Multimedia Essay: Pushing the ethical boundaries of journalism

By MAIA HALL

Journalists are known to push to get a hard-hitting story, to satisfy the public interest. But not all journalism’s techniques and motives are as respectable. A current definition of the practice says, “Journalism comprises the activities involved in an independent pursuit of accurate information about current or recent events and its original presentation for public edification.” (Shapiro, 2014, p. 1) This essay will consider journalism’s tendency to push the ethical boundaries around the selection and treatment of news too far, changing the presentation of news. However, it is vital to mention that while this type of journalism does exist, there remains a large proportion which is developing with the changing media landscape and using journalism ethically and responsibly to give a voice to the voiceless, be a channel for positive change, and facilitate healthy discussion. Rather than critiquing journalism as a practice, this essay will consider how the boundaries are pushed as the changing mediums allow for journalism to change shape. I feel that this definition is especially appropriate for discussions around the ethical boundaries, in the way authentic and balanced delivery of news hands the power of interpretation to the audience. Here, I will discuss the examples of commercial journalism pushing the ethical boundaries by commoditizing news, and the cultivating effect this has on people’s perceptions of journalism and society in general.

News balance is an important concept used to explain the purposeful act a journalist must make to demonstrate both sides of a news story. It can also refer to news organisations that strive to present good and bad news appropriately, giving the right amount of emphasis on different sources (Applegate, 2007). Of course, this is difficult in a world where journalists are humans with personal biases, who work for commercial organisations with specific target publics and profits to make. News has taken a drastic turn in the 21^st century, is this the death of journalism?

I disagree that this era marks the death of journalism. What has changed is the saturation of the media landscape. Now, news must simply work so much harder to actually break through its competition. This semester I have experienced the academic learning of journalism, where unbiased and honest news is of the utmost importance. I have then taken this knowledge into practice, where I wrote two of my own stories while trying to keep up this expectation of ethical reporting. While journalists have the greatest intentions to tell a story as it is, there is also significant motivation to write a story in a way that sells. I wanted my stories to stand on their own, but I also wanted a high mark, which meant I needed to make them stand out against the class. Journalism is nothing without an engaged audience. Every good story draws the reader in with carefully selected language to tell the most interesting version of the story. While the formation of a story must be balanced, the selection of what actually makes it to this stage is desperately significant, in a world where only a small portion of events can realistically be covered. The selection of news can be altered in all sorts of ways, coming from many political, commercial and personal motivations. It is easy to believe that journalists cover all newsworthy stories; as if significant stories choose themselves, and those less newsworthy get left behind. The truth is, only a few of the millions of newsworthy events are covered. The most salient news angles are not “divinely inspired”, they are selected through a series of frameworks. Updated versions of Galtung and Ruge’s original news values are still used today, however, some are prioritized due to the commercialization of journalism (Harcup & O’Neill, 2001, p. 1). These will be further discussed within the context of commodification.

(Harcup & O’Neill, 2001)

News is now getting commoditized, it must make an impact to bring in profits. Journalism is driven by ratings and clicks, and it continues to make a name for itself for relying on sensational presentations of mediocre events, especially concerning crime or violence (Chiricos, Padgett, & Gertz, 2000). In New Zealand, the vast majority of journalism comes from commercially owned media. It is owned dominantly by large corporate companies, who prioritise profits over the health of journalism. America’s situation is even more dire. This video considers the complications of the commodification of the media.

A former video editor for a local news organisation owned by Sinclair explains how manipulating large media companies can be, in a Washington Post article. In these instances, ethical local news is being swallowed by media conglomerates and altering the types of stories that reach the audience. Another article in the New York Times, “Does local TV news have to be so bad?”, points out the sensationalism of journalism; news corporations seek out stories with over-dramatic language and themes (Chiricos, Padgett, & Gertz, 2000, p. 755). This can significantly affect the audience’s perception of the world, and lower the credibility of news journalism.

