Class Activity (31/08/05)

1) Find a page about the 1960's band, Nirvana (not the band with Kurt Cobain).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nirvana_(1960s_band)

2) Find a page about famous brother and sister Peter and Kerryn Phelps.

http://www.ama.com.au/web.nsf/doc/SHED-5EXHVU

3) Find out who runs http://www.lleytonhewitt.biz/ - When was it last updated? Who did the design? If you had to contact the owner, how would you do it? Find a contact phone number for the person who runs the site.

It was last updated August 31 and was designed by Red Chook. To contact the owner is an email adress (ally@glisten.net), mail address (16-18 Belmore St Penrith 2750) but unfortunately, no phone number.

4) Go to http://www.lib.rmit.edu.au/resources/display.php and find the link to the AusStats database. Use reports found on the AusStats database as the basis of a web news story.

THE 20SOMETHING AUSTRALIAN...

In the last 25 years, 20 year-olds are more likely to be living at home.

Between 1976 and 2001, the life of a twenty-something year-old has changed dramatically. 20somethings in 2001 were more likely to be living with their parents than in 1976 (30% compared to 21% respectively), plus, their chances of having their own family with children is half what it used to be (20% compared to 41%).

On the plus side, 20somethings were almost twice as likely to be studying (23% compared to 12%) and to have gained a non-school qualification (45% compared to 31%). Labour force participation has increased from 75% to 81% over this period, with this increase being driven by increased participation for women (up from 57% in 1976 to 75%) and a slight decrease for men (92% to 87%).

Class Activity (Cont'd) (24/08/05)

ABSTRACTS

TEENAGE AUDIENCE:

The Oz on Citizen Journalism: "Within 45 minutes of the London Bombings, the term 'democratic media' became a reality, and the role of news-reporter was changed forever."

The Oz on Chandler: "The creator of pulp fiction was a scholar, a dreamer and a drunk. And no, it isn't Quentin Tarantino."

INTERNATIONAL AUDIENCE:

The OZ on art theft: "Australian artist Richard Dunlop has proven his unqiue love for art - he has been charged with stealing several hundred paintings."

URABN PROFESSIONAL AUDIENCE:

The Age on Artificial limbs: "Sabi Mashid's road to future success may prove more challenging than your average 6-year-old - seeing he has to walk it with a prosthetic leg."

Class Activity (24/08/05)

Where is the audience coming from?

According to the stats, a majority of the audience is from Australia (for obvious reasons), while countries outside Australia which view the site mostly consist of English-speaking nations (Canada, US). However, there have also been readers picked up in French, Arabic, Spanish and Turkish speaking countries.

How are they viewing the site?

Funnily enough, the majority who visit the site tends not to view it for too long (most of the coming up as 0:00). A lot of them seem to view the page by mistake while looking for something else (most of the site's audience found the site through search engines like Google). The site's peak reading time is around 9pm when 60% of the day's readers log on. A majority of the readers are viewing the site through Microsoft Windows XP on 1024 x 768 monitors.

What can we draw from this information?

- The majority of the audience comes from the east coast of Australia, probably because the majority of the readers attend RMIT who produce the site.
- It seems not a lot of readers intend to stay no more than a few minutes on a news website.
- An obvious fact would be how people tend to favour locally-produced websites for their news.
- Although it's a small number, I was most surprised with the fact other nations would come across the site in their travels. I'd be even more interested to find out what they think.

Class Activity (10/08/05)

What is the piece about?

The piece is a report from the US version of 60 Minutes about baseball player Jose Canseco’s confession to using steroids throughout his career (and the release of his new book regarding the confession)

Who do think its target audience is?

Since the report was released by 60 Minutes, it may benefit persons who appreciate a tinge of entertainment value mixed with their news. However, considering this was the first interview Canseco did after his confession, anyone who follows current hard news issues (in this case, drugs in sport) would be interested (and of course, baseball fans).

What can the piece show that normal news reports can't?

Obviously with multimedia journalism you get the best of all worlds. The site features text, photos, video and audio, which basically illustrates all the major strands of journalism media. The page also contains relevant links to other 60 Minutes stories involving sports doping, major league baseball etc. Therefore, the piece allows you to delve into the elements of the story you’re interested in.

Has the presentation effectively communicated its message?

It’s very effective in supplying you with background information on every item presented in the story, therefore making sure all the elements are properly and interestingly presented.

How 'interactive' is the presentation?

Although text, video and numerous hyperlinks are included, the page doesn’t really mix everything together. Everything is presented separately, which doesn’t make the page as interactive as it could be.

How does it use individual media elements to communicate? Are there elements that don't work? If so, what are they?

The page presents a solid basis of information and works very well. However, if these elements were rearranged to allow a little more elemental intertwining, it would be a much better page.

Could the same information be presented better?

For some reason the programmers decided not to let the elements gel together, resulting in a rather bland-looking webpage (by splitting everything into groups) compared to others available on the net.

How does it compare with other multimedia journalism you've seen?

The examples shown to us in class have been the most impressive. They seem to be the highest calibre with backgrounds, animated links and menus with more interactive features (namely, 4 Corners). Even links that pop up in the middle of the story, as well as raw footage of interviews etc.

Class Activity (03/08/05)

Q1: As Alexander Downer's leadership of the Opposition crumbled, the then Prime Minister Paul Keating uttered the line: 'Are you still here?' at him in parliament. On what date did he say those words?

A: December 8 1994

Q: In 1999, an Australian red-light camera manufacturer named Redflex won a contract to provide its products to the City of Garden Grove. How much profit did the company expect to make on its investment?

A: (taking a stab in the dark here) $24 million

Q: Before his death, British Pathe captured the sculptor Auguste Rodin on film standing in front of trees and bushes in a garden. What is he wearing?

A: See for yourself.