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Employment

I am currently employed part-time as a service assistant with Coles Supermarkets. I have been with the company for a period of 4 years and during this time I have had experience in the Service Deli, Fresh Produce and Service departments.

Interests

  • Camping - On the occassional spare weekend, I enjoy throwing the tent and the sleeping bag in the back of the car and heading off into the bush. My favourite camping location of all time is Fraser Island.
  • Cars - So what . . . I'm a guy . . . we like working on them ok!
  • Sport - Sport, sport and more sport . . . can't get enough.
  • Thetre - I enjoy all different forms of theatre. Including the occassional movie at the local Birch Megaplex, to the big broadway productions staged at the Lyric Theatre.
  • Having fun with mates over a couple of drinks.

Study

I am currently studying Journalism/Law at QUT. After the completion of this course in 2007, I will hopefully go on to complete my masters.

Gavin Meakin 20:05, 28 Aug 2004 (EST)

Assessment

Annotated Bibliography: Online Journalism

Topic: My essay will focus on how the journalism profession is using New Media Technologies in order to keep up with the rapid ‘technological revolution’. Journalists have used the Internet as a platform for the convergence of current reporting methods and experimentation with new technological developments; ultimately creating an unparalleled, user controlled, news environment.
Online Journalism: The following references provided me with information relating to the field of Online Journalism.
Bardoel, J., Deuze, M., (2001). Network Journalism: Converging Competences of Media Professionals and Professionalism. In: Australian Journalism Review 23 (2), pp.91-103.
Bardoel and Deuze, in their article published in the Australian Journalism Review, discuss the impact of the Internet and other new media technologies on the profession of Journalism.
The key characteristics of journalism on the Net - convergence, interactivity, customization of content and so-called ‘hypertextuality’ - put together with the widespread use and availability of new technological ‘tools of the trade’ are putting all genres and types of journalism to the test.
Their main discussion focuses on how the Internet is changing the profession of journalism in at least three ways:
1. It has the potential to make the journalist as an intermediary force in democracy superfluous;
2. It offers the media professional a vast array of resources and sheer endless technological possibilities to work with;
3. It has created its own type of journalism on the Net: so-called digital or rather: online journalism.
Bierhoff, J., Dusseldorp, M., Scullion, R. (1999). The Future of the Printed Press: Challenges in a Digital World [Online]. Available: http://www.ejc.nl/hp/fpp/contents.html [Accessed 10 Aug. 2004].
Most literature written about Online Journalism speaks of its benefits, however Dusseldorp, Scullion and Bierhoff note that Online Journalism, like many of its predecessors, has its faults. Though it is important to remember how the internet and Online Journalism has changed our perception of the news, it is also important to retain that there are problems that can be linked to digital production and distribution of news in all its forms.
The sheer amount of information offered makes large groups of society less interested in the whole process, as they do not know how to find their way in a confusing avalanche of information choice. In addition, the plurality of opinions is such that one can easily seek out news sources that only ever cater to one's personal bias, with no desire for objectivity or relevance. And as the Internet is everything from a one-to-one and a many-to-any medium, no developed journalistic codes apply for all the new sources turning up. It is in this field that the tradition of objectivity, selection and guidance of the printed press could actually gain relevance.
The authors also speak of the difficulty in attracting a larger audience. They note that while millions of people use the Internet as a source to gather news, many more do not have the necessary skills to make it a viable news source, particularly older generations.
Deuze, M. (2001). Understanding the Impact of the Internet: On New Media Professionalism, Mindsets and Buzzwords [Online]. Available: http://www.ejournalism.au.com/ejournalist/deuze.pdf [Accessed 9 Aug. 2004].
Whilst it has been established by numerous academics worldwide that online journalism has four distinct features, in this article, Deuze elaborates further on interactivity, customisation of content, hypertextuality and convergence. He notes that:
1. The convergence of communication modalities leads to an integration and possible specialisation of information services, where the existing unity of production, content and distribution within each separate medium will cease to exist.
2. The online journalist has to make decisions on which media formats best tell a certain story (multimediality)
3. The online journalist has to allow room for options for the public to respond, interact or even customize certain stories (interactivity)
4. The online journalist must consider ways to connect the story to other stories, archives, resources and so on through hyperlinks (hypertextuality).
Deuze, M. (2001). Online Journalism: Modelling the First Generation of Newsmedia on the World Wide Web [Online]. In: First Monday 6 (10). Available: http://www.firstmonday.dk/issues/issue6_10/deuze/index.html [Accessed 10 Aug. 2004].
In Online Journalism: Modelling the first generation of Newsmedia on the World Wide Web, Mark Dueze explores how the Internet is reaching a level of saturation and widespread adoption throughout the world and how this specifically affects the way in which the internet can be used as a tool for journalists. He explores how the Internet provides journalists with access in and out of newsrooms, that is, the complete freedom made available by Computer Assisted Reporting (CAR).
However, of particular interest is his view on how the Internet has created its own professional type of newswork; online journalism, and the difference between this new field of journalism and the more commonly used traditional formats.
