Law vs Journalism

Being a Jouralism/Law student I found this article a very stimulating read! Definitely worth checking out!

Behind the news: The Life of a Law Grad in Journalism

"It" Girl: Cindy Sherman

A photograph of Cindy Sherman by Richard Burbridge

Cindy Sherman, is a famous and well respected modern Amercian photographer. Her works deal with a diverse range of challenging and important issues relating to modern life such as the social depiction and stigmatisation of women, the role of the artist, the role of the media and the nature of the creation of art. What makes her work particularly unique is the fact that Cindy Sherman utilises herself as the model for all her photographs. As such the artist evocatively becomes the vehicle for her artistic expression.  As stated on her website, Sherman "manipulates the notion of portraiture through the use of conventional portrait signs including the setting of the figure against a neutral background."

In 2008, Cindy Sherman was interview by David Hershkovits, founder of PAPER Magazine. I found the comments Sherman made in regards to the women in her work particularly fascinating.
Here is an extract from the interview:

On why she chose to focus on society women for a portrait series:
I liked these older women trying to look good and dignified and over-the-top. Just the idea os these rich ladies who pose in ball gowns in their living rooms with their toddles - it just looks so ridiculous.

Cindy Sherman. Untitled #466. 2008.

On how she got into character:
The mental state is more important because I really want a character to come through. I started to think about some of the characters - how they're older women and if they are successful, maybe they're not really that happy. Maybe they've been divorced, or they're in an unhappy marriage, by because of the money, they're not going to get out [Laughs]. Thats what I was thinking - that there's something more below the surface that you can't really see.

Cindy Sherman. Untitled. 2008

On the difficulty of photographing herself: 
What gets harder is the goal of trying to seem somewhat different. And that was another reason why, when I was doing some of these characters, I wasn't that happy with them, because I thought they reminded me of other characters I've done. Or I saw too much of myself in some of them. To me, it's a little scary when I see myself. And it's especially scary when I see myself in these older [society] women. After the first six I thought, 'This is great, this is so easy - I have a whole new category of women to explore.' It was kind of scary how easily I could mamke myself look so much older. But that was always the case in the work. Not about age, but I realized how easily I could look this way or that way, and it was kind of scary - like your life could have been completely different if one little thing was different.

For the whole interview, click here.

  

The progression of my Art

As you have already probably worked out, from the amount of other posts I have relating to this subject, I love Art! Particularly, I love to paint still lifes. Painting for me is therauptic. I am fortunate enough to be able to showcase and sell my paintings through an interior design shop located in Ascot, Brisbane called Ascot Living. I have just completed two pieces I was commissioned to paint for a client, and I am very proud of them! For fun, I have tracked the progress of one particular artwork I was commissioned to paint by taking photographs of it after every painting session.

Day One

Day Two

Day Three

Day Four
The Finished Product! (pictured with the other artwork I had commissioned) 

So, where does this leave investigative journalism?

For those who have been living under a rock, Julian Assange is an Australian journalist and the founder and editor-in-chief of WikiLeaks, a media website which publishes leaked documents and information. Sweden is seeking him to answer to charges of sexual misconduct in their country. 

Currently, however, Julian Assange has taken refuge in the Ecuador embassy in London.  Britain has, however, threatened to enter the embassy to arrest Assange, which according to an article published in The Guradian on the 26^th of August 2012, has infuriated the Ecuadorian government: “Ecudaor was furious after the British government warned that it might try to seize Assange… [They] demanded that Britain’s threat be retracted.” Further, the American Government have also expressed a want for Assange so that they may "reprimand" him for the American documents he leaked. This is arguably hypocritical coming from a country which prides itself on its adherence to the notions of liberty and freedom of speech.   

I have followed all the news around this scandal quite closely and in my opinion a key questions arises – where does this all leave investigative journalism? 

Lecture Six

The Australian Media Landscape can be effectively broken into two divisions – Commercial Media and Public Media. Lecture Six focused on Commercial Media, its purpose and the “major players” within Australia.

So let’s begin firstly by looking at the question of why does commercial media exist? Well, according to Dr. Redman, commercial media provides advertisers with the “eyeballs and ears” of viewers. Thus, it can be argued, as was shown on a slide in the lecture, that “advertisers are the real customers of a commercial media organisation, not its readers, viewers or listeners.” A somewhat depressing thought.

Essentially, commercial media is a profit-drive media production. It is not government funded and creates audiences to generate profit through the selling of advertising to them. The success of commercial media is intrinsically linked to its business success, being its ability to generate audiences.

In Australia there are several “major players” within the Commercial Media Scene. There are News Limited, Fairfax Media, APN news and media, WIN Corporation, Southern Cross Broadcasting, Nine entertainment company, Seven West Media, and the Ten network holdings. Further, the “minor players” include Telstra, Optus, Macquarie and Austar.

The form of commercial media is commercial and as such is either subscription (e.g. Foxtel), sponsored (e.g. Channel 9) or subsidised (e.g. Government funding). Interestingly, in this lecture I learnt that in Australia, the government subsidises Free to Air Television. In 2010 Stephen Conroy, the Minister for Broadband, Communications and Digital Economy, gave government money to Commercial Television to allow them to initiate the digital Channels scheme. Further, the function of commercial media is commercial, propaganda and social. An example of the social function of commercial media can be seen from reference to hyper-localised newspapers such as Quest, in which local businesses are able to advertise and target a specific audience. 

An issue of great importance is the social responsibility of the media in a democracy. An important question in a democratic society is: Can commercial media deliver on both commercial (profit) and social (‘public trust’) functions (or is it just about the money)?

