Thursday, November 19, 2009

Reflection

Theoretical positions that I am developing in writing and designing is that people gain different perceptions and ideas based on how the document designer conveys the message. People make different conclusions and meanings through different reasoning. As a blogger, what I write must be written carefully and ethically to avoid defamation and copyrights infringement. " Journalists should . . . never distort the content of news photos or video. Image enhancement for technical clarity is always permissible. Label montages and photo illustrations.”(SPJ, 1909). We should only seek for the truth and report honestly. Through this weblog, I understand what the blogging world is and how people connect with one another in the blogging sphere. I realize that some blogs can be credible sources depending on the area of discussion. Along the way, I also realized that there are some issues that are considered sensitive issues. A blogger must be sensitive to other cultures. As journalist, we have to be able to tell the difference between the intrusion of privacy and what we can report on. Strive to be unobtrusive and humble in dealing with subjects (NPPA, 2009). Lastly before writing or designing for anyone, it is important to fully understand the issue so that it is easier to convey the idea or the message.

References
Society of Professional Journalist, 1909, Code of Ethics, viewed 18 November 2009, http://www.spj.org/ethicscode.asp
National Press Photographers Association, 2009, NPPA code of ethics, viewed 18 November 2009, http://www.nppa.org/professional_development/business_practices/ethics.html
Canadian Association of Journalist, 2002, Statement of Principles, viewed 18 November 2009, http://www.caj.ca/principles/principles-statement-2002.htm

Media Issue 4: OK! cover of Michael Jackson's death photo stirs controversy

The photograph of Michael Jackson being carried on a stretcher, possibly dead was published in the front cover of one of the issues by the OK! Magazine. OK! Magazine reportedly paid half a million for the photograph of the possibly dead Michael Jackson. Many are furious about the cover which reported by The New York Post includes entertainers, Jay-Z and Sean Combs. "The Insider" showed the same photo on TV and posted it on its website the week before in came out on OK! Magazine's front cover. The main issue here is whether picture making the front cover is disrespectful or appealing to Michael's millions of fans (Snead, 2009). The OK! Magazine is guilty for sensationalism, "the use of exciting or shocking stories or language at the expense of accuracy, in order to provoke public interest or excitement" (Stacey 2009). This is unethical and also an intrusion of privacy. There are codes of ethics for journalism or photography. "The public perception of the journalist, and of the news media in general, has suffered from unjustified intrusions into privacy" (Burkholder, 2009).The National Press Photographers Association has a set of code of ethics one of which states that, treat all subjects with respect and dignity (NPPA, 2009).


Caption: Last photo of Michael Jackson before his death. (www.theinsider.com)

Before any picture is published,we have to analyze whether it is ethical or not. The photograph may be disrespectful to some parties in this case, it invades the privacy of Michael Jackson and his family. Even those close to him finds this an invasion of privacy. Fans of the late Michael Jackson do not find much appreciation of the cover as it is a violation of his privacy. They are already in pain and grief. This picture certainly does not help. According to Safieddine (2005), it is important be both moralistic and entertaining to attract audience attention. This theory certainly applies to this issue.

References
Snead, E 2009, OK! cover of Michael Jackson's death photo stirs controversy, viewed 18 November 2009, http://blog.zap2it.com/thedishrag/2009/07/release-of-michael-jacksons-death-photo-stirs-controversy-.html
Burkholder, C 2009,Online Journalism Ethics:Photojournalism, viewed 17 November 2009, http://www.journalismethics.ca/online_journalism_ethics/photojournalism.htm
National Press Photographers Association, 2009, NPPA Code of Ethics, viewed 18 November 2009, http://www.nppa.org/professional_development/business_practices/ethics.html
Stacey, 2009, Sensationalism, viewed 18 November 2009, http://www.litelysalted.com/2009/03/sensationalism.php
Safieddine, H 2005, ‘Attracting the Adults’, viewed 27 October 2009, < http://yaleglobal.yale.edu/content/attracting-adults >
Phtograph :http://www.theinsider.com/news/2306335_Michael_Jackson_Exclusive_Last_Photo

Media Issue 3: Rise of the mobile video blog

Video blogging is one of the many different genres of communicating a piece of message across. Genre can be defined as the material, content, general look as well as the physical form (Bear, 2009). The article discuses on the rise of mobile video blogs in short, taking videos using your mobile phone then doing the sufficient editing of the video, finally putting in on the web for viewers to view the video. Mobile phones now provide the required applications to do your editing on the go. Mobile video blog or in short vlog is slowly making its mark in to world of technology.


