Reflecting on the Course

After a semester worth of case studies, it has been observed that the number of factors to be thought of before any final decision made for publication is extensive. Prominent factors like social context, audience interest, demographic suitability, print colours, navigating paths are all important aspects to look at before deciding on the best decision of a publication and design material.

Such factors never came across my mind in the past and publication seemed like a straightforward task that consist of only writing and publishing. Amongst the few cases that I have read up on, I found one of the hardest issue to deal with in publication and designed is to be thoroughly understanding and accommodating to all the audience as they are from different age groups of different interest and styles of reading and interpreting materials (Samara, T 2005)

Overall, it has been a good experience and a rewarding subject to be part of that I will be able to benefit from for my future usage in the working world. Well, I'd like to quote one of my favorite quotes that I have come across after all the readings

"Good Design is obvious. Great design is transparent" - Joe Sparano

REFERENCE

Samara, T 2005, Case Study : Dartmouth Faculty : 'Scholarship Today' from Publication Design Workbook : A Real-World Design Guide, pp109

Is Phone Hacking Acceptable?

One of the world’s oldest publication that has been surviving up till the millennium, News of the World has been under fire for hacking to phones of their subject of preference, depending on the article they would like to cover, for the sake of getting private information from these people. The reporter or hired private investigator would call the subject, and proceed to enter a four digit pin to access the voice mail. Some hackers go to the extent of requesting the call carriers for assistance resetting PINs for the authentic users of the phone just so that they can access their voice mails. 

The information that they had retrieved were quite private, as they involved the information of those who were victims of murder, family members of terrorists attacks as well as fallen soldiers. The police are being suspected of taking bribes to provide secret information to these panel of hackers.

Phone hacking not an ethical resolution to retrieving information

Despite the popular belief that journalists should report things as they are with no intentions of hiding anything from their readers, it is crucial for them to understand that this doesn’t translate to having to invade the privacy of these subjects. Personally, I feel that it is ethically wrong to retrieve information in such a way as it can be viewed upon as stealing information instead of the traditional way of interview and report.

Over the years, many journalists have been termed the 'street of shame' and seen as 'low culture' due to their sensationalised method of reporting news as well as the methods that have been approached to retrieve information (Keeble, R 2009). Invasion of privacy has always been a staple issue in the world of journalism since the 1700's. However, does this mean that such behavior should be acceptable to the society?

As opposed to ethics of medicine or ethics of law, journalism has a strong influence on nurturing the public opinion on various topics (Iggers 1999). Publishing private information that may come as a shock to the audience may actually garner the public idea that revealing such data is alright and may actually harm the mindsets of the society. Shock journalism might be great for the industry as it costs much lesser than official methods of retrievening information and can be a hit amongst readers (Wisdom 2011)


REFERENCES

Keeble, R 2009, 'Dumbing Down or Dumbing Up' from 'Ethics for Journalists', Routledge, United States, pp. 159-160

Iggers 1999, from 'How Journalists Talk About Ethics' from 'Good News Bad News', WestView Press, United States, pp. 15

Wisdom 2011, Shock and Awe Journalism, online, viewed 15th November from http://www.wisdomismisery.com/2011/03/24/guest-blogger-2/shock-and-awe-journalism-how-we-feed-the-panic-machine/

Videos Conquering News Coverage on Media Sites

A research by online site DS Simon has found that 85% of the media website are now using online videos to cover news instead of the traditional lengthy articles. This is apparently due to the deflating attention spans that the target audiences have. The research has also found that these media sites are actually progressively embedding advertisements on their sites as part of the new media approaches for the convenience of viewing when their online users visit the site. Online medias are trying to improve and push the usage of videos to report their materials as it draws more attention as well as secures the audience better than the traditional word approach.

Lets say if you were reading a news article about a military camp. 

Would newspaper help you visualize better...or

Would a video that shows you a clip (like the above) help you understand better?

The research that has been conducted by DS Simon doesn’t come as a surprise as the alarming growth of online users has grown from 16 million back in 1995 to 2110 million now in 2011, according to the statistics by Internet World Stats (2011). I personally watch a lot of news online despite having the traditional printed newspaper at home due to the time consumption that comes from reading articles one by one. With the news packed in a video, understanding and comprehending comes quick as we are assisted by visuals and sound. Information may also be more effectively conveyed across as compared to print.

Metallinos, N (1996) opines that sound and visuals are very important when it comes to an audience who are recipients of information. Videos can actually expand the involvement of audience into feeling the content and motivate them to think on a deeper level, as opposed to print which focuses on offering information (Billboard 1994).

 However, Miller (2008) begs to differ as she opines that interactivity can never be a mass audience approach as each user of the internet is in control of their own choices to view, just like print. Online links are only linked to with headings and can only be accessed when clicked, whereas for print – the reader has to speed and filter through the headlines before deciding on which to read. For print, it ensures some sort of fixation of where the eyes go even if it was just the photos.

Which do YOU think can be more effective in conveying the messages?



