Agenda Setting and George Bush’s “Mission Accomplished” Re:  the Iraq War.

Kiousis, S. (2011). Agenda Setting and Attitudes. Journalism Studies, 12(3), 358-374.

Spiro Kiousis, media studies academic and author of at least 13 articles from a variety of journalism and communication journals, detailed in “Agenda Setting and Attitudes” the theoretical rudiments of agenda setting and proved the hypothesis that media salience through agenda setting is directly related to public salience and awareness as well as attitude strength.

The article was presented much like a scientific report, addressing such topics as priming, attitude strength, linking salience and attitude strength, methods in which the study was conducted, data analysis strategy, results, hypothesis testing and discussion. The presence of these elements was particularly useful as it not only gave a theoretical background to agenda setting but through the statistical research was able to prove the aforementioned hypothesis.

The study had a primary focus on the interconnectedness between media salience of presidential candidates and the publics perceived candidate salience and public attitude strength towards the candidates. This was achieved through using the media and public opinion data from presidential elections.

The report includes raw collected data and a successive analysis of the data which demonstrates that the ideas expressed are credible and bias is absent. Extensive referencing is used throughout the report which also demonstrates a thoroughly researched journal article, resulting in the high credibility and reliability of the article.  

Pstuart, S., Nordby7 (Producer). (2007, 26-10-2011). Mission Accomplished. [Video] Retrieved from http://current.com/groups/on-current-tv/76385062_mission-accomplished.htm

The video of George Bush’s Mission Accomplished speech on 1^st May, 2003 was an issue of prominence in 2003 and through agenda setting was able to generate public salience. The video shows the President of the time, George Bush, standing at a podium on the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, stating that major combat operations in the Iraq War were over.

The video of George Bush’s Mission Accomplished speech presented on ‘Current TV’ was not representative of a certain viewpoint or bias from the source as it was footage of the speech itself; demonstrating its credibility. The speech however was representative of the opinions of George Bush who, through the aim to appease the American public stated that major combat operations in the Iraq War were over; regardless of the fact troops were deployed just 4 days later.

The resubmission of the footage by ‘Current TV’ in 2007, 4 years after the speech and as the war was still apparent, demonstrates a sense of mocking at George Bush by the source. This effectively positioned Bush to appear foolish and that the speech was a folly in light of the continuation of the war, in much the same manner the article by Seghal establishes.  

Seghal, U. (2011). Eight Years Ago, Bush Declared 'Mission Accomplished' in Iraq  Retrieved 26-10, 2011, from http://www.theatlanticwire.com/national/2011/05/mission-accomplished-speech/37226/

Journalist Ujala Seghal, author of countless articles for the popular source ‘The Atlantic Wire’ published the article about Bush’s Mission Accomplished speech on 1^st May, 2011, not accidentally the 8^th anniversary of the speech. Publishing the article at this time gives credit to the views that the article is presenting: that the speech was a folly. The article details that the speech was unwarranted as the war has continued for an indefinite period of time, but that Bush was not the only one who expected the war to be at its demise at the time the speech was delivered.

The article begins with increased statistics of the death toll in Iraq (U.S. soldiers only) to add shock value and illuminate the fact that the speech was a falsehood as the war is continuing. It is evident through agenda setting that the anniversary aspect of the speech which is present in the video by ‘Current TV’, article by Seghal and radio broadcast by Rowland made the issue of the speech about the ‘end’ of the Iraq war an issue of salience and awareness within the public sphere.

The article by Seghal, clearly presenting the bias that the speech was a folly, used supporting quotes by news commentators which are not considered credible academic sources which supported the opinions in the article, demonstrating that the article was highly opinionated.

Rowland, M. (Producer). (2008, 26-10-2011). Banner Anniversary Puts White House on the Defensive. [Broadcast] Retrieved from http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2008/s2233317.htm

The radio broadcast from the ABC’s AM program presented by esteemed reporter and North American correspondent Michael Rowland is illustrative of the anniversary aspect of the agenda setting theory as demonstrated in the video from ‘Current TV’ and especially the article by Seghal.

