Oprah’s coming to Oz! So What?

Last week, Oprah announced that she was coming to Australia at the end of the year. Every news bulletin for the next two days included a snippet of 300+ screaming, forty-something women who might’ve had too much free champagne in their system.

So Oprah’s coming to Oz. Does anyone really care?

Considering $4 million dollars is being spent to bring her here, $1.5 from the Federal Government, $2 million from NSW and up to $500 000 from us in Victoria, I guess someone out there does.

With the 300 audience members in tow, Oprah is coming down under with her entire crew, all courtesy of Captain John Travolta to film 2 shows at the Sydney Opera House (now dubbed the ‘Oprah house’.. ha ha ..)

Labelled ‘Project O’ by insiders who need to spend more time outside, Oprah’s already got her PDA out and setting the itinerary, including sipping on wine at the Barossa Valley, shopping down the Melbourne laneways and a cruise down the Great Ocean Road.

Her 2 shows are expected to draw in a crowd of 3000 ticketed sales and a broadcast audience of millions. Ticket sales, the release date of which is yet to be announced are going to be the hottest commodity going around; much more valuable compared with a ticket to the 2000 Sydney Olympics games it seems.

The price of seeing her in person can’t be less that a small fortune, surely. And how many stay at home mums, Oprah’s largest fan base, can afford that?

I suppose there are other more important economical rather than fashionable issues out there. Love her or hate her, Oprah is the most powerful woman in the world, and all the attention that she’s giving us can’t be THAT bad.

Without fail, every book she recommends makes it to #1 on the bestseller list. Every film grosses the highest at the box office. C’mon, even the politician she backs makes it to the White House! Cynic or not, Oprah’s got some rep.

We can only see what the result will be once its over and done with, but without doubt, many people out there are *insert Oprah’s bellowing voice* sooooo exxciteeeddd.

An idea here and there

A possible idea i have at the moment, and the one i am mostly going with is the story of 4 year old Emmanuel and his road to recovery after a kidney transplant.

Emmanuel is the youngest child in a family of eight, and the baby brother of my best friend, Joanna. When he was younger, he was always small for his age, we just thought he’ll grow into his skin. But it wasn’t until mid last year that we found out something was truly wrong, that in fact, this little baby boy had a failing kidney and would need a transplant.

Emmi was on the waiting list for a donor for a while, but it got to the point where he just couldnt wait any longer. Daily dialysis and needles poking out of his skin was too much for this kid to handle, and something needed to be done, so we looked to the family.

Unfortunately, surgeons would not accept donations from his sisters, and both brothers had different blood types. It was Mum who saved Emmi’s life, just like it was Mum who brought him into this world.

It has been a few weeks since Emmanuel was released from hospital and is recovering well at home. My feature story will pick up from this point and document the hardships, blood, sweat and tears that it has taken to get to this point.

I will tell this story in a ‘flashback’ structure, starting from the present, and going back into time leading up to now.

Prospective interviewees will be the mother and the physical/emotional pain she went through seeing one of her children suffer, Joanna and the toll it took on the rest of the family members, health practitioners, possibly a childrens doctor and ask them the stats on young childrens with diseases like this, and maybe even Emmanuel himself

Featuring YOU!

From reading the three sample feature stories, I really got a feel for what feature writing is all about, and thoroughly enjoyed reading each of the three examples. I particularly liked the first one about New York woman Romona Moore, not because of the content or the harsh reality of what she suffered, but the fact that Sean Gardiners writing really caught my attention and truly hit an emotional nerve with me, making me want to continue reading and find out what happened to this girl.

I felt that his approach to telling the story was effectively done via the perspective of Romona’s mother Elle Carmicheal as this gave even more urgency in trying to find her. When reading this article, you weren’t just looking on as an outsider, you were right there in Elles shoes.

In writing this story, Gardiner would’ve had to develop a very close relationship with Carmicheal, especially considering how personal this event was to her. But on the other hand, another point that the story seeks to publish is the fact that no attention was paid to the case until it was too late. In writing this article, I suppose it provides the media coverage the family were looking for.

I also like the second article ‘Pearls before breakfast’- it was a cute stunt that was purely for fun and everyone involved got a good laugh out of it. This is an example of a colour feature story that is written for entertainment and to add some joy to the otherwise bleak and serious pages of the daily paper.

