Factual Story Telling - Assessment Three

-The Pain of Cheerleading-

BY Antonia Teale

Laura Harris before local competition.

Having been left with damaged ankles, broken fingers and toes, a body of bruisers and a voice similar to that of Darren Lockyer – Laura Harris has felt the punch with the competitiveness of cheerleading.

Cheerleading is not just a hobby for the pompom enthusiastic Laura Harris. It is the love and passion within her cheer school of Adrenalin Cheer and Dance that has developed major recognition across Australia, and even worldwide. Having participated in over 24 cheerleading competitions, over the past five years, has definitely left its mark on this teen’s body and her understanding of team spirit! The damage and danger in cheerleading has turned this original form of leading cheers at football games to a highly competitive and potentially bone-breaking elite sport.

Laura was first introduced to cheerleading after spending over 8 years participating in competitive gymnastics. Her love for flips, cartwheels, somersaults and leg splits left a constant strain on the body - a strain that she was forced to push through. “Gymnastics was no walk in the park! If I wasn’t at school, I was at gymnastics” said Laura in a recent interview.

It was when Miss Harris entered high school education that she was subjected to the idea of cheerleading, telling us “It was mum who really got me into cheerleading. She found an advertisement in the local newspaper and had signed me up before I even had a chance to consider it … I love her for it”.

With cheerleading taking up a majority of her evenings and weekends, she stopped gymnastics in order to pursue this dance sport.

Laura and Zoe showing their winning medals and trophies.

Only one year into cheerleading and Laura had already received scholarships and the title of the best gymnast and best flier of her cheer school. However, none of this came without pain. Countless knee injuries and swollen fingers came with her success as a cheerleader, with the ice-pack and crutches becoming her greatest enemy. Laura told us that, “As I was the flier of my cheer team, the ‘Vipers’, I was some times dropped when we were learning new lifts. I definitely felt that the morning after!” 
Being thrown into the air was hardly the safest activity for a young teenager, however the constant pain in gymnastics effectively prepared her body for the falls of cheerleading. The pain in cheerleading followed through Miss Harris’s voice box, “…it was almost after every cheer competition that I was left with a croaky and very manly voice,” Laura told us.

Members of Laura's cheer squad.

It was the four years Laura spent as a ‘Viper’ that she learnt of the value of friendship in a cheer squad, “we were the epitome of friendship. We were all so close and all had the same dream of winning that when we trained and did something wrong, people didn’t take it to heart when we pointed it out”.

The commitment each team member had to the squad never went unrewarded with the ‘Vipers’ taking out the Australian National Cheerleading title in 2009, which took them to Hawaii, U.S, in 2010. It was in Hawaii that Laura was faced with her first major cheerleading injury.   
                                                                                                                  

“We were doing our stunt routine so good when my ankle just completely gave way. It honestly felt like it was no longer part of my body,” says Miss Harris, “I had to control everything in my body to not breakdown and start screaming”. 
Coach of the ‘Vipers’, Kelly Tandy, says “I didn’t even notice Laura’s injury at the time. She was cheering her heart out and I couldn’t see any pain in her eyes or moves”. 
Laura finished this routine, “I couldn’t let down my team, and I didn’t want that on my shoulders”. Laura told us that soldiering on was possibly one of the hardest things she ever had to do as a cheerleader. She knew how hard her team had worked to perfect this routine and she knew they had the power to win. They did win. The ‘Vipers’ were deemed the winners of both the stunt and pompom routine in Hawaii, with Laura leaving the event in crutches and with a very swollen ankle. “It was so worth it. I couldn’t imagine just giving up. My ankle wasn’t going to beat me”.

Laura was in crutches for many weeks following the Worldwide Cheerleading Championships, however she was also able to proudly gloat of their stunt routine win. “Cheerleading is so unrecognized in Australia. It is a real hard competition when we go over to compete against American teams where it is valued so much more … we didn’t win the Worldwide Cheerleading title, but we sure did show the very talented American teams what Australia has got!”

Adrenalin's Australian Cheerleading teams in Hawaii.

There didn’t seem to be much more for Laura to damage in herself with cheerleading leaving a definite mark of the effect of power and determination in a cheer squad.

