Perspecitves of a regional journalist

Regional journalist Jessica Willard, from The Advertiser, Cessnock.

What is the role of the regional, Australian journalist?

When people think of journalists a few things might come to mind, but ultimately the role of a journalist is to tell stories. They gather information and present that information as news considered to be in the public interest.

However for a regional journalist, or for myself in particular, my job at The Advertiser Cessnock goes far beyond just reporting the news. Yes I am a journalist and a photographer but I am also responsible for subbing, editing, layout as well as managing our website and social media accounts including Twitter and Facebook. There is also no single designated area of news that I cover. On any given days I could be writing something on council, on a local sporting achievement, a wedding anniversary, 100th birthday or reporting on a death, a car accident or a house fire.

It is also, by no means an 8.30am to 5pm job. I am expected to regularly attend community events that often fall outside of 'office' hours - a factor that ultimately plays an important role building our position as a trusted voice within the local community.

A typical day for me includes:

• First thing: Reading the papers and searching through social media for updates. Sorting through and replying to endless emails. Making phone calls and setting up the days appointments including interviews and photo opportunities.
• Throughout the day: On a Monday Tuesday, by days mainly consist of laying out the paper and putting any final touches on stories. Wednesday, Thursday, Friday's are the days I can expect to be out of the office getting the stories and the photos. I will am also expected to continually be updating social media and our website, especially if any breaking news comes in that we want to get out straight away.
• End of the days: Writing the stories up and subbing anything that has come through on the email.

A familiar uniform for many regional journalist - safety

helmet and fluorescent vest. Here I am on a tour of the

Hunter Expressway construction site in 2013.

From the outset the biggest difference between a regional journalist and a metro journalist is the diversity. While a metro paper might have an assigned sport, political, social reporter, a regional paper like mines relies on one journalist to cover all these areas. This said, the biggest challenge for myself is being able to ‘cover all the fields’ and keep up to date with all the local events and achievements. I also keep a change of clothes (including gumboots) in my car in case a job comes up that requires me to walk through paddocks, or more commonly for my area - vineyards.

A regional newspaper also relies heavily on the input of the community itself – they are collectively our biggest source and our greatest resource. Considering this it is very important to keep a trusted and healthy relationship and always report on items that are in the public interest and yet compassionate and understanding of the needs of the community.

This leads to the most rewarding part of my job – getting to tell the stories of the ‘little people’. A lot of the people I come across on a day to day basis are very hard working, humble characters who have wonderful achievements and stories to tell. Journalists at regional newspapers might not always be breaking the ‘big stories’, but the stories we tell are important and ultimately they would never be heard if it wasn’t for the vital platform of a regional newspaper.

As I reflect on the last few weeks of this journalism course, it's become more and more apparent that the road for professional journalists is certainly a long and winding road. From the ethical debates, to the questions surrounding the very need for 'professional' journalists at all. If I could go back three years to that eager new uni student I would probably tell myself 'do nursing or something that actually has credibility (or at least the promise of a job at the end of three years of study)'. But alas, here I am anyway, facing the somewhat nerve racking milestone of graduating and entering 'the real world' as a fully pledged, professional journalist.

When I first started this blog, I was concerned with a rather shocking (at least to me) statement of 'journalism matters, journalists dont' and have since tried through my ramblings to affirm the need for journalists in society. That is, people who have been exposed to some form of professional training as opposed to just setting up a twitter account and calling themselves credible. I hope that I have been able to do this, to some extent at least because journalist do matter. Like the old saying goes, 'with great power comes great responsibilty' and for the case of journalists this could not be more true. Unfortunately, there will be always be bad journalism, but for the most part in Australia at least I'd like to think we are doing ok.

This is certainly difficult times for the media industry, but I think The Australian journalist Mark Day sums it up pretty in his article 'No one can deny the benefits of a free press', when he says:

" It is more popular than usual at the moment to condemn the media for its faults and shortcomings, and the reasons are understandable.

"A loss of trust linked to the phone hacking and a fiercely partisan political environment are two major causes.

