Reflection Post on Semester in JN1001

My experience in JN1001 has felt short, mainly because I arrive at class 20 minutes late every week and can't attend tutorials. No offense, but 8:00 am is not an appropriate time for class or being productive.

8:00 am is not a place, its an emotion

The class has been pretty entertaining, mainly because too many people take themselves way to seriously to be studying Journalism (low prospective incomes get me excited too), but the fundamentals interested me.

Unfortunately I think news relies way too much on the Internet. As much as I love the Internet and take way too much pleasure in it, but the focus on photojournalism and multi-media dimensions is causing Journalism to lose touch with its original purpose.

You may find yourself questioning some of my views in these blogs, and some might consider me to be narcissistic, rude and quite generally a bitch. If you have these negative views about me, please click here!

I've decided to end this with a natural photo of myself, straight out of bed in the morning

Good Bye JN1001, sorry for all the crude remarks and swearing

This Has Nothing to Do with Journalism

Kim Kardashian got married this week

To celebrate, here are photos of Kim Kardashian crying

I Love You Internet

Sad Bitch Guide to Not Doing Things on Time

This is a photo of debri Cyclone Ita (or its just a big pile of palm leaves in my backyard that I didn't feel like cleaning up. Same thing)

I didn't understand this photography task at all and I was supposed to do this a while ago but yolo

Sad Bitch Guide to Immortals

Here is a collection of photos of women who don't age and are probably vampires, or practice in black magic or something

Madonna

Jennifer Aniston (maybe being dumped for Angelina Jolie does something for your complexion?)

Gwen Stefani (too hot for 44)

Come on now Meryl this is just ridiculous

I'm clearly just running out of ideas and no longer care enough to write things that are substantial.

Sorry

Sad Bitch Guide to Male Style Changes

There is an old theory that when two people fall in love, their image changes to suit that person. Sometimes this is a great thing, other times, not so great. I feel there needs to be a rehab clinic for men whose appearances change for the worst, depending on the women they are with.

Lets have a quick look at the Hollywood men we have lost in the past few years

Brad Pitt

The Gwyneth Paltrow years, when we couldn't really tell who was Gwyneth Paltrow and who was Brad Pitt

The Jennifer Aniston years, when everything was good with the world

Present Day where Brad Pitt is now in a relationship with Angelina Jolie, and Angelina Jolie's Right Leg. 

Sometimes I feel that Brad Pitt feels that just because he is dating Angelina Jolie, that he looks and can dress like Angelina Jolie.

Justin Timberlake

We cried when these two broke up

We he was clearly punching above his weight with Cameron Diaz

With Jessica Biel, where they look good together, but not enough for anyone to care

Shane Warne

This man doesn't deserve his own section, however he has had more changes than any man alive, oddly enough they all seem to be as bad as the last.

With Simone Callahan, embarrassing Australia one photo at a time

When Liz Hurley hired Warne out as her own personal Ken Doll (this is still gross)

Now with Emily Scott, and still looking like a total tool

Johnny Depp

Johnny and Kate Moss will never stop being perfect

With Vanessa Paradis, which admittedly worked really well for a few years

Let us have a moment of silence for the dark fashion phrases that take place in attractive men's lives when they get a new girlfriend.

Sad Bitch Guide to Investigative Reporting

Lets take a moment to look at Investigative Reporting

Now once again this is an area that has been glorified by the film and novel industry (All the Presidents Men, Almost Famous, Capote, Frost Nixon, Balibo, A Mighty Heart, State of Play, The Pelican Brief etc), enough for people to believe this to be a glamorous and household-name-making role.

Sexually Attractive Icons just went Retro

Well evidently its not.

We have been taught from out lecture that basically investigative journalism is about uncovering other peoples secrets (probably for no real reason) other than for public interest (because there aren't privacy laws or anything).

For the better part, I have no problem with investigative journalism.

But.

When the idea of a 'scandal' is more important then the actual news itself, perhaps the journalist needs to take a moment of self-reflection. Why are they writing about this? Whose life are they going to impact? Does that person deserve this treatment?

Lets look at the case of Francis Abbott, daughter of Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott.