Adrenalin Cheer and Dance took out the title for a consecutive forth year of National Champions in 2011 and received a bid to travel to Florida for the 2013 Worldwide Cheerleading National titles. “I have never been so proud of my cheer squad! They work so hard for these titles ... Only bit of advice I can give is, do not break any bones!” says the very proud, cheerleading enthusiast, Laura Harris.

Adrenalin are expected in Brisbane on the 23^rd and 24^th of September to compete for their National Championship title for a fifth year. GO ADRENALIN!

Laura's Cheer team showing what they received at the Australian National Championships in 2011.

The Insensitive Media

I had to attend today's tutorial at 8am.. It was very difficult to wake up for and I really missed the comfort of my normal tute class held at a reasonable time (being noon).
Despite being highly exhausted and wanting to do nothing but lay my head on the desk and sleep away the following two hours, I found myself actually listening to what the tutor had to say (crazy, I know!). As she wasn't my normal tutor, I wasn't completely sure what to expect of her lessons. However I did enjoy her structure, however I think I am going to stay a top fan of my noon tutorial class.
She showed a clip that grabbed me. It was about pushing your limits as a journalist. If can be found at: http://www.abc.net.au/mediawatch/transcripts/s3424273.htm
I was left in shock after this clip. How could the media really be so insensitive? I guess the simple answer is that it sells. As long as money is coming in, why bother with following cultural sensitivities?
It was disgraceful really. Never do I want to become so desperate as a journalist that I feel obliged to make false assumptions about individuals. That is just completely immoral.
During this tutorial, it was also spoken of our upcoming assessment. We were shown a clip called Caine's Arcade.It is shown below:

It was so beautiful. It brought a tear to my eye. I loved his passion, I loved the music, I loved the filming. It was so beautifully written and produced that I automatically felt obliged to make my factual story something worth watching!
We also tested our interviewing skills. I had been to a press conference before so I knew what to expect, but I did enjoy learning a lot about the people in this tutorial as I only knew a few people. Some times you just have to throw a million questions out there till you get the answer you want!
17.04.2012

Public Media

"In general, media whose mission is to serve or engage a public. Public media includes traditional publicly-funded broadcasts and networks... as well as public uses of new platforms and distribution mechanisms, such as the Internet, podcasting, blogging. Increasingly the term "public media" is less associated with taxpayer supported media; it may be for profit so long as its ultimate purpose is to serve the public and not to turn a profit." WGBH Educational Foundation Conference, Open Content and Public Broadcasting (19-21.09.06).

I love this definition of the Public Media. I feel it addresses only a very minuet element of the media these days though. Like come on, everything seems like it is for profit these days - but no, not public media.
Public media, to me, seems to be all about serving the public. The public has a right to information - information that is brought to them by such public media forms as the ABC and SBS news channels, SBS and ABC radio stations, as well as NHK (Japan), NPR and PBS (US), TVNZ (New Zealand), DR (Germany), CBC (Canada) and RTHK (Hong Kong). Sure these company are bringing in money, but it is found that its ultimate purpose is to serve the public ad not to turn a profit.
Searching "public media" on YouTube found over fifteen immediate public media channels. This just proved of its purpose in serving the community.

Further, this lecture looked at public medias's role in a democratic society. According to BBC, it was outlined that this media form requires public values, such as:
1. embed a 'public service ethics'
2. value for licence fee money
3. 'weighing public value against market impact'
4. Public consultation (e.g. Should the ABC have more documentaries?)

The lecture went into detail about what the ABC actually provides the public with. It mentioned the ABC News 24 (which is apparently quite dodgey) as well as ABC Channel 2 and 3, the ABC Local radio, radio national, classicFM and Triple J! I fee I ABC really fits the geographical universality (outlined by a 1985 broadcasting research unit who defined public service broadcasting) through being, "A tacit answer to the kind of nation we thought we ought to be". ABC provides the public with accurate and professional information! (I hope..)

SBS was also spoken of. It was addressed to provide multilingual and multicultural radio and television services that inform, educate and entertain all Australians and, in doing so, reflect Australia's multicultural society. I like this idea of this. I like the diversity in culture and this makes me admire SBS a little bit more.