"But we must not lose sight of the benefits a free press brings society as it lifts the lid on government secrets, corporate and public corruption and shines a light in places where crooks, crims and politicians would prefer darkness.

"Even the rambunctious tabloids can be a force for good".

Who needs a Media Enquiry when you have The Chaser?

You know that the death of the journalist is becoming a prominent issue within Australia, when the Chaser team get their own show based on the topic. ‘The Hamster Wheel’ is the new show from the team that brought us the Chasers War on Everything, and it examines ‘how the media works or, in most cases, doesn't work. Why do we get the news we get? And inside the frantic rush of the hamster wheel, has the race to be first replaced the race to be right?’

While I will always be a defender of Journalists (good ones anyway), after watching this show it saddens me to admit that these guys have a point. While it’s nothing most of us don’t already know, (in fact the first episode seemed to sum up most of the topics discussed in this Journalism course), it’s not until the issues are pointed out by a group of thirty something comedic hooligans with no regard for, well anything, that it all becomes very real.

Hell, who needs a media enquiry when you have the Chaser team to point out all of our imperfections?

I think Sydney Morning Herald journalist Paul Kalina sums it up pretty well in his description of “a blowtorch to the media's coverage of news and current affairs” and i encourage everyone to tune in Wednesdays, 9.30pm on ABC1.

The right to know, but do we need to know?

This weeks discussions on media ethics raised some really interesting points.

Firstly, it seemed to bring to the forefront Australia's 'secret' obsession with the cult of the tabloid.

I use the word 'secret' because I don't think it is something that we are very proud of, but its undeniable.

Programs like Today Tonight and 60 Minutes relish on this 'trashy' form of news.

I dont mean this to be a direct attack on these programs, I just find some of the stories they present to be, well quite hilarious really and sometimes struggle to see how much this information is really in the public interest.

But one of the points brought up in class discussions was that if there was no market for tabloids, there would be no reason to invade people's privacy.

At the end of the day, its all about making money.

It goes back to the idea of quality journalism, and I've mentioned in previous blogs that despite most people recognizing networks such as the ABC as the most reputable in terms of news, this is not where they go to get their fix.

With terms of reference for the upcoming media enquiry have now been announced, "the effectiveness of current media codes of practice" and "ways of substantially strengthening the independence of the Australian Press Council".


Many are worries that the enquiry is going to infrine on the freedom of the press. 


There is a really interesting article written by Chris Berg from The Drum, who challenges the current system of newspapers self regulating. 


"Private entities are welcome to develop ethical and professional codes," he said. 


"Indeed, they probably should. 


"But it doesn't follow that government should muscle in to enforce those codes - particularly if the entities in question are newspapers critical of the government".


While I agree with what Mr. Berg is saying in this article, I still do question whether or not organizations are doing enough to ensure people are practicing ethical behaviour. 


What do you think?


The full article can be viewed here:http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/2907894.html

Sexism on the Frontline

We’re told it’s a man’s world and in the realms of journalism it seems that this is very true; especially when it comes to female war reporters.

According to The Independent’s Glenda Cooper ‘Female war reporters have a glorious history – so why are they still being judged by their sex?’

Female reporters on the frontline of the Libyan revolution, such as Sky News’s Alex Crawford, feel that there is still a strong and very western orientated focus on their gender and whether or not it’s the ‘right’ place for a woman.

While female foreign correspondents are certainly nothing new, it seems that the ‘step-ford wife’ view of woman is still plaguing those brave enough to get behind a camera in more often than not, incredibly threatening situations.

“It's frankly really insulting and very, very sexist,” Crawford said.

“ I'm working alongside today the chief correspondent who's a man who's got three children and there will be no one who says: 'what do you think you're doing, how awful, what are you doing to your children?”

So why are female reporters subjected to discussion, even ridicule when their male counterparts aren’t?

According to the article, the media focus for Libya has been that the first three reporters to reach Tripoli were females; Crawford, Sarah Sidner of CNN and Zeina Khodr of al-Jazeera English.

And it is the western media focus that has honed in on this area.

