The Curse of the Gothic Symphony

As far as story telling goes, the local documentary based upon Havergal Brian's infamous piece does a very good job. Surrounded by a cinema full of music pure-breds, The Curse of the Gothic Symphony was met was an astounding round of applause, to which the filmmaker Veronica Fury was thankful.

The conjoined Fury Productions and Screen Queensland effort depicts the five year struggle of 4MBS's broadcaster Gary Thorpe's dream to perform what the Guinness World Records deem to be the largest, longest and most complex symphony ever written. The documentary tends to focus on the enormous effort of compiling the likes of 500 choristers, four complete brass bands and a symphony orchestra of 150 plus. The two hour long monster of a piece had only been performed four previous times in public, giving the aptly named curse some backing.

At the preview, when asked if the curse was real, Fury burst into an ecstatic "YES." It is refreshing to see directors/filmmakers who get involved and become a part of their own work, which Fury and Thorpe evidently did.

From a filmmaker's perspective, the cinematography at times seemed forced and it looked to be that the production were short of vision. The use of time lapse footage to introduce new locations worked at the start, however became a little repetitive by the end of the production. Contrary to this, the way the editors reproduced Brain's lifestyle in a comical (near cartoon-like) way was quite amusing and provided much needed relief from the hard, descriptive shots that a documentary normally entails.

A documentary is supposed to tell a story. The medium establishes a perspective, then re-creates the story from that perspective. From a storytelling perspective, The Curse of the Gothic Symphony, I believe, was an overwhelming success.

The production is running at Event Cinemas at Chermside for the next two weeks and I would strongly suggest seeing this film which is a tribute to the Arts in Brisbane.

Three and a half stars.

Annotated Bibliography Assessment

Peer Reviewed Article

Coleman, Dr R. (2011, June 1) Color Blind: Race and the Ethical Reasoning of Blacks on Journalism Dilemmas. Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, 88, (p337-349)

Dr Renita Coleman brings a higher understanding of the media and communication to this article, being an established professor at the University of Austin, Texas. Dr Coleman’s article in Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly on the portrayal of blacks in the media concludes that there is an undertone of racial stereotyping in modern day media. Her study tends to focus on American participants. She acclaims this underlying misrepresentation of blacks to their portrayal in pictures taken to accompany articles. She says that more often than not black women are the subject of pictures taken in conjunction with poverty and prostitution, which subsequently establishes a lack of tolerance. Her sentiments are mirrored by similar studies, including an article written by Afghan Journalist’s Committee authors D. Brooks and L. Hebert entitled Gender, Race and Media Representation. The authors also suggest that black women are questioned in the media and often neglected because of their colour. Furthermore, Dr Coleman goes to the extent of saying that because of their representation in the media, “blacks” are given “less quality ethical reasoning” by the audience when analysing the pictures. She says that a picture can be seen and an opinion made from that picture in less than a second, and the media is guilty of racial stereotyping, subsequently establishing an undertone of racism in American society. 

Portrayal of the same story by three different media mediums. 

Devine, M. (2012, May 24) These little girls need their dad, not more trauma. The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved from: http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/these-little-girls-need-their-dad-not-more-trauma/story-fn6b3v4f-1226365155282

In stark comparison to other news outlets, The Daily Telegraph’s Miranda Devine shifts the blame away from the apparent bad guy (being the supposed abusive Italian father) to the mother of the four daughters. Devine’s bi-line quotes the famous Russian linguist, Leo Tolstoy to establish the initial tone of the article. It reads,  

“Every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way, wrote Tolstoy, but every warring parent has an obligation not to ruin their children’s lives.”

Devine goes as far to say that the mother has no right to deprive the girl’s father his custody. The Telegraph also revealed that the younger of the four daughters had spoken with a psychologist, who said she only wants to go back to Italy. Devine also brings the issue of media coverage to light and how it has detrimentally affected the girls as well as making an underhand comment on how a poor father-daughter  relationships can cause episodes of “risky behavior...such as promiscuity, binge drinking and drug taking.” Although this last comment was perhaps not needed, Devine’s use of hard legal facts to portray the mother as the bad guy is quite effective. Her agenda was clearly to show the children as the aggrieved party, concluding with a comment saying that it is in the children’s best interests that the father is part of their life, and how this is impossible if the mother “takes them half a world away.”