Having addressed the function and form of Commercial media in last weeks lecture, it was time to learn it all for Public media. The functions of Public media included national building (NBC -communication and getting the entire community together), national heritage (ANZAC Day coverage) and national identity (who we are as individuals).
I felt that all these functions strived on national service and not company profit building systems. I loved that! Media functioning on service rather than money seemed so ironic!

This lecture did also acknowledge the challenges for public media as well as the future of public media which I found highly interesting. However, as soon as the conversation turned into government and political information, I just completely zoned out.. Bad idea.
However I did learn that 'Commercial pressures for one = Political pressures for the other' and 'Perceived lack of political independence = more control and more targeted funding'!

Intelligent man. I like how passionate he is!

16.02.2012

Commercial Media

Commercial Media is a profit-driven form of media production. The main reason to why commercial media exists is due to its love for the dosh! (money). The lecture defined commercial media as 'eyeballs and ears to advertisers'. This is predominately due to the fact that 'advertisers are the real customers of  commercial media organisation'. It was further outlined of commercial media being non-government funded and therefore its survival or failure is determined by the businesses success.
Such commercial media forms include News Limited, FairFax Media, APN, Nine Entertainment, WIN Corporation, Southern Cross broadcasting, Seven West Media and Ten, as well as Telstra, Optus and Austar. Each of these media corporations further produce varying media forms, for example the Nine Entertainment Co also contribute to commercial media through Free to Air TV, magazines, digital media and events (including WIN News, ninemsn, Women's Weekly and tickek.com).

Our lecture further went into the form and function of Commercial media.
The form of commercial media included subscription media (e.g. Foxtel), sponsored media (e.g. Nine network) and subsidised media (e.g. government $$$$). The function of media including commercial (Austar), Propaganda (Fox News) and social (supporting local areas). I started a YouTube search of a form of propaganda media and I came across a new song my Katy Perry. It is called Part of Me and the film clip shows her joining the marines in order to get over a heartbreak. Below is a segment I found that showed of the power of propaganda in the media.

So, what is Commercial Media's role in a democratic society?
It was questioned in the lecture whether commercial media can deliver on both a commercial (profit) and social ("public trust") levels, or if it is really just about the mighty dollar. I would have to say that I do have a great element of trust in the media. I believe what they tell me, even when I probably shouldn't. When thinking about the power the news has over our minds, I considered the YouTube channel 'Onion News' (ultimately a fake newsroom that reports of fictional stories very seriously). Here is an example:

Are we really expected to believe that?

This lecture also taught me of the ways in which commercial media can be controlled. It was mentioned of the "ethical wall" - ultimately following ethical decisions in considering journalistic power and equality. I felt that this really was not enough for most journalist - those journalists that will stop at nothing to be the first to uncover some crazy information. We really do need new elements of control on commercial media. It was brought up of regulating content, state/press subsides and the need of licensed journalists (primarily in Indonesia). I thought these were good ideas, but would they really stop commercial media going into a total profit-driven frenzy where the truth just did not matter? who knows..

This lecture really opened my mind up to the degree of profit in commercial media. Sure I knew about the rivalry between such channels as Seven and Win, but had it gone too far? All consumers really want is a credible source for their news updates..

02.04.2012

Value of Photography

I was thinking about a single photo that would say a story about me - one single photo that would open a factual story about myself. Maybe I could use a photo from a memorable occasion, or maybe a photo with my friends at college, or maybe a photo of me with my family.. my ideas were endless.
But then I was looking through my current photos, my new photos of recent events. These were the photos that really defined me at the moment. I looked at them and I automatically remembered the night they captured - whether it be highly embarrassing experience or a night of fun with my closest friends.
This is when I really valued the power of photography.