Two Australian journalists run Shameless; a popular culture podcast. They talk about their own experiences in the industry, recalling instructions from their former supervisor to find a story about a dead baby because that topic is known to generate high levels of engagement. A story about the passing of a baby is certainly newsworthy, it covers several news values. However, manually searching for specific themes disregards the previously mentioned concept of news balance (Applegate, 2007). Ethically produced news should always maintain a balanced emphasis on a range of stories.

In the last couple of months, New Zealand media covered a significant event which has left a mark on many other stories. The Christchurch terror attacks, which resulted in 50 deaths, appropriately dominated the news for weeks. However, after the story settled down, there was still an increased number of terrorism-related stories. Rather than about Christchurch itself, journalists and organisations appeared to be especially looking out for stories with ‘sexy’ words such as ‘bomb’ or ‘terrorism’, that would evoke the same shock reaction that the Christchurch attacks created. Stuff’s website was littered with headlines such as, “Bomb threat sees Rotorua Western Heights High School evacuated”, which caused undue stress to readers because the story was nothing more than an unattended schoolbag.

Journalists and news organisations choose all the time whether or not to cover stories. Studies show audiences value prominence, impact, and controversy in news over timeliness and proximity (Armstrong, McAdams, & Cain, 2015). This often naturally lends itself towards stories of violence and crime. While ‘bad news’ and ‘surprise’ are important news values, it’s important to consider how the treatment of news impact people’s perceptions of journalism and society, which influences their decision making, referred to as cultivation analysis (Gerbner, Gross, Morgan, & Signorielli, 1980).

Stories covering the Christchurch terrorist attacks on March 15th received exceptional levels of engagement. While this can be justified; after the initial surge evened out, news organisations continued to capitalise on the opportunity for clicks by continuing to push stories of similar themes that they know will interest the public. Stories for months following the event have drawn attention to instances of authorities being on high alert for a copycat crime but covering them in an exaggerated way that encourages unnecessary fear. In 2002, NZ Herald uses the dramatic headline; Auckland Hospital cordoned off after bomb scare to describe a story of five sentences about an abandoned suitcase. This gives too much emphasis to the story as if it is comparable to the September 11 terrorist attack on the Twin Towers, which at this point was only a year earlier. These click-bait headlines cause audiences to believe there is a higher risk of terrorism than real statistics, as shown below (Hertrich, 2008).

News causing fear is the main crux of the communication studies concept; cultivation analysis, introduced by George Gerbner in the 1960s. He suggested that routine exposure to television media, including the news, can affect audiences’ perception of reality (Gerbner, Gross, Morgan, & Signorielli, 1980). The theory can be used to explain why there is a large collective consciousness in support of recent controversies, for example; the liberalism of American gun laws (Lacombe, 2018), and people’s interpretation of terrorism, both in New Zealand and internationally. Journalism has significant control over the cultivation of violence in the media and public perception of terrorism, crime and violence (Chiricos, Padgett, & Gertz, 2000). The ‘Scary World’ theory explains how the amount of violence on television does not directly influence heavy viewers of television to be more violent, but it causes individuals to interpret the world as more dangerous and ‘scary’ than actual crime rates say (Gerbner, Gross, Morgan, & Signorielli, 1980). This means they are more likely to take preventative measures to protect themselves, such as Americans voting for conservative laws around firearms and tighter immigration policies. More violent news stories create the illusion of a scary world. If people think the world is scary, they will be expecting to see more of it in the news. They are more likely to click on violent stories, so the commercial media actively seeks them out, to get more clicks, to make a profit.

A range of factors affects a person’s interpretation of their own safety, and how much they buy into the Scary World theory, such as a person’s demographic or real experiences of danger and violence (Gerbner, Gross, Morgan, & Signorielli, 1980). The term resonance refers to when a person’s real experience is backed up by what they see on television and in the news, which creates double the effect. Groups who live in high-crime areas more likely to have a Scary World view, because they are exposed to more television news alongside statistically living in a more dangerous area. These two factors combining results in extreme cultivation of fear of violence (Chiricos, Padgett, & Gertz, 2000). For example, communities more connected to the Christchurch terrorist attack victims (Muslim communities or those living in the neighbouring areas) will have a stronger reaction to the disaster. Alongside this, these groups are more likely to pay closer attention to the media coverage. When New Zealand media stops covering directly Christchurch related stories and go immediately to sensationalized, click-bait type stories about other ‘terrorist threats’, this resonates the effect, making the true risk of terrorism appear larger than it is. Regardless that the dramatic headlines and leads are followed up by information that discounts reason to panic, as in the NZ Herald article, these groups affected will still have an invalid fear for their own safety. Cultivation analysis also affects those less connected to violence. The media ‘mainstreams’ messages of high terrorism and violence rates, which controls and reproduces the Scary World theory (Gerbner, Gross, Morgan, & Signorielli, 1980). Exposing whole populations to the same content means that people will believe the most common messages out there, and individuals may all have the same perception of fear, regardless of their actual risk (Earp, Morgan, & Jhally, 2019).

