Nichola Davies 42627685
From the period of the 9th August 2011 to 22nd 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 |
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.
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.
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 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 :
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.
Summary:
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.
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