This has quickly turned into an Abbott Appreciation Post 

#eyebrowgamestrongerthanthebudget

Francis received a rare scholarship to a private college in 2011, graduating from a Bachelor of Design with distinction. This information came to light immediately after the 2014 Budget was announced, with proposed changes to university fees. Immediately there was scandal that Ms Abbott did not deserve her scholarship due to the friendship between the institutes chairman, Les Taylor, and her father Tony Abbott. My personal opinion about this matter is that to have the audacity to question someones scholarship because her father is Prime Minister is pretty pathetic. Some classmates have said Frances did not deserve a scholarship, but I doubt anyone has taken into account the possibility that these washed-up has-been's are jealous and anti-Liberal and overly keen to slander a young women's name. At the end of the day, yes it looks shady, but as a Private College, that institute can give scholarships to whomever they damn well please. And evidently Frances did well enough to graduate with distinction. But the real question is; why should anyone give a damn?

Not everyone likes Tony, but god-willing, he has some hot daughters

This is not investigative journalism. These are people who target others to foreground their own opinions and agendas. Like I have always said, there is bias in everything, so always be careful about what you read and interpret.

Otherwise investigative journalism looks like fun, but knowing me I'll be the one person to get killed in a car bomb or something.

Me

Happy Days!

Sad Bitch Guide to the Church of Pitbull

I don't usually get spiritual in public, but I feel there is a Religious figure who is often Sidelined, a leader like no other, a God who needs to be brought into the light.

Welcome to the Gospel according to Pitbull.

Hail the Messiah

Now I am sure many of you are wondering, what is this amazing religion and where do I sign up??

First I will take you through the steps of what it means to worship under the faith of Pitbull.

The Church of Pitbull was established in 1981 after Pitbull returned to the Earth after spending 23 years in space chilling out. He entered the Earth's atmosphere by sliding down a rainbow waterfall from the moon and upon arrival made it rain bitches. 

Key Beliefs

Pitbull created the heaven and the earth on the first-fourth day, and it was hella rocking

On the fifth day Pitbull said 'Where my Party People at?" and mankind was created

On the sixth day Pitbull partied, and created the Seventh day, the Sabbath, to rest and praise Pitbull for the hangover you have received through his blessed partying.

There is no one better than Pitbull

There is one and only one Pitbull

You will worship only the one Pitbull and no other

All pitciples are created equal.

Those who practice the teachings of Pitbull will go to an afterlife pool party to be surprised with alcoholic beverages and bikini models.

Amen

Teachings of the Church of Pitbull

Make it rain ca$h money

Party with others how you would like to be partied with

Remember the Party Date

Thou shall not covert his neighbours bitches

Thou shall not kill the party vibe

Honour thy host and thy host's home

Thou shall not bear false witness to the awesomeness of the party

Rituals

Friday and Saturday Night are clubbing nights

Partying on a boat will gain you extra Pit-points

If you are a women, the less clothes the better

If you are a man, suit up

Pool Parties are never a bad idea

Body Shots are the new Holy Water

Pit-Points

Traditional Prayer

Oh Pitbull,

We humbly thank you for this heavenly party you have given us,

We thank you for almost making up believe that Latin people qualify as being black,

Your incorporation of rhyming words with themselves inspires our creative flow,

We thank you for our 1 shot, 2 shot, 3 shot, floor,

In your name we aspire to be packing ca$h money

In the name of the T-Pain, the J-Lo and the Enrique Inglesias, 

Amen

Those assembled must shout the name of a random European city and fist pump thrice in unison

The Church according to Pitbull prides itself for being the music of choice to embarrassing drunk White Girls across the 7 continents of the world, and convincing a generation that one person can be White, Latino and Black all at once #nationsunite

The Church of Pitbull extends to the major areas of life-

Environment (It's going down, I'm yellin Timber)

Health Care (Don't stop, keep it moving, put your drinks up!)

Budget (ca$h money)

Education (100 problems - 1 bitch = 99 problems)

Human Rights (Shake shake, just shake shake)

For those who think they are lonely; for those who feel they don't get paid enough to jump around in a bikini, and for those white guys who want to be taken seriously as a rapper, Pitbull is here for you.

Pitbull is my God, and I hope he will be your God too.

