Reading Reflection

The week 6 reading, an extract from the book ‘The State of Satire, the Satire of the State’ from ‘Satire TV: Politics and Comedy in the Post-Network Era’, to no surprise, discussed the state of satire and its relationship with news and politics. The book highlights the power of satire in politics, and how it can be used as a tool in persuading, arguing and shifting the views of many. The extract draws on the ability satire has to grasp the attention of audiences and I’ve noticed, because of its wittiness and smartness, satire has grown to be widely popular in the last 10-15 years as we as a society become more aware of the faults in our political system. The gradual increase in exposing and revealing of government flaws has lead many comedy news presenters using satire to educate audiences on politics and social issues. Whilst reading the extract, I found that I was often nodding along, as I couldn’t help but agree with everything they were saying. It’s clearly evident in media in recent years that satire ‘has proven a powerful draw for audiences’, it does not simply dumb down content, but makes it more accessible and enjoyable for audiences. I think Stephen Colbert  can certainly be seen as the connecting character between the political world and civilian society. One of my favourite quotes from the reading states that both satire in general and Colbert himself are ‘inspiring public political discussion, and drawing citizens enthusiastically into the realm of the political with deft and dazzling ease’, describing how, because of his more humorous nature and approach to social issues, he has become a more relatable figure who audiences feel they understand more, which leads them to further involvement in understanding and discussing politics.

As well as discussing the relationship between satire and audiences, the extract acknowledges how ‘political humour’ differs from regular humour, in that it doesn’t always aim ‘to be funny in a belly laugh kind of way’. The extract further instigates my own views on satire, and how it is more so used to have audiences question the issue, and become more aware, especially in a political context. Humour’s presence in political journalism is often, and will mostly rely on personal political worldviews, and as the reading states, Stephen Colbert institutes this in his White House Correspondents Association Dinner on April 29, in which he instigated a satiric attack on President (at the time) George W. Bush and the Washington press corps. The speech circulated the Internet widely, as well as being aired across the nation, opening up the audience from not only American civilians, but to a worldwide audience. I believe Colbert’s speech was a step forward in satirical journalism and reporting, being what I (and many others) believe is one of the most remarkable and memorable moments in television broadcasting as it took the sentiments of American civilians, and articulated them in a way that both politicians and citizens could understand.

From the reading, I have gathered the idea that satire is ‘a more effective mouthpiece of the peoples displeasure with those in power’, and that people such as Stephen Colbert, with their wittiness and well-articulated speech, are able to draw in wider audiences as they stand as representatives of the community and their attitudes, values and beliefs. Personally, this was one of my favourite readings we’ve had so far, as there was not a single contention or point I didn’t agree with, it validated my beliefs with factual evidence and overall was a well-written piece.

Referencing:

Gray, Jonathan, Jeffrey P. Jones, and Ethan Thompson. “The State of Satire, the Satire of the State” in Satire TV: Politics and Comedy in the Post-Network Era. Edited by Gray, Jones and Thompson. NYU Press, 2009, pp. 3-36.

Other Posts:

Reflection on class: http://www.mediafactory.org.au/lauren-bisignano/2018/09/04/news-is-a-joke-a3-reflection/

Proposal & Reflection: http://www.mediafactory.org.au/lauren-bisignano/2018/09/04/news-is-a-joke-proposal-reflection/

Reflection on Week 6 class

Our August 23rd class was certainly one of my favourite classes we’ve had all semester. We began class by referring back to week 1, and how our views and definition of comedy news has changed. Although I feel that in week 1 we already had a great understanding of what comedy news is, revisiting the question after the weeks of readings, class discussions were helpful in solidifying and supporting our ideas we had earlier in the semester. We discussed further into the impact and difference comedy news is making and has made, which was genuinely interesting. Comedy news has become revolutionary, in not holding back from exploiting and acknowledging the darker and shadier sides to news and media. Comedy news programs such as The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, which have aired through the past decades, have greatly changed the consumption and state of news reporting.

Although I love our group discussions, the most exciting part of this class was the much-anticipated move over to Studio A. In the past few weeks we had used Studio C and Studio A once for rehearsal. I was certainly intimated by the size of Studio A, but at the same time felt a sensation of excitement to be using such an incredible and realistic studio. My position in our segment had originally been Auto-Cue and Writer, but after a little while, Pip and I decided to swap roles as she was unsure of how she felt in such a position. So none the less, I took upon the role of Assistant Director. I was scared and intimidated by such a role, I was thinking to myself how strange it was to have someone who’s the size of a child calling the shots in the control room. However despite my doubts and anxieties about my ability in the role, on the day of the final take, I quickly realised things would be fine. With each of us comfortable in our roles, and aware of what we had to do, things ran smoother than I expected. After only a couple takes we finally captured our (almost) perfect one. Although we had minor slip-ups with a graphic too early or delay in graphic, I can safely say that each of us are really proud of what we created.