 

I can conclude that journalism covering sensationalized violence creates a scary world perception. As the perception of violence is increasing, so is the expectation of news stories covering crime. People who are afraid for their safety are much more likely to click on these types of stories, and while they believe they are educating themselves, they are simply buying into the demands of commercial media, and cultivating fear. Stories that generate high levels of engagement bring in revenue from advertisers, therefore commercial media is likely to stick with these types of stories, resulting in a media landscape dominated by unrealistic levels of violence. While writing my own news stories, I must actively ask myself if my story is a fair representation of the facts, rather than me dramatizing what might be less sexy, to begin with. Journalists have a responsibility to society and ethical standards to uphold. A good grade or a story that gets clicks is never worth stretching the boundaries too far. 

 

 

References

Applegate, E. (2007). The Concepts of “News Balance” and “Objectivity”. Public Relations Quarterly, 52(4), 5-8. Retrieved from http://eds.a.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.aut.ac.nz/eds/detail/detail?vid=0&sid=f83174b3-9f21-4349-a360-f370100978aa%40sdc-v-sessmgr04&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmU%3d#AN=38230343&db=bth

Andrews, M. & McDonald, Z. (2019, May 13). Shameless. [Audio podcast]. Retrieved from https://podcasts.apple.com/nz/podcast/shameless/id1352875216?i=1000437903017

Armstrong, C., McAdams, M. J., & Cain, J. (2015). What is News? Audiences May Have Their Own Ideas. Atlantic Journal of Communication, 23(2), 81-98. doi:https://doi-org.ezproxy.aut.ac.nz/10.1080/15456870.2015.1013102

Bathgate, B. (2019, April 30). Students released after bomb threat sees Rotorua’s Western Heights High School evacuated. Retrieved from Stuff: https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/112349263/bomb-threat-sees-rotoruas-western-heights-high-school-evacuated?cid=app-iPhone

BBC Newsnight. (2018, May 31). The death of journalism: Stig Abell – Viewsnight. [Video file]. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNhDCgWCteY

Earp, J., Morgan, M., & Jhally, S. (2019, May 18). The Mean World Syndrome. Retrieved from Media Education Foundation: Kanopy

Chiricos, T., Padgett, C., & Gertz, M., (2000). FEAR, TV NEWS, AND THE REALITY OF CRIME. Criminology, 38(3). (1-32).

Gerbner, G., Gross, L., Morgan, M., & Signorielli, N. (1980). The “Mainstreaming” of America: Violence Profile No.11. Journal of Communication, 30(3), 10-29.

Harcup, T., & O’Neill, D. (2001). What is News? Galtung and Ruge revisited. Journalism Studies, 2(2), 261-280. Retrieved from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14616700118449

Hertrich, S. (2008). Actual vs Perceived threats (aka people are crazy). Retrieved from: https://www.tartley.com/actual-vs-perceived-threats-aka-people-are-crazy

Lacombe, M. (2018). The Political Weaponization of Gun Owners: The NRA’s Cultivation, Dissemination, and Use of a Group Social Identity. (Ph.D. thesis, Northwestern University). Retrieved from: https://maiahallwordpress.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/a7761-lacombe-politicalweaponizationofgunowners-june2018.pdf

LastWeekTonight. (2017, July 2). Sinclair Broadcast Group: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO). [Video File]. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvtNyOzGogc

Morgan, M., & Shanahan, J. (2010). The State of Cultivation. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 337-355.

