Not happy about the carbon tax? Tweet it

This morning the Gillard Government's carbon tax and emissions trading legislation passed the House of Representatives.  As I discovered on Facebook and Twitter, this made a lot of people happy.  It made many others angry.

In Parliament, Labor and Independent MPs applauded, cheered and shook hands after the bills were passed.  Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd and Prime Minister Julia Gillard even exchanged a kiss!

Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd share a kiss in Parliament this morning

In the public gallery, protesters interrupted the Prime Minister while she was attempting to answer a question, chanting "no mandate, democracy is dead".

I read about this on ABC News online.  But I first got a sense of people's reactions to the passing of the carbon tax and the emmissions trading scheme on Facebook and Twitter.

The first I heard of the carbon tax bills passing through the Lower House was via a tweet by SBS World News Australia.

After that social media was a buzz with applause and condemnation.

ABC News online perhaps summed it up best, publishing a selection of comments from both Twitter and Facebook.  Here are some examples of those in praise of the carbon tax announcement, as posted on the ABC web site:

"Financial mkts unmoved by carbon vote: So biz as usual. Lead coming from US stock futures & Europe. Zero sign of any mkt fears."

"Today I feel more human again. Today I feel like singing. #Australia now will have a #Carbon #Tax! Fantastic!"

And those dismayed:

"It's a sad day for Australia and a sad day for democracy.No Labor candidate will ever darken my door again. And @JuliaGillard, you're a liar."

"This Carbon Tax is an act of unilateral economic disarmament. It's going to harm growth, cost jobs etc etc - and FOR WHAT? Idiocy."

There are many more examples quoted in the ABC article.

Personally, I'm an advocate of a carbon tax and an emissions trading scheme.  I believe in the principle of user-pays and we're all using (or more aptly abusing) the environment!

In fact, I feel so strongly about it, I'm going to go and tweet it right away!

You can find me on Twitter @sasha_lennon

The footy season is over, so keep reading

AFL that is.  I unashamedly follow Australian Rules football (Aussie Rules) before all other sports.  In fact, other sports don't get much of a look-in, and online news has allowed me to pursue my passion with ease.

Hawthorn's Shane Crawford

Like other ex-pat Victorians, I've been known to moan a bit about the limited (though markedly improved) television coverage of our indigenous game in the northern states.

With the latest television rights deal struck between the AFL, Foxtel and Channel Seven, it appears TV coverage of AFL matches is about to improve (though it will cost the average punter a bit more in subscription fees).

Irrespective, where television has failed me in the past (and may fail me in future if I can't afford a Foxtel subscription), online news reporting of AFL match previews, matches and all the post-game analysis is freely available on the Internet.

Add to that the seemingly endless data on club profiles, player performances, club news, features and the opinions of the so-called 'experts' (not to forget the regular off-field scandals) and online 'footy news' provides as much information as one could possibly consume.

For some reason (maybe it's just me), whatever the numerous official and unofficial AFL sites serve up, I will readily devour.

Just this morning I spent a good half-hour reading in-depth player profiles as the AFL clubs embark on 'Trade Week'.  This is the week when prospective new talent (that is, young footballers) is traded in the form of draft selections.

Experienced players (that is, those closer to the end rather than the beginning of their careers) are recycled as each club attempts to improve its player list in preparation for next season.

Reading the AFL's web site (www.afl.com.au) I've learnt that my club, Hawthorn, is interested in securing the services of an experienced forward to bolster the club's existing crop of goal-kicking talent.

Apparently, Hawthorn is willing to trade an early draft pick (that is, a 17 or 18-year-old potential star of the future) in order to secure such an established player.

What I like about the online version of AFL news is it allows me to keep in touch with the game, from anywhere in the world, throughout the course of the year and not just when games are being played.

The 2012 footy season won't start until March.  In the meantime, I'm going to keep reading about it online.

What the...?

The Advertising Standards Bureau recently rejected calls for the slogan "WTF?" to be banned from use in advertising by a store that sells children's furniture.

The Bureau's Advertising Standards Board (the Board) made the ruling after it received complaints about an advertisement for Kids Warehouse which featured 'teen-talk' slogans including "WTF?" which appeared in the ad alongside a sad face.