"Those reporting on us rarely fail to mention what we are wearing, how our hair looks, and our overall appearance in some of the harshest conditions humans have to face,” Sidner said.

It seems the while the news itself may be subjective, such a sexist view of it may not be.

The full story can be viewed here: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/female-war-reporters-were-given-the-softer-side-of-war-2354158.html

'What happened in the UK can't happen hear!'

So it’s official, there will be an inquiry into Australia’s print and online media.

Ray Finkelstein, a former Federal Court judge will lead the independent inquiry and will be assisted by former journalist and academic Mathew Ricketson.

This weeks class discussions on ‘Freedom of the Press ‘hacked’ to death… or the end of the news as we know it?’ couldn’t have come at a more convenient and indeed juicy time.

Its no surprise that the recent news hacking scandal in the UK was the dominant point of discussion. 

And while not everyone in class seemed to agree, am I the only one who thinks its just a bit too coincidental that mere months after arguably one of the biggest media scandals in recent times that it is now that Australia chooses a media enquiry?

Isn't it a given?

It's surprising to me then that so many people seemed to strongly oppose the enquiry; which just makes me wonder, what have you got to hide?

One of the questions raised in class was whether or not the recent phone hacking scandal in the UK weakened Australia's trust with its media. 

I have to say for me at least it definitely did.

So when the media enquiry was first proposed it was certainly interesting to see the different reactions. 

In a nutshell, those opposing the enquiry (mainly members of the media itself) see it as a threat to the freedom of the press. 

I find this a bit of a contradiction, considering after all the incredible concentration of Australia's media content. 

I think Jeremy Seer of Crikey makes a good point when he says that:

"Just what kind of freedom of the press can we have when one company controls more than half of it? What kind of freedom of the press do we have when the barriers to entry are high? It might not be difficult to start a website, but what about the many Australians whose only source of news is the printed newspaper or the broadcast media?"

However while the exact terms of reference are not yet known, Communications Minister Stephen Conroy has said that the enquiry will not target News Limited and that the reasons go far beyond just issues of ownership. 

"Quality Journalism is under threat in this country. 

"Not because of any individual or any organisation. Technological change is sweeping across the sector," he said. 

On the other side and perhaps in a less surprising statement, News Limited themselves have slammes the enquiry as regrettable.

 “This inquiry started life as a witch-hunt by the Greens and has morphed into a fairly
narrow look at a mixed bag of issues ostensibly focussed on print journalism,” News Ltd CEO John Hartigan said.

“Any substantive inquiry into the media should cover all media and all media equally,
particularly if it intends to investigate the need for a new overarching regulatory
system".

What do you think?

No matter what side of the fence you sit on the next few months are sure to be interesting!

Let's Talk about Twitter

I used to be the biggest sceptic of Twitter. Mainly because I didn’t get it, but also because I had never tried it and the idea of people ‘tweeting’ their heart and soul in 75 characters or less seemed a little bit silly.

But, in the last month I have become quite obsessed with it and I have to say it has become an integral part of my day. Having the app on my phone, it is a constant source of information for me from news, events, gossip, recipes and the list goes on.

Yet from a journalistic point of view, I still don’t understand why it is seen as such a threat?

Yes there are some people on Twitter who may hinder the news gathering process, but just don’t follow them.

The strength of this platform is that you seek out who you, and others deem to be credible. Just like journo’s back in the day who had a little black book of credible sources, it’s all about building a network.  

When social media like Twitter is embraced by journalists, and used correctly and with care, than its use for news gathering processes is almost unlimited right?

This being said, every system has its flaws and the somewhat lack of accountability for Twitter users is probably the biggest down fall of the network itself.

You can post anything and it doesn’t have to be true.  

Take the recent case in Mexico where  two twitter users are now facing thirty years in  jail after they wrongly reported an armed attack on a local school.

The full story can be read here: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/09/06/us-mexico-twitter-idUSTRE7857PN20110906

Still, in regards to the news gathering process any good journalist will be critical of their sources, and in the case of twitter it’s not so much who you know, but who you follow.