Myllylahti, M. (2018). New Zealand Media Ownership 2018. Retrieved from https://www.aut.ac.nz/__data/assets/pdf_file/0013/231511/JMAD-2018-Report.pdf

NZ Herald. (2002). Auckland Hospital cordoned off after bomb scare. NZ Herald. Retrieved from https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=3000204

Shapiro, I. (2014). Why democracies need a Functional Definition of Journalism now more than ever. Journalism Studies, 15(5), 555-565. DOI:10.1080/1461670X.2014.882483

Simmons, J. (2018, April 10). I worked for Sinclair. I had to quit. Retrieved from The Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/posteverything/wp/2018/04/10/i-worked-for-sinclair-i-had-to-quit/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.3d95211c336a

 

 

 

Ex-Pro Coach makes an effort to fix Tennis Auckland’s ‘Broken’ System

A former Grand Slam coach is trying to serve some life into tennis as professional player numbers decline on New Zealand’s courts.

The retired professional coach and father-of-four, Mike Zoricich, intends to improve the sport from the root of the problem – the very beginning of players’ careers.

Mike Zoricich coaching tennis at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart school

He says, “you don’t need to teach them a lot at that age, just let them whack the ball”.

Mr Zoricich has worked with World Top-80 players, but he now sees coaching 40 of his children’s classmates is a much bigger challenge.

He says, “I think in New Zealand we [coach] the wrong way around. We don’t show them enough when they’re young and willing to listen”.

Alongside this, he says Tennis Auckland pours all its funding into their top two or three young players and uses the new Stanley Street tennis centre to make a profit.

Many talented players without wealthy parents are struggling to pay for court space at the new facility, according to Mr Zoricich. “The coaches are milking [privileged families] for a couple hundred bucks a week so their kids get placed in teams”.

A Tennis Auckland representative denies this, saying their Tennis Hot Shots programme provides for over 10,000 beginners with potential.

The organisation’s Annual Report says, “these sorts of facilities are incredibly expensive to maintain. We need to be innovative in how we use them to ensure they grow tennis in a financially sustainable way”.

Mr Zoricich believes the whole system is at a low point, “you wouldn’t really be able to fix anything, you’d literally have to wipe everything and start again… It’s almost impossible”.

He says most kids don’t spend more than an hour a week playing tennis, “they aren’t hanging around the courts or learning and playing, the structure is all wrong. This leads to fewer numbers and then less [professional players] coming out at the other end”.

Tennis Auckland said, “while we would always love for more people to be involved in our more formal environments, having more people engage in healthy and active lifestyles will always be encouraged, regardless of the time or location”.

Indy Rogers (7) at her after school tennis lesson

 

 

Climate Strike sparks more teen activism

BY MAIA HALL

A protesting workshop run by Auckland Women’s Centre next month will shape college students’ non-conformist views into activism.

Youth Coordinator and regular activist, Gabriella Brayne, is developing the programme to build on the momentum from the recent student-led Climate Strike.

Gabriella Brayne, 19, Auckland Women’s Centre Youth Coordinator

She says, “the strike proved to us the need to not only educate young people in political issues but how to channel that education and passion”.

The workshop was scheduled for the day after the national School Strike 4 Climate event but has been postponed until June 1^st following the tragic Christchurch attack on the afternoon of the student-led strike.

Ms Brayne, 19, protested at Aotea Square for climate action on behalf of women, children, people of colour, our disabled community, and other marginalised groups.

Gabriella Brayne, 19, Auckland Women’s Centre Youth Coordinator

She was just one of the many young female activists after change.

At 17 years old, Gwyneth Parallag coordinated the Auckland strike amongst a female-heavy team.

Ms Parallag says being young and female is a protest in itself. “I find you have to really reach out to guys, but girls put their hand up, and are way more receptive.”

Warehouse Stationery printed free placards to support the students striking

She says children simply need enabling. “My two younger sisters are coming along today, I think they’re quite inspired by me, hopefully!”

Climate striker Lucy England, 21, says children have valuable things to add to the conversation often years before the legal voting age.