Story Time

USE YOUR IMAGINATION TO MAKE SOMETHING OUT OF NOTHING

Our second tutorial was all about the power of a photography in telling a story. I found it all very interesting. I love this ability for a single photo to determine everything about the content of a story. I guess in a way it was kind of obvious; for example a picture of a man playing football would be expected to be about a man who plays football.
We participated in an exercise where we were given a story idea that we had to decide on a photo for. I was partnered with Sally again and I personally think we had a great picture idea - it got me really pumped to cover the story! Our story was called "Daytona Demon Damien heads for Dayboro" with a sub-line of "Shiny as silver, red as a cherry and black as sin". Our first instinct was to have the massive monster truck over a line of 'normal' vehicles to really enhance the size of the truck. We also wanted to include Damien in the image to further show how big the truck really is. Our photo was really going to depict this story and would function really well in conjunction with the headline.

We also went into discussion about our upcoming piece of assessment. It was all about factual storytelling and I got thinking about a story I had read online. It was an essay, although it lacked fact it was very humorously capturing. It is located below:

What I like the most about this online essay, found on funnyexamanswers.com, is that there is absolutely no picture yet the depth in visual representation through storytelling is so vivid. 

I don't think this is at all what is expected in my second assessment, but (if it was factual) Jimmy McPerson has been made out of nothing - just like a story in a photograph. 

27.03.2012

All Ears

The idea of a sound lecture seemed pretty great. It meant I had absolutely no need to get out of bed at all on Monday and I definitely planned on taking advantage of this.
I found it quite convenient listening to the radio recording as I was able to listen to the recording while writing notes, without having to look up from my paper. However, as soon as I found myself losing interest in the words being spoken, I found my mind drifting and my hands opening a new tab and updating Facebook, or searching Brisbane Times.. It is hard to stay on track when I have everything that wants me to fail so readily available!

I did learn a lot about radio from this lecture though. The ABC Local News Radio channel taught me of the vitality in keeping your audience interested through avoiding closed conversations and also of the power of silence. I started thinking about this 'power of silence' and gave it a bit of an Internet search. I found all sorts of interviews where silence has played a major role in really forming an argument. It was almost like the silence proved whether you knew your stuff or not. I liked that.

It also came up of the influence of online news sources on the popularity of radio. It was acknowledged of the degree in change of how people consume their media in the past five to ten years. We now read, watch and listen to news online. However, the interviewee believes that radio has continued to keep its audience which can be attributed to a lack of spare time. Radio allows people to educate themselves of worldly issues when driving to work, dropping the kids at school or just going on a drive.

I liked radio. Radio is a completely different medium to television, but to be perfectly honest, my love for television was not going anywhere.
26.03.2012

First there was Cinderella...

First there was Cinderella, then there was Carrie Bradshaw..

Carrie Bradshaw is the Cinderella of real life. She is classy and beautiful, elegant and a dreamer. 

New York newspaper columnist, fashionista, freelance writer for Vogue and published author, Carrie Bradshaw, proves to be exactly what I wish for.
Just like Cinderella was my favourite children's movie (along with The Lion King - but I don't think that relates), Carrie is my grown up version of Cinderella. Carrie is exactly how I imagined Cinderella to grow up to be like.
I have my own pair of Cinderella shoes.

Now all I need is my own column.







21.03.2012

Perfected Photography

"If it makes you laugh, if it makes you cry, if it rips out your heart, that's a good picture" 

- Eddie Adams, Pulitzer Prize-Winning Photojournalist.

Photography plays an influential role in the media. This is most evidently proven when looking back on history's progress. From the cave painting stories of France from as early as 15,000BC and the Australian Indigenous artwork to the first ever colour reproduction in a newspaper in 1936, it is really amazing to look at our progress as of the 21st century. 

Lecture four looked at digital manipulation. We were shown an image of Taylor Swift and I was left speechless. How could think be deemed beautiful in any way? It is kind of creepy.

Another form of photoshopping that we looked at was the image below that was of Sarah Jessica Parker (the actress behind my idolised Carrie Bradshaw from Sex and the City).

It is her hands in this image that change so dramatically from real life to the world of photoshop. 

To me, she is still beautiful. But by the media manipulating her hands to a much younger models, it is a clear message that Marie Claire is saying the beauty in age is absent in Sarah's case. 

They may refer to them as the "Hands of Death", but to me they are the hands of experience.

Digital manipulation is the essence of magazines.

From digital manipulation, we looked at what makes a photo great. It is framing, focus, angles, point of view, exposure, timing and the ability to 'capture the moment'. 