Kids Warehouse said the slogan meant "why the face?' and that it is a well-known saying and used among young people and families.

It said that the slogan can also mean "welcome to Facebook", the social networking web site.

Seriously, what the...? As Kids Warehouse suggests, I'm either "out-of-touch" or "crude-minded".

I always assumed it meant "what the f..k?" as apparently many other people do.

The Board considered that older children and adults may notice the advertisement on the basis of the acronym but that in conjunction with the image of the "sad face‟ it is reasonable that the WTF is consistent with the modern term, “Why the Face?”

The Board further considered that while the use of WTF may be understood as “What the F..k?” by some members of the community, the use of the term WTF was, of itself, not language which is necessarily strong or obscene, or inappropriate in the circumstances.

The Board also said it was unlikely that very young children would understand the acronym as having any meaning.

Perhaps once they start using Facebook they will?

The Advertising Standards Board's case report can be downloaded here.

Brisbane's Valley Fiesta to showcase young artists

Photo: a scene from Valley Fiesta 2010 by Conan Whitehouse for Strut N' Fret Production House

A Council-funded 'creative space' for young people provides the platform for emerging artists who will perform at Brisbane’s Valley Fiesta on Saturday. 

Map: Fortitude Valley

Visible Ink in Brisbane's Fortitude Valley has been a hive of activity as a host of young artists tune-up to perform at the 2011 Valley Fiesta.

Visible Ink is a Brisbane City Council-funded program that provides free or low-cost facilities for young people aged 12 to 26, such as computer labs, meeting rooms and rehearsal space.

At this year’s Valley Fiesta, the Visible Ink Youth Stage will showcase emerging artists who have used the program’s facilities to prepare for the event.

Valley Fiesta is a free two-day street party which aims to showcase the best live music, food, fashion, art and entertainment that the Valley has to offer.  Streets are closed to traffic and performances are held on six outdoor street stages.

But the Fiesta is not just about entertainment; the popular event also celebrates the Valley’s vibrant social and cultural diversity.

Beauty and the Beats, an all female acoustic soul band, is just one of the local acts that will take to the Visible Ink Stage in Fortitude Valley’s Chinatown Mall on Saturday. 

Valerie Musu, a member of the Brisbane-based quartet says the youth space has provided invaluable support for Beauty and the Beats which otherwise would not have had a place to rehearse.

“We all have full-time jobs and Visible Ink is the only place we know of where we can rehearse after work,” she said.

“Rehearsal spaces usually charge about $100 per hour while Visible Ink is free.  It’s a great initiative.”

Elerrina McPherson and Angie Fleming, both from Ipswich, established a performing arts company called DreamWave Entertainment in July of this year.

DreamWave’s hip-hop dance act ‘IMVU’, will be performing on Valley Fiesta’s satellite stages on Ann Street, near the Brunswick Street Mall and at the Brunswick Street entrance to the Fortitude Valley train station.

IMVU (which stands for Inspire, Motivate, Versatile and Unique) consists of seven dancers aged 19 to 26.

Ms McPherson says DreamWave used the free rehearsal space at Visible Ink to hold auditions with over 100 young dancers from all over Brisbane, from which IMVU’s dancers were selected.

“It was just a massive month of auditioning,” she said.

Ms Fleming says DreamWave plans to open studios in Ipswich, Logan and Fortitude Valley in 2012.

“We want to get our own studios but at the moment, we’re just starting out,” she said.

Photo: Angie Fleming (left) and Elerrina McPherson of DreamWave Entertainment

That’s where Visible Ink has played an important role, by helping the young creative entrepreneurs to establish themselves.

As well as providing quality rehearsal space and other facilities, Visible Ink mentors young artists.

Ms Fleming says that without the help of Visible Ink, DreamWave would not have come this far.   

“They’ve really got behind DreamWave and what we’re about and have just encouraged us to keep going, which is great,” she said.

Kate Mocsay studies social work at Queensland University of Technology and works at Visible Ink on a student placement.

She says Visible Ink gives young artists who use the space the confidence they need to make it in the real world and the Visible Ink Stage at Valley Fiesta is testament to that.

“It [Visible Ink] promotes the idea that you can do it as a job and it’s not just art for art’s sake,” she said.