FROM LEFT: University of Auckland students; Sara Thomas-Hall, 21, Lucy England, 21

She says, “when (the government) see all the young people today, and this is their number one issue, they’re going to start realising they have to make policies that cater to those young people”.

Ms Brayne says a lot of the teaching at the protest workshop will stress the impact of climate change on society’s most vulnerable and marginalised groups.

She says climate change is essentially a social justice issue, “there’s no point fighting for gender equality if our entire world is doomed to climate change and environmental destruction.”

FROM LEFT: Helena Jane, 16, Amy O’Flynn, 17, Coco King, 17,  Josh Keen, 17

Lucy England says, “everybody is going to be equally implicated in the changes to our planet, so we all need to make changes. Every facet of our society needs to be represented in climate change action. And it needs to happen now.”

 

 

 

 

Tweet:

“Young feminists for climate action”
Auckland Women’s Centre representative is showing other teen activists how to protest. #studentactivism #climatestrike #jour600 pic.twitter.com/upHtXdvMHd

— Maia Hall (@maiajadehall) April 14, 2019

 

 

Audio from interview with Gwyneth Parallag

Audio from interview with Gabriella Brayne

 

Young women at Climate Strike have the loudest voices

Three female climate strikers took to Queen street last week, protesting for change on behalf of all minority groups.

The Auckland strike co-ordinator, Gwyneth Parallag, 17, was excited at the prospect of having female-heavy numbers at the strike.

“I think being young and female is a protest in itself… I find you have to really reach out to guys, but girls put their hand up, and are way more receptive. My two younger sisters are coming along today, I think they’re quite inspired by me, hopefully!”

Warehouse Stationery contributed to the strike by donating printing to students making placards

Students protesting for underrepresented groups are distressed that minorities will be targeted by climate change first.

Gabriella Brayne, an Auckland Women’s Centre representative, was striking for women, children, people of colour, our disabled community, and other marginalised groups.

Gabriella Brayne, nineteen-year-old Auckland Women’s Centre representative

The nineteen-year-old student says “in the fight for gender equality, we need to take an intersectional approach and recognise the impact of climate change on society’s most vulnerable and marginalised groups. And in many ways, there’s no point fighting for gender equality if our entire world is doomed to climate change and environmental destruction.”

Lucy England, a 21-year-old student, says climate change unifies people together, regardless of gender or age.

She explains climate change will hit higher risk groups first, such as children who cannot vote.

“When they (the government) see all the young people today, and that this is their number one issue, they’re going to start realising that they have to make policies that cater to those young people”

University of Auckland students, Sara Thomas-Hall, 21, Lucy England, 21

The strike’s team of organisers from all over the country was dominated by other strong female voices.

“Part of the reason why it’s important to be here is to show the sheer number of people who are actually concerned and realise the gravity of the issue.” – Lucy England.

Gwyneth Parallag is an Auckland Girls Grammar student is a Youth MP for Greens politician, Julie-Anne Genter.

“It’s so inspiring, surrounding yourself with people who want change”

Parallag is passionate about feminism, social and environment awareness, and looks up to politicians and her peers who get things done.

(From left): Helena Jane, 16, Amy O’Flynn, 17, Coco King, 17

Lucy England says “everybody is going to be equally implicated in the changes to our planet, so we all need to make changes. Every facet of our society needs to be represented in climate change action. And it needs to happen now.”

 

MAIA HALL

Lift incident in Mount Street Student Accommodation shows things are changing

BY MAIA HALL

Thirteen Auckland University students spent two hours trapped in an overcrowded lift when they were gate-crashing a rival Auckland University of Technology (AUT) party on Saturday 22 September on Mount Street, Central Auckland.

The students were from Auckland University’s O’Rorke, a Halls of Residence that neighbours AUT’s Wellesley Student Apartments (WSA), and all escaped uninjured.

The students’ presence in their rival neighbours’ lift is a sign that the two Halls are bonding, and the tradition of conflict is becoming more of a friendly rivalry.

WSA residential assistant Heather Walpole-Smith says, “They thought they were better than us. But not so much anymore. There’s less discrimination against AUT now because of how big we’re getting and how we’re arguably becoming a better university.”

