Week 13.

Chapter 13.
1. I believe that before media companies can expect journalists to work in converged news rooms, they should provide journalists with the opportunity to undertake courses on the forms of media they are not familiar working in. For example, print journalists should have courses on radio and television reporting available to them to ensure they are comfortable and confident in these mediums.
Most importantly, media companies should ensure that their journalists have a sound understanding of international journalism law. This is because according to Conley and Lamble (2006), international differences in defamation and contempt laws become a problem when reporting on the internet. This is because articles published on the web can be accessed by people all over the world as opposed to a local newspaper which will only be viewed within Australia.

2. I couldn’t find anything within the chapter to guide me in answering this question, except for a strike which occurred in 2000.
This was when Fairfax journalists “held stop-work meetings to protest management requests that they produce both print and online versions of their stories” (Conley and Lamble, 2006, p.300).
This suggests that a journalist may choose to refuse this order and perhaps go on strike. However, I think this would be extremely pointless and that as a result, a journalist who did strike, or refused to comply with management’s requests would be fired. I believe this would be the most likely outcome because there are plenty of journalists who are capable of cross-reporting and would do so for a job.

3. Journalistic convergence is not a just a trendy fad that will run its course then be forgotten about. This is implied by Conley and Lamble (2006), as they state “Each medium will, however, continue to spread its wings on the web, as will mass media organisations. The web offers new organisations, journalists, editors, and news producers a platform for print, sound and vision in a true multimedia environment” (p. 299).
Conley and Lamble (2006) also note that the introduction of broadband Internet technology enhances the ease of which different mediums of journalism can converge. They state that “News and current affairs websites are where print, radio, and television journalism are converging. That is simply because the widespread introduction of broadband Internet technology is allowing the web to develop as a brilliant platform for each mdium...in combination with other media" (Conley & Lamble, 2006).
Conley and Lamble (2006) also suggest that this convergence will continue to grow in the future as they note that "other commercial players will enter the market as more and more consumers convert to broadband and as more services become available via broadband” (p.299).
This suggests that there are great opportunities available from journalistic convergence and that its future looks promising, suggesting that it is not just a fad.

4. The long-term outcome in Australia of relaxed cross-media ownership laws could be deliriously beneficial or devastating.
These laws allow media organisations to converge, particularly to online mediums. In some cases, this means people can read news on the web for free.
If however, this causes news consumers to stop buying newspapers and advertising revenues fall in comparison to circulation and ratings, media organisations may go broke(Conely and Lamble, 2006).
Alternatively, if news organisations begin charging for online news, such as The Newcastle Herald and advertisers can be persuaded to promote their products online, revenues can be made.

5. Firstly, to be politically correct you do not tell a crystal ball information, you actually ask it questions and it gives you the answers. This question is thus wrong. But, going along with the question I would tell it that the future of the web is going to be ENORMOUS.
US Futurist Katherine Fulton (as cited in Conley and Lamble 2006), argues that in a few decades, the Internet will absorb all other forms of media thus making them less prevalent. She claims that newspapers and television broadcasts may become a “mere ‘add-on’ for multiservice providers” (p.302).
I believe this is an insightful statement, as I find out news first on the Internet during the day, then watch it on television at night just to see how they report it. I do not see television news programs as my primary source of news.
As for the future of television, I would tell the ball that Fulton is right. Television will become less popular than the Internet, however it will not disappear. This is because unlike the web, it is unable to provide immediate news when breaking news hits. It is a lot faster to quickly type an article and publish it on the web with a single click for the whole world to access than to prepare a television broadcast.
Finally, I believe that radio will disappear because it is much easier to access the Internet. This is because today people either do not have time to sit and listen to the radio or due to technology making us impatient and wanting news straight away, no-one will have the patience to listen to an entire radio broadcast.
Also, select news can be accessed instantly via the web, for example if you wanted to only know entertainment news you could access this alone. If you were listening to the radio however, you would have to listen to the entire broadcast until it was announced. Also, due to podcasts being available to download and listen to on ipods while keeping on the move, I would tell the crystal ball that the number of people listening to the actual radio will continue to decline in the future until radio no longer exists.

