Author: jakepascoe
First MEDA101 Shooting
For my Media Arts this semester, one of my assessments is in photography, which we essentially have to photograph an uncanny object. For my object, I’m doing my MacBook pro, and i’m attempting to photograph it in a completely alien environment, considering it’s purpose. So it looks completely out of place. That’s the theory though, I don’t know how they’ll turn out, probably nothing how I imagine. So for one of my locations, I went to an abandoned hotel near Newtown. Don’t go to Newtown during peak hour. Just don’t
The place was filled with litter, graffiti, empty drinks and everything looked like it was infested with aids. If you can use common sense and avoid the syringes and broken glass, it was actually a pretty cool place to shoot at. We bumped into two Swedish tourists outside as we were trying to get in, who apparently were “maybe” trying to get inside. In terms of my assignment, I was trying to find a location inside with heavy graffiti, that made you think “Why is that person using their laptop in this place?”, and I think I found one.
I’m still undecided on which shot to use exactly, because I got quite a few good ones I think. And i’m such a perfectionist, so I might even go back there. I’m going to filter it in black and white for my assignment because I wanted to viewer to look straight at the laptop, and not at the colourful graffiti on the wall, because it’s very good at distracting your gaze. But all in, it was a great day, and a great location. Huge thanks to the Urbex-Profesional Holly for showing me where it is, and sitting in aids-infected carpet for me. She also has a Facebook page with some awesome photos on it that are worth a look at. I have some more posted over on my Tumblr if anyone wants to see some more.
Who Is Justice Beaver?
As i’m sure you’re all aware, Justice Beaver is a crime fighting beaver from Canada, and has managed to stop most crime in his country. In all seriousness, Justin Bieber is a 20 year old from Canada, and almost every week has an exclusive news piece about him. He’s a popular media figure to talk about, because of all the childish things he does, and how immature he still acts. He has millions of followers called ‘beliebers’ who treat him like some sort of gospel, so he’s constantly looked up to as a role model.
You can argue that having a popular figure in the media is both positive and negative. Popular figures can make good role models for young and impressionable kids, but it depends on the celebrities lifestyle. If they have a particular negative lifestyle, involving negative aspects such as drugs and violence, they’ll have an impact on the people that look up to them. And this can be seen as part of the reason of ‘What’s wrong with kids these days?’.
For my topic, i’ve chosen to talk about Justin Bieber, and the impacts he has in the media. We see every week how much mischief he’s been up to, whether it be spitting on fans, or getting arrested. One of the most famous examples of how Bieber has impacted people from the media is the ‘Cut For Bieber’ that a lot of teenagers participated in. While Bieber had no act in the trend, because of his popularity and drug smoking habits, it was thought that this was a protest towards his marijuana smoking. It needs to be said, self-harm shouldn’t be joked about, even Miley Cyrus tweeted in saying “#cut4bieber? Cutting is NOT something to joke about. There are people who are actually suffering from self-harm, this is so disrespectful“. But I think it’s important to highlight the stupidity of these people.
This of course was started by some internet trolls from 4chan, and became very big, very quickly. People were uploading photos of themselves self-harming for their ‘idol’, thinking it will actually make in impact. I think this illustrates how much influence Justin Bieber has over his fans, even when he’s not making the influence personally. Things that happen to him in the media and online involving him can impact his fans in positive and negative ways. But I think this also illustrates how easily young people can be influenced by media itself. Even if it’s not real. Because of the relationship they have developed with this figure, they have automatically decided to do whatever is asked of them. It reminds me of the famous question, “Would you jump off a bridge if they told you to?”. And as we’ve seen from the #Cutting4Bieber trend, I think some people would. People are so influenced by what they see in the media, and how they’re represented that it’s almost tragic. People need to take more control over their own values, but it’s easier said then done.
And now’s the time where we reflect on the past 6 weeks, and we talk about how awesome the course is, and how much we’re loving uni and blogging. And that’s the truth, I love blogging. So to blog for my assessment is just amazing. Over the past 6 weeks, researching for the various topics we have covered have helped me question the validity of everything, and to view everything from outside the box. To take a step back and think “How is this changing society?”. And that’s something I’ve never really done before. I didn’t look too much into what was happening into the media, and how it’s shaping our future morals and values. I’ve found everything we’ve covered very interesting so far, so i’ve enjoyed learning about it, while some things covered I’ve previously known, it’s interesting to learn more about. Blogging makes learning much more interesting, and makes it easier to show your learning. And as I pointed out in my introduction post, having an academic/profesisonal blog and an online presence always looks good on a resume and for potential employers.