The broadcast begins with stating that it is the 5 year anniversary since the speech and terms of endearment were used to describe the context of Bush and the speech such as “Top Gun style” and “his [George Bush] fighter jet jumpsuit” (Rowland, 2008). These terms make evident the bias in the article which is not dissimilar to that of the article by Seghal: that the speech was a folly and illuminates the common point that the war is continuing.

The broadcast discusses the Mission Accomplished speech through interviews and audio recordings which offers an accurate grounding of events such as the alleged end to the Iraq war, contrasted with contemporary protests to the war 5 years later.

Although there is bias present in the broadcast, the ABC-AM program is viewed as a credible and reliable medium, substantiated by the interviews and audio recordings of key interest figures such as George Bush, John McCain and Iraq veteran Joshua Lansdale.

• "Page One - Inside the NY Times"

The movie screened for the Jour1111 cohort was incredible as it was practically a nice little summary of agenda setting, web 2.0 and many other key elements of the course.
David Carr is a brilliant character. The movie ventured deep in to the production of the New York Times and gave great insight in to how the operation of such a prominent newspaper functions.
The issue of the decline of print media was raised in the course and in the movie and although the New York Times is expected to be able to cope, perhaps it is inevitable that all good things must come to an end.

• Gaddafi.

I woke up this morning to check the Brisbane Times to find the headline 'Mummar Gaddafi Dead'. Already on Facebook I have seen posts from errr..'friends' with statements as grotesque as "Gaddafi killed clutching golden gun in a sewerage pipe.. Nationalist **** got what he deserved."

First I will point out Gaddafi was not killed in a sewerage pipe. He was found hiding in a sewerage pipe and "succumbed to his wounds while being transported to the rebel stronghold city of Misrata" (Brisbane Times).
It annoys me that we can openly spread out joy that someone has been killed. The same thing with Osama. I don't care what anyone has done, the fact that people can celebrate the death of a person, completely blind to the implications that their death will have, to me equates to a horrible kind of ignorance. Full Story of Gaddafi's Demise

An anti-Gaddafi fighter points at the drain where Muammar Gaddafi was hiding before he was captured in Sirt. Photo: Reuters (source)

Just a brief comment as I am pressed for time: in the news this morning there was a report that MP's could potentially receive a higher redundancy packages. In my opinion politicians probably deserve the higher redundancy packages; however, this should not be implemented because power + money = catastrophe. The incentive to become a politician could be moreso focused on money and not with the 'noble' intentions the profession has in an ideal world.

For me, the idea of investigative journalism conjures up the imagery of, as mentioned in the lecture, the thieving of family photos off mantelpieces as well as in-your-face reporters and the guy off ACA who everyone he interviews wants to punch.

Obviously investigative journalism is much more in depth than that and not so negative, involving a process of collecting and gathering information from a number of sources and a number of mediums to create a well-informed, credible and truthful story.

The key elements of journalism are all fairly self explanatory and are conveniently presented with some nice alliteration. Investigative journalism=

• intelligent
• informed
• intuitive
• inside
• invest

There are deeper meanings and purposes of investigative journalism. Investigative journalists have the following functions. They:

• are critical and thorough
• are custodians
• provide a voice
• act as a fourth branch of government

The main idea behind journalists being critical and thorough is that the journalist is to function as an active participant in the story and is to ideally provide a substantial effort. The key idea of being being critical and thorough is active intervention. Investigative journalists also function as custodians. They act as a civic vice and provide exposure. Investigaive journalists provide a voice. The key element of providing a voice is ensuring it is relevant to public interest. Providing a voice to the public promotes social justice and gives power to the powerless. Investigative journalists function as a fourth branch of government or act as a 'watchdog' to political affairs. Journalists make accountable public personalities and institutions which impact social and political life. The free flow of information is vital for a functioning democracy and is especially important in Queensland as there is no upper house in Parliament.