6. Yes, I think that the idea of multiskilling should be integrated into every course in university journalism studies to a certain extent.
While Conley and Lamble (2006) state that the idea of journalists trying to be skilled across all mediums in the media is a fallacy, they do state that “journalism students who can become confident working across two or more different media platforms will dramatically increase their chances of finding employment and building a solid career” (p.301). Therefore, I think students should have the opportunity to become multiskilled. I don’t necessarily think that it should be essential for students learning to become print journalists to know how to be excellent broadcast journalists as this could result in them not being sufficiently skilled in a major area, but I do think they should have a brief knowledge of what is needed. If however, one is capable of being skilled across a number of mediums, they should definitely have the opportunity to pursue this.


7. I do believe that society is getting to a point where life as we know it could not survive without the Internet and web. We now rely on the Internet to not only provide us with information and entertainment, but also for the completion of many daily activities. Fulton (as cited in Conley and Lamble, 2006) states that “People need banking, but they don’t necessarily need banks. People need news and information of all kinds, but they don’t necessarily need newspapers or tv” (p. 302).
The Internet is required if we want to quickly get a bank statement before heading out to the shops, or if we want to purchase clothes from the US. The Internet is also an essential component in completing a university degree, as access to Blackboard is needed to gain instructions on assignments.
Thus, it can be argued that society has reached a point where without the web, we would be lost.

Chapter 17.
1. In this situation it would depend what the defamation was regarding.
If it was regarding her business, I would grant the woman’s desire and publish a story about her business as this would compensate for my staff member’s mistake. I would also do this because if she did sue, I would not have any defences.
If however, the defamatory statement was not regarding her business, I would offer her the option of expressing her side of the story regarding the defamatory claims. I would not promote her business as this would be unethical. It is similar to taking a bribe. This way, if she does decide to sue I have offered her the option to put forward her beliefs and even though the offer was not taken, I can plead qualified privilege.

2. Yes, I would support a ‘public figure’ defence for the media that would limit the rights of certain types of public figures to take out defamation suits against the media.
According to Conley and Lamble (2006), “While truth can be a legal defence…something that is perfectly true can also be highly defamatory” (p.411).
I believe this is unjust. The actions of public figures, for example politicians need to be published for public benefit, especially if their own actions have damaged their reputation as the public has a right to know. Perhaps a ‘public figure’ defence would allow for such issues regarding public figures to be rightly published without the fear of defamation.

3. No I would not reveal this confidential source in court.
Firstly, it is not ethical to do so and there is no proof of who the source actually is. This means that if I did reveal the source, she could deny it was her and sue me for defamation.
Secondly, I would loose all credibility as a journalist, because future sources would not trust me when asking to remain confidential in the future.
Finally, Conley and Lamble (2006) state that "Newspapers must accept the consequences of what they publish, whether sources are reliable or not” (p. 427). As a journalist, it is my responsibility to research my stories and ensure that the information provided to me from sources is correct. Seeing as I did not identify this, I must suffer the consequences and face the defamation case.

Journalism Issue from chapter 13: The multiskilled journalist.
After reading about convergence, I became excited of the prospect of being skilled in a number of different forms of media.
When I first started university, I was determined to become a print journalist and I thought that this is all I would learn. However, the communications degree requires completing digital courses which involve creating and publishing my own work on websites, a skill that many current journalists would not have had the opportunity to learn when completing their course due to the lack of technology available to them.
Conley and Lamble (2006) note that technology has assisted in ensuring journalists are multiskilled to a certain extent. For example, the invention of digital cameras and compact video cameras have allowed journalists to also become photographic journalists and cameramen.
Conley and Lamble (2006) also note that on the job experience, such as working at a local paper can allow you to become multiskilled. This is because you “quickly learn to take your own photographs, write all sorts of different articles from hard news to soft features, report courts and sport, write picture stories and obituaries” (Conley and Lamble, 2006, p.301).
I believe that this involvement would suit me as a journalist, as I am a very independent person who likes to be successful at a wide variety of things and have everything completed perfect. In some cases, the only way to do this is to do it yourself and therefore the idea of being multiskilled sounds excellent to me.


References.

Conely, D., & Lamble, S.(2006). Online news: Journalism's strands converge. In Conley, D., & Lamble, S. (Eds.), The daily miracle: An introduction to journalism. (3rd ed). (pp. 296-314). Victoria: Oxford.

Conley, D., & Lamble, S. (2006). Perils of defamation. In Conley, D., & Lamble, S. (Eds.), The daily miracle: An introduction to journalism. (3rd ed). (pp. 408- 433). Victoria: Oxford.