The atmosphere in the studio, both when we were shooting our segment, and when Group 2 was shooting was something that I can hardly describe. There was a constant sense of togetherness with our group, with banter and jokes being thrown around, as well as clear instructions that we each followed. If any issue arose it was resolved easily and no question was left unanswered. The studio felt fun and enjoyable, each of us feeling engaged and entertained by both our own segment and the other groups work.

Working in a studio setting really requires a lot of teamwork, and in this weeks class, there were no issues at all with working together. Over the weeks of research and writing we had bonded and worked together and once we entered the studio the teamwork only improved. I’m extremely grateful for this experience early on in my university studies as I believe this ability to work together, bond and collaborate is necessary in working in media.

To conclude, after experiencing working as Assistant Director, I have certainly learned that I have the ability to work in a role that requires high attention, leadership and control. I thoroughly enjoyed the role, despite the stress and my overthinking, I believe it was important for me to gain the experience and show myself what I am capable of. I thoroughly enjoyed working in the control room alongside my group members, but am hoping in the future to try other roles on the studio floor such as Floor Manager, which again utilises many of the same skills required to be AD. I’d be happy to work as Camera too, although a simple job, it is also highly important and would be a new experience outside of a more leadership based role. Any position in a studio team is important, and I hope to further my understanding through more experience in different positions over the next half of the semester.

 

Other Posts:

Reflection on reading: http://www.mediafactory.org.au/lauren-bisignano/2018/09/04/news-is-a-joke-a3-reflection-2/

Proposal & Reflection: http://www.mediafactory.org.au/lauren-bisignano/2018/09/04/news-is-a-joke-proposal-reflection/

POST THREE: RESEARCH

This week for each of us has certainly been busier with the larger class project taking up our time and with other assignments, but thankfully we have managed to establish a further sense of communication with one another by creating a facebook group chat to keep each other updated on the research process. As of currently, we are mainly communicating our research and general ideas with one another, as deciding on group roles is something we believe can be left until later as each of us are flexible with working in any role. We have lightly touched on angles for our news story, and have been gradually building up our research, but still have a bit of a way to go.

If I’m honest, my research has certainly been lacking, but I have managed to find a few more articles that were published within the past 15 months, and they’re still mostly similar in content.

However, I did find an interesting piece, published on the 2nd of March 2017, was an interview style report with Retail doctor Brian Walker, who visited the town of Bendigo in late February 2017, evaluating the state of the overall community and town. Mr. Walker described Bendigo’s business district as “a tale of two cities”, and highlighted that although the city certainly had a ‘unique’ and ‘chic’ culture, but there was clear room for improvement.

“We have customers coming to Bendigo for its wonderful gallery, its wonderful cafes, but they’re walking past empty shops,” he was recorded saying, acknowledging that the people of Bendigo and in surrounding Victorian towns have an interest and desire to come to Bendigo, but are arriving only to be disappointed. I found that this quote, in particular, could be used with the other research I had gathered from the Council and how they have faith that the people of Bendigo and the workers themselves need to assist in improving the state of the Mall. The article also stated that ‘Mr Walker believed shoppers would rather drive to a Melbourne mall than visit several Bendigo locations looking for the one product’.

If I’m honest, much of the reporting I have found on this issue isn’t entirely fair, much of the interviewees have been with people of power such as the Mayor and city council members. I can’t say that the reporting has been as balanced as I had hoped. I had expected to find a balance between interviews with council members, as well as Bendigo residents and shopkeepers at the Hargreaves Mall. 