The types of investigative interaction are

• interviews
• observations
• documents
• briefings
• leaks
• trespass
• theft

The interviewing process ideally involves interviewing numerous sources; both on-the record sources and anonymous whistle blowers when applicable. Observing involves the investigation of technical issues, legal issues and social issues as well as the scrutiny of government and business practices. Analysing documents involves analysing applicable legal documents e.g. law suits, tax records, corporate financials and so on.

The major threats to investigative journalism are PR (propaganda by truth?) and online news. With online news as a threat, this means there is less money, which equals less journalists and less time, which in turn equates to less investigative journalism. It is valid to consider pay-walls as potentially making investigative journalism a viable pursuit as it will generate more money for the companies employing journalists, having a trickling down effect.

Investigative journalism is important as it involves the critical questioning of facts and opinions presented to us and in some respects impedes agenda setting influences.

The Open-Minded

There is no greater group of people in society than the open-minded. Unlike other social groups pertaining to or united by a certain ethnicity, dress code, spiritual belief, culture, passion for knitting and so forth; the open-minded people are not characterised by a typical element, be it conscious or subconscious like the aforementioned components.

Nay, the open-minded are a revolutionary bunch; whether they are aware of it or not, they are working towards a better world that racism and hatred are counteracting and are sworn adversaries to the open-minded. This admirable breed is from all walks of life, all religions, all countries, and are not bound or restricted by these forces entirely, or at all. Of course, like all beautiful things, the open-minded are rare. The open-minded only emerge and flourish in certain environments; coincidentally most commonly found in institutions of higher education and in areas where ignorance is lacking.

Everyone has experienced the radiant presence of an open-minded individual. The degree to which an open-minded individual can be appreciated varies and are more commonly accepted and valued amongst their own kind. Likewise, the close-minded are more accepted amongst their own kind and when the two species interact, conflict usually arises, passivity on one side and aggression on the other, typically; that’s just their nature.

As we have all experienced the radiant presence of the open-minded, we have also all experienced the arrogant and frustrating presence of the close-minded, be it in their most radical form or just on a particular issue they perceive themselves to be experts in.

I have personally experienced the open-minded in high-school (however scarce they were), university, a family setting and amongst friendship groups. In high school, the most evident contrast of these people was in modern history classes. The close-minded included those who worshipped Hitler and the open-minded who appreciated Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. This observation I feel says it all and more.  

Coming to university from high school was for me, terrifying. It was the close-minded I was used to being around. It was the close-minded that I had learnt to communicate and even associate with.  The open-minded burst in to my life and at first I did not know how to react to them. Friendly faces greeting me and inviting me to barbeque's and toga parties were first treated with suspicion, apprehension even.  Admittedly, I had zilch interest in participating in either, but golly was it a refreshing change from the usual house party resulting in retching. The open-minded supported my transition to university in an overwhelmingly welcoming fashion and I like to think it’s because of more than the thousands of dollars I will be in debt for, for the rest of my life.

The open-minded at university include the individuals with the ponytails who ask you as you walk past if you care about the treatment of refugees, the quest for marriage equality, or those who don’t feel the need to dress for lectures as if they’re going clubbing after. Some would say that university is a cesspool for the open-minded individuals of today and I realise now in hindsight that that welcoming atmosphere and community is a grand thing to be a part of.

My family, (bless them if I were religious), I will not lie: are a conservative country-values based bunch who believe in a hard days labour, White Australia and that politicians are all stupid. It is arguable that all politicians are stupid but as a student of political science I love them all. Anyway, upholding these values, my extended family have little to discuss with my latte sipping, uni-dwelling brother and I, as we see ourselves to have been influenced by the world that the open-minded people have shown us.

My brother and I have attempted to infect our family with a more expansive mindset and I can proudly say that my grandmother has welcomed the prospect of my Fijian-Indian boyfriend as opposed to shunning me as she would have ‘back in the day’.

It is rather heart-warming when and individual set in their ways can become the old dog who learnt a new trick, whether it is something as simple as being more open-minded towards equality or developing more contemporary and realistic perspectives of our ever-changing world.

It is the open-minded who create social harmony, the open-minded who are unique to any other social group, who contribute to a better and more equal world consciously and subconsciously and should therefore be congratulated as the greatest group of people that society has bred and fostered.

