Assignment 4 Class Presentation

Hey everyone,
Here's the slides for my presentation on 'Preditors: Making Citizen Journalism Work'.
Andre Teh
3214474

Preditors 3214474

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Matt was a Ticking Bomb: Patti Newton

This article is about Matthew Newton’s mother interview on Channel Nine’s A Current Affair and her comment about him being a “ticking time bomb.” It is written by the Australian Associated Press (AAP) and appears in the ABC News online site. As explained in the second paragraph, Matthew Newton lost his job as the host of Seven’s talent show ‘The X-Factor” after it was reported last week that he physically assaulted his girlfriend Rachael Taylor. She has taken out an AVO against him (the acronym was not explained with the assumption that the reader would be familiar with the criminal term) and the Seven Network has issued a statement saying his health was the reason for his removal.

It was also mentioned that Newton’s father Bert appeared on the show, admitting he had tried to help Matt and regretted publicly supporting him because it appeared as if he approved his son’s actions. The article also described his background history, with regards to his “one-off” assault on his ex-girlfriend Brooke Satchwell, his good behaviour bond being revoked by the court, and his month spent in a private drug rehab hospital.

The story is successful in summarizing Newton’s recent personal and career troubles. It would’ve been better if they managed to obtain a statement from him, Taylor or Satchwell, but as its focus is reporting on a recent ACA interview, it is not a necessity.

There were tags listed at the bottom of the story that helped attract search engine trawler bots, in turn drawing users who search these terms. The page is also clean and uncluttered, with a single image, a list of ‘Related Story’ links in a sidebar, and free of commercial advertising.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/08/30/2996958.htm

Aussie Film Leaves Audiences In Tears

The article is an interview with Mark Fitzpatrick, the director-writer of an independent Australian-made film called The Nothing Men. It is posted on the ABC News website and is written by the Australian Associated Press (AAP).

The headline reads “Aussie film leaves audiences in tears”, which certainly serves its purpose as a dramatic hook to entice the reader to find out more. What could possibly be so traumatizing or emotional as to upset its viewers?

Much of the interviews consists of soundbites from Fitzpatrick about the inspiration and themes behind his film. Interestingly, he reveals that the themes of financial hardship during the Global Financial Crisis were mirrored in his real-life experiences in obtaining funding for the film.

The article delivers nothing more than answering the hook it posed in its headline, with a fair amount of repetition about the cruelty of the film’s character and the emphatic poignancy it rang with the audience.

It would’ve been more substantial if the actors were interviewed, since the film consists of only a handful of characters, or vox populi comments were taken from people who have seen the show. But as it is, these improvements doesn’t mean the story failed to deliver what it promised, and gaining an insight into Fitzpatrick’s motivations to make the film was a success in itself.

There is only one related link to a review done by Margaret and David, two popular Australian film critics who host a show called ‘At The Movies’. It is beneath what looks to be a low-resolution screenshot from the show. It would’ve been better if a promotional film still or a portrait of Fitzpatrick was used.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/08/12/2980641.htm

Expensive Ten cop drama pushes all the right buttons

The article is a behind-the-scenes look of the pilot episode of the new season of Rush, a police procedural currently airing on Channel Ten. The reporter is Melinda Houston, a TV critic writing for the Sydney Morning Herald.

Houston begins the article with a dramatic opening, summing up the show’s audacious action stunts with a quote from Adam Todd, the scriptwriter about the explosion sequence she was about to witness. This is one of the many quotes she uses from the various production crew members she meets, including Todd, producer Mimi Butler (the producer), production designer Sally Shepherd, and stunt director Mitch Dean, among others.

She also has found out (or researched) the inspiration behind the episode; the real-life story of a Swedish cash depot heist. Houston describes in fascinating the detail the amount of planning that goes into filming a single scene from the episode, the meticulous preparation of the stunt cars, the choreography of the extras in reaction to the explosion, right down to the timing of the stunt so that it is performed in favourable weather conditions.

Houston concludes the piece with a ‘plug-line’ for the show, but strangely has a side-story beneath which describes the editing process. The story might have been a port from the print version, which may have the editing process described in a side-bar story, but for the purposes of clarity and organization in the online version, the editing side-story should be incorporated into the main article so that is a single piece.

Also, there’s little user interaction or supplementary reading beyond a simple ‘More Related Coverage’ link at the bottom. This leads to a page that only has a review for one episode mid-season and an interview with one of the actors, Rodger Corser. Readers who want to submit a ‘review’ on that page have to sign up as a member first before logging in, which discourages casual commentary.


http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/expensive-ten-cop-drama-pushes-all-the-right-buttons-20100717-10ezp.html

Tomorrow, When The War Began: YOUR SAY

The article is a review of the Australian-made blockbuster ‘Tomorrow, When The War Began’ by film critic James Joyce of The Newcastle Herald. In the review, he gives credit to the source material from which the film was adapted from, namely the John Marsden series of the same name. He acknowledges that book purists will probably dislike the plot changes, and briefly compares the film’s actual locations to the description of the fictional town of Wirrawee in the book.

He also demonstrates his considerable knowledge of the cinematographer Ben Nott and the debut director Stuart Beattie’s body of work. His observations about the use of voice-over and the unauthentic Australian accents are also valid criticisms of the movie. He also infers, quite resignedly, that the movie aspires to be nothing more than an action movie, before concluding with a cheeky disclaimer under an asterix footnote.

As an online story, it works because Joyce invites the readers to give their opinions on the movie by his questions at the beginning and end of the article. A disclaimer says that the comments will be moderated and will appear “as soon as (the) editor has approved them”. He has also taken the time to personally respond to some of the viewer’s comments, encouraging a level of reader-interaction uncommon for film critics, much less online news reporters.

A sidebar titled ‘Related Coverage’ has relevant hyperlinked articles grouped under neat headings of ‘Articles’ and ‘Multimedia’, which makes navigation easy - although there are numerous banner ads in the same area.


http://www.theherald.com.au/blogs/james-joyce/tomorrow-when-the-war-began-your-say/1932590.aspx