Caption: example of video blogs (Stevengarfield.com)


Caption: Video Blogging on the go.(stevegarfield.blogs.com)

There are many reasons why people are interested in video blogging. Some people capture news or stories while they are at the scene and upload the video blogs so that viewers get information and news quickly. Live broadcasting is also one of the many reason why people video blog. Live broadcasting is understood as broadcasting from your mobile phone. Video blogs which i find interesting are those with entertaining content. Some even do tutorials on a chosen field to share and theach viewers. for example, makeup tutorials.


Caption: Make up tutorial (www.webcastr.com)

Vlog is a multimodal text enabling the reader to use various senses (Walsh, 2006). Video bloggers not only share experiences but the teach their viewers and aware their viewers. People are interested in watching video blogs as pictures and movements captures attention and interest. Shepard, (1967) claims that pictures work better compared to text. In my opinion, video blogging is a very good invention as it keeps people updated fast through instant video uploads. You tube is one of the main host for video blogs.

References
Simmons, D 2008, Rise of mobile video blog, Reporter BBC Click Online, http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/programmes/click_online/7392594.stm
Bear, JH 2009, ‘Form and Function in Design and Publishing’, viewed 28 October 2009, < http://desktoppub.about.com/od/graphicdesign/a/formfunction.htm >
Shepard, RN 1967, ‘Recognition memory for words, sentences, and pictures’, J Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, no. 6, pp.156–163.
Walsh, M 2006, ‘The ‘textual shift’: Examining the reading process with print, visual and multimodal texts’, Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, vol. 29, no. 1, pp. 24-37
Photographs: http://homepage.mac.com/stevegarfield/stevegarfield/menu.html
http://stevegarfield.blogs.com/videoblog/2004/07/my_fifth_dnc_vi.html
http://www.webcastr.com/videos/fashion/jennifer-hudson-celebrity-makeup-tutorial.html

Media Issue 2: The power of photograph

Pictures tell a thousand words. Photograph are necessary in the reporting world. Sometimes they even explain the story better than the words can. Photographs helps the readers fully appreciate the story or the article as photographs compliments an article. Shepard, (1967) claims that pictures work better compared to text. The article is about a photographic gallery in Dubrovnik which exhibits only war photos. Wade Goddard, the curator wants to get a visual view from both sides of the war and the have a more global understanding of the war and what was actually going on in the war. Using words to describe is different compared to seeing the actual event may it be through photographs. The exhibits follow a story and aiming to touch the lives of the war victims. Photojournalist who took the photographs were present at the time of the war making all pictures real and valid. He tries to aware the public of the consequences of war and the suffering the soldiers and those affected in the war.


Caption: Photograph of war


Caption: Photograph of World War One

To some this may be a very sensitive and emotional issue and the curator is getting mixed emotions regarding the display of photographs during the war. The locals have still not forgotten the previous war and international visitors and photojournalists are in favour of it (The Media Report, 2007). Burkholder(2009), states that this is an intrusion of privacy in terms of ethical issues in photojournalism. In contrast, photojournalists and the media claim that these photographs are for utilitarian reasons (Lester, 1995).

Pictures of the war should be displayed as a remembrance of those who suffered and sacrificed their lives during the war. Those the pictures may be harsh to look at, reality is, photojournalist reports what happens during an event so that the public can see and understand without having to be there and by doing so, the future generation gets to see evidence of historical happenings of the country. These photographs are just to bring awareness to the society.

References
The Power of the Photograph 2007, online, retrieved 16 November 2009, from http://www.abc.net.au/rn/mediareport/stories/2007/2051819.htm
Burkholder, C 2009,Online Journalism Ethics:Photojournalism, viewed 17 November 2009, http://www.journalismethics.ca/online_journalism_ethics/photojournalism.htm
Lester,P 1995, Photojournalism Ethics Timeless Issues, viewed 17 November 2009, http://commfaculty.fullerton.edu/lester/writings/photoethics.html
Shepard, RN 1967, ‘Recognition memory for words, sentences, and pictures’, J Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, no. 6, pp.156–163.
Photograph: http://www.pbs.org/thewar/at_war.htm
Photograph: http://www.makingthemodernworld.org.uk/stories/the_age_of_the_mass/04.ST.01/

Media Issue 1: Facebook makeover leaves some devotees fuming

Many people are unsatisfied with the new face lift of facebook. Facebook authorities claimed that the change was for a good cause which was to protect the users and to make it spam free for the facebook users. The new facebook is much faster and the layout is neater. Many are unhappy with the changes for they feel facebook authorities did not do a good job with the change. Although many disagree with the new facebook, a support representative of facebook states that it takes time to get used to the new design and layout and has a positive feeling that the users will learn how to accept it.