The WSA elevators are at the centre of many jokes about the rivalry between the Halls of Residences on Mount Street.

While O’Rorke residents ridicule their neighbours for having notoriously faulty lifts, the WSA community says it is them behind this year’s numerous break-downs.

As security struggle to identify the culprits as residents of WSA, the students say O’Rorke is to blame.

Walpole-Smith admits that the rivalry is more affectionate than most residents let on.

She says the diminishing academic gap between the two biggest New Zealand universities brings them together.

WSA resident Emily Hale tweeted about the conflict.

I think it comes from the close proximity and school pride. We're all innately protective of our own school, plus they have a superior vibe that probably annoys most AUT students lol

— Emily Hale (@emilyhale2018) October 18, 2018

The lift dispute is part of the bond built from existing alongside one-another.

The WSA residential assistant compares the universities’ patriarchal values to the trans-Tasman rivalry.

“AUT has always been New Zealand to their Australia”.

She sees the rivalry fading between the University of Auckland,  founded in 1883, and its younger neighbour AUT, which gained university status in 2000.

Formerly known as Auckland Institute of Technology, AUT student Courtney McPhee says that AUT has been discriminated against by Auckland University students.

Yes definitely! I think it comes from the fact that O'Rorke thinks it is better than AUT student apartments because of the history of AUT (being that it once was a polytech)

— Courtney McPhee (@CourtneyMcPhee8) October 16, 2018

But despite the University of Auckland’s 117 years more experience, Auckland University of Technology is said to be on its way to closing the intellectual gap.

 

Several of AUT’s achievements

This year AUT gained recognition as the third best university in New Zealand by Times Higher Education.

O’Rorke resident Jotham Harris says that his fellow Auckland University students are beginning to welcome AUT into the world of academia.

Resident Jotham Harris in the entrance of O’Rorke Hall.

“Some unnamed, arbitrary people [from O’Rorke] would still think themselves superior, but we both know that’s not true”

But AUT’s recent successes might be going to its head.

Walpole-Smith laughs at the AUT advertisement urging students to choose their university on “where it’s going,” rather than “where it’s been,” which she says may be an effort to trivialise Auckland University’s successful history.

Harris calls the teasing, “all barks and no biting, just the way we like it”

There are several old stories of students throwing bottles out of the windows of the high-rise buildings at each other.

Walpole-Smith says that while there have not been any incidents of this kind in many years, management at WSA is still wary.

WSA rules now ban the possession of glass bottles smaller than 750ml, and residents are warned that if a bottle kills someone, the culprit will be charged with homicide.

Harris, who studies first-year engineering, says that in recent times, sneaking over to the neighbours is more common Saturday-night behaviour than throwing bottles at each other.

“We sometimes go into their halls to make toast after a night out. That first-floor kitchen with a big tub of Nutella is great.”

From living on Mount Street in the past, Larissa Howie also recognises this new form of rivalry.

There's still a rivalry for sure! But, I think it's all a bit of healthy competition and at the end of the day we can all still bond over some good ol' sensational chicken ❤

— Larissa Howie (@larissa_howie) October 16, 2018

 

Revisiting the News Values

A critical ‘Principle of Journalism’ as our lecturer Greg reminded us this week, is the News Values (Harcup & O’Neill, 2010). So I revisited my notes and compared what I’ve learned to my story. I’m glad I did because my story barely matched up to Harcup and O’Neill (2010). After a phone conversation with my ex-Journalism lecturer Grandma Ruth, I realised I need another slight angle change. I will start my story with the newsworthy event of the WSA elevator trapping 13 O’Rorke students, and then go into what this means for the relationship between the Halls of Residences.

Now my story is covering the news values:

Bad News: Students getting stuck in an elevator for 2 hours.

Surprise: the students were from O’Rorke Hall, WSA’s neighbour.

Relevance: my story is for a local news website, and locals will be interested in hearing about the lift malfunction and the changing relationship between the Halls. It’s interesting but also could affect people they know.

Follow-up: The lift incident happened a few weeks ago so many news sources have already covered it. My story is a follow-up, but with another angle into the environment of the incident.