Timing is everything. Perfected timing brings perfected photography.

All I could think about were these two photos. They are the final moments of life for these two men. The first image is of a south Vietnamese police chief shooting a young man whom is suspected to be a Viet Kong soldier (1968 - photo credit: Eddie Adams). The second image is from the September 11 terrorist attack, it shows a man falling from a building to his death and is famously known as 'The Falling Man'. Both photographs proved to cause much controversy in regard to publishing a humans final moments of life. I got thinking about the ethics of photographic journalism, surely there must be a limit?

If you ever get chance, I really recommend watching 'The Falling Man'. It is mind-blowingly amazing.

Photography is great. It captures moments in history that are incapable of being justified by words.

19.03.2012

Living in my Shoes

In season four, episode sixteen Carrie Bradshaw says "I've spent $40,000 on shoes and I have no place to live? I will literally be the old woman who lived in her shoes!". 

I was thinking about this little statement and I wondered what it would be like if I literally did have to live in a single pair of shoes for the rest of my life. There was one pair of shoes that came to my mind straight away. I thought of the shoes in the picture to the right. They are a simple black wedge with a peep-toe and a lace up the front. There isn't anything particularly exciting about them visually, but they hold so much meaning to me.
Most of my shoes have not been worn by other people, but I like to share these shoes. There is something about them that makes me feel comfortable about lending them to others, like I can trust the shoes to not break or get damaged or discolour.
I have had them for years. I have worm them on such occasions as weddings, parties and dinners. I like to think of them as my 'celebration shoes' - not a bad night has come from me wearing these shoes.
I would love to wear these shoes for the rest of my life because then I would know for sure that I would always have something to celebrate.
Julia wore them the other night and she really did look beautiful in them. They finished off her outfit perfectly. I was proud of my shoes - they had done me proud on so many occasions and they were now pleasing others.
I will always love these shoes. I love their simplicity and I love their comfort.
Thank you for beautiful nights and thank you for always celebrating with me.

15.03.2012

HEADLINING

First impressions are important, and when it comes to Journalism, the first impression is the headline. There is a lot of power in a headline.

You can either make it sound worth reading, or just completely stupid. 

Come on Tom Philp.

Today was our first tutorial and it was all about headlines. We partnered up in the class and made a headline for our partner. I had Sally and all I could think of the entire time was that I knew way too much about her to take this activity seriously! Teasing each other about being alcoholics and shop-aholics left us with a bunch of memories after only knowing each other for a few weeks. 

However, as soon as we were told we would be sharing with the class, we thought we better start taking this a bit more serious. I learnt a lot about Sally in those few moments.

Headlining was not as easy as I had expected! But at least Tom Philp had shown me exactly what not to write.. 

I felt like I went crazy online in this tutorial. I made a new email account (I now have about five different ones), I made a second Twitter account and I activated my blog. It all felt pretty daunting really, like it was actually time for me to get out of holiday mode and start making my mark on Journalism 1111. It was time to take the first step.
My tutor made it all sound pretty simple, as if it was just a matter of putting words on a page. So that is exactly what I'd do.

And so it all began.

IN THE BEGINNING GOD MADE JOURNALISM.

13.03.2012

Making your words work

"Text is fundamental and very important online" - Skye Doherty.

Lecture three brought us guest speaker Skye Doherty. She was from the School of Journalism and Communication and had some impressive journalism history on her hands. She had worked with Rupert Murdoch, also on Fleet Street in the UK during the News of the World scandal, worked as a foreign correspondence and worked for local newspapers in such areas as Proserpine and Mackay. It was safe to say, she knew her stuff when it came to text journalism!
She opened up my mind a lot in her speech. Text journalism was no longer just simply an article in the local newspaper, there was so much more to it. Text journalism is story content, it's headlines and standfirst, as well as captions, pull quotes, break-out boxes and links. Emails, blogs, tweets, Facebook updates, comments and forums, metadata, excerpts and tags all fall in this 'text' bracket.
Text encapsulated hyperlinks, tagging, visual aids, and so much more. Text was a flourishing medium taking over the web in all its glory!

