Hipsters. Love them or hate them, they are definitely here to stay; at least until they realise that there are only so many ugly knitted jumpers to go around. I am kind of on the outer when it comes to hipsterdom, I think I missed the moment when moustaches became cool and not just a relic of the Magnum PI days. This is not to say that I am not a hipster fan, on the contrary, I am glad that boob tubes are no longer in fashion, and I definitely agree with their whole bike riding philosophy, for both physical and environmental benefits. But I think it will be a long time before I begin to wear lenseless glasses and ‘ironic’ cowboy shirts. I should also confess now that my favourite time passing game on campus is to play ‘hipster or just badly dressed’. Judgemental I know, but I often find myself wondering if that person is wearing that aquamarine sweater with a cartoon figure from the 90’s to be ironic, or if it’s washing day and they couldn’t find much else. Rather than finish on such cynicism, I have compiled a bunch of links and what not, that together form my ‘Ode to Hipsters’. You can decide on the level of irony present.

http://dadsaretheoriginalhipster.tumblr.com/ 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HR4n6OVoyYQ

http://stuffhipstershate.tumblr.com/

http://www.verbal-vomit.com/2011/03/how-to-be-hipster-chapter-1.html

Final Lecture

The final lecture of the semester was delivered by guest lecturer Steve Molk. Steve is an entertainment blogger, and it was really interesting to hear from someone who has found success from a beginning using new media. His comment on ‘your brand starts now’ was really quite thought provoking, as everything we produce as individuals affects our marketability and employability. Steve now has a successful television blog and his articles have been picked up by Fairfax media. Here is a link to Steve’s site: http://molkstvtalk.com/

Investigative Journalism: Assume Nothing

The lecture in week 12 was all about investigative journalism, its processes and outcomes. Investigative journalism has had a long and chequered history, with many investigative stories changing the world and many journalists experiencing backlash as a result of their findings. There are a five ‘ins’ involved in producing an investigative piece: Intelligent, informed, intuitive, inside, invest. The main point driven through the lecture was that for a good investigative piece, a lot of time is needed to be invested, time in checking sources, gathering information, physically chasing the story. Also discussed was the key idea that investigative journalism should give a voice to those without one, and should hold public personalities and institutions responsible for their actions. It is also important that investigative journalists take nothing for granted in terms of information on sources, and remain sceptical, not cynical. The lecture gave examples of some ground breaking journos and their stories, such as Edward Hall Smith, who campaigned for convict rights, WT Stead, who exposed a people trafficking trade in the UK and Woodward and Bernstein, who were behind the Watergate affair resulting in the impeachment of president Nixon. Locally, there are the individuals behind the story that began the Fitzgerald inquiry and drew attention to police corruption in Queensland. These individuals and their stories have all changed the world, and have illustrated the power of investigative journalism. At the end of the day a good investigative journalist must do two things: Assume nothing and check everything.

Cottoning on to low cost fashion

I recently stumbled across this article in the Huffington Post, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/11/overdressed-book-elizabeth-cline_n_1587413.html?ref=topbar and a more in depth version from the New York Post http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/books/crimes_of_fashion_bWqYjXdI61cTY6fPndkrMJ/0, and I have to say, it definitely made me question my shopping habits. A recent study has revealed that an average American household spends $1700 annually on clothes, the smallest percentage of income ever dedicated to fashion, and are getting more and more items from their dollar than ever before. As someone who is always on the lookout for a bargain, and a frequent purchaser of low cost goods in high quantities, the idea of shopping differently is a rather alien concept. When broken down however, the amount I spend frequently on bulk ‘disposable fashion’, could easily be saved up and put towards a high quality, possibly even designer item. Do I really need four tops for $30 when I already have a cupboard overflowing with near identical pieces? I have a housemate who works full time, and rather than buy a single high-end designer piece, buys multiple items from her favourite shop, Cotton On. I am not criticizing my housemate or the store here, however the article has made me question her practice of wearing a cheap piece of clothing once or twice and then getting sick of it, thus relegating it to the back of her wardrobe, only to be seen again on clean up days. The constant demand for more fashion more often, has resulted in polyester being the fibre du jour, which is more harmful to the environment to produce, as well as less comfortable to wear than natural fibres such as cotton and linen. The article also draws attention to the ecological impacts resulting from such a rapid rag trade, as well as the economic losses stateside, such as loss of local production and skills. So will I change my already set ways when it comes to buying clothes? Only time will tell, however I know I am not above a moment of weakness, particularly when faced with a Myer sale. 