Sad Bitch Guide to Political Economy within the Media

When it comes to the Political Economy of the Media, essentially all you need to know is which publications are run by whom, which ultimately dictates which information will be released and under what context. Once again I was just told how evil Corporate Media is and that the majority of news I read that comes from commercial media is bias and unethical. Control and Ownership are usually the primary factors in this, however surveillance and regulation are applied in order to manage what news is being released and whether it follows legal and ethical guidelines. 

Drama

However, an argument that I have made and will probably continue to make, is that regardless of which format, outlet or story, everything an audience consumes will most likely come from a particular bias or angle, depending on the said format, outlet and story. However the bias does not end there. Bias continues from the person who has written the story, and bias comes from the person who reads and interprets the story.

There is no way to dictate what is and what isn't bias, we can only assume that through the general human experience, bias has formed an important part in how we create and interpret information. 

It is foolish to call someone like Rupert Murdoch and his media outlets as bias but ignore smaller, independent companies- I'm not against these independent outlets, however the focus on public media bias is less than the never-ending scrutiny News Limited is consistently under. 

In a Nutshell

There is also the perspective that nothing in society is 'natural.' One could  find this as an indication that our minds and thoughts are warped by the information we receive- and this to a degree is true. However, bias is an external force that is entrapped in every experience, in our education, spiritual beliefs, political beliefs and economic background.

Of course there's the rule of ownership, whereby if you own a large and successful corporation and have worked for many years to get where you are, you're probably corrupt and evil. Funnily enough this Tall Poppy Syndrome comes from rival outlets, which makes me wonder where the political economy of the government is really about who can out-sass who amongst media moguls. Its like a crappy reality show, only through print and the occasional public brawl (James Packer we are looking at you).

I'm still unsure whether this was a fight between James Packer and David Gyngell or a scene from a homoerotic film #packerpacksapunch #nohomo

Sad Bitch Guide to The Hipster Movement

Hipsters.

We've all heard of them. Seen them. Rolled our eyes at them and hold our breath around them in fear of our hygiene. But what is a 'Hipster' and why are they taking over the world as we know it?

First, lets look at the physical appearance of the typical 'hipster'- the fashion brands of the well-off-middle-class, yet the maintenance and general grooming of a homeless person. How does the twisted oxymoron, born of the worlds dumbest statement come to be in a society where we have been taught showering is important since the age of three? 

Plaid, beards and beanies as far as the eye can see

One could say that a hipster is the revolutionary figure that deems themselves to be the poetic 'Individual in Society,' who rises against conformity to be the ever existential 'other.' A Hipster would define itself (I use the pronoun 'It' due to my theory that hipsters are not actually human beings) as being 'different' and 'unique.' However my personal summation of a hipster would be:

Hipster (n). a proud breed, the Hipster is a degenerated form of the typical 1967 American Hippy, noted for their strong stance against conformity, but still own the latest Apple iPhone model. This figure can often be seen wearing overly expensive clothes but often abstains from utilizing traditional hygiene techniques. The typical hipster can often be identified by their inability to discriminate between seasonal clothing, perplexing hatred of footwear and an obsession with looking like a member of the opposite sex. The hipster can often be found in universities, public libraries, Apple stores or anywhere with free WiFi.

Spot the difference

Essentially a Hipster is someone who believes that they are too 'individual' and everything considered to be 'mainstream' is overrated. However, in an ironic twist in events, the Hipster is no longer an individualistic movement- the notion of being an individual in society has become mainstream- thus society itself is becoming a reflection of Hipsterdom. From this the Hipster attitude extends to create the 'Alpha Hipster;' a figure who follows every 'trend' before it becomes a 'trend'- at least that is there claim. Here lies the problem: Hipsters have formed through what I call 'The Age of Narcissistic Self-Entitlement,' making it  close relation to the 'Common White Girl.' In simple terms, those born under the 'Age of Narcissistic Self-Entitlement' tend to think the solar system revolves around them (like this year when Joe Hockey introduced the 2014 Australian budget and everyone started complaining because they would stop getting free money and have to start paying $7 to see the doctors? Oh the outrage of having to actually pay for services and work for money.)