Image Source

What is meant by the term news values?

News values relate to the degree of prominence a media outlet gives to a story and the attention that is paid by an audience.

From this definition, we can see how intricately linked news values are with agenda setting in the media.

"News journalism has a broadly agreed set of values often referred to as newsworthiness". -A. Boyd 1994

News values are comprised of the following elements:

• impact
• audience identification
• pragmatics
• source influence

Although the titles themselves are self-evident, I will elaborate: briefly. Impact refers to the impact the news item has on the audience. Audience Identification is anything that's interesting to the audience. Pragmatics are the more technical elements such as ethics, facts, current affairs, practice and everyday items. Source influence refers to any bias from the provider of the news, where the news comes from and PR.

An interesting research analysis was conducted by Galtung and Ruge in 1965 concerning what common factors are present in newspapers or bulletins to discover trends in newsworthiness and agenda.  
Studies since 1965 have been conducted with the same intention and have returned strikingly similar results. Galtung and Ruge suggested that the main elements which are present in the news to appeal to audiences are:

• negativity- sad news makes for good news
• closeness to home- local news
• recency- breaking news
• currency- ongoing stories or current events
• continuity- events with a continuing impact e.g. war
• uniqueness- strange, bizarre or attention grabbing stories
• simplicity- easy to explain stories
• personality- human interest pieces
• expectancy- predictability
• elite nations or people- news stories that cover important, powerful nations or organisations and key individuals e.g. famous politicians, celebrities
• exclusivity- having what no other news company has
• size- threshold

Journalism and commercialisation of media and social life, journalism and PR and journalism's ideals and journalism's reality are all perceived threats to newsworthiness.

Contemporary news is somewhat concerning to me in the same manner in which contemporary politics is somewhat concerning to me. The two fields in my opinion have a strong focus on pleasing a mass audience and consequently are lacking in independent and revolutionary thought. For journalism, this is achieved through agenda setting and what is deemed newsworthy and in my opinion what the mass audience wants to hear about is not what I want to hear about. For example, I couldn't care less about which football star has recently had a bender, I care about who's dying in Libya, but; each to their own I suppose.

This week's lecture topic was of particular interest to me. I love anything that has to do with the influence over the minds of others, any kind of propaganda, corruption and general sneakiness from people in power. Although this isn't the idea of agenda setting as such, it is arguable that it comes in to play from time to time.

What is agenda setting?

"Agenda setting is the process of the mass media presenting certain issues frequently and prominently with the result that large segments of the public come to perceive those issues as more important than others. Simply put, the more coverage an issue receives, the more important it is to people."(Coleman, McCombs, Shaw, Weaver, 2008)

There are four agendas in agenda setting. These include:

1. Public agenda
2. Policy agenda
3. Corporate agenda
4. Media agenda

All of these different types of agendas are interrelated as indicated by the image below.

There are two basic assumptions of media agenda setting:

1. mass media do not only reflect and report reality, they shape and filter it.
2. if the media concentrates on a few issues and subjects, this leads the public to perceive these few issues as the most important.

I am interested to see though the next few lectures how the media decides what is of paramount importance and what issues are to be focused on because I often ponder as to why soft news stories are deemed more important than war and famine. Is this because the Australian public are disinterested in offshore issues? I like to think not.

There are two main types of agenda setting theory.

• First level agenda setting theory: media suggests what the public should focus on through coverage
• Second level agenda setting theory: how the media focuses on the attributes of the issues- the media suggests how people should think about an issue.

The 'agenda setting family' is a model which involves a set of components which comprises the agenda setting realm. The family includes:

• media gate keeping- control of messages through a communication channel, exposure of an issue
• media advocacy- purposive promotion of a message
• agenda cutting- most of the truth or reality that is going on in the world isn't represented
• agenda surfing- or 'bandwagon effect'- media follows the crowd and trends
• diffusion of news- process where an important event is communicated to the public
• portrayal of an issue- how an issue is portrayed will often influence how it is perceived by the public
• media dependence- the more dependent people are the more susceptible people are to agenda setting

While it is clear that agendas are set intentionally in the media, it is also important to keep in mind that agenda setting can come about by chance as there are so many issues to be covered and competing news mediums often cover similar stories to show that they are the most comprehensive news source available.