Why do people prefer the old facebook?

Facebook is rapidly taking over the cyber world with more than 100million users. In order to maintain their good image, they have to cater to the needs of the people as well as protecting users from harm such as spamming and hacking. The new design layout allows faster loading and keeps data neat and organized. However there are many that complain regarding the change. News feed was updated every min whereas now, in order to get news feed, you have to click the view news feed tab. This new change provides unnecessary information to users. If the view news feed tab is un-clicked, the news feed keeps piling up.


Caption: Users now have to click on the news feed tab to gain new information on their friends.

However there are advantages to the new facebook. Some of the advantages are, it is faster in speed, spamming reduced, allows to reconnect with old friends as well as make new friends, able to join groups sharing likes and dislikes, and easier way for publicity on events.

In my opinion, facebook went through a face lift because they are trying to cater to the needs of their customers. There is a higher percentage of people that prefer the new facebook compared to the old one.Facebook was created so that people can stay connected which is still their main purpose. Not many people like change hence unable to adapt to the new facelift of facebook. Facebook is neater which is a plus point and is helpful, as according to Nielson (2005), teenagers have short attention span.

References
Nielson, J 2005, ‘Usability of Websites for Teenagers’, viewed 17 November 2009,
Correspondents in San Francisco | September 11, 2008 http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,24328928-15318,00.html
Findlay,L 2009, Facebook disadvantages, viewed 17 November 2009,http://ezinearticles.com/?Facebook-Disadvantages&id=2051499
Deogawanka, S, Disadvantages of Facebook, viewed 17 November 2009,http://www.helium.com/items/1552372-problems-at-facebook
Wadhwa, A, Disadvantages of Facebook, viewed 17 November 2009, http://www.helium.com/items/1517482-disadvantages-of-facebook

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Blogging issue (e): New forms of media publishing

As generations go by, technology in this case the internet is slowly taking over the old media. With the combination of digital convergence, personal computing and global networking, communication in the new media ecosystem has changed (Naughton, 2006). Old media currently still exist but it time, old media will slowly lose it's importance. Today people still depend on the newspaper for daily current affairs but with the existence of the internet, we are able to get news from the internet before the newspaper. You-tube, Twitter, Facebook, and alternative online newspapers are slowly altering the roles of journalism and communication. This new form of media not only allows people to reach out to each other but also provides latest news for readers. It is also a was of practicing freedom of speech as most mainstream papers are controlled by the ruling coalition. The reporters will also give readers the honest truth because they speak for no one but themselves which will help the audience decide on the truth the the lies. Coffin (2009) claims that this new sort of journalism will emerge to organize ongoing news and story-lines by curating the bits and pieces and providing insight and commentary on top






Twitter and Facebook are considerably new however rapidly setting a mark for themselves. They manage to get people addicted to the applications are are considered reliable at the moment. With this, more and more people are glued to the computer slowly changing the meaning of face-to-face communication.

References
Naughton, John 2006, ‘Blogging and the emerging media ecosystem’, http://reuteursinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/about/discussion/blogging.html
Coffin, J 2009, New Media, Same as old, Old Media, viewed 15 November 2009, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jarvis-coffin/new-media-same-as-old-old_b_272071.html
Westphal, D 2009, Old Media vs. New Media: Let's call this one off, viewed 15 November 2009, http://www.ojr.org/ojr/people/davidwestphal/200910/1784/

Blogging issue (d): Designing for print versus online

There are many theories with regards to designing. However designing for print and designing for online are two different things. For online(blog), the designing concepts are more colorful and cheerful. Blogs allows more interactivity with many applications such as comment box, chatbox, hyperlinks and followers of the blogs. Many patterns, colors and designs are experimented onto blogs to create a more interesting and eye catching layout. Shriver (1997), when text and graphics are integrated, they produce a better understanding for the reader or viewer than, either one a In comparison, designing for print does not require so much creativity and eye catching designs because the document focuses on content not layout. Designing for blogs can change from time to time according to the owners likings. As for the content of the blogs, it is rather informal as readers scan through the words however the information must be credible (Nielson, 1997). In comparison, the writing for design for print has to be more professional and serious. Summarizing is not recommended. A good example of a document is a research paper.