Although this update has taken more of a negative turn, I hope as the research process goes further and as we bring together our findings as a group, that we are able to find a fair balance in research, as well as establish a strong contention and points of discussion for our potential segment. This is not to say that we haven’t had any good progress, with Darcy’s more extensive knowledge and physical closeness to the issue, he has been able to construct a timeline of ‘events’ and moments that have lead up to the potential reform of Hargreaves Mall. The timeline and all our research is still in general a work in progress but we will certainly continue to record the progress we make over the coming weeks.

article with Brian Walker interview: https://www.bendigoadvertiser.com.au/story/4503360/bendigo-trading-tale-of-two-cities-retail-doctor/

POST TWO: The Research Process

For Assignment Two, myself, Darcy and Emilienne were put into a group with the assigned news story “Bendigo Shopping Strip”. The idea was originally Darcy’s, who guided Emilienne and me in the right direction by sending us a link to the Bendigo Advertiser as well as just giving us a general idea to what the situation is.

Prior to this assignment, I wasn’t even aware of the proposal for renovation of Hargreaves Mall in Bendigo. So far, my journey toward finding research hasn’t been too difficult, although it hasn’t been a breeze either. The issue itself is specific to Bendigo, meaning many of the sources are limited as the issue isn’t ‘big news story’ like a Melbourne CBD issue may be seen as. Despite this, the Bendigo Advertiser has been my main source for discovering context and information surrounding the plans for the renovation of the Hargreaves Mall and what prompted the Bendigo Council to propose the idea. Much of the context surrounding the situation I’ve found through delving through the past few months of reporting on the council and Bendigo community. 

Myself, Emilenne and Darcy have all certainly been finding that the articles available aren’t as assisting in forming a contention for our piece, but more so in discovering an overall understanding of the issue as well as general facts.

I’ve collated a list of short-term and medium-term options that may potentially be put into place. These options include the installation of a park, hosting more events, looking into improving the public transport waiting area, supporting the building owners to restore heritage façades and more. Through further search on the Bendigo Advertiser, I discovered a variety of articles covering this issue, which alerted to me as how much of an ongoing and important issue this is to the Bendigo Council and community. Shopowners and Bendigo residents themselves are disappointed in the decline of the Mall, “it’s certainly… at its lowest in 15 years”, a store owner from Hargreaves Mall expressed, whilst Mayor Margaret O’Rourke reminded citizens that supporting and improving Bendigo’s CBD is the responsibility of the whole community, not just the council’s, and is encouraging and urging more people to shop there. 

From my research so far, I’ve gathered that the council themselves are relying on the shopping centre management and the people of Bendigo to bring back a sense of community at the Mall. Although the council have a level of responsibility, it’s often been stated by many people in Council positions that ‘encouraging more people to live in central Bendigo will help reinvigorate the CBD by driving more foot traffic in the precinct’, and Cheif executive officer Leah Sertori was reported acknowledging that centre management and the council need to cooperate and work together for an overall improvement of the Mall, “That kind of co-ordination is what’s missing from the strip shopping environment” she said. Although I think this may be a strong point to go off in presenting the news story, I am hoping to find a balance in perspective from Bendigo residents and shop owners, and how they feel the situation could be improved, what they should be doing, and if the council is really doing enough.

Overall, most of these articles that I’ve discovered have been quite similar and all seem to have been published roughly within the past year, so I am hoping that through continuing the research process myself and my group members can find a wider variety of articles to assist us in developing a strong contention and for this project.

The articles I’ve sourced from so far:

https://www.bendigoadvertiser.com.au/story/5215228/how-hargreaves-mall-could-look-in-the-future-see-the-proposals/

https://www.bendigoadvertiser.com.au/story/5067746/walk-this-way-please/?cs=80

https://www.bendigoadvertiser.com.au/story/4763397/call-for-state-government-to-help-revitalise-cbd/

POST ONE: REFLECTION

Our third ‘The News is a Joke’ class was certainly one of the best classes I’ve had so far whilst at RMIT. Before we had Paul Richards come into class to enlighten on the plans for the end of the semester celebration and showcasing of our media products from the studio. I think I can say this for everyone in the class, that we’re all looking forward to presenting our work from the semester and celebrating with one another and our family and friends in a couple months.

The class itself began as per usual, we watched a few clips of Jon Stewart and The Daily Show, to tie in with the weeks reading which was ‘The Daily Show: Discursive Integration and the Reinvention of Political Journalism’. The reading highlighted the evolution of news and how it has been reshaped and modelled to both entertain and inform. As we went over the reading in class, we discussed how comedy news (such as The Daily Show with Jon Stewart) has taken the ideas of traditional news and entertainment and created a combination of the two. I found the class discussion on the key elements of The Daily Show and about fake news quite interesting, seeing as ‘fake news’ tends to have an association with unreliable and non-valuable news yet Jon Stewart had referred to himself and The Daily Show as ‘fake news’.