This screen shot shows a text article online. It shows elements of an online text article that was outlined by Skye in her lecture. The article has hypertexts and links, allows for commenting, includes a visual aid, a headline and standfirst, quotes and pull quotes.
Skye also mentioned 'The Inverted Pyramid of Journalism'. Basically saying the most important information is first, with the last parts of information being able to be cut without losing focus of the story. It looks like this:

Upon finishing this lecture, I reviewed the information covered and I noticed the importance put on online news text sources rather than print news text sources. To be fair, Skye did mention The Australian on two accounts, however she spoke primarily of text being online. Understandably, you cannot include hypertext, tagging, immediate commenting, metadata or excerpts in a print sources - but a print source is still very much a form of text journalism. I believe this lecture further enforced that online is taking over print. Online ultimately is allowing for a greater degree of availability and depth (in some cases).
In summary, today I learnt that text is all about making your words work. This could be through print or online.
12.03.2012

A Woman's Right to Shoes

"They are just shoes" -some idiot.

I really don't understand this concept. I am completely on Carrie Bradshaw's side. I may only be eighteen years old, but my shoes mean the world to me too and I don't see that ever changing. My shoes are always there when I need them, and it is my right, as a woman, to shoes. 

Today I want to introduce you my most expensive pair of shoes. They may not be as extravagant as Carrie's $485 Manolo's, but they definitely were not found in the sale bin. 

These are my proud possessions. 

I really do love these shoes. I think what I love the most about them is the night they captured. These shoes mark my first night out in The Valley, they mark the first time my friend got sprung using a Fake ID, they mark my first night getting 'asked to leave' a nightclub, they mark a great night, they mark a night I do not ever want to forgot.
My shoes make my memories. So many more memories to make, therefore there are so many more shoes to buy - that makes sense right?
07.03.2012

Welcome to the World of Online.

The media changes everything, and everything is changing in the media.

Besides basic human rights, we can literally do almost EVERYTHING online. I look at myself and I seriously think I could spend my entire day using online sources. I shop online, I talk to my friends and family online, I watch lectures online, I search information online, I listen to music and watch movies online and I have access to all news sources online - I live online, and the best part of it all? It is all completely free! (except the shopping, but I am seriously saving heaps of money compared with buying it in stores, I swear!)
So now that I can have all this media access free, why would I pay for it? I believe entitlement will try and kill Journalism, just like eBay killed classifieds.
I guess in a way my media has always come free to me. My parents (and now my College) purchase newspapers, and my television and Internet usage is not paid by me either. Media is free, well, to an extent.
It wasn't always so free to us though, which was made apparent in today's lecture.
Today I took a step back and looked at media's progress over the recent years.

Bluntly, we have literally gone offline to completely online. 

We now have these three stages of the web's growth - being Web 1.0 (the informative web mostly used by companies), Web 2.0 (the social web used for social networking such as Facebook, Skype, etc) and Web 3.0 (the semantic web where the focus is on the individual).

In furthering my knowledge of this topic, I gave it a YouTube search, only to have wasted 3 minutes and 42 seconds on this.. least you now know how to make a sandwich?

It is crazy really. Like come on, the web has progressed so much that is knows exactly what to advertise for me? seems kind of creepy. I thought I would test this, so I opened my Facebook page and looked at the advertisements along the side. And to my surprise, there was all my favourite things - shoes, clothes, sales (the web knows me way too well). I would like to thank web 3.0 on effectively descending the funds in my bank account significantly.
So now that we had gone online, what was going to happen to 'offline'? Did anyone really care that we were saying goodbye to our loyal forms of mass communication, being newspapers, magazines, the radio and television? I cared. I love television reporting and magazine clippings and seeing my friends in the local newspaper. I definitely am not ready to say goodbye, but having it free is so much better (especially whilst living on a university student budget).

To be perfectly honest, this cartoon sums up what I look from today's lecture.

05.03.2012

a little shoe obsession..

If you were to ever set foot in my room you would notice one thing - my love for shoes. They sit comfortably on there own shelf in my bedroom in straight lines, almost resembling a proud mothers trophy stand for her athletic son. These are my proud trophies. Just like the shoes in this clip are to Carrie Bradshaw - oh how I wish I could be her.

