site for The West Australian who belongs to a group of companies owned by 7 west media. 7 west media also own channel 7 and Yahoo 7 (The West Australian  2011)and their products, services and media entertainment area advertised heavily on the site. A look at three other news sites found:

·      Crikey.com uses a pay wall model to make money from their news content. While some stories are published on the site viewers need to subscribe to unlock access to even better ones (so they say) at a cost of $185 per year. Subscribers then get the extra privilege of providing content if they wish. (Subscriber Help  2011).

·      Perth Indi Media wholly operates on citizen journalism but stories added to these site still go through a gatekeeper who monitors them against the sites criteria. This site runs off donations and covers local community issues (About Indymedia Australia  2011).

·      Finally the Huffington Post website is owned by a big corporation AOL and gets its content from anywhere its free – liking to the blog sites of others and combining the days blogs into one new site. This site also involves readers by having them comment and rate stories. This site is huge and has multiple strands not just in news but also entertainment and sport etc. AOL sells adverting on the Huffington post site. (The Huffington Post  2011)

SO the main points to remember this week are that:

·      Online news media raises challenges the profitability of news and new ways to raise revenue are being trialed

·      Online news sites are often another branch traditional news media companies which are trusted by many users

·      Online news sites can target niche markets and source news for free from citizen journalists and bloggers

·      Online news allows Journalists to link their reports to other news reports and source documents

·      Online news allows people to research news reports therefore ethical journalism is important

·      Gatekeepers still exist in the online environment (see gatekeepers blog entry for further info) controlling and monitoring the stories and comments uploaded

 About Indymedia Australia. 2011. http://www.indymedia.org.au/about (accessed 7/11/11).

Classifieds. 2011. The Daily Telegraph, 119 - 124  (accessed 7/11/11)
Gruen Planet: Episode 6. 2011. http://www.abc.net.au/tv/gruenplanet/pages/s3354190.htm (accessed 8/11/11).

Harlow, M. 2011. Inform me! News Media. Week 8. http://dbs.ilectures.curtin.edu.au/lectopia/lectopia.lasso?-MaxRecords=50&-SkipRecords=0&-Op=bw&ut=2908&CallbackID=928d2167f0cc56656c84409b4f366e45&usr=15055147 (accessed 8/11/11).

Harper, C. 2003. Journalism in a Digital Age. Democracy and new media: 271-280. lms.curtin.edu.au/@@59FE5910C5E0F0C6A9542F9A2E4F0BF9/courses/1/312160-Vice-Chancello-935083018/db/_2975043_1/embedded/Christopher%20Harper.pdf (accessed 7/11/11).

  The Huffington Post. 2011. http://advertising.aol.com/brands/huffington-post (accessed 8/11/11).

  Subscriber Help. 2011. http://www.crikey.com.au/about/subscriber-help/#nuts1 (accessed 8/11/11).

  The West Australian. 2011. http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/ (accessed 7/11/11).

online journalism stands to alter dramatically the traditional role of the reporter and editor" (Harper, 2003, p. 272) Do you agree? Why?

I think this question boils down to the trustworthiness of the reporter.  The online environment allows for anyone with an internet connection to become a citizen journalist and report news – be it on a blog, Twitter, Facebook or submitting an article to the Huffington Post. But does having the ability to broadcast news necessarily make you a trustworthy news source?

The Media Alliance Code of Ethics describes the fundamental principles of journalism as the “respect for truth and the publics right to information” and that journalist commit themselves to “honesty, fairness and independence”. Their 12 bullet points on what makes an ethical journalist cover things such as “striving for accuracy”, “giving a fair opportunity for reply”, “attributing a source” and not allowing “personal internet, or any believe, commitment, payment, gift of benefit, to undermine accuracy, fairness or independence”(Media Alliance Code of Ethics  2005). All of which relate to the gathering of information and the telling of a story, not on medium used to present it to a wider audience.

Harper also touches on this in the reading quoting computer consultant Leah Gentry as saying “It took a while for radio and TV journalists to discover how to use the strengths of their particular media to tell stories. On the web, we have the same challenge” (Harper 2003)p 276. Here Gentry doesn’t see role of the journalist as different in the online environment, the underlying fundamentals remain the same.

Therefore overall I would say that I don’t agree with the above statement as it is still the role of reporters (be it journalist or citizen journalist) and editors to gather information and check facts in order to present news to an audience. The online environment doesn’t change this; it just means that there are more places for news to be consumed and more opportunity for ethical journalists and editors to rise to the top as trustworthy sources of information.

Harper, C. 2003. Journalism in a Digital Age. Democracy and new media: 271-280. lms.curtin.edu.au/@@59FE5910C5E0F0C6A9542F9A2E4F0BF9/courses/1/312160-Vice-Chancello-935083018/db/_2975043_1/embedded/Christopher%20Harper.pdf (accessed 7/11/11).

  Media Alliance Code of Ethics. 2005. http://www.alliance.org.au/information-centre/media/view-category (accessed 8/11/11)

3.1 News Media: What is a gatekeeper? What is their role online?

“Gatekeepers highlight particular stories, promote trends, sort the journalistic wheat from the chaff, and, some would argue, restrict the flow of information” (Harper 2003).

A gatekeeper decides which stories to run on various new sites and papers. They do so by reviewing articles, checking facts and according to Harper  review against the following criteria, publishing stores that:

o   Are considered big, breaking news of large magnitude or increased magnitude

o   Report on an unexpected event

o   Reflect the values of the gatekeeper and the audience

o   Continue on from a previously reported story

o   Culturally and geographically relate to the audience.

(Harper 2003)

Therefore a gatekeepers role in an online environment could be said to ensure the stories fit both the brand of the new site and its target audience in order to encourage repeat viewership.

According Harper the choices gatekeepers make can determine the topics people think about which is referred to as “agenda setting”. Although Harper spoke about this in terms of old media, I believe examples can still be seen in online news media sites.

The West Australian website puts (slightly anti – labor) political stories front and centre on the homepage despite its “most viewed” list being choc full of human interest stories (The West Australian  2011).  This enables viewers to browse the political headlines before going to the search box to find something that better suites their interests. In contrast – sites like the Huffington Post rely on viewers to “like” and comment on the stories published on their site which are displayed according to popularity. This gives the feeling that the viewer then becomes the gatekeeper but the fine print shows that comments and are moderated by Huffington post staff (FAQ: Comments & Moderation  2011) who could be said to be the real gatekeepers of this online news community.

  FAQ: Comments & Moderation. 2011. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/p/frequently-asked-question.html#moderation (accessed 7/11/11).

Harper, C. 2003. Journalism in a Digital Age. Democracy and new media: 271-280. lms.curtin.edu.au/@@59FE5910C5E0F0C6A9542F9A2E4F0BF9/courses/1/312160-Vice-Chancello-935083018/db/_2975043_1/embedded/Christopher%20Harper.pdf (accessed 7/11/11).

  The West Australian. 2011. http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/ (accessed 7/11/11).