It has become apparent to me from this week's lecture that I find public media to be the noble... rival maybe? Perhaps not rival... let's say cousin of commercial media where both have a mutual apprehension for one another.

Public media includes such networks as the SBS and ABC in Australia which each have various mediums e.g. radio stations, T.V channels, etc. On an international spectrum, examples of public media organisations include:

• BBC- UK
• PBS- US
• DR- Danish
• npr- US
• RTHK- Hong Kong
• CBC- Canada
• NHK- Japan
• arte- France
• TVNZ- New Zealand

There are different funding models throughout the public media sphere including TV licenses (UK), donation, funding, some government contribution, etc.

I find public media to be 'noble' as aforementioned due to the fact that it cannot be bought like commercial media and is in support of the public and democratic processes.
I particularly liked the point that Dr. Redman made when he stated that when a politician says that they love the ABC, then we're really stuffed. The fact that public media holds the government accountable furthers parliamentary checks and balances and is an extremely social progressive force in my opinion.

Public media is said to require 'public value'. Public value, according to the BBC is comprised of the following:

• Embedding a ‘public service ethos’
• Value for licence fee money (or in our case taxpayer money)
• ‘Weighing public value against market impact’
• Public consultation

Public service broadcasting involves:

• Geographical universality
• Universality of appeal
• Special provision for minorities
• Broadcasters should recognise their special relationship to the sense of national identity and community
• Broadcasting should be distanced from all vested interests
• Universality of payment
• Encourage competition in good programming rather than competition for numbers
• Public guidelines for broadcasting- liberate rather than restrict broadcasters

The function of the public media is to be nation building, recognise national heritage, identity and conversation.

I admire the attitude and motives of public media broadcasting.

When it is made apparent that the decline of old media is upon us, it honestly disappoints me as I have a classical romantic view of the importance of the printed word and the counter-cultural lifestyle of being a journalist in this era (see below).

Image Source

That's not to say that commercial media now doesn't interest and fascinate me, being the money driven cut throat industry that it is.

As mentioned in today's lecture, commercial media exists to provide eyeballs and ears to advertisers with a primary focus on being profit driven.
Commercial media is non-government and privately funded and its success or failure is determined on business successes.
Examples of commercial media organisations include:

• News Limited
• Fairfax
• Nine Entertainment
• Win
• Southern Cross
• 7 West Media
• Ten Corporation

The form of commercial media is through subscription, sponsorship and subsidisation and has commercial, propaganda and social functions.

Commercial media is an important aspect of democracy but is however kept under control through:

• formal state requirements
• legal prescriptions
• state oversight
• statutory elements
• voluntary elements

Commercial media has impacted on society arguably negatively through 'dumbing down' of news in general because of the focus to entertain the public and through tabloidisation as a result of the desire to please the audience.
The future of commercial media is uncertain as factors such as how do commercial media companies continue to make profits? what audience will commercial media pertain to? and what will be the effect on journalism in this media shift? arise.
There are however potential business solutions which have been suggested such as:

• Quality: bigger, better, greater content
• Greater competition: compelling content- companies are pressured to lift their game further
• Conversion: switch existing customers to digital
• Paywalls: Implemented on internet sites

In contemporary society there are rapid developments in media and the manner in which we produce and consume media and it is primarily important as journalism students to recognise and keep up to date with this.

From this weeks lecture, it is apparent that there are three different 'stages / mediums' of the web:

• Web 1.0
• Web 2.0
• Web 3.0

Web 1.0-
Web 1.0 refers to the information web. Web 1.0 is the first stage of the world wide web- linking websites with hyperlinks and opening the world to a revolutionary avenue of information sharing.