The most exciting part of the class, however, was when we finally left the classroom and actually headed to the TV studios!! As we’re only at the beginning of the semester Ruth introduced to Studio C, one of the smaller RMIT TV studios. As a class, we were introduced to the basic rules and things to know about using the studio and were then broken into our groups to be shown how to use the equipment in the studio itself and control room. We were lucky enough to have one of the tech’s from the studios as well as Ruth and a friend of hers showing us how to use each of the equipment, their explanations each being relatively easy for a first year like me to understand. I personally found it to be a lot of information at once but I thoroughly enjoyed it. I know with time I will become more confident in the studio by using the equipment and working in different roles.

It was an eye-opening experience entering the studios for the first time as Ruth explained to us that the studios were very similar to those of real TV studios. Being shown how to use all the control room equipment too may confuse me for now, but as I previously said, with time I feel as though I’ll become much more comfortable in my work in the studios and I’m definitely excited to learn new skills and abilities.

Overall, week 3’s class was one of the best I’ve had as it really opened me up to the studios I can utilise throughout the degree and for the next few months through this studio and I’m excited to work alongside my peers over the coming weeks and work together to develop our skills and create projects we’re proud of.

In my first ‘The News is a Joke’ studio class, I certainly gathered a further understanding of what I’d gotten myself into. Not in a bad way or anything, but I’m not the most avid news watcher (but I do enjoy comedy) so I was a bit nervous about doing a news studio. Fortunately, immediately the studio felt comfortable and welcoming. We started off pretty simply as we delved into a bit of a binge session of some great comedy news. Featured comedic reporters included Stephen Colbert and John Oliver. Watching these segments from their programs certainly set a mood for the studio and enabled us to establish standards and definitions of what comedy news is exactly. As a class, we also spoke after each clip as each of expressed our ideas, thoughts and opinions, which really enabled us to further develop our own standpoints on comedy news, what we think it is, how it works and so on.

Watching these clips from well known comedic journalists and reporters certainly helped me personally as I found that I related to Colbert and Oliver in ways that they use their humour to handle serious issues. Their personalities too are something that certainly stood out to me and how they use their charisma to engage audiences whilst discussing serious issues. For me personally, this definitely helps me in gathering an understanding of how to engage audiences (i.e. use of personality and conversational talking to make audiences feel comfortable and not forced into engagement)

Overall, I feel as though I’ve made a great decision in choosing to study ‘The News is a Joke’ for my studio. I already have an interest in comedy itself and personally, take more interest in comedy news than regular news. Seeing the technicalities behind the news production and comedic writing is something I am greatly looking forward to doing over the next 12 weeks.

 

Assignment 1b: http://www.mediafactory.org.au/lauren-bisignano/2018/07/25/the-news-is-a-joke-assignment-1b/

I didn’t particularly search for this idea, but it is something that often lingers in my mind. Teachers, in most countries, are treated at a much lesser level of respect than they deserve. Teachers all over the world receive low income despite working more than just the regular 9-5 from Monday to Friday. Teachers spend hours every weekend and school holidays marking work and preparing for the coming week, term or semester. Teachers are the ones who guide students to greater studies, and without teachers, the world would not function.

Recently, and for a long time, the media has been failing to acknowledge the extreme mistreatment and lack of recognition teachers are given. It is widely known that the salary’s teachers receive do not reflect the time teachers spend working and studying. Not only in Australia, but in many other countries too. Other professions are often granted as ‘worthy’ of higher payment, but in my opinion, teachers deserve far more credit than they are given.

Without teachers, the doctors, paramedics, nurses, lawyers, accountants and such would not have even ended up in their field if it wasn’t for the devotion of their teachers in guiding them and supporting them in the journey into finding a career. Teachers create bonds with students, supporting them and guiding them in a way that parents and peers may not be able to do. Hours of work outside the school hours goes into teaching, hours of planning, writing, marking, thinking, designing and fighting for a more acceptable level of equality in the career field. Teachers are often looked down upon and as though ‘they have it easy’, simply because their job may not be as demanding in the same ways other higher paying jobs are.

Justice is well overdue for teachers, their pay rates should be higher, as should their level of respect and appreciation.

Link to relating post: https://www.theguardian.com/education/2018/jul/24/majority-of-teachers-face-below-inflation-pay-rise-despite-boost

Assignment 1a: http://www.mediafactory.org.au/lauren-bisignano/2018/07/25/news-is-a-joke-assignment-1a/

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