References:
1. Watkins, J 2013, ‘Cutting is NOT something to joke about’: Miley Cyrus weighs in on sick ‘Cut for Bieber’ Twitter trend sparked by Justin’s controversial marijuana photos’, Daily Mail, 8th January, Viewed 14th April, <http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2258778/Cut-Bieber-Miley-Cyrus-weighs-sick-Twitter-trend.html >
2. Stanley, T 2013, ‘Justin Bieber fans urged to cut themselves to stop him from smoking weed. This Belieber madness must cease’, The Telegraph, 8th January, Viewed 14th April, <http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/timstanley/100197042/justin-bieber-fans-urged-to-cut-themselves-to-stop-him-from-smoking-weed-this-belieber-madness-must-cease/ >
3. D’Addario Daniel 2014, Of Course the media should cover Bieber, Salon, Viewed 14th April 2014, <http://www.salon.com/2014/01/23/of_course_the_media_should_cover_justin_bieber/ >
Lucy Rose
Lucy Rose is an English singer/songwriter, and released her first album ‘Like I Used To’ in 2012. Her album peaked at 13 in the UK, which I think is amazing, seeing as it’s her first album. She toured with Bombay Bicycle club in early 2012, and I would have seen both of them live then if I had money at the time. I only just found her on Spotify a few weeks ago, but from then, i’ve listened to her almost every day. She’s amazing.
Her top song would be ‘Middle Of The Bed’ (above), is about a broken relationship, and whether or not she still has feelings for him. It’s a beautiful song with a lot of powerful emotion behind it if you really pay attention to the lyrics. They way she sings in this song, you can just imagine her eyes closed, picturing an emotional memory. Well I do anyway (I’m not crazy).
My friend had told me to listen to her for a while, but I kept forgetting about it until a few weeks ago when I recognised her name on Spotify. One of the most annoying things in the history of humanity is when you suggest something to someone, and a few months later they try and introduce that very thing to you, as if they just found it, so i’m sorry Nick! Lucy Rose is a groovy new artist, who hopefully this year will bring out a great album and become even more popular. Plus it helps when she’s super cute looking.
The Chasers War On…. What exactly?
Millions of Australians will remember The Chasers, and their hilarious stunts and pranks they pulled. While it was on air as ‘The Chasers War On Everything’, they were a very popular show, averaging between 600,000 and 800,000 viewers each episode at it’s peak. They used comedy satire to relate the news to the public, which most notably was evident in their ‘What Have We Learnt From Current Affairs This Week?’. And personally, that was one of my favorite segments on the show.
“The Chaser is a satirical media empire which rivals Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation in all fields except power, influence, popularity and profitability.” (The Chasers)
They’ve had to re-brand their show several times for various reasons, more recently their show was called ‘The Hamster Wheel’ which was more focused on the media, but it was announced that in late 2014, they would be airing a show called “We’ll have to leave it there”.
“This is a leaner and meaner Chaser, basing its attack less around public stunts and ambushes and more on substantial exposure of the absurdities and idiocies of the media.” (Ben Pobjie 2012)
But how did ‘The Chasers War On Everything’ actually contribute to debate in a mediated public sphere? Well, they brought the issues up, and weren’t afraid to embarrass themselves and get into trouble if it meant they got their message across. The Chasers aren’t what you call ‘Journalists’, they rather use the media’s and politicians own words against them in a hypocritical manner, but more importantly, in a humorous way. This allows the public viewers to understand and learn about what’s in the media, but more importantly, what seems like bullshit. The Chasers are great at nitpicking speeches and media reports, and finding inconsistencies.
They do of course, go ‘over the line’ often, whether it be a stunt, or a comment about an individual. This can cause controversy, and again cause people to question the validity of content in their show. It’s because of this, The Chasers War On Everything was pulled off the air. Their most famous ‘over the line’ stunt was when Australia hosted the APEC summit in 2007, where one of the Chasers dressed up as Osama Bin Laden, and managed to get inside APEC. The full video can be found here on Youtube.
The show had/has a large social side to it as well, it brings together the people who watch the show to talk about the content online, and discuss what was over the line, and reach even more people to educate them about what’s happening. And of course, there is the direct conversation, “Hey did you watch The Chasers last night”, and without even knowing it, their actively participating in a public sphere. To finish, here’s a two hour collaboration of every segment of ‘What Have We Learnt From Current Affairs This Week?’ aired, but I suggest only watching it when you have no homework to be done, because once you start, you wont be able to stop.