The Hutchins Commission 1947, outlines the social responsibility of the Media in a Democracy, Though this Commission is 65 years old, what it says still remains relevant.

As Dr. Redman noted to keep the commercial media “under control,” mechanisms have been put in place such as formal state requirements, legal prescription, state oversight, statutes and voluntary Councils such as the Australian Press Council.

So as to guarantee these commercial-social functions, there exists an "Ethical Wall." 

 

C.P. Scott, Editor and Owner of the highly-revered The Guradian, sees the style of commercial media as being corrupt, lacking in quality and preoccupied more with profit that its social responsibilities. Such a fact is emphasised by his remark that, "The firsty duty [of the media] is to shun the temptations of monopoly. Its primary officie is the gatherthing of news. At the peril of its soul it must see that the supply is not tainted. Neither in what it gives, nor in what it does not give, nor in the mode of presentation must the unclouded face of truth suffer wrong. Comment is free, but facts are sacred." As this quotation indicates, C.P. Scott's clearly believes that when gathering news, it is the social responsibility of the media to gather news without worry about the ramifications for advertisers. I completely agree with what C.P. Scott is saying as I believe to preserve the integrity of journalism it must remain dettached from the pressures of advertising sales. 

There now exist new social controls on commercial media, such as regulations created by the government, state press subsidies and the notion of licensed journalism (being the idea that journalists much have a license to operate as journalists). 

A challenge faced by commercial media is that advertising revenue for broadcast media is down and continues to slide. As such this raises questions for the future of commercial media: How will commercial media continue to make profits if advertising revenue is declining and how will it continue to serve the advertiser, audience and the public good? 

The most beautiful experience ...

"The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion which stands at the cradle of true art and true science. Whosoever does not know it and can no longer wonder, no longer marvel, is as good as dead, and his eyes are dimmed." 

- Albert Einstein 

"These are a few of my favourite things ..."

Studying Law can be suffocating! So when after spending 3 hours reading textbooks covered in dust, and 200-page cases dating back to 19-th century England, a little "me" time is definitely required! The two following blogs are ones I love to lose myself in (though it may unfortunately only be for a minute or two). Being a keen painter and lover of Art, I find beauty in many things.

I adore the Blog, Absolutely Beautiful Things, created by Brisbane-based Interior Designer Anna Spiro because of the wonderfully artisitc photographs she posts. The colours she uses are vibrant and fresh and the designs she creates are masterpieces in themselves.

The Blog, created by Sarah-Jane Clarke and Heidi Middleton is also a favourite of mine. Abundant in photographs of beautiful fabrics and clothing from all around the world, this Blog is quite simply just lovely to look at. Art does not have to be restricted to just paintings and sculptures in Art Galleries, it can be found in objects, as trivial to some, such as clothing. The Gallery of Modern Art as well as the Queensland Art Gallery (both located in Brisbane) are evidently of the same thinking as I, having recently exhibited the work of designers such as Valentino and Easton and Peaston.

For those, who like me, can find beauty in almost anything, check out the website Mundane Beauty. If we just look hard enough, we can find beauty in something as mundane and simple as the stains left on our newspaper by our morning coffee or the wrinkles on our grandmothers' hands.

Need some inspiration?

Checking the time on my laptop, I see it has been only 7 minutes since I left my journalism tutorial and already I am posting a Blog about a video we watched. Overly keen? Perhaps. But this video moved me so much that I felt an obligation to pass it on! It has made my day. There is much I could say about this short video, yet it truly speaks for itself. All I'll say is this - Caine's Arcade exemplifies the power of factual short storytelling.

Inside In, Inside Out

Fabliha (right) and Tasfia (left) 

I stumbled across this Blog one day when aimlessly surfing on the net. Created by Brisbane University Student Fabliha Reza, Inside In, Inside Out, is a photographic exploration of the blogger's life, featuring photographs from her travels, photographs of great meals she has eaten and photographs of wonderfully eccentric and chic outfits she has worn. Her twin sister, Tasfia appears on the Blog numerous times. What I like about Inside In, Inside Out is the fact that Fabliha is from my hometown (Brisbane, Australia). I have lived in Brisbane my entire life (it's all I really know) and as the famous saying goes, "familiarity breeds contempt." Yet seeing Brisbane from someone else's perspective makes me remember the wonderful things Brisbane has to offer and its vibrancy and diversity. I also admire how a lot of the clothes worn by Fabliha and her sister, Tasfia, are Australian brands such as Sass and Bide, Ksubi, Romance was Born and many more as I believe that we all should try and support Australian buisnesses.

Click here to check it out for yourself!

One of my favourite outfits worn by Fabliha 

Tasfia in Turkey 

Why do we tell stories?

Brainstorming for my Factual Story Assessment piece, caused me to reflect on the purpose of story telling. Why is it important that we tell stories, especially those that are factual? As perceptively noted by Bill Mooney and David Holt, in their text, The Storyteller’s Guide, “stories are how we learn.” Such a fact was evidently realised by civilisations such as the Indigenous Australians, who passed on stories from generation to generation. Storytelling was for them a powerful and integral part of society.

Nowadays, telling stories, particularly factual stories, still remains a socially vital practise. It is through stories that we, I humbly believe, grow. For example, hearing and reading tales about religion can make people more tolerant and accepting. Stories can work as reminders of humanity’s flaws and failings so that we remember never to act in such a manner again. As Annette Simmons, author of The Story Factor, eloquently puts it, “[s]torytelling is a vaccine against war.”

Gaffiti artwork by Banksy