The Struggle is Real

Now this isn't a mainstream post about how everything must revolve around conformity (although I will openly admit I love mainstream- from fashion trends to music to food, I will wear, listen to, and eat whatever I like, and not based off whether or not it is trendy), because things that are alternative are just as wonderful and creative- but there is a difference between creative and fresh alternative music, fashion and food and having different views on society without being a pretentious wanker.

The 'Age of Narcissistic Self-Entitlement' needs to end, so I hereby list of my 'Alternative Guidelines.'

Acceptable

-If you drink Coffee that's fine, but no one cares about the Starbucks logo

-Instagram is a great form of social media,but hold off on posting a photo of Every. Goddamn. Meal.

-Winter wear is acceptable, but only in winter.

-A Mac Laptop is fine to own, but may God have mercy on your soul if you own a $2000 laptop but have no shoes on in public

-Owning an iPhone and Apple Products is practical, but this doesn't mean you go out and buy the iPhone 6 when you have a perfectly good iPhone 5s, and iPhone 5, and 4s and so on.

-Leggings  are not acceptable (Ever.)

-Neither are Uggs (unless you are at home and in winter)

-Nutella is delicious so this is allowed

-Raw Foods are disgusting and unnatural for human consumption

-Arctic Monkey's, Lana Del Ray, Lorde, Birdy, Ed Sheeran are perfectly acceptable alternative artists

-If a bands music sounds like saucepans being banged together, then odds are is someone just got high and started banging saucepans together

-Hygiene is important- for the sake of everyone, have a shower. And shower daily.

Lies

Never Forget.

I know some people out there will disagree with me ($10 says that person is either wearing new-but-worn-out-looking clothes or is a girl who wore bindis on her head to a music festival recently), but its my blog and I will campaign to end bad hygiene until the day I die.

Sad Bitch Guide to Ethics

Throughout high school I always opted for the subject of Religious Education over a real subject (I went to a Catholic school, so some form of religion had to be studied). I mainly chose that subject, not only because the main form of assessment was colouring in pictures of Jesus, but also I could sleep in class without anyone noticing (I had a great maneuver that enabled me to sleep in 90% of my classes in year 12 without detection). However there came a time when we actually had to do something that could be relatively considered work (sort of), and it actually interested me (when I was awake that is.) That unit was Ethics.

My Year Twelve Religion Assignment

Now I, like many people, have gone through changes in my life whereby my ethics have changed, mainly as a way of justifying awful decisions I have made. For example, when I was younger, roughly twelve or thirteen, swearing was just about the absolute worst thing you could do around me. Enter now where I use what many could consider to be offensive vernacular, even in my university assignments. My ethical opinion concerning swearing- "Its just words, its the context of the situation that designates it to be offensive"- actual argument made by me.

Now because I'm in a journalism subject I have to relate ethics to this area, which funnily is the major reason I feel I couldn't be a news journalist. We spoke in our lecture about ranging ethical situations, the major question being "When do our ethics allow us to be journalists, and when do we stop being journalists?"

I believe in accountability, loyalty and (probably my best and worst quality) always trying to help people. And no matter what the role I have is, I don't think there could ever be a situation whereby I could deliberately ignore these ethics just for the purpose of a news story. Example A)- when the worst kind of media scum willfully invade the personal lives of a victim of crime, or their families, for the purpose of a distasteful headline. Is destroying someone else life really worth a byline on the front page? 

The symbol of rebellion against the 2009 Iranian Election- Mistaken Identity

Lets look at Exhibit A) the case of Iranian women Neda Soltani, who became the face of the Iranian rebellion against the 2009 election that looked rigged as hell. The above women, Neda Agha-Soltan, was getting out of her car next to a peaceful protest turned not-so-peaceful, ultimately getting shot by Iranian police. Of course someone caught this scene on their camera phone, capturing Soltan in a compromising 'martyr' image. A thirty second Facebook search was deemed 'research' by a Western Journalist, who deemed a women named Neda Soltani was 'close-enough' to the dead women, and then posted her face and name all over the news.

Close Enough

Soltani, an English teacher who was very much alive, was plastered over the world news as a martyr, As a result she was then hunted down by the Iran government and had to bribe her way out of her own country, spending time in a German refugee camp, simply because no one Facebook messaged her "Hey, are you the dead girl?"