References:
1. No Author No Date, About, The Chaser, Viewed 6th April 2014, <http://www.chaser.com.au/about/ >
2. Pobjie, B 2012, ‘Biting Hamsters puts media in its place’, The Sunday Morning Herald, 18th October 2012, Viewed 6th April <http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/biting-hamster-puts-media-in-its-place-20121018-27smv.html >
Foals
I can finally blog about music again! And this time, I want to introduce you to another one of my favourites. Foals. They’re an English indie rock band who published their first album back in 2008, and it was a great success. They started gaining popularity mid-2008 because of this, and they have spiralled their way across the indie-rock genre. I think one of the reasons behind their success is the change of style in some of their songs. They change in their 2010 album ‘Total Life Forever’, to a more acoustic and slow style, mainly through the song ‘Spanish Sahara’, which personally is one of my favourite songs. check it out below.
They got really popular in 2013 in Australia particularly, getting the spot of 29th on the widely popular Triple J Hottest 100. They won ‘Best Track’ at the NME awards in 2010 and 2013, and ‘Best Live Act’ at the Q Awards in 2013. If you havn’t heard of these guys already, I would suggest joining the bandwagon now, because these guys are going places. I had the opportunity to see these guys live back in September 2013, but none of my lame friends wanted to come. C’est la vie.
For those that are interested, i’m doing a 2hr mix at my friends party on the weekend, and I’m going to record it and publish the live mix album next week sometime. So for those that are after some great party music, keep tuned!
Friend-Zoned With The Pirate Bay
You are in a constant friend-zone with The Pirate Bay. You just are. No matter how many gifts it gives you, or how many gifts you give other people through them. That’s how The Pirate Bay rolls, and it’s totally fine with it. For those of you that don’t understand my poor analogue, the way The Pirate Bay works, is that it works like a search engine. You find torrents that other people are seeding, and it allows you to download from them. The Pirate Bay just direct internet traffic to where it needs to be. And when you seed, it allows other people to download from you. And because of this, the audience, you, not only control The Pirate Bay, but provide the content and functionality behind the website. It would be nothing without you. And I think this is the very concept of Prosumption, being an active user and creating content. Unfortunately a lot of people have the mentality of an actual pirate when it comes to seeding.
The audience is crucial to The Pirate Bay’s success, and it’s downfall. It’s popularity around the internet has made it VERY popular world wide. Alexa, a web information company, ranked the website at 92nd world wide, and 80th just in America. That’s pretty amazing considering participating on this website makes you a criminal. The Pirate Bay relies on dialogic media, meaning that it facilities a two-way conversation for each torrent, and this is commonly known as a ‘comment section’. This allows the audience to talk about the material, give information and reviews. “You participate to contribute information” (Christopher Moore 2014)
“Building a tool that allows an ads-based business to get in front of more eyeballs is not politically relevant by itself, but it can contribute to a larger conversation about censorship, free speech, and Internet freedom.” (Nathaniel Mott 2013)
One of the main cultures that is associated with The Pirate Bay is the issue of copyright. Nathaniel Mott from Pando Daily points out that within the culture of censorship and internet freedom, it can be used as a “political tool” within context. And it’s interesting to know that on a deeper level, just by torrenting movies and tv shows, you’re fighting censorship and copyright laws. You may only be a speck of dust in a massive sand storm, but it all adds up. You can do so much by seeding. So start seeding!
References:
1. No Author 2014, thepiratebay.se, Alexa, Viewed 3rd April 2014 <http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/thepiratebay.se >
2. Moore Christopher 2014, ‘Audiences: Power, Access, and Participation’, Lecture Week 5, UOW, 1/04/2014
3. Mott Nathaniel 2013, ‘Is the Pirate Bay a bastion of internet freedom or just an illegal downloads site?’, Pando Daily, Viewed 3rd April 2014, <http://pando.com/2013/08/12/is-the-pirate-bay-a-bastion-of-internet-freedom-or-just-an-illegal-downloads-site/ >
Photography in MEDA101
We’re starting to dabble in photography in my UOW MEDA101 class, and i’m really excited to start our assignment on it!
Australia’s New Prime Minister: Rupert Murdoch
It’s common knowledge in Australia that one of the reasons Tony Abbot’s political campaign was so effective was because of the media. The powerful headlines such as “IT’S A RUDDY MESS” influenced much of Australia, and gave Tony Abbot and the Liberal party an almost too easy victory. And there’s two people to thank for that.
The more obvious person, Rupert Murdoch. Having an impressive resume including being the CEO of News Corporation, an Executive Chairman at News Corp, and more recently, the CEO of 21st Century Fox. He owns almost TOO many media outlets including ‘The Australian’, ‘The Daily Telegraph’, ‘Courier-Mail’, ‘The Herald Sun’ and FOX to name a few, all of which adds to 17.3 million newspapers in Australia a week. That’s a ridiculous amount of influence he has.
The second person responsible, is Col Allan, the editor-in-chief of the ‘New York Post’. This man, who arrived in Australia just a week before the date for the federal election was announced, is responsible for all the blatant headlines towards Kevin Rudd.
