Bad Ethics..or Just Tacky?

This week we learnt all about ethics - the good, the bad, and the ugly.

It came as quite a surprise to me that there's more to ethics than just right and wrong. Something can be ethical, but just made with bad taste. It seems there's a fine line between unethical and bad taste. We were shown a series of advertisements during the lecture, and asked where we thought each belonged in the table of good taste, ethical, bad taste, and unethical. Most images I guessed were unethical. However, they were actually considered purely bad taste.

After we were given explanations of ways to tell, I began to understand how to spot the difference.

In the world of communication we follow Deontology. This is the rules, principles, and duties.

Basically, we do the right thing by following the rules.

When it is put into one straight forward sentence, it is pretty easy to understand. Ethics, just like anything else, has a code of rules. Here are just a few:

• MEAA
• PRIA
• AFA
• AANA

The following is an advertisement we were asked to analyse during the lecture. I won't tell you which category it falls into: what do you think?

My Story

Public Media

I couldn't think of an original title for the subject of Public Media, because, frankly, I don't know much about it. Apparently ABC and SBS are the main contenders in the game.

Public media presents its news style as:

• serious
• broadsheet - not tabloid
• importance over interest
• considered

Public Media is often perceived as:

• boring
• out of touch
• poorly presented

As mentioned in my previous post, I have more interest within commercial media. So, I will admit I do hold the same perception of public media. However, I was surprised when I saw the values public media holds. There was one main value which stood out to me

encouraging competion = good programming, not good numbers

I believe this is the most important value a station should have. It seems these days many commercial channels only worry about how many viewers they can attract: if one reality TV show works, why not bring along another 4 from America? This is not good programming, it is not original, and it is not going to work forever.

Although I don't associate much with public media, I do appreciate the extra work they have to put into their stations. The Australian Government funds commercial media, but disencourage public media. Yes, they do have their reasons, but this is a democratic country and we have freedom of speech, right? Therefore every angle of presenting (within reason, of course) should be appreciated.

The lack of funds causes the ABC to charge documentaries for segments from their channel. When I first heard the ABC charged $75 a SECOND, I was completely shocked. However, I then realised this is how they gain any money to then fund more television.

I will probably never follow public media, though I'm really happy I now have an understanding of how the two types of media work. Just because I'm not a fan of the entertainment, I definitely respect the hard yards they put in without the free ride of handouts.

Money Money Money

Wow, week 6 was definitely the most notes I'd ever taken down for JOUR1111.

I never thought there was so much detail between different television networks, and how damn rich the people are who own SO MUCH.

The main focus of this week's lecture, to me, was Commercial Media. I guess I'd always thought this covered all television networks, but now as we delve deep into it I'm realising whenever I watch ABC3 (yes, I am 18...) there are no actual paid commercials.

Commercial Media is channels 7, 9, 10 and all their digital channels inbetween. You realise how much advertising is involved in television when you buy the box set of a series and the usual hour long show is only 40 minutes without advertising. It is, afterall, the advertisers who pay to keep these show running.

Basically, the more popular a show, the more money is paid for an ad slot. I remember hearing ridiculous figures companies would pay for televised time during the Superbowl, and wondering if paying that amount of money would really pay off.

Admittedly, I do fall under the category of people who mainly follow Commercial Media. I am part of the group Network Ten focussed on the gain viewers: I used to be a dedicated follower of Big Brother and Australian Idol. And, just like I am following the ratings, I now find most of the television I watch is on Channel 7. I'm not entirely sure there is an intelligent reason for this, I just enjoy most of the programs it shows.

I do understand why advertisers would want to market their projects through the most popular broadcasters, but I'm not sold on how well it would work. I rarely pay attention to advertisements and am often day dreaming during the breaks.

I watch for the program not the advertising, but I guess the two really work hand-in-hand.

Until next time.

Listen Closely

What was that? I am allowed to listen to the lecture from the comfort of my own bed this week? SCORE!

