Mr. Potato Head Selection Exercise in Photoshop

The Digitised Image is subject that is compulsory for Multimedia Journalists. The introductory lesson for The Digitised Image looked at the works of several photographers who have a grasp for producing Surrealistic photos.

A photographer from back in the 1930s known as Henri Cartier Bresson is famouss for a photograph that's entitled, “Desicive Instant” (“L’instant desicif”). The photo shows how photography at it's best is when no manipulation needs to be done. Where everything is achieved at the point of capture.

"To me photography is the simultaneous recognition in a fraction of a second the significance of an event, as well as the precise organization the forms that give that event its proper expression." -Henri Cartier-Bresson The Decisive Moment (1952)

One thing to remember is Time is NOT linear.

Before Photoshop was invented photo manipulation still occurred but in the darkroom instead. Examples of some pre-digital works is the manipulation of photographs and negatives by Angus McBean, Jerry Uelsmann.

The desire of manipulating photographs in the way that was practiced by famous photographers like McBean and Uelsmann preceded the development of digital photography.

Upon creation of digital editing applications digital photo manipulators started to come out from the woodwork. Paul M Smith is one such digital photo manipulator.

 

The photo above is a photo created for the NM1202 subject at JCU. It was created in the first week of practicals for The Digitalised Image. It is created using a set of fruit and vegetable images, e.g. the potato, orange and carrot pieces.

The creation of the Potato man is inspired by Toy Story's Mr. Potato Head. The exercise showed the various tools that are available in Photoshop that allow for selecting of items using various selection tools such as the magic wand and marquee selection tool.

Journeys in journalism

The history of modern-day news publication is traced from 1^st century China, to Europe, and the United States. There is mention of the enormous contribution made to journalism and democracy by US journalist, statesman, diplomat, and inventor Benjamin Franklin.

It is explained that changes in technology, and communications technology in particular, have always been accompanied by changes in news production methods and the dissemination of news. Current changes and their impact are highlighted, especially in relation to the impact they are having on how journalists work.

Concepts of media convergence are introduced. Impacts the internet and world wide web (web) are having on journalism as a profession, and on journalism education, are highlighted, as are the expectations media organisations have of journalism graduates.

Overall, the chapter/lecture aims to convey a sense of what it is really like being a journalist today, what is expected of journalists by employers and the communities they serve, and the rich heritage, traditions and ethical underpinning of the profession.

We are living in one of the most radical, positive, and exciting periods of change journalism has ever undergone —an era which could aptly be dubbed the ‘computer-assisted communications revolution’.

It is also a time when new technology and new media are challenging old ideas. Newspaper circulations are falling in many nations, as are the ratings of news and current affairs programs on free-to-air television. But new media industries are emerging and gaining strength as journalists (and others) write news for publication on the web, or for access via mobile phones and PDA computers.

In this context it is of note that even newspapers were once perceived as a new-fangled fad.

Many of the world’s first journalists and first newspaper publishers had to overcome persecution and fight for freedom of expression. They tended to shine a light on corruption and on the wheeling and dealing of the rich and powerful – something that induced fear and loathing among those on the receiving

The first Australian newspaper was the Sydney Gazette, which appeared in 1803. In the 100 years that followed, literally hundreds of new newspapers emerged. Most were independently owned by printers and compositors (those who assembled type to be printed) also fulfilled the role of journalists. They gathered news, wrote about it, edited it, and printed it.

While newspaper circulations are falling, nearly every newspaper of note now has an online edition.

Implications of new technology

The explosion of new technology has seen a move towards what has become known as journalistic and media ‘convergence’. It is a concept explained in detail in chapter/lecture 13. Basically, in a journalistic sense, convergence is about a marriage between old and new forms of media – in which combinations of radio, television, print, and the web – are combined in single newsrooms.

Newspapers and, to a lesser extent television stations, are now ‘scooping’ their own publications and broadcasts by publishing breaking news online.

Source: Lecturer notes     The Daily Miracle: An Introduction to Journalism

Definitions of a Journalist

The questions that arises when pondering a definition for what a Journalist is, "What makes a writer a journalist?"

Journalism has been argued as a profession by Splichal and Sparks (1994) and many others. Splichal and Sparks (1994) have come up with three definitions, drawn from consideration of not only, 'whether all or most journalists possess a certain set of skills, but also about the kinds of behaviour associated with journalists, the social cohesion of the group itself and its status relative to other groups'.

The first definitions is, "A Journalist is someone who earns their living from an activity of journalism, thereby defining journalism as a set of practices."

The second shows how journalism is about technical mastery, which separates journalists from those who are merely published. By this definitions the Journalist is only a Journalist if deemed by the occupational group. A member of a journalists' association is a journalist: a person who is unaccredited is not.

The third definition is a spin on social responsibility, 'Involving patterns of behavior which are grounded in that occupation but which have implications for the general department of the professional individual.'