“His most famous expertise is bare-knuckled political combat and character assassination. His most famous talent is for the brazen front-page banner headline.” (Robert Manne 2013)
But why does it matter who controls the media? Well, you’re living it. Because of the media, Tony Abbot is in office, and arguably destroying Australia’s international reputation with his poor public speaking skills, and lack of general knowledge. The public are bombarded by personal opinions as headlines, and are given a one-sided story depending on the CEO’s political opinion. And it’s because of this, Politics and the campaigns are almost no longer about the policies, but about the punchline in articles.
“…The public are fed rehearsed lines, and know it. Debate is reduced to moronic slogans. Tough decisions are dodged and deferred. Marketing techniques not only sell policies, but craft them.” (The Age, 2011)
NPR recently made a hilarious, and very informative april fools joke on their website. The concept was simple, the title read “Why Doesn’t America Read Anymore?”, but in the body of the text, all it said was, “We sometimes get the sense that some people are commenting on NPR stories that they haven’t actually read. If you are reading this, please like this post and do not comment on it. Then let’s see what people have to say about this ‘story.’ ” (NPR 2014). There were glorious amounts of people sharing and commenting on the post pretending to have read ‘the article’ and commenting on it. This highlights how effective a media headline can be, and the influence it can have on so many people, especially those that don’t even read the contents.
I think it’s very important who ‘owns’ the media, and Rupert Murdoch has made it painfully obvious how much it’s capable of. So for god sakes, tighten the media laws! I’ll leave you with a funny video by ‘friendlyjordies‘, highlighting the 2013 political campaign, and how Murdoch has misrepresented, or painfully missed, some of the Labours policies.
References:
1. Manne Robert 2013, Why Rupert Murdoch Can’t Be Stopped, The Monthly, Viewed 3rd April 2014, <http://www.themonthly.com.au/issue/2013/november/1383224400/robert-manne/why-rupert-murdoch-can-t-be-stopped >
2. Flew Terry 2013, FactCheck: does Murdoch own 70% of newspapers in Australia?, The Conversation, Viewed 3rd April 2014, <https://theconversation.com/factcheck-does-murdoch-own-70-of-newspapers-in-australia-16812 >
3. Hyland & Gordon, T&J 2011, ‘Dumb and dumber: why Australian politics is broken’, The Age, 20 February, Viewed 3rd April 2014, <http://www.theage.com.au/national/dumb-and-dumber-why-australian-politics-is-broken-20110219-1b0fu.html>
4. Marinconz, 2014, A Reminder That Not Everyone Reads Before Commenting, Kotaku, Weblog, 3rd April, Viewed 3rd April 2014, <http://kotaku.com/a-reminder-that-not-everyone-reads-before-commenting-1557812641 >
North Korea Is Best Korea!
North Korea has been in the media a lot over the past few years, especially with Kim Jong-Un, becoming the new ‘Supreme Leader’. The country is infamous for lying to their public and threatening every nation in the world that isn’t North Korea with their nuclear weapons arsenal and war. I chose the picture below because I think this photo tells us so much about the views of the public in North Korea, as well as the government towards each other.
You can clearly see the concerning faces of the adults who can understand the authority and power that Kim Jong-Un possess, and how reckless and cruel he can be, while the kids who do not understand the political controversy and state of their nation seem calm. Kim Jong-Un and his General, are standing straight and look seemingly happy to be there. The two completely different reactions can be contrasted to visually see the opinions of the North Korean government of both sides.
This image is very powerful, and can be interpreted by us in many ways. Personally, the obvious meaning (the Denotation) is that the people of North Korea hate Kim Jong-Un. And perhaps by looking further into it (the Connotation) is that North Korea are trying to advertise themselves as a happy country, where everyone loves their ‘fearless leader’.
All signs point to Kim Jong Un trying to present a cuddlier, more family-friendly image to the world. (Huffington Post 2012)
If there’s one thing to take away from this photo, I think it’s the fact that even though the North Korean government and media are trying to shape the world perspective of themselves (unsuccessfully I might add), this photo can illustrate a governments, an individuals or organisations influence in the media, and what they can do with it. It shows the dangers of how easily we can fall for a false message (If it’s done right), and how much it can influence people’s ideologies.
We have to give him some credit though, after all he did stop the production of nuclear weapons to prioritise their major hunger crisis. So I guess that’s good in some way.
References:
Unknown, 2012, North Korean Family, Image, news.com, Viewed 27th March 2014, <http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/this-north-korean-family-is-just-loving-life/story-e6frflri-1226453845192 >
Ryan Craggs, 2012, Kim Jong Un Family Photo: North Korean Leader Poses With Terrified-Looking Family, Huffington Post, Viewed 28th March 2014 <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/20/kim-jong-un-family-photo_n_1812069.html >
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