Caption: Example, Design for online

References
Nielsen, J 1997, How to Write for the Web, online, retrieved 15 November 2009, from http://www.useit.com/papers/webwriting/writing.html
http://yourwordscankill.blogspot.com/
Schriver, K. A.1997, Chapter 6: ‘The interplay of words and images’, Dynamics in document design : creating texts for readers, Wiley Computer Pub., New York, pp. 361-441

Blogging issue (c): Types of blogging communities & methods to build blogging communities and structure of blogging community.

What is a blogging community?



A blogging community can be defined as those who are active and very involved in the blogging sphere which includes writing blog post, reading blogs as well as leaving opinions and comments on people’s blogs. To create a blogging community or to take part in a blogging community, tools like chat boxes or shoutboxes, sitemeters, custom feeds and comment boxes are used (blogcatalog, 2009). Social network such as Facebook, Twitter or My Space can also be used to publicize blogs to expand the blog sphere.


Caption: Facebook with a blog add.

Blogs can be divided into 3 different categories; the Blogger Centric Community, the Topic Centric Community and the Boundaried Community. The Topic Centric Community is a network formation in other words a group of bloggers who share the same passion. The Blogger Centric Community is a site owned by a single person or a company whereby many bloggers blog in one blog. Bloggers can interact among other bloggers or people who leave comments. The Boundaried Community on the other hand is a group of bloggers who have issue identification. Power and identity are the tools used in this community. In Global Voices, readers can interact with Jeff Ooi and other visitors but the content of the blog is under the control of the author. Global Voices is of the same structure as Blogger Centric Community.

References
www.facebook.com
Blogcatalog 2009, online, viewed 14 November 2009, from http://www.blogcatalog.com/
Blogs and Community-launching a new paradigm for online community?
http://kt.flexiblelearning.net.au/tkt2006/edition-11-editorial/blogs-and-community-%E2%80%93-launching-a-new-paradigm-for-online-community
Bradshaw, P 2008, 5 stages of a blogger's life, viewed 15 November 2009, http://onlinejournalismblog.com/2008/09/26/5-stages-of-a-bloggers-life/

Blogging issue (b): Classification of blogs & opinion about the most appropriate classification approach

What is a blog? A blog is short for weblog, which is a web page that serves as a publicly accessible personal journal of an individual (Webopedia, 2009). According to Wikipedia (2007), there are many types of different blogs such as personal blogs and corporate or organizational blogs which can be further classified by genre, media type, and device. The type of blog, which means content, refers to whether it is a personal blog versus a non personal blog and a profitable blog versus a non-profitable blog. In contrast, the meaning of genre with relations to the word blog would mean leisure, politics, social, travel, fashion and so on. Blogs can be presented in many ways. Media types determine how the content of the blog is presented. Examples include vlogs, linklogs, sketchlogs, photoblogs and etc. Moblogs and Wearable Wireless Webcams are examples of devices (Wikipedia, 2007).


Caption:Profitable blog (current trend, blogshops)

According to Margaret Simons (Media Report, 2008), there are only 9 types of blogs. The 9 are pamphleteering, digest, advocacy, popular mechanics, exhibition, gatewatcher, diary, news and advertisements. She categorizes blogs to their purposes and their contents. In some aspects, her theory may be true but it depends on how and what think of the word blog. Blogs should be solely graded on content so her theory may not be entirely valid to some. Grading on the content is less complicated then her theory.

References
Wikipedia, 2007, Blog, viewed 14 November 2009, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blog
Webopedia, 2009, Blog, viewed 14 November 2009, http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/b/blog.html
Simons, M 2008, A taxonomy of blogs, viewed 14 November 2009, http://www.abc.net.au/rn/mediareport/stories/2008/2372882.htm#transcript
Blogshop:http://www.misstzx.blogspot.com/