This article was well written and I especially liked the fact of how many times it was emphasised that Bell was a master musician in different ways. My favourite is when it is mentioned that even at the age of 4 years old, he was pulling strings across his drawers and opening/closing them to alter the tempo.

This article is different to the other two because it was based on a stunt that was purposely planned by the Washington post. In this case, it would’ve been easier to get an interview with Joshua Bell considering he was completely in on the joke from the start. Even the passers by who donated money or even just stopped to listen I believe would not of been very difficult to interview, considering the fact that they appreciated the music to begin with, they would’ve been more than happy to answer questions about it as well.

I think that this story would’ve taken approximately 3-4 days to complete, after all, the main event itself was only forty five minutes early one morning, and it was all recorded for evidence later, including every spectator that would be contacted for the interview.

Finally, the third feature story I believe was the more serious article out of the three and the one most like a hard news story of sorts. It still had the descriptive effect of what a feature story is, but included a lot more historical facts about the 1939 and 1983 bushfires.

Also, there was a lot more investigation done in terms of what weather forecasts trigger these horrific bushfires. Like the first article, this one would have been a very touchy issue to raise, especially when conducting interviews with survivors of the 2009 Black Saturday fires. This being this article is still as effective as the other two, one of the main reasons being because it is more localised, each person reading it will remember where they were at that point in history.

Underbelly feature story

Here’s the lead and plan for the feature story version of Dick’s article ‘Underbellyis disgraceful, says former judge.’

Who said popping a pill or two wasn’t fun? From the swallow of a “dance candy” to a snort of some “power powder”, all of this is a side dish for what really goes on at nightclub hotspots, or so channel nines new series of underbelly would have you believe about Sydney’s infamous Kings Cross.

The third series of the Australian drama went to air this week with a whopping 2, 327,000 viewers, all bent on watching the inner workings and power plays of Sydney’s drug trafficking trade.

The rest of the plan i will go on to write about the corruption of the police even in contemporary times. Not much has changed in terms of the nightclub scene- drug use is still rampant even in the local Melbourne scene where owners turn a blind eye to what is happening inside their establishment. If drugs are what is keeping the patrons coming in, then the club owners are not likely to stop that any time soon.

In relaion to this as well, I will expand on the corruption that the show establishes about the police force and how again, this still happens in present day nightclubs. The drug dealers are kept out of jail while the cops are left with a significantly heavier wallet.

The point in the article where it speaks about impressionable youth watching will be the next point that i will elaborate on in my feature story. The article mentions Underbelly as giving crime a sexy and powerful image and this link between young people and the show is seen via one of the main characters Johnny ‘the boy’ Ibrahim as  a 17year old high school drop out who takes over the Cross. Kids can relate to him because the very first episode he attends his formal, creating  a common ground for teens, but also has high hopes for his future. With this, I’ll use the quote from the original article: “ theres nothing honorable or admirable in relation to the people who are depicted in these programs. For the impressionable kids out there watching these programs, they think it’s a lot of fun.” Former supreme court judge James Wood.

Hard vs. Soft

This weeks blog entry for the Easter readings will examine the limitations and advantages that hard and soft news writing styles present to the reader.

The first two articles ‘RBA’s Stevens warns against housing speculation’ and ‘Push to end underquoting as market stays hot’ are examples of a hard news format. The advantage of writing a news story like this is that all the necessary facts are written down for the reader and they won’t be bored having to read through unimportant fluff. The first article in particular uses several statistics which signifies further background research being done, therefore making it somewhat more believable that this is the truth.

Interviews and first person perspectives are important to add to hard news stories too as it provides a sense of legitimacy that this incident has actually happened. I particularly like the example in the second article ‘Push to end underquoting as market stays hot’ because the quote from Prahran buyer Chris Tollis makes us feel the anger and frustration involved in looking for a home.

Disadvantages of a hard news format however is that it is told in a very matter of fact way and there is no emotion in it at all. Personally, I do not favour this format as the punchy and very staccato tone it has bores me! But then again, this type of style appeals to different audiences. Early morning commuters do not have time to read the airy fairy minor detail in the morning newspaper when they are in a rush to get to work- all they care for is what happened, who’s involved and where.