There was no accountability here, and very little ethical judgement about what this could do to this woman's life, especially in a dangerous and corrupt country.

Exhibit B) Kevin Carter's controversial photo 'Sudanese Girl,' which captures a starving Sudanese girl in the African heat whilst a vulture watches on. Carter watched the starving girl for twenty minutes hoping to get a photo of the vulture behind her to spread its wings.Carter later committed suicide after receiving world wide criticism for doing nothing to help the child. 

The fateful photo

Media has the ability to destroy someones life, ruin someones reputation and slander someones very name. Some perhaps could justify wreaking havoc on someone else's life for a news photo or news headline, but unfortunately for my journalism career, that's something my ethics could never allow me to do.

Chris Jefferies- accused by the British media of murdering his tenant because he looks weird

Sad Bitch Guide to Covering War/Trauma

I was relatively excited for this week’s lecture on ‘Covering War’ (and by relatively excited I mean I was only 10 minutes late to class that morning). Strangely enough I've always found war reporting to be the major form of journalism that I am interested in (other than being a column or feature article writer where I can blast my opinions). Maybe because I watch too many action/war movies, but it’s a totally thrilling concept of being in a war torn country and documenting social upheavals, death, destruction and other psychologically damaging events (which the movies oddly never seem to touch on?).

But the main issue that comes into this is of psychological damage.

No one ever seems to touch on the effects of war, on both soldiers and the journalists/ photojournalists that experience once they come back. And not just in war, but in any traumatic event- such as natural disasters, crimes, epidemics, crashes and terrorists attacks.

So in terrific media fashion, here are the things movies, televisions shows and books have taught me about surviving any form of traumatic event

-You will most definitely survive a mass weather disaster if you are attractive, have a camera in hand or are Jake Gyllenhaal -The Day After Tomorrow

-You will find a way to get rid of that asteroid moments before it hits the Earth, even though the whole process is completely illogical and Bruce Willis can't pull off being a scientist -Armageddon

-Always ignore the trained professional who tells you that a dormant volcano directly next to your town is about to erupt- he doesn't know anything- Dante's Peak

-Aliens that managed to kill half the human race in a matter of hours haven't mastered the concept of hygiene and avoiding bacteria yet, so Tom Cruise is safe for another day -War of the Worlds

-Large cruise ships don't carry enough life boats - Titanic

-If you live in a large metropolitan city in America, good luck- every bad disaster movie ever

-We're gonna be doin` one thing and one thing only... killin' Nazis: Also Brad Pitt can pull of the Texam psycho killer character as being cool. He also looks dashing with a mustache- Inglorious Basterds

-Liam Neelson is perpetually 'The Man'- Schindler's List

-The soldiers on the opposing side are the worst shooters ever... unless it comes to shooting your best friend, then their aim is perfect- any war movie ever

-If you're a teenager and someone invades your country, you should definitely form a guerrilla group- Tomorrow When the War Began

-Run faster you Bastard- Gallipoli

-If there is a disaster or a war, and you are working with an attractive member of the opposite sex, the death and destruction will definitely force them to lower their standards to go out with you- every movie directed by someone who is haunted by their high-school rejection by the popular kid.

I definitely watch too many movies, however I'm going to assume that the media coverage of war zones is limited quite like the foregrounding in movies.

For a war zone to make the Western  Media, there are certain qualifications to achieve regarding death and destruction

Essentially the formula goes:
10,000 Muslims = 1,000 Asians = 100 non-English speaking Europeans = 50 English Speaking Westerners = 1 White American

However if a battle has the potential to spark the much-hyped World War III (what a great movie would that make!) then the story will be all over the news for about a fortnight until everyone gets board and starts reporting on the story of a man on a surfboard getting hit by a dolphin. (See North Korea, See Syria, See Russia, See majority of Africa, See the Middle East for approximately 20 years)

Essentially if you are a White American, preferably middle-to-upper-class, famous would be better, then congratulations! News of your death will reach all corners of the globe and we'll probably hear about it for the next three years. If you are non-English speaking, non-Christian background, poor with a dark-complexion- sorry better luck next time.