Thompson, T. Donaghey, K.(2012, May 16) Mum Pleads Case. The Courier Mail p.4-5

Tuck Thompson and Kathleen Donaghey are quite ruthless in their portrayal of the accused abusive father of the four Garrett sisters at the centre of an international custody battle. Thompson and Donaghey establish the father as the reason for the mother to take her children into hiding in Australia. Gathering admissions of abuse including the breaking of the eldest daughter’s finger, from all four of the sisters as well as publishing pictures of letters they wrote to their father, their agenda is clear. The authors have included quotes from the mother, daughters and even from Premier Newman (even if it is to say that the state government will not be involved), increasing the credibility of the article. Despite this, the two Courier Mail journalists do omit certain key angles of the story that would otherwise tarnish the tone that they have adequately achieved in the article. They omit statements from the party that represents the father in this. Choosing to only represent the aggrieved party is an effective way of swinging a story in a certain favor, however when it comes to an event such as this where there are clearly two defined sides, it is remiss of Donaghey and Thompson to have not included the father’s side. The author’s conclude the article with a comment about how the couple’s third child died as an infant. With the “anti-father” agenda of the article already full established, this final comment makes it look like the father was the cause of the infant’s death.

Kelly, J. (Reporter). (2012, May 22) ABC News Queensland, Queensland: Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC)

ABC reporter James Kelly’s report primarily establishes the legal mess that has arisen from the issue of who takes custody of the four Garrett daughters. Starting the report with footage from the girl’s own “Kids without Voices” Facebook page, establishing the motive of the report. Kelly then goes on to inform how “police swooped” on a Sunshine Coast house where they found the four girls forced into hiding by there mother. The report tends to focus on the legal side of the story, saying how the aunt of the girls “launched a last ditch” appeal to the High Court for the girls to stay in Australia. It is also established that the father was in fact awarded custody in the Family Court. The legal overtone is made clear with Kelly ending the report with a statement, “girls can stay in Australia while the legal wrangling takes place.” Contrary to other representations of this story, the ABC in this report said that the mother had brought her daughters to Australia for a holiday. Other outlets, such as the Courier Mail article above reported that they had “escaped to Australia.” As a general comment, there seems to be some ambiguity as to the truth of this point in this saga. 

PORN!!

It recently came to my attention that out of all my posts (which have an average of around 6 page views) the page with 300+ page views has a title containing the acronym WOW. The article was actually about the electrical goods company going into receivership, yet it has obviously been mistaken for the very popular online game World of Warcraft.

This is commonly used amongst the Youtube community, with channel owners using key words and evocative images to attract more views. Colloquially known as the "Rick-Roll"

In the advertising profession, there is a term for this. Search Engine Optimisation or SEO is the process where by marketing professionals associate their websites or product with certain words and phrases which work to enhance the product. This in turn increases traffic over their domain.

James Martin from Small Business Computing suggests that SEO is an integral part of any company's business strategy.

"For best results, your keywords should be part of a larger, on-going online marketing plan that takes into account your business’s branding, goals, and challenges as well as your customers’ needs, advised Martin Falle, CEO of SEO Research, a search engine marketing company. Also, pay attention to what your competitors are doing, in terms of optimizing their sites for the search engines."


In this digital age, SEO could provide a very useful means of advertising to this new breed of online shoppers and surfers.


By the way....shame on you for looking up porn.

Investigative Jouralism

All good Journalism should be investigative. The purpose of a Journalist is to accurately recount an event in all detail, if this is the case then we should all be taught the vitally important traits of Investigative Journalism.

There is a simple way to remember the key principals of this style of reporting - the "IN's"

• INtelligent - ask intelligent and profound questions and know when the subject is trying to pull the wool over your eyes.
• INformed - stay up to date as news breaks.
• INtuitive - Intuition, use your gut.
• INside - What's really happening?
• INvest - Invest yourself in the story, be prepared to take a risk.