The complete opposite of this would be found in a glossy magazine or community paper; mediums read when there is time to spare. The last three articles ‘Naan violent protest’, ‘Flying in the face of convention’ and the Melbourne Food and Wine festival review are all examples of soft news formats and clearly written for people who care to learn more. All three articles use very colourful and colloquial language to get the message across, as well as speak to the reader like they are a part of it.

I particularly like the use of images in the Food and Wine festival review published in the Melbourne gastronome. I am unsure as to whether this is soft news story etiquette, to include picture, by it certainly works in my point of view. To be able to see exactly what it being described makes the story twice as impacting and therefore, making me choose soft news stories as my preferred way of writing format.

But he threw it first!

Police rescued a couple from their burning car after it had crashed into an embankment in Frankston yesterday morning

Darren Browne, 24 and Sally Weinstein, 25, suffered injuries when a rock was thrown at the windscreen of their red Nissan Pulsar, causing the driver to loose consciousness.

The incident happened after a bottle was thrown near McDonalds restaurant on Wells street.

A gang of four Caucasian men was spotted at the scene.

Senior Constable Glenn Paxton said “you could see flames coming from the under carriage of the car. Once we had them out I grabbed a fire extinguisher from our patrol car and put the flames out.”

Browne was taken to the Alfred hospital with head injuries, however it is unknown what his condition is at this stage. Weinstein was conscious but has suffered a broken arm.

Both victims do not know the group of men.

The operation has led to an investigation, anyone with information is urged to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

Do YOU know what you are eating?

CHOICE, Australia’s leading consumer advocacy group has released a report that says supermarkets and food labels leave grocery buyers in the dark.

Supermarket aisles are full of foods with genetically modified ingredients that are not stated on labels, making it almost impossible to avoid GM processing.

“When consumers see ‘vegetable oil’ on a label they have no way of knowing if it is GM canola or cottonseed oil”. says CHOICE Senior campaigner Clare Hughes.

In addition, many of Australia’s meat, egg and dairy products could come from animals fed GM feed, yet this does not need to be mentioned on the label.

Under Australian GM labeling laws, consumers are supposed to see which products contain genetically modified ingredients. However, a loophole in the system is that GM products do not have to be labeled as GM.

Miss Hughes says, “you have a right to know if your food comes from GM crops, or GM fed animals, directly or indirectly.”

Scientific evidence suggests that these foods are harmless, however CHOICE argue that a lack of evidence of harm is not enough to prove that GM foods are one hundred per cent safe either.

Further, much of the research conducted is by the companies who produce GM crops, keeping their findings confidential from proper academic inquiry.

Miss Hughes argues that the connected environmental and ethical issues give more reason for full disclosure of GM ingredients to consumers.

Currently, Australian food labeling laws are being reviewed. CHOICE encourages consumers to demand better labels on GM foods in order to “have all the information they need to make a truly informed choice.”

So many ideas, so little time..

Week three’s blog is a little different to the previous posts as it is not an opinion on any pre read article, but instead, an idea for what future articles to come.

We were given the task to write and explore three possible news story ideas that will be submitted as our first piece of assessment.

Idea #1: Recently, someone I know was charged with possession and trafficking of amphetmines for commercial use at a poplar Melbourne nightclub. While they were summoned to court, they did not receive a jail sentence or community service, only a $300 fine. This news story brings us further associated issues such as leniency of the legal system as well as the club owners and themselves. I say this because without naming names, this specific club is renowned for drug use by both the public that attend as well as the staff and djs who work there. Questions arise too about the standards of this location and the fact that it is allowed to happen without a bat of an eyelid. To write this story, I would interview the person i know who got arrested, people who attend the club and what they think of what goes on there, and possible police officers and there thoughts as well.

Idea#2: A friend of mine knows a story of where there is a bitter legal battle between ex’s over their infant son. But this story is made even more interesting because the mother is an ex prostitute with a severe history of drug abuse and mental illness, most recently shaving her head bald, all to similar to the Britney Spears saga. Furthermore, before a couple of week ago, the woman was missing for six weeks, which of course, does not help her case in battling for her six month old baby. Prospective interviewees for this story could possibly be a child welfare unit and maybe the brother of the babys father. I am aware that this is a snsitive family issue.