Agenda Setting

This week’s lecture looked at the topic of agenda setting, and the role the media plays in the construction of public opinion. Agenda setting is can be simply summed up as: The more coverage an issue receives, the more important it is to people. There are four different agendas, public agenda, policy agenda, corporate agenda, and media agenda. With regards to media agenda setting, assumptions are made about the audience, such as mass media do not merely reflect and report reality, they filter and shape it. Walter Lippman, a newspaper columnist, wrote in 1922 that ‘the mass media creates images of events in our lives’. This is particularly true in today’s media landscape, when many people turn to visuals for news. It seems that agenda setting was first ‘discovered’ in 1968 during Ronald Reagan’s presidential campaign, when media researchers surveyed 100 undecided voters on key issues. They were testing the hypothesis that the mass media set the agenda by emphasising specific topics. There are two main types of agenda setting theory, the first level, at which the media suggest what the public should focus on through media coverage, and the second level, at which the media suggests how people should think about an issue. It is also evident that elite media set the agenda for issues in other media, for example the larger publications and news channels will run stories that smaller outlets will pick up on and use. There is also what is termed to be an agenda setting ‘family’.

A new issue faced by the agenda setting theory is the 24 hour news cycle. This means that there is less time for a single issue to be pushed forward and gain large amounts of attention, as there is a large volume of stories being produced in shorter time frames. There is also a new ‘prime time’, in that you cannot always guarantee that people will consume their news at 6pm as they did prior to the advent of new media.  

Mad Men Madness

One of my favourite shows on TV is Mad Men, and as it draws to the end of its fifth season, I thought I would write a post on it, seeing as I spend plenty of time watching and rewatching my favourite episodes. As it has been one of the most talked about and critically acclaimed series in recent times, there is quite a bit of buzz surrounded, but for the uninitiated here is a synopsis. Set in the 1960’s it explores the illustrious New York advertising scene, mainly revolving around the central character, Donald Draper. The sets and costumes are absolutely stunning, and the episodes are always executed brilliantly. I would absolutely die for one the many dresses paraded through the episodes.

In its presentation and examinations of the issues of the time in which the show is set, it also brings to light the fact that many of these issues are still prevalent today, such as gender inequality and racism. In fact there have been many articles and posts about these issues, check out http://jezebel.com/5914058/mad-men-working-girls re women in the workplace. In Mad Men there is a show that is both entertaining and thought provoking, and the perfect cure for a miserable rainy day.

Here is a link to the Huffington Post’s Mad Men section, it’s full of stories and galleries related to the show: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/mad-men

Lecture 9

News Values. What makes a story news worthy? How do media outlets decide what to publish? News values are certain elements that journalists use to determine if a story will be successful. It’s ‘official’ definition (as given in the lecture), is: The degree of prominence a media outlet gives a story and the attention that is paid by an audience. It is also a broadly agreed set of values that determine newsworthiness. News can encompass many things; however across all aspects it is usually something that will grab the reader, or audiences, attention. People like to read, see and hear news that is relevant to them and their world, hence why audience identification is an important element of all news stories. In the lecture we were introduced to the adage, if it bleeds it leads, referring to the high level of interest in news stories regarding violence and tragedy. In local media outlets, however, they prefer leading with local stories, ones which they believe will resonate the most with the audience. In the lecture we were introduced to several sets of news values from different eras. Despite the ongoing changes as to how media is delivered and consumed, the news values haven’t changed all that much. The set that I believe is the most applicable today is the set from 2001 by O’Neill and Harcup. They are power elite, celebrity, entertainment, surprise, bad news, good news, magnitude, relevance, follow-up, newspaper agenda. They have also been summed up into 6 general headings, of:
 1. Significance (impact)
 2. Proximity
 3. Conflict
 4. Human interest
 5. Novelty
 6. Prominence

 These are all elements that make up a successful news story, and are evident when looking at any news story today. Here is the more detailed list with some brief explanations.