Jour1111 Lecture 2 Monday 30^th July 2012

Week 2 of my journalism journey, and I had already nestled my way back into the University lifestyle. So much so that I sluggishly rolled out of bed, groaned about not wanting to study and shuffled my way into class with a blank expression on my face. That was until I saw one of my new mates, and suddenly Uni was fun and exciting again. We gabbed on for a bit until Dr Redman came in and the lecture began. This time we got straight into things and were taught about probably one of the most central aspects of modern day life, the world wide web. Basically to date, our internet has evolved in three stages:

Web.1  was the original web model, invented by British engineer and computer scientist Sir Tim Berners-Lee and was primarily created to benefit business. Companies used the web to advertise and promote themselves and there were no particular use for everyday people other than to look up businesses. Eg. Personal posting/ interaction were unheard of.

Web.2 saw the evolution of social Media, or “web for the people”. Myspace, facebook, and twitter come under this category, and provided everyday people with an international platform/voice box in the comfort of their own homes. The average Joe could now become a personal producer and entrepreneur, all at the click of a button.

Web.3 Is the current stage web evolution. It is called the Semantic web, were all basic information has meaning. We want to make sense of everything as consumers and regular users of the internet, as well as primarily focus on content specific to our own interests.

At this current point in web evolution we can super specify our searches. This is better known as “hyper localization” where we can look up crime information and property sales to street names, even “google” a bird’s eye view image of our residential addresses. Which is a little too ‘Sims’ extreme or ‘Big Brother’ if you ask me!

“EBAY KILLED CLASSIFIEDS- WEB NEWS KILLING JOURNALISTS”

Finally we discussed entitlements. Where Dr Redman included everyone in a simple here have these jelly beans, now that you’ve eaten them pay for them exercise. This was to reflect consumers web entitlements, more particularly to free news. For years now web users have been able to freely access current affairs and news for no charge beyond paying web providers for internet access.  This is problematic of us up and coming journos now that newspapers and magazines are on the out, because nobody will want to pay for information they can currently get for free, and if no one pays for the information journalism provides there will be no future as a working journalist. This issue is slowly being combatted by news companies like the online Herald Sun supplying “exclusives” one must subscribe to for fees as small as $1 AUD to access. Talk about slow start, but you’ve got to start small and build your way up!

Image origin: Jody Kihara. 2011. http://www.jodykihara.com/books/monsterzine/monsterzine-preview/. (Accessed 31/07/2012)

Jour1111 Lecture 1 Monday 23^rd July 2012

“YOU ARE THE JOURNALIST”

So it began. Day 1 of my Journalism degree. Although I had studied at a university level prior to this day, (Fashion degree at QUT) I was nervous. For me it was the new surroundings, the no familiar faces, and the particular “unknown” element this new degree would provide. How intense was this course? Will the subject matter interest me? Will I be able to keep up? All these questions aimlessly bouncing around my head, as I wandered aimlessly around campus trying to locate the “Physiology Lecture Theatres”. To stubborn, and perhaps too socially awkward to ask for help I continued to navigate my way through UQ until I eventually found myself at the right place, congregating with 300+ other nervous “first dayers”.  

We were met by Dr Bruce Redman , forwarded into the lecture hall and  let the class begin.  There was an exchanging of pleasantries and Dr Redman shared a little insight of himself before he opened with this statement “YOU ARE THE JOURNALIST”. This immediately enlightened my expectations of  the course. Jour1111 would be about strong discussion, involvement and learning, not as a university student sitting through a subject, but as a trainee journalist with our L plates on, preparing for bigger and better. Dr Redman went on quoting some of Journalism's grates, like Henry Anatole Grunwald  Journalist/editor/diplomat (quote bottom of post) and continued with a brief course outline for the semester. Then he concluded with something that truly cemented my surety in knowing I was in the right place, taking the right course and going to thrive at UQ, a video snippet from the master, the man himself, Ron Burgundy. Sure he’s a fictional character and not really an established journalist but hey, he had one particular piece of advice I will carry throughout my degree. Simply, “GO WITH YOUR GUT”.

“Journalism can never be silent; it is its greatest virtue and its greatest fault. It must speak and speak immediately, while the echoes of wonder, the claims of triumph and the signs of horror are still in the air.”- Henry Anatole Grunwald  Journalist/editor/diplomat

Image origin: Bleacher Report 2012.http://cdn.bleacherreport.net/images_root/slides/photos/000/638/120/ron-burgundy-3717_display_image.jpg?1295055247 (Accessed 31/07/2012)

Howdy all.

Elizah here, ready to report, post and blog the very first steps into my journalism degree!  Somewhat ignorantly assuming people will read this, I’ll provide a quick rundown of myself... Well at this stage of my life, I’m a fairly typical 18 year old. Freshly out of school, and in the first year of my bachelor of journalism degree.  As an assessment piece, it is a requirement that we blog every lecture (among other fantastic information) whilst partaking in the JOUR1111 course, which I guess answers why I’m here! As previously stated, I’ll be posting short summaries of every lecture throughout the semester, so before I catch myself blabbing on too much, (which I have a knack of doing) I’ll end it there.

Hope you enjoy!

Image origin: Scientific American. 2011. http://www.scientificamerican.com. (Accessed 31/07/2012)