Thursday, August 30, 2012

ASKING QUESTIONS

The invention of the internet was supposed to usher in a blossoming of knowledge.

Instead it appears to have strengthened the voices of ignorance, as this column from yesterdays Canberra Times suggests . . .


Tuesday, August 28, 2012

REPORTING TUT: HOW MANY JOURNO'S

Not many people managed to find out how the job market for journo's has changed over the past decade or predict how it may change in the years to come.

Journalism isn't called the 4th Estate (after the clergy, nobility and commoners) for nothing. Telling stories about society is, and always will be, important.

How many people do this, and how well they're paid, is a different matter . . .


Thursday, August 23, 2012

REPORTING TUT: THE ONLINE MEDIA

This post considers the importance/relevance of the online media.

It seems to me one of the most vital elements of journalism is editing. The knowledge that someone else has done some of the sorting and correcting inspires confidence and results in a broad audience. But today the old model of journalism is under threat.

Who will do the editing in the future?


REPORTING TUT: SAME FACTS - VERY DIFFERENT STORIES

The same facts can often be used to justify two different 'takes' on an issue, depending on your point of view.

Here's an example of different interpretations of the same statistics. This time with regard to Climate Change. How would you interpret the statistics?  What qualifiers would you leave in?


REPORTING TUT: NIALL FERGUSON, NEWS OR COMMENT


Where exactly does the boundary lie between News (note the capital letter) and commentary?

Take Niall Ferguson. As an historian, he attempts to anchor his arguments in fact. News is, of course, fact. But our definition of fact can still be problematic.

An article he wrote has polarised opinion in the US and fired many liberals with fury at the way he has misrepresented facts, as I attempt to show for anyone in my Tutorials who's interested . . .


Wednesday, August 22, 2012

REPORTING TUTORIALS


Hi to those in my reporting tutorials at the University of Canberra.

Because I'm still new to Moodle I'm going to maintain this as a duplicate site - providing general information about the course, some working notes for the particular weekly tutorials, and finally some more general thoughts about journalism with, hopefully, some extra reading you may be interested in following up on.

Enjoy!

And, by the way, I can always be contacted on nicstuart@hotmail.com by anyone . . .


Tuesday, August 21, 2012

SHOW ME THE MONEY


Another way of beginning this column would have been to reprise Tom Cruise's movie role; the one where he's obsessed with getting people to say. "show me the money".

Because that's what government is all about. Money.

As this column attempts to explain . . .


Saturday, August 18, 2012

A FAREWELL TO THE SATURDAY COLUMN

It might appear as if two columns of about 1,000 words each a week really shouldn't be too difficult to manage . . . but it has been an enormous drain over the past two years.

So I'm shutting down my Saturday contribution.

I hope you enjoy this one, published in the Canberra Times today . . .


Wednesday, August 15, 2012

INTERVIEW WITH ALEX SLOAN


This is a podcast of an interview I've just done with Alex Sloan on 666 ABC Canberra.

Gosh she's a great interviewer. And a lovely person too.

The radio is at:

http://www.facebook.com/666canberra/posts/470983916259236

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

BRAIN INJURY AWARENESS WEEK

It's Brain Injury Awareness week. How ridiculous!

Those living with a brain injury are aware of the injury every minute of the day. As are there carers.

But I suppose we've got to bring the rest of society along with us. This is my effort to do so . . .


Saturday, August 11, 2012

COMMON GROUND


I've always believed that governments should supply the necessary services the community requires.

Particularly for the disabled.

Unfortunately, here in Canberra, the Territory government appears to have some difficulty 'finding' the money, as this column tries to show with one vital project in particular . . .


Tuesday, August 7, 2012

WAYNE'S WORLD


I've never really liked Bruce Springsteen, I'm afraid, as this post probably makes clear.

I'm more a "Dead Kennedy's" man.

I love the lyric from 'Holiday in Cambodia', with it's suggestion of hypocrisy . . .


Saturday, August 4, 2012

POLITICAL CHOICE


We expect far more political choice today than we used to in the past.

Parties aren't just expected to balance the budget - there's a whole range of smaller issues that we expect to know about before we vote for them.

This is all having an unforeseen effects, as this column explores . . .