Web 2.0-
Web 2.0 refers to the social web. The social web involves interactions between individuals through social media sites such as facebook and twitter (or myspace, bebo etc in the olden days) and encourages media production and communication.
Social networking sites appeal to mass audiences and have faced much criticism due to the roles social media sites have played in events such as the Cronulla riots, London riots and cyber bullying, etc.

IT Crowd- friend face: take on social networking

Web 3.0-
Web 3.0 refers to the semantic web and involves making sense of information. A key aspect of the newly developing web 3.0 is meta-tagging with a focus on smart phones which for example, if you enter your location and desire to see a movie on a social networking site, the aforementioned key words will be recognised and a cinema with movies viewing will be suggested.
Although I find Web 3.0 to be a convenient new technology, it is questionable in the sense that it is quite invasive and insidious.

For news, web 3.0 may have the impact of hyperlocalisation- very specific content delivery directly relevant to the individual and their interests. As a consequence it is arguable that this may lead to ignorance and a lack of broad, general knowledge of current affairs.

The very realistic possibility of the Courier Mail adopting a pay wall scheme is interesting and in my opinion will not be adopted by the public as they will have a reluctance to pay for something that they have always had for free.

Nichola Davies 42627685

From the period of the 9^th August 2011 to 22^nd August 2011 my media use was logged in mediums including radio use, newspaper, televised news, online news, online social networking: facebook and twitter, personal blogging, blog viewing, Internet (other), magazines, mobile phone use and iPod use. The purpose of the logging of these forms of media was to identify trends and critically analyse my media use in relation to journalism and communication. The raw data for these media types is as follows:

Type of Media	Approx. Total Use (over two weeks)	Approx. Average Use Per Day
Radio	605 mins / 10 hr 30 mins	45 mins
Newspaper	115 mins / 1 hr 55 mins	10 mins
Televised News	280 mins / 4 hr 35 mins	20 mins
Online News Sites	65 mins / 1 hr 5 mins	5 mins
Facebook	925 mins / 15 hr 25 mins	65 mins / 1 hr 5 mins
Twitter	85 mins / 1 hr 25 mins	5 mins
Personal Blogging	295 mins / 4 hr 55 mins	20 mins
Blog Viewing	300 mins / 5 hr	20 mins
Internet (other)	2105 mins / 35 hr 5 mins	150 mins / 2 hr 30 mins
Magazines	40 mins	3 mins
Mobile Phone	430 mins / 7 hr 10 mins	30 mins
iPod	290 mins / 4 hr 50 mins	20 mins

 Source: Self generated

Source: Self generated

The patterns exhibited in the use of these varying types of media show trends in my behaviour as a consumer of media in society and is relative to journalism and mass communication in a number of ways to be further investigated.

Dossier and Critical Reflection:

Radio:

On average, my radio listening time equated to 45 minutes per day on the radio station 104.5- Triple M. This is a reflection of how often I drive and listen to the radio on my journey to and from UQ; and on days off university, the journey to and from work. The radio is a convenient source of news and music during this time and is direct exposure to journalistic practice through the news portion presented on air. As radio is a form of mass communication and aims to provide entertainment as well as opinion of current events, it is important to analyse what is being said instead of accepting everything that is opinion as gospel.

Newspaper and Magazines:

While my newspaper reading averaged at 10 minutes per day, I only purchase the newspaper two or three times a week, purchasing The Australian when I do. The Australian is particularly informative of political issues which I have a key interest in. I find reading the newspaper a more enjoyable from of journalistic interaction than online news, however generally due to time constraints it is more convenient to access news online. This practice is potentially reflective of a shift in technology and social normality in regards to media consumption, with a recent survey of journalism students found that 90.6% read news online compared to 35% reading newspapers (some both).

Ideally I would have spent more time reading magazines over the two week period, however due to assignment deadlines my magazine use totalled a mere 40 minutes over the two week period. Much like the correlation between newspapers and online news, I have found that viewing blogs online functions as a more cost effective and time effective alternative to magazines.

Televised News:

The vast majority of televised news watched was channel 7’s Sunrise as it is somewhat routine to watch whilst having breakfast and getting ready in the morning.