The purpose of an Investigative Journalist is overall to get to the bottom line of a story. This involves a representing four different tenants.

Firstly, it is expected that Investigative Journalists (IJ's) conduct critical ad thorough journalism when recounting a story, they need to show active participation in the story and the sourcing of facts.

Secondly, they are the "custodians of conscience" i.e. brining stories that would normally be silenced into view of the public domain.

IJ's also need to provide a voice for those who don't have one. Bring issues that affect the greater public into the media.

Finally it should be the prerogative of IJ's to be the Fourth Estate - to keep the Government accountable and maintain the balance of power.

Ethics

As Journalists we must be cautious of ethical dilemmas when writing/pitching a story. As was established in the JOUR1111 lecture, there are three established Ethical Theories; Deontology, Consequentialism and Virtue, however the most accurate means of establishing your ethical radar, I believe, is to use your head.

If something doesn't feel right or you feel guilty posting a story then it should not be posted. I think this is just as accurate as the three established theories.

Even though the established theories are proven and used in court cases, I think if it comes down to a split second decision, a Journalist should rely on their own moral and ethical compass to make the decision for them.

News Values

News values tend to dictate what we see in the media. According to news values, The death of Allison Badon-Clay precedes a story about Anna Bligh's use of a government mobile. 

We have learnt of three different lists of news values;

Firstly is Galtung and Ruge's from 1965, followed by Golding and Elliot's of 1979. Finally we come to Harcup and O'Neill's from 2001, which I believe is the closest to what is the norm in today's media.

The rules used to be "if it bleeds it leads." This may still be the case, yet I believe others could be added to the same sentiment. For example "if its local..." or "if they yell..."

Hence, I present Biggs' News Values of 2012:

• Locality
• Death
• Violence
• Religion
• Elites
• Terrorism
• Health
• Protest

This reduced list is a combination of the three which I believe to be most relevant in today's media landscape. Interestingly, Terrorism does not appear on any of the three aforementioned lists. I sadly believe that Terrorism is and has been an ever increasing threat. Although there is promise of peace in the future with powers such as France, America and Australia all pulling out of the Middle East in the next two years, Terrorism will always have news value, especially when linked with Locality.

Another value which is not present in any of the three lists is Protest. I believe in this new multimedia environment on the 21st century, the opportunities for people to express themselves are endless. Freedom of Speech often incites interest and support amongst the general public, so I believe that Protest is justifiably a modern day News Value.

In summary, I believe that News Values are constantly changing. New lists could be brought out every year, possibly month. That is the way it will continue to be. 

Nowadays, Caviar isn't all that expensive

As Australia's sprint queen gears up for what could possibly be a world record breaking 21st win from 21 starts, comparisons are being made between Black Caviar and the iconic Phar Lap.

The two horses ran different varieties of races. Phar Lap ran long distance where as Black Caviar is a sprinter, however I believe we can compare them on the grounds of their cultural significance. 

As much as we hate to admit, Phar Lap was born in New Zealand in 1926 and was picked up and trained in Australia. Phar Lap's astonishing record united Australia in a time when the Great Depression had its hands around Australia's throat. The horse brought new hope for those who could barely afford a loaf of bread.

Although his death is still considered mysterious, Australians believe that he must have been poisoned because he posed a threat to the American's dominance. 

Although we are not in a depression, Black Caviar emerged in a time when Australia's cultural and political landscape were hardly stable. 

With the Global Financial Crisis and the internal affairs of the Labour Party followed by Australia's first hung parliament, Australian's tended to focus on this new sprint superstar. 

According to the Herald Sun, (http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/superracing/black-caviar-primed-to-win-21st-consecutive-victory-at-morphettville/story-fn67tz2v-1226353417187) BC's odds are $1.04.

With odds like these you would expect no one to back her, yet they do. 

So many people put on small bets just to keep the winning ticket. They don't care about their two dollars and four cents pay out, their only desire is to be part of history.

So although Phar Lap and Black Caviar lived in different periods of time with different challenges and raced different races, they still draw the same euphoria out of us that ultimately unites a nation.