Valley Fiesta will take place in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley on 7^th and 8^th October 2011.  The first performances will take to the stage on Friday evening and the festivities will conclude at around 11.00pm on Saturday.    

Information on artists who will be performing plus the live music program and other information about Valley Fiesta can be found at www.valleyfiesta.com.

Information on how to get to Valley Fiesta via public transport can be found on the Translink web site or phone 13 12 30 for train, bus and taxi services operating during Valley Fiesta.

Information about Visible Ink can be found at http://www.visibleink.org/, by visiting the Brisbane City Council web site or by contacting Council on (07) 3403 8888.

Crikey! Is online news too quick to the chase?

Last week, the Crikey website joyously revealed plans by News Limited to refresh its company brand.

But, in drawing a link between the proposed re-branding and the UK phone hacking scandal, Crikey may have jumped a little too hard to reach some questionable conclusions.

Rupert Murdoch

In publishing elements of a leaked News Limited document designed to brief advertising agencies on a possible scope of works to modernise the company brand, Crikey claimed the proposed new 'News Australia' was designed to distance the organisation from the dodgy practices of its British sister company.

However, reports since the Crikey scoop reveal Rupert Murdoch's media empire had registered potential new company names and logos as early as June, before the phone hacking scandal surfaced.

Given Crikey makes a living out of criticising News Limited publications for being bias and agenda-setting amongst other things, it seems a little hypocritical to me that it uses a similar strategy to attack the media conglomerate.

I'm an advocate for accountability and transparency in the media but when those I trust to uphold these values (such as Crikey) start fiddling around the margins of a fact, I have grave concerns.

The Crikey article announcing the News brand refresh 'scoop' can be viewed  here.

What do you think?  Is Crikey being hypocritical in its treatment of News Limited?

'New media' could be saving lives

Former British war correspondent Kate Adie believes the 21st Century's 24-hour news cycle has rendered the frontline reporter all but dead.  Does this mean 'new media' is saving journalists' lives?

Today, in an interview with The Australian, Adie, who received fame for her coverage of the 1980 Iranian embassy siege in London says frontline reporting from the battlefield is a thing of the past.

Adie says today's television reporting of conflicts around the world is "more of a presentation exercise and the business of actually being the eye-witness and getting your own camera footage is pretty rare".

She says a lot of the frontline footage delivered to our smart phones and televisions is shot by locals on the ground with their mobile phones.

While Adie has the scars to prove just how dangerous frontline reporting can be (she carries shrapnel in her foot from her time covering the Bosnian conflict of the 1990s), it has always amused me how journalists appear to dramatise their own situation in close proximity to the battlefield.

Crouching behind a car or embankment, protected by a helmet and flak jacket, the frontline reporter typically gives one the impression that he or she is in imminent danger, risking life and limb to get the story.

Sure, there are plenty of credible stories from war correspondents who have done just that and sadly, some of them have paid the ultimate sacrifice in the process.

So with that in mind, it could be said that the news media's fall in demand for war correspondents may actually save a few journalists' lives.  That's a good thing isn't it?

Is an Inquiry into online media practices necessary?

Communications Minister Stephen Conroy has announced an independent inquiry into Australia's media industry, which will focus on the print and online sectors.  But is this really necessary?

In the wake of Britain's phone-hacking scandal and both the ALP and Greens criticism of reporting by Rupert Murdoch's News Limited here in Australia, the review, says Greens leader Bob Brown, should focus on the concentration of media ownership.

According to ABC Online, News Limited controls around 70 per cent of Australia's newspapers.  Perhaps an inquiry into the print media is justified on this figure alone.  After all, a diverse and robust media is essential to the workings of any democracy.

But in the case of online news, it could be argued that the plethora of independent blog sites, some of which are reliable, credible and of a high quality, counters any need for a formal inquiry focused on media ownership issues.

Of course, many blogs are pretty ordinary and certainly not credible.  But at least they help spread a diversity of views on any number of topics, including the latest news. I don't think the concentration of ownership of the traditional news media and their relatively new online arms have a significant bearing on this issue.


When I did a Google search for "top news blogs Australia" the first to appear in my search results was crikey.com.au, a fiercely independent and critical source of news and views.