My shoes aren't just simply shoes. They hold great stories of perfect nights, beautiful people and flawless occasions. I love that about my shoes, they all have a different story to tell - however some still hold the purity they were purchased with. Some I just can't bring myself to wear, almost as if they are a collectors item that should not be touched, EVER!

I am crazy about my shoes like that, some times my friends with come into my room and try them on. completely harmless right? not always.. I want to say, 'be careful with the heel', 'don't push your foot in like it's a football boot!', 'don't take a single step in them' or just 'don't'. Mum always taught me to look with my eyes, not my hands. 

This is how obsessive compulsive I am about my shoes. It is ridiculous. They are so good to me, I am just trying to be the same in return.

My favourite pair of shoes at the moment are a pair I am yet to wear. They are such a bold pink. So strong and daring. 

I wore them with this dress. My feet were the vocal point of my outfit, like always. 

I like to think I made Carrie Bradshaw proud when I wore this. I would hate to disappoint her!

You'll learn this about me.

My shoes are the essence of my entire wardrobe. Shoes inspire me, and so does Carrie Bradshaw.
02.03.2012

The girl in the Leopard Print Boots.

Confessions of a Shop-a-holic is my favourite movie - along with Sex in the City. You will learn why..

29.02.2012

Little Fish, Big Bowl.

In 2011 I felt like the big fish in the tiny bowl. I was friends with everyone I was at school with (minus a few..), my teachers and I were all on a very friendly basis, I had a licence and my own car, I was one of the big kids of the school where I was excelling, and my relationship with my parents was great (well, most of the time). Everything was making sense in 2011. It was a year where I had a constant flow of money, comfort, food and time. Even though the grade 12 workload provided me with countless breakdowns, I had my mum by my side whenever I needed that boost of reassurance. However, as you can see by the picture, the big fish no longer fits in his little world - he needs to move on to bigger and better things in order to set himself free from restriction, and that is what I did also. I leap 13 hours south from the comfort of normality into a strange city where I had to rely on myself to eat right, sleep right, study right and act accordingly.
Only just over a week into my new bowl and I already had been feeling so overwhelmed, but as I left my first journalism lecture (my first ever lecture) I felt strangely at ease. I may have been talked to of such issues as blackboard (whatttt??), tutorial rooms (thank goodness for UQNAV!), my assessment calendar (ALREADY?!) and a brief outline of the course, but it failed to phase me of how little I understood. It was almost as if this bowl was so much better for me, that this bowl was exactly what I needed, and that this bowl was going to be able to fit so many more fish for me to befriend. I liked my new bowl. I liked my journalism subjects. I liked it here, I just wish I could bring my fish friend from my little bowl.
2012 was the year of the big bowl, and it was going to be a bowl to remember!
29.01.2012

"The Golden Voice"

There is one thing I love about reporting. I love the voice. There is something in the way the words seem so powerfully important as they press their way through my television screen, like everything that is said is so incredibly important. I have many television personalities that I could listen to for hours, Ray Martin, Tracy Grimshaw, Richard Wilkins and the beautiful Carl Stefanovic. But there is one man whose voice is so rare, so tame, so well-kept - it is with great passion that I proudly agree that Ted Williams is "The Golden Voice" of television. 

Having first seen Williams on YouTube, I was left speechless - surely such a trained 'television-voice' was not held captured by a drug addicted alcoholic homeless man, but it was. Let the next three minutes of your life be dedicated to him.

Inspirational, right? It amazes me the difference a year can make. In one year, the media transformed his life into one worth living. The media did this. Without media's impact on society, this man could quite easily be dead. This Golden Voice is what I believe to be the essence of journalism. Yes, his voice is perfect for sporting commentary, for radio, for television reporting and for advertisements (as shown in the clip), but it is also the way in which this story is told that I find to be so perfected. 

The media is often the bearer of bad news, but not in this case. This story proves that good things can happen to people in the darkest of places and that with the power of a single talent, a world can be changed. I want to bring hope. That is why I love this story and that is why I wish to be a journalist.
28.02.2012