The Sound lecture of week 5 was a really different experience. Sure, we've all listened to lectures online, but just hearing voices with no visual was definitely a first for me. I really felt like I was listening to a local radio.

I will admit, I've never been a huge fan of talkback radio myself. I once worked for a business that had ............ - it was that uninteresting I can not even remember the station - blaring from the speakers. Every morning I would turn up half asleep to listen to a man and his callers discuss recent events. However, I did occasionally find myself wanting to voice my opinion about the matters. And I guess that's what they were after; the public calling up to say what they think. Even though I wasn't a fan of the station, I still found myself wanting to become involved.

An interesting point I picked up from Richard (I feel as though we could be on first name basis as the lecture sounded quite intimiate, like a radio piece) was the need to take a different approach. Too many times I have heard the same celebrities tell the exact same story. Like when Kim Kardashian visited Australia whilst in the gut of her divorce. Each interviewer asked the same questions, and Kim had a monotonous, rehearsed answer to each one. No one took a different angle, no one surprised her.

I was recently listening to the Kyle and Jackie O Show while they interviewed Brian McFadden. From the beginning they were asking questions completely out of the box. One question was about social media and ended with Brian having a big rant about Facebook and Twitter and he seemed to be really out of his shell. It is the only recent interview I can recall that really caught my attention, and this is because it was a side of Brian I hadn't heard before.

Although I don't think I will ever love talkback radio, I can appreciate where good radio work lies.

Until next time.

Media Use Diary

We all rely on media within our lives. We may not realise how much, or how little we use compared to other people in society. I have logged my media usage over a period of ten days, and was quite surprised at my limited media usage compared to what is available in the world of technology.

Below is a table of my media usage over a period of ten days (in minutes):

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Media	Day 1	Day 2	Day 3	Day 4	Day 5	Day 6	Day 7	Day 8	Day 9	Day 10
Facebook	45	15	30	45	60	60	120	120	30	60
Twitter	20	20	-	-	-	-	20	-	-	30
Blogging	15	60	-	40	-	-	20	-	-	30
Emailing	-	-	-	-	15	-	-	-	15	15
Online News	-	30	-	20	-	60	30	20	45	-
TV News	30	30	30	30	-	30	-	60	60	-

This table illustrates my media usage can be divided into three main categories.

1.       Social Media – Facebook, Twitter, Blogging, Email

2.       Online news

3.       TV news

Media Usage Groups Over 10 Day Period

(x = days, y = minutes)

It is obvious most of my usage lies within social media. Although I was aware of this before I logged, I did not notice the considerable difference. This is primarily because of ‘new’ media. With new media we are able to access news through almost any media outlet. As I am not from Brisbane, I often use Facebook to keep track of events occurring in my home town. It may not be the most detailed news, but it is available to me when I need it.

In a recent survey of 436 university students, it is clear a large amount of their media usage also lies within social media. The following shows social media split up into separate elements.

JOUR 1111 Survey – Social Media

The graph shows Facebook is the very prominent winner when it comes to media usage. 91.9% of students spend most of their internet time on Facebook. New media has a definite role in this. A huge 78.2% of students own a smart phone and 95.4% use Facebook as an app. This means Facebook can be accessed on the go at any time. I spend more time using the app than on my laptop, as I am usually on it when I am not home. This links with what I earlier mentioned, with Facebook also being a news tool for easy access.

It is interesting to note only 10% of students used Twitter. This was before we were required to join for our assessment. Although I never used Twitter before, I now check it almost daily. I would guarantee many other students would do the same. I often now use Twitter for news updates: news groups like Brisbane Times and Courier Mail have constant, quick news updates keeping me informed.

My media usage is not vast, but that may be because I have not been introduced to many media outlets. If I had not been required to join Twitter I probably never would have; now I realise what a convenience it is to have for updates. Although my main media use is social networking, new media provides a strong use of journalism and communication within all networks.