 

References:

Harcup, T. & O’Niell, D. (2001). What is news? Galtung and Ruge revisited. Journalism Studies, 2(2). p261-280.

The truth versus ‘a good story’

I know that journalists MUST be honest. But at the beginning of the semester, I was set on wanting good grades in this paper, and subconsciously, I was willing to ‘not let the truth get in the way of a good story’ – to stretch the truth in order to make my story something more significant. But throughout the last 11 weeks, I feel as if I’ve learned something about the integrity a journalist must have. I was reminded of the importance of accuracy in last week’s lecture. As the Old Press Association motto says, “Get it right. Get it fast. But get it right.” (Harcup, 2015, p.10). While this assessment is only an exercise, my journey as a journalist begins now.

From my interviews with Jotham Harris and Heather Walpole-Smith, my perspective on the relationship between the halls has changed slightly. While there is definitely a rivalry, it probably has simmered down a lot in comparison to past years. I think the best way to portray it is as sibling rivalry or ‘frienemies’, as Jotham puts it, in my video on the last blog post. To truly embody the journalism code of ethics, it’s important I tell the stories I get from my sources, and not let my prejudice (I thought that the rivalry was strong) tell what I think that the audience wants to hear. That would be inaccurate.

While I thought that the conflict between the two halls would make a good story, I still think that I have a good angle. The story of two traditionally oppositional and strongly patriarchal groups of people finding peace and friendship is quite lovely, and there is still lots to talk about in terms of their “sibling rivalry” interactions.

Here are my first two videos I’ve taken to create a VOX POP.

My interview with Heather (A Residential Assistant at WSA) went well, and she had many anecdotes of past rivalry, as well as explanations into the slight change in the relationship between WSA and O’Rorke.

• She would hear stories from her brother who was in O’Rorke, and uncles talk about the past rivalry from their uni days.

“AUT has always been the New Zealand to their Australia”.

We definitely have some kind of value, we are a university, we’re not THAT dumb. They think that they’re better than us. But not so much anymore, there’s less discrimination against AUT now because of how big we’re getting, and how many people actually think we’re a better university.

• O’Rorke residents might be the ones who break the lifts. AUT security always has trouble identifying the people stuck as WSA residents, and so it’s commonly assumed that they’re from O’Rorke.

Here I’ve got a photo of an advertisement for AUT, that has a passive-aggressive dig at UoA, trying to one-up them.

From here I will construct my piece. Next post will be my final story!

 

References:

Harcup, T. (2015). Journalism: Principles and Practice (3rd. ed.). London, UK: SAGE.

The skeleton of my story

From my interview with Jotham and some other research, I’ve decided that the secret invasion of each other’s’ halls could be an interesting angle. I have set up an interview with Heather Walpole-Smith, a residential assistant at WSA tomorrow. I plan to ask her what she knows about the relationship between the two Halls, as she has been in WSA for two years now. I have a good list of questions to start off the conversation, but I’m hoping she will launch into some juicy stories.

Currently, my news story is starting to shape up like this:

What: the rivalry between the AUT halls and O’Rorke. Also how the WSA elevator affected O’Rorke residents.

Where: WSA & O’Rorke Halls on Mount Street

When: elevator broke on 22^nd September, rivalry been going on forever

Who: WSA and O’Rorke residents

Why / how: years of rivalry within close boundaries, people are protective over their university

To start constructing my story, I revisited some readings to refresh my memory about the inverted news pyramid. This is “the journalistic principle that a story’s most important elements should appear at the top” (Conley & Lamble, 2006, p.124). After this, the other elements follow in order of importance, for two practical reasons. Audiences don’t want surprises, and won’t necessarily read all of the story. Also, in traditional newsrooms, if a story must be shortened, the editor can easily chop off the ending without the worry of cutting out vital information (Conley & Lamble, 2006).

DRAFT intro:

The temptation of parties, games of pool and late-night Nutella toast has proved problematic for O’Rorke residents after getting stuck in neighbouring AUT accommodation’s broken-down lift two weeks ago.

