Artist Sonia G Peters creates artworks that explore the use of found objects intermingled with personal experience. Her artworks from The Paperbag Series feature images drawn or painted upon brown paper bags to give her works texture and dimension. She says that in her personal experience the distinction between feeling, touching and making is indistinct, it is a singular motion.

Freddo Frogs

Lately, living a life of a college student, come Uni student, come athlete, come employee I’ve found myself scrounging for any form of ‘alone’ time  to sit down and blog and even just think without constant noises and distractions at college. So as of late I’ve been putting on my Hermione Granger hat and heading off to the library, not necessarily to study but just get things done in a quiet place, void of disturbance – in fact I’m sitting here right now in my little wooden cubicle.

Now I thought that being at college the library would be a pretty busy place, being the only sound proof room on the grounds but for the last few weeks it’s just been me and the odd law student who will traipse in, face full of resigned stress at the prospect of our upcoming torts exam.  However each afternoon I am joined by a fellow regular, an exchange student the college is housing for six months – I don’t actually know his name but his home is Thailand and he is completing his PhD in Medicine, on visit to Australia to write his thesis. Usually we sit in the mandatory silence demanded by the unspoken code of libraries but occasionally he will chat to me in his fractured English about both of our studies, the university, the ridiculous overpricing of Thai food in Australia and lately has taken to warning me about never pursuing a career as a politician in Thailand – not that I ever had that one on the cards but I think he’s having a go at me.

It’s interesting to hear the differences between the education systems across the world and I’ve begun to realize how privileged I am to live in a country that so freely encourages the pursuit of education and tertiary studies (not saying that Thailand doesn’t, rather that is more of a reality here). It’s also intriguing to observe our cultural traditions from the perspective of a visitor. I’ve begun re-reading one of my favourite novels – Looking for Alibrandi and now that I’m a little older it’s really making me consider the importance of understanding other cultures and mingling with a variety of people with different ethnic backgrounds – you really do learn some interesting things!

The last time I saw my Thai friend in the library was two weeks ago now, we didn’t chat too much as mid-sems were approaching and we both bent over our computer screens attempting to absorb as much as possible, but as he offered my a freddo frog he had bought as a nutritious study snack, wishing me well for my exam. I haven’t seen him for  a while but I’m glad I made the effort to talk to him in the midst of studying, I really learnt a thing or two.

Sound Lecture

My basic approach to interviewing is to ask the basic questions that might even sound naive, or not intellectual. Sometimes when you ask the simple questions like 'Who are you?' or 'What do you do?' you learn the most.       Brian Lamb

Finding myself strangely sprawled out on my bed for a lecture today, I tuned into our audio lecture. It was really interesting to hear Carmel and Richard Fidler’s interview, listening to two such successful and innovative people discuss their experiences was very exciting and inspiring. I find that the more I listen and experience different areas of journalism such as today’s lecture on radio journalism, I seem to broaden my mind to more possibilities in my future career.

As Richard described his opportunity to interview former Australian Prime Minister, Gough Whitlam I was very impressed with the way he remained so collected throughout the interview, easily a sign of good journalism and the conversation was both amusing and intelligent. I became excited at the prospect  of at some stage in my journalism career, interviewing someone of such high calibre and discussing contemporary political affairs – seems like the perfect niche for my journalism/law degree.

Steve Austin was then interviewed and I really connected with what he said about the most important aspect of radio journalism is human connectedness – being human and relating to feelings and emotions of others. He spoke about special moments in journalism in which the interviewee transcends from someone who is being questioned to losing themselves in the story and in emotion. Essentially I think this is what each journalist seeks to achieve in an interview.

Having never considered radio journalism before listening to this lecture  yet being an avid listener of Triple J’s Hack program and ABC radio it has opened up a world of opportunity that I am excited to explore throughout the next three years.

Paul Paper is an artist from Lithuania who has recently through the popularity of his online blog, made the transition from recreational to professional photographer. His work centres around capturing the tiny miracles in every day, boring life.

Public Media

'The difference between commercial broadcasting and public broadcasting is the difference between consumers and citizens" NIGEL MILAN

Entering the realm of public media, we began this weeks lecture by establishing the definition of Public media, which is "media whose mission is to serve or engage a public - it's ultimate purpose must be to serve the public and not to gain a profit in contrast with commercial media. It is a more serious genre of reporting which values importance over interest - Bruce commented that this is why ABC is often the last station to release their news stories. Public media within the Australian media landscape is fronted by organisations such as the ABC and SBS and it's role within a democratic society such as ours is of support of the public and democratic progress.

Personally I found this lecture engaging as I'm all for ABC and SBS related programs and news, being a conscious journalism student, keen to get my fix of the latest, most detailed and unbiased news I often tune in to Triple J or various news programs on the ABC such as Hungry Beast, Catalyst and Compass - the fact that is a form of public media and thus easily accessible makes it even better! Coincidently 41% of Australians join me in my 'tuning-in' to the ABC with 12.6 million Australians viewing ABC TV each week.

Bruce went on to say that public media, essentially should have 'public value,' according to the BBC this includes

• embedding a public service ethos
• value for licence fee money 
• weighing public value against market impact
• public consultation

In accordance with these values the function of public media is to uphold nation building, national heritage, national identity and national conversations.

We then went on to discuss the challenges that public media faces in contemporary society. The predominant hurdle being to retain independence. Whilst the ABC and SBS are not owned by the government, rather held in common by the people they still receive government funding. Thus restricting the degree of independent reporting to avoid 'biting the hand that feeds them.'

 

Artist Leif Podhajsky uses digital manipulation on his photographs to explore the relevance of nature and psychadelic experience. He attempts to alter the surroundings of the viewer to re-align them with their surroundings. His work features on the cover art for bands and musicians such as Tame Impala and Lykke Li.

Mercantile Media

In today's lecture we discussed the role and purpose of Commercial Media within the Australian Media Landscape. Personally, I didn’t find this episode in our journalistic studies as exciting or intriguing as I usually would but it is interesting to see the material nature of advertising and how commercial media really is driven by ‘the mighty dollar.’ Commercial media is essentially license-funded media in which the aim is to sell the eyes and ears to advertisers whom are the real customers. The profit-driven media function is monopolized by major stakeholders such as News Limited, Fairfax Media, APN, Channel Nine, Southern Cross, Channel Ten, Telstra, Optus, Austar and countless others who produce commercial media in the form of regional newspapers, digital media, radio and outdoor advertising. It is delivered in the form of subscription (e.g. Foxtel), sponsored (e.g. Channel Nine) and subsidized (Government funding). We then discussed the role that commercial media plays in our democracy and it’s social responsibility, questioning whether it can deliver both commercial and social functions or if it is essentially just concerned with profit. According to the Hutchins Commission Report in 1947 the modern media has a moral and utilitarian obligation to report ethically and consider the overall needs of society when reporting to achieve the greatest outcome.

We then moved on to discuss contemporary controls on global landscape of commercial media such as the regulating of content by government agencies (e.g. Chinese censorship), which was strongly opposes by the recent Wikileaks organisation and movement against censorship in Australia, State press subsidies and licensed journalism (as seen in Indonesia and East Timor). Bruce outlined how the predominance of commercial media can sometimes lead to the ‘dumbing down’ of news, increased tabloidization and increased ‘desire to please’ which creates a lack in efficient reporting.