The makeup of a journalist requires that they have a clear obligation to use their power and influence for social good rather than personal gain.

 Journalism as Practices

 You are employed on a daily newspaper. Your news editor calls you over to his desk, hands you a media release and tells you to 'follow it up'. Is what you will eventually write journalism? How do you know? Is your role different from that of the person who wrote the media release?

With an ever increasing Broadcast Media section and Online News freelance sits is anyone who publishes their Wordpress or Blog story a journalist?
 
The Australian Journalists' Association, a division of the industrial union the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA), is responsible for the ethical code guiding Australian Journalists. The preamble of the Code of Ethics describles the profession of journalists as,

Journalists describe society to itself. They seek truth. They convey information, ideas and opinions, a privileged role. They search, disclose, record, question, entertain, suggest and remember. They inform citizens and animate democracy. They give a practical form to freedom of expression. Many journalists work for private enterprise, but all these have public responsibilities. MEAA members engaged in journalism commit themselves to honesty, fairness, independence and respect for the rights of others. (MEAA, 1997:15)

A good quote to remember is Spiderman's quote, "With great power comes great responsibility" can be applied to this code of ethics. A revision on the code of ethics in 1998 saw the addition of, 'public responsibilities'. According to the MEAA they say,

'As accountability engenders public trust, it is essential to the fulfillment of journalism's public responsibilities... Journalists have a special obligation to be accountable because it is they who claim to be one of the main methods of holding to account, on behalf of the public, others who wield power' (MEAA, 1997: 3)

For futher readings on the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics' refer to the following web link.

Employment

Journalists are hired on an individual basis by media employers who have their own definitions for 'adequate' preparation and training. This can aid in making technical mastery problematic.

 For example, an Industrial awards may specify certain competencies to be achieved by inters or cadet reporters, but has no control over an editor's decision to hire someone with no formal training at a senior level. Elliot (1986: 149-50) outlines that technical mastery in journalism is based on routine competencies as factual accuracy, speed in meeting deadlines, style in presentation and a shared set of news values.

News for Media Outlets

Providing news for media outlets is a big business. You've only got to look at News of the World. PR News sources such as Media Releases that are distributed and rhetoric in nature know that if a news item is presented to the journalist in the news organization's usual style, it is likely to be used unchanged. This is largely due to the pressure of deadlines, it is easy in this situation to apply an 'if it isn't broken, don't fix it' approach to editing.

Conclusion

The Conclusiong that can be gathered about the reality of journalism at the beginning of the 21st century is that it can no longer be described as simply in terms of employment status. Nor can its definition be limited to describing an individual who has completed a period of initiation into the practice of a workplace, because such description attached no social responsibilities to the power that individual journalist possess in framing the world for audiences.

The Functions of a Computer

A computer has many functions in the real world! Though one of the things to remember is a Computer can't think for itself. A computer also doesn't understand information but it understands data.

The only thing that a computer understands is 1s and 0s and whether it has power or not.

Components of a Computer 

The components of a computer consists of input devices, output devices, system unit, storage device & communication device.

Magnetic, optical and SSD are some of the technologies that are used for data storage.

Some communication devices include, optical, laser and copper technology.

Advantages and Disadvantages

Some advantages of using computer systems include speed, reliability, consistency, storage and communications.

The disadvantages of using a computer may include, health risks, violation of privacy, public safety and impact of Environment.

Network and the Internet

The Internet is a worldwide collection of networks that connections millions of places such as government agencies and individuals. The Internet is the infrastructure that enables computers to connect to each other. The web is a service that runs on Internet technology.

Website - Is a collection of related pages and associated items. 

Web Server - Is a computer that delivers requested Web pages to your computer.

Web 2.0 - Refers to the Web sites that provide a means for users to interact.

Internet > The Internet was originally started as a way for scientists at different locations to share information and work together. It started out as ARPANET in September 1969 and had two main goals to allow information sharing and the ability to function if part of the network was disabled.

Today more than 550 million hosts connect to the internet.

The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) oversees research and sets guidelines and standards.

Internet 2 connects more than 200 universities and 115 companies to many users.

Evolution of the Internet - Cable Internet Service, DSL, Fiber to the Premises (FTTP), Fixed Wireless, Cellular Radio Network, Wi-Fi & Satellite Internet Services.

An IP Address is a number that uniquely identifies each computer or device connected to the Internet. Domain-Names are the text version of an IP Address. A DNS Server (Domain Name Server) translates the domain into the associated IP Address.

Computer Software 

Computers have various software applications and can be broken up into two categories - System Software and Application Software. All computers have System Software which is also commonly known as the Operating System. The second category is Application Software which is the end user software that may include Office or applications that have a specific task in a home or business environment.

Types of Users

Examples of Computer Usage; Home User, Small Office / Home Office User & Mobile Users.