The others in the top 5 results included news.com.au/blogs (owned by News Limited), couriermail.com.au, heraldsun.com.au and theaustralian.com.au/opinion (each also owned by News Limited).  Actually, maybe we do have an issue here!

Another search for news blogs of relevance to Australia (searched via "The Australian Index - Exploring Australian blogs http://theaustralianindex.com revealed 93 blogs.  Many of these were the blogs of professional journalists who are employed by either Fairfax or News Limited.  Others were by independent 'citizen journalists' or online communities and many were focused on specific subjects like a particular sport for example.

When I did a more specific search on a topic of interest (in my case Australian Rules football or 'AFL' as people north of the Murray River call it), I came across many more results (I stopped counting at 50).

Like more general news blogs, many were the blogs of professional sports journalists but many more were independently-run blogs having no association with traditional news media houses.  In all cases, the information available was a mix of news and opinion.

Standards varied but there was certainly a diversity of information to draw on. 

I guess you just need to know what you're looking for.

Twitter: just a light chirping sound or is it more meaningful than that?

I've become so involved in Twitter of late, I was compelled to see how this social media phenomenon is defined in the Oxford English Dictionary.

My dictionary is only a few years old but old enough to define 'twitter' as v. 1 (esp. of a bird) make a series of light chirping sounds. 2 talk rapidly in an anxious or nervous way. n. 1 an act of twittering. 2 colloq. a tremendously excited state.

While there is no mention of the social media application called Twitter, I think the above definitions are applicable enough.

This week I decided to 'tweet' some comments to ABC's Q&A program while watching the debate from the Melbourne Writers Festival.  Having unsuccessfully tweeted live on the screen in previous weeks of Q&A, I realised most comments that are shown are often comical, witty one-liners.  A light chirping sound if you will.

Sure enough, when I employed this approach to my own tweet, it was up in lights on the screen a few moments later.

Other tweets of course are more serious, often fired off as a rapid, 'anxious' succession of news updates on any matter of interest as events are unfolding.  And it's not only professional journalists delivering the news in this fashion but members of the public as well, often doing some of the work of the journalists for them.

Last week I received a tweet from @SBS News asking for anyone who happens to be in Tripoli to call the news room to do an interview.  Not long afterwards, SBS was reporting events on the rebels' invasion of the Libyan capital using information acquired through interviews via Twitter and mobile phone with people who were there watching it happen.

The week before that I saw a rather anxious tweet from ABC journalist Sally Sara in Kabul.  Sara briefly described her concern after hearing an early-morning explosion in the distance and what the coming day might hold for her and those around her.  She sounded anxious and nervous.  Reading the news as it was happening, described by someone who was there, made me feel a bit the same way.

Based on my so-far limited experience with Twitter, I don't think the Oxford Dictionary needs to modify its definition of 'twitter' much, if at all, to accommodate the latest social media craze.

I've been converted to the Tweety thing too

Watching TV late at night, I usually opt for ABC's Lateline with Tony Jones.  Sometimes I'm too tired for Tony and instead watch The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.

Craig Ferguson

Watching this week, I noted that, as he often does, the Scottish-American comedian joked with one of his guests about being on "the Tweety thing."

A baby boomer, Ferguson often refers to Twitter as "the Tweety thing" in a self-deprecating manner, as if to suggest he's an old bloke who finds these new social media gizmos that the kids use a little difficult to grasp.

But the fact is, when I checked out his Twitter feed, @CraigyFerg has an impressive 850,574 followers.  Ferguson himself follows 75 people on Twitter and has tweeted 725 times since he joined Twitter in February 2010.

Struggling just to keep pace with Facebook, I avoided the Tweety thing until my Online Journalism course at QUT required me to join.  I have to say, like Craig Ferguson, while I'm still a little sheepish about being on Twitter, I'm really beginning to enjoy the experience.

In place of SMS messaging, I've started communicating with friends via Twitter and I receive news feeds from my chosen sources with just enough information to determine whether or not I would like to read on.

By following only those people and organisations I find interesting, I generally receive only information that is of interest to me.

With all due respect to my friends on Facebook, the information feeds aren't always that interesting or relevant.