Idea #3: The third story idea that I have is a little more on the brighter side compared to the previous two. This would be an event review of the A-League grand final at Etihad stadium this coming weekend. This has been a debatable topic especially because of the recent contest between AFL and Soccer heads about the ownership of Etihad  if Australia were to win the 2020 world cup rights. In writing this story, I would include a short review about the game itself, interview fans from both an AFL and Soccer perspective, as well as local coaches from both sport teams.

It’s all just a numbers game

The first thing that I noticed about this article written by Paige Williams was the quote included inside the image that reads “ Let us be dissatisfied until the tragic walls that separate the outer city of wealth and comfort from the inner city of poverty and despair shall be crushed by the battering rams of the forces of justice.” Personally, this simple quote taken from Dr Martin Luther King’s presidential address brought out a sense of inspiration from within me at the thought that somewhere in the future, society will be equal, despite the naivety of what it sounds like at the moment.

The most shocking value that I found in this article was $10.50- the amount that was considered a ‘living wage’ and one that would help low income workers climb out of the poverty they live in. What I thought made this amount even more sadder was the fact that employers were still trying to find loopholes past this, some paying there workers only $8.50 per hour, clearly only allowing for the bare minimum to survive.

Finally, the last story of the article was definitely the most moving out of the feature where we met Vicky and Will and their devotion to stay alive, as well as to each other. This specific part of the article is an example of where White uses highly emotive language to get the reader to feel empathy for the characters she is writing about and the people she has introduced us to, leaving us with the feeling at the end of reading that something does need to be done to ensure that this type of lifestyle no longer exists for anyone.

This article I felt was more effective in terms of hitting the reader with a more emotional bullet compared to Nick McKenzie’s “The minister, money and Ms Liu”. Due to the fact that it was so full of statistics, it did make the article feel more informative with a sentimental edge compared to McKenzie’s straightforward fact machine style writing. Maybe it’s just me, maybe I’m the type of girl who loves the trashy magazine gossip (actually I AM that girl!) but Williams’s article definitely has the upper edge because of the way she presents it, and for me at least the all round winner, if this was a competition of course.

A picture tells 1001 words

This weeks blog entry is based on the week one reading Tabloid Deconstruction by niall lucy, which I must say is a difficult piece of writing to get through, especially it being the first academic writing ive read in several months!

After eventually getting through it though, and yes it did take time, I slowly came to understand a few of the arguments that Lucy posed, one of which equates photographers as journalists also. Or should that be vice versa? I specifically like the quote in the reading where he writes, “…image-objects are not image-objects at all, but simulacra”,(p28) thus likening the art of images and storytelling to situations that we have already experienced and what is familiar to our cultural context.

Discussion in class brought up the issue of photography indeed being a form of journalism and the ethics associated with what ideas and connotations pictures bring.  Lucy’s article on page 24 states that “what distinguishes the moment of capture is that it is immediate: this was and here, now, it is.” It can be argued though that pictures do not tell the complete account despite the old adage ‘a picture tells a thousand words.’

While it only takes a millisecond for the camera shutters to snap what is in front of it, quality time has been taken in ensuring that the setting is perfect, there is a sufficient amount of light in order to set the mood of the shot and indeed, even the exact angle has been calculated as to where the lens should aim.

By saying this, it could therefore be argued that the image itself has been aligned to what the journalist wants their news story to achieve, and in a worse case scenario, be publishing news for self benefit as opposed to public want or need, obviously against the journalistic code of ethics. Furthermore, while the individual journalists have ideas about how they want there reports to be portrayed, there is no way of knowing exactly how varied audience groups will perceive it. Again, in Tabloid Deconstruction, Lucy mentions, “ textual references are never independent of their contexts, so that textual referents are not pre-given but produced.’ (p29) Situations arise where news stories as well as photographs become influential even though it truly wasn’t intended. But as the above statement alludes to, opinions are not only created by those who write the news, but also the people the news is written for. Social, cultural and economical contexts all play a role in our belief systems, and it is albeit impossible to have every single person in this digital world believing in the same way.