The online journalist has to make decisions on which media formats best tell a certain story (multimediality), has to allow room for options for the public to respond, interact or even customize certain stories (interactivity) and must consider ways to connect the story to other stories, archives, resources and so on through hyperlinks (hypertextuality). This is the 'ideal-typical' form of online journalism, as professed by an increasing number of professionals and academics worldwide.
DeWolk, R. (2001) Introduction to Online Journalism: Publishing News and Information, Needham Heights, MA: Allyn and Bacon. ISBN 0205286895
This book offers a vast array of information in regards to online journalism, however, only two chapters were of significant interest. The first chapter looks into the history of Journalism on the Internet; from its humble beginnings in the early 90’s to today. It outlines how newspaper companies saw the Internet as a threat to their survival, well and truly before online journalism became a popular source for newsgathering. In order to combat this, newspaper companies began publishing their stories online, however, as DeWolk argues, these sites were almost always simple online versions of the print product, with the same words and the same images. He continues on to explain how only recently has the online interactive news environment been established.
The second chapter of interest explores the convergence of each news medium in the online environment. As DeWolk discusses, powerful new storytelling tools such as video, audio, graphics, and interactivity are all now part of the journalists palette. This chapter of the book looks at the benefits of each of the abovementioned mediums within the online environment.
Lufti, Mehmet Arslan, M.A. (2002). Elevating the Standards of Journalism Through the Internet: The Impact of “Online Media Watchdogs� and a case study of Medyakronik [Online]. Available: http://cct.georgetown.edu/thesis/LuftiArslan.pdf [Accessed 7 Aug. 2004].
Mehmet Lufti, in his thesis submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences of Georgetown University, offers a broad explanation of how the Internet has affected the journalism profession. He describes how the Internet has brought new ways to journalism in terms of processing, producing and dissemination of news. Furthermore, he explains how this so-called ‘new media’ has emerged as a new field of news media industry, promising unbounded opportunities and threats at the same time for journalism and journalists. Particularly relevant to my subject area is his discussion on the merits of Online Journalism:
The opportunities brought by the Internet will change almost everything: how the journalistic work reaches audiences/readers; what tools journalists use to do their jobs; the nature of the relationship between reader and journalist and the players in the journalistic competition. (pg 17).
McMillan, S, J. (No Date). Exploring Models of Interactivity from Multiple Research Traditions: Users, Documents, and Systems [Online]. Available: http://web.utk.edu/~sjmcmill/Research/interactivity2.doc [Accessed 11 Aug. 2004].
McMillan, Assistant Professor at the University of Tennessee, gives a very good insight into how interactivity can be defined in the world of Online Journalism. She states that there are two very different dimensions of interactivity in this particular field.
One dimension can be identified as interpersonal interactivity, or the extent to which audiences can have computer-mediated conversations in the ‘spaces’ created for them by journalists. The other dimension can be defined as content interactivity in which journalists technologically empower consumers over content.
Furthermore, McMillan explains how interactivity can be applied to any ‘New Media’, and gives the reader a very good understanding of this difficult topic.
At this point in my research, I found it necessary to look into the application of one of the 'new technologies' in the online news environment. I therefore looked into the convergence of video footage with online news. I also briefly looked into the use of video streaming during the recent 'War in Iraq'. I thought this may be useful as a case study in my assignment.
Gardner, S. (2002) The State of Web Video: Today’s Problems…and Tomorrow’s Solutions [Online]. Available: http://ojr.org/ojr/technology/1017969232.php [Accessed 12 Aug. 2004].
Susan Gardner, Senior Editor of the Online Journalism Review, provides an in depth analysis of the convergence of media in the online news environment. In particular, she focuses on the use of video footage and technology in Online Journalism. As Susan points out, video footage that is available on the Internet is in its infancy; it is cumbersome and generally not worth the time it takes to download. However, she argues that video streaming, while not providing the best quality, is perhaps the solution to the web video problem.
With video streaming, the user requests the video and the server sends -- or 'streams' -- discrete packets. Once there is a big enough buffer on the client's machine, the video begins playing, while the rest of the video continues to download in the background. The user gets to see something fairly quickly and there is no longer a lengthy wait time.
Kramer, S, D. (2003). All the News that’s Fit to Stream [Online]. Available: http://ojr.org/ojr/kramer/1048796517.php [Accessed 6 Aug. 2004].
Kramer, another Senior Editor of the Online Journalism Review, explores how journalists covering the recent ‘War in Iraq’ used online video streaming to their advantage. The power of the Internet and the versatile video capturing technology utilized by journalists in the Gulf, resulted in the most well documented war in history.
This time there’s more video available more quickly from more locations than during any previous war -- and available to more people at times when they otherwise would lack access. Just one example: MSNBC.com delivered more than 26 million free video streams in the first three days of the war.
Furthermore, Kramer insists that watching video footage from an Internet site is a distinctive experience. She suggests that while watching video online can feel more remote, the ability to essentially produce your own newscast results is a more satisfying news experience.

Gavin Meakin 00:00, 13 Aug 2004 (EST)

Project Proposal

My Proposal can be found at Online News

Major Project

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