I also went back to Jotham and got a small video of him. It is a ‘talking head’ video, which we were warned about in the last tutorial but it also shows the close proximity that the Halls exist within. I’ll leave the video here while I think about using it or not.

 

References:

Conley, D. & Lamble, S. (2006). The daily miracle: an introduction to journalism (3rd ed.). Oxford, NY: Oxford University Press.

Conducting my first interview

This week was significant in the development of my news story. I planned, organised and carried out my first interview, with O’Rorke student Jotham Harris. I contacted him through Facebook Messenger and then gave him a call to organise an appropriate time to meet him. I asked if he would mind doing the interview at his Halls so that I could get some photos and make him feel more at home during the experience. We met at 1pm on Thursday.

To plan for the interview, I revisited the notes and readings from week 4, to refresh myself on how to conduct a successful interview. “Shut your mouth. Wait. People hate silence and rush to fill it. Ask your question. Let them talk. If you have to, count to 10. Make eye contact, smile, nod, but don’t speak.” (Scanlan, 2013, para.10).

After the interview, I listened through my recording. Some of the things he said that I thought might make good quotes were;

“all barks and no biting, just the way we like it”

“We don’t all fit the stereotype of engineering students… we have social skills”

“[AUT students are] friendly, vibe-y people who seem to enjoy good accommodation and great neighbours”

I was very proud of the manner in which I conducted the interview. I was nervous going into, but I knew how important it is to empathise, to become friends with your subject so they are more likely to open up (Scanlan, 2013). I feel as if I asked the right opening questions in order to gain his trust.

One important point that stuck with me from that week’s lecture was that people often let hints of gold out at the end of the interview, once they’ve relaxed. After we had finished the interview and were walking down the stairs, Jotham let out an excellent quote.

“Some unnamed, arbitrary people [from O’Rorke] would think themselves superior, but we both know that’s not true”

References

Scanlan, C. (2013). How journalists can become better interviewers. Retrieved from: https://www.poynter.org/news/how-journalists-can-become-better-interviewers

 

Written by the people, for the people

One of the first rules of journalism is that the news is for PEOPLE. We as journalists have the job to connect those people together and show the relationship that people share.  This is all through the What, When, Where, Who, Why and How (Harcup, 2015). News must link people with events, how they impact us and how to improve the situation. This is why so much of the news is about conflict, it relates to people. Writing about the rivalry between groups is always timely, it relates to politics, crime and significant events that affect people in the society in which they occur.

Writing about the conflict between the two Halls on Mount Street is a perfect example of news that concerns people around it. Both light-hearted banter and serious rivalry exist on Mount Street, especially on the infamous Wednesday night Student Night. Through some research in the past couple of weeks, I’ve discovered that many students have different takes on the issue; some have friends in the opposite hall and some swear that they will always hate them, however, who knows how much of this is serious.

I want to interview several students, so I’ve been doing some research into techniques. While an interview always is more successful if it is flowing like a conversation and seems natural, Scanlan (2013) says that being organised will make the difference between getting real information out of a source, and finishing the interview knowing that you haven’t learned anything new. While it would be easy to informally ‘interview’ a few of my friends from the halls and formulate a story from them, my friends are likely to have similar perspectives to me on these issues, and therefore I wouldn’t really be writing a news story, it wouldn’t have new information. It’s important that I branch out and find new people from several different social backgrounds so that I can get an accurate grasp of the rivalry between O’rorke and WSA. I plan to use Montague and Sackur’s (2013) advice to plan beforehand what I want to get out of each interview and avoid just going into it planning to ‘get their opinions’ as this is too vague and will likely not get me the information I want. More research into past years’ experiences of Halls life will be necessary, and this could be done by talking to the Residential Assistants, who have been around longer than many of the residents.

 

References:

Scanlan, C. (2013). How journalists can become better interviewers. Retrieved from: https://www.poynter.org/news/how-journalists-can-become-better-interviewers

Montague, S. & Sackur, S., (2013). Focusing an interview: Sarah Montague and Stephen Sackur. [VIDEO]. UK: BBC.

Harcup, T. (2015). Journalism: principles and practices. (3rd ed). London, UK: SAGE.