A certain entertainment news program was viewed on one occasion however served more as comedic relief than legitimate journalism, evident as the key human interest story was based on a pig on a diet. Although Sunrise intends to provide entertainment and human interest pieces, it does prioritise news stories which are an obvious result of journalist practice, but I think it is important to note that the entire program is not an example of journalism, e.g. the opinion of the hosts on contemporary issues may be an example of mass communication as opposed to journalism.

Online News Sites:

My participation in the world of online news is pitiful, averaging at 5 minutes per day. As a journalism student I aim to increase the online news sites I visit instead of merely scrolling through feeds on twitter.  As I purchase the newspaper infrequently, this is increasingly important as online news sites provide excellent prioritisation of news, constantly being updated and are direct examples of journalistic practice. My viewing time of online news sites is atypical of the journalism cohort as it was evidently very popular amongst my fellow JOUR1111 students (as gathered from the survey) to frequent online news sites.

Facebook and Twitter:

Facebook was one of the most used forms of media and moving past the slight guilt of my personal statistics, this was not atypical of the JOUR1111 community as 88.1% of students ranked facebook as what they spend most of their time on line doing.
Being new to twitter I have not yet fully embraced it, however have begun to recognise that it is an excellent source of news, having followed major news providers on twitter. Following these news sites is an example of an exposure to mass communication and journalism, presented in a very succinct fashion which is convenient for the audience.
The huge role social networking sites play in society today is phenomenal with respects to the convenience, efficiency and the mass audience which these sites cater to. Is is arguable that posting on facebook and twitter is an example of media production, certainly information sharing.

Personal Blogging and Blog Viewing :

My personal blogging was fairly consistent from day to day on both blogspot and tumblr blog sites. Blog posting is an example of media production and communication addressing a vast audience with people across the globe able to access the information. Blogging is potentially a form of journalistic practice as it is information published in a public domain, however it is questionable as the information published is not credible and presents strong elements of personal opinion lacking substantiating facts.

Blog viewing was fairly consistent from day to day also (as the two usually go hand in hand), with sites such as Lauren Goddard Blog, Le Happy and fashion. grunge. style. being visited on a frequent basis. The frequenting of these blogs keeps me updated with counterculture fashion as aforementioned, arguably a particular form of journalism.

Internet (other):

Over the two week period Internet use other than social networking and blogging consisted of research sites for political science and history assignments, blackboard, journal articles, UQ library and other scholarly pursuits. In the two days preceding the due dates for both assignments my Internet use skyrocketed, reaching up to 7 hours in a single day. This is potentially reflective of my questionable study habits and the importance of the role the Internet plays as an information provider and educational aid.

Mobile Phone:

Mobile phone use totalled 7 hours and 10 minutes over the two week period, roughly averaging to 30 minutes per day. This 30 minutes includes text messaging (vast majority), multimedia messaging, social networking and brief calls. Social networking on my mobile phone provides convenient access to twitter and facebook which are excellent news sources and examples of mediums in which journalist and mass communicative practices are channelled.

iPod:

The use of my iPod over the two week period correlated with the amount I exercised: averaging at 20 minutes per day. As I have not updated the music on my iPod in months, I am not up to date with contemporary music as some may be, but it does keep me in tune with the ways of the 70's.

Image Source: Fotografii pe perete

Summary:

Logging my personal media use was extremely eye opening to realise the amount of time I actually spend using social media sites as well as my Internet and radio use. Significant trends were noticed in the correlation between print and online forms of media and exposure to journalism. For example, I mentioned that as an alternative to reading the newspaper, even though I find it more enjoyable, it is more time effective to read news online. The same correlation was noticed in relation to purchasing and reading magazines; blog viewing was used as an alternative due to cost effectiveness and time effectiveness. Posting on my own personal blog is potentially an example of journalistic practice as it is information published in a public forum however is not credible and is strongly opinion-based.

The significant role media plays in society today through information sharing is becoming more prominent with technological advances. The field of journalism has never before been able to deliver news as quickly and to a mass audience as we see in contemporary culture today through a vast number of mediums; some exhibited in the above media log.