And while Facebook is good for keeping in touch with friends, particularly those who live far away, I think Twitter can offer the same service in a more meaningful and deliberate way.

Yep, like Craig, I've been converted to the Tweety thing too.

(No) thanks to the media, life might return to normal for Madeleine

Today, New South Wales police announced that they had arrested and charged a man for allegedly breaking into the home of an18-year-old Sydney woman before leaving a fake 'collar bomb' around her neck.  The arrest took place in Kentucky in the US, in conjunction with the FBI.

Madeleine Pulver

Hopefully now, the media will get their wish and the lives of Madeleine Pulver and her family can return to 'normal'.

Of course, I say this in jest.  I'm sure the Pulver family genuinely did (and still do) want things to return to normal.  But the media, by following Madeleine's every move for the past two weeks - to school, to the local shops, even to hockey training - have done everything in their power to deny that wish while repeatedly highlighting the family's desire for things to.... return to normal.

While the television media clearly led the way, camping outside the Pulver home and questioning Madeleine and her family whenever they appeared from behind the front door, online media did its fair share of keeping things from as far as normal as possible for Madeleine too.

The online versions of The Australian and Sydney's The Daily Telegraph both ensured consumers of the running story knew that certain photos of Madeleine belonged to those particular news outlets.  Both slapped watermarks across the said images to avoid any confusion.   

It makes me wonder if the online news media are using this tactic as a shameless form of self-promotion, knowing full-well that the speed with which their stories and associated images can be posted place them at a distinct advantage over other mediums.

The tactic certainly did nothing to help Madeleine return to a normal life.

What do you think?

It will be new but will it be accurate?

According to the Australian Oxford Dictionary, 'news' is n. information about recent events.

When I began studying journalism last year, the first thing I learnt about news is that it should be new, interesting, important and informative.

News reporting should be fair, accurate and relevant and it should be properly attributed.

I'm not that old but I'm old enough to remember that, growing up in Melbourne in the 1970s and '80s, we received our news on the family's black & white television (for a while) and by reading the daily newspapers.

My Dad would buy The Sun in the morning and The Herald in the evening.

The Age was the broadsheet which is still in circulation and which also has an online presence today.

In 1990, cost-cutting saw The Herald and The Sun merged to become The Herald-Sun, a sign of things to come.

Since the 1990s, the rise of 'new media' and a fall in newspapers' share of advertising revenue has seen more mergers and closures in the print media.

While I consider myself to be technologically savvy, I like newspapers.  I like their tactility.  Even iPads can't give you that old-fashioned sense of touch.

The cyber-world of online journalism offers many advantages over its real-world elder.

As well as opening up the world of news reporting (good, bad, ugly and otherwise) to anyone and everyone, online journalism offers, more effectively than ever before, the 'new' in news.  In other words, immediacy.

But, as recent examples of online reporting show, immediacy can be at the expense of core news values such as accuracy, fairness and attribution.

Recently, a number of reputable media 'establishments' (not the amateur hacks) were quick to jump to conclusions about the circumstances surrounding the tragic bombing and shootings by a lone assassin in Norway.

I'm no fan of al-Qaida, but I don't think the shootings being attributed to the terrorist group in the first round of reporting was right, particularly when it wasn't right.  It was factually incorrect.

Eager to get the story out, journalists and their employers, were quick to jump to conclusions about al-Qaida or a related terrorist organisation being behind the 'attacks'.

Reports I have read do suggest that the journalists were reporting what was being speculated at the time by various terrorism experts.

Nevertheless, the fact that this wasn't the case has caused the very nature of such hasty and inaccurate reporting to become another story in itself.

That's not a good look for the journalism profession.

But that's more a criticism of journalists themselves than technology.

The internet offers immediacy of news to an information-hungry audience.

But it may just take time for journalists and news organisations to adapt to and understand the power and impact of new and evolving technologies to ensure that the facts are published in a timely and considered fashion.

Personally, I have embraced the world of online news.  The number of news apps on my iPhone is testament to that.

But I'm always wary of the accuracy of news just in and, perhaps showing my age, I still like the feel and the smell of a big fat newspaper to enjoy with my coffee on a Saturday morning.