REFERENCE

Billboard 1994, ‘Pro Audio’ in ‘Billboard’, online, viewed online on 15th November from http://books.google.com.my/books?id=YQgEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA85&dq=interactivity+with+video+audience&hl=en&ei=v47CTr-rGsmfmQXsu9C4Cw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CE8Q6AEwBg#v=onepage&q=interactivity%20with%20video%20audience&f=false

Internet World Stats 2011, Internet Growth Statistics, online, viewed 15th November from http://www.internetworldstats.com/emarketing.htm
Metallinos, N 1996, ‘Auditory Perception: Defining the Sound Dimension of Television Pictures’ from Television Aesthetics : Perceptual, Cognitive, and Compositional Bases, Lawrence Erlbaum Pictures, Mahwah

Miller 2008, ‘The User, The Author, and Interactivity’, from ‘Digital Storytelling’, Elinor Actipis, United Kingdom, pp. 56

Whats Your Choice : Flipping pages or Swiping Screens?

How e-textbooks, online modules could keep journalism education current?

Technology is observed to be the leading tool for communicating journalism works now. Many are finding the best way to fulfill the needs of college students, whose favorable reading material is observed to still be tangible textbooks rather than sourcing online materials. One of the proposed ideas by Mindy McAdams from University of Florida to actually come in between books and online materials, is actually to create software for mobile tablets and smart phones that play roles as the new kind of book that students can actually carry everywhere.

There should be new updates regularly, which content should go through editing and vetting by the publishers just like normal tangible books. Students can actually purchase the software and its updated version for a flat rate and enjoy updates, instead of waiting for delayed information that come from books which have been written from the past years and is only getting published after a long process of production.

This is actually a workable method that world be appreciated by many students. The only question is if the students now actually own tablets or smart phone to actually be able to use the feature? If they are looking into demolishing the existence of books to be replaced by these tablet software. Widespread use of this tablet technology is expected to hit the world after the year 2011 so McAdams’ idea is actually quite workable (Morley, B 2011). Immediacy of information is actually crucial to the information users now due to the fast growth of information in terms of capacity and volume (Lukasiewicz, J 1994).

The iPad is becoming a common tool amongst students these days.

As of now, many technology has expanded and has been concentrating about integrating their software and product on iPhone’s and other PDA’s for marketing purposes based on the positive respond of consumer services (Bunzel, T 2010).

Coming to a conclusion, due to how fast the technology is moving towards the world of fast technology with a big appetite for immediacy when it comes to information – e-journalism can definitely work over time even if not immediately.

REFERENCE:


Bunzel, T 2010, Tools of Engagement : Presenting and Training in a World of Social Media, John Wiley & Sons Inc, United States, pp. 227

Morley, B 2011, ‘Inside the Industry’ in ‘Understanding Computers in a Changing Society’, Course Technology, United States. pp. 21-22

Lukasiewicz, J 1994,The Ignorance Explosion : Understanding Industrial Civilization, Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data, Canada, pp. 122

Editing Photos for Publication. Right or Wrong?

Orthodox Jewish newspaper, Di Tzeitung, had digitally deleted US secretary of state, Hilary Clinton, from a photograph of her, Barack Obama and his team observing the Navy Seals raid that took away Osama bin Laden’s life. The paper has since garnered many negative comments and has since apologized for editing the photograph and proceeded to publish it.

Original photo of the meeting.

Edited copy of the photo that was published. Notice the empty spot that Clinton was in at the original photo.

According to the publisher, images of women are not published due to the Jewish laws of modesty to women. In contrast, the public who have read the paper are in the opinion that this is an act of discrimination.


Realistically based on cultural context, there is no strong stand on the right and wrong of the deletion of the photo. The judgement is simple : it is only right to remove the images of these women due to respect in the Jewish context. Meanwhile to the public American eye, it is crucial that women and men are treated with the same rights - and in this context which is to be featured as part of the political team (Morse, J 2007). Meanwhile, Kress & van Leeuwen (2006) opines that each subject has a different social evaluation in different social contexts. Hence, it is not for one to judge if the deletion of Clinton's image was right or wrong.

Bringing the cultural ethics aside, let's now look at the ethical publishing principles to justify the ethicality of DI Tzeitung's act. According to the National Press Photographers Association Code of Ethics (2011), photojournalists are not supposed to edit the images in any way that can mislead the audience or misrepresent the subject

Personally, I would not encourage the act of editing the photos in any way as journalists are supposed to report objectively and always report things as it is (SCPJ 2011). Finally, here's a video for you to look at what Conan O' Brien has to say about the issue? What is your opinion?

(From youtube.com)

Reference :-

Kress, G and van Leeuwen, T 2006, ‘The semiotic landscape : language and visual communication’. Reading Images, pg. 35 -41

Morse, J 2007, online, viewed 14th November 2011 from http://www.america.gov/st/diversity-english/2007/February/20070226171718ajesrom0.6366846.html

National Press Photographers Association Code of Ethics 2011, online, viewed 14th November 2011 from http://www.nppa.org/professional_development/business_practices/ethics.html

SCPJ 2011, Society of Proffesional Journalists, online, viewed 14th November 2011 from
http://www.spj.org/ethicscode.asp

Where to put my eyes?

Today, we will be discussing about the three main concerns for the web versus print documents.

First, it’s the body structure. Web users usually skim through content, unlike print document readers who are usually controlled by the paper (Kelly, R 2003). According to Nielson, J (2006), a research on eyetracking has shown that most users to read on the web scan through the text with the shape of an ‘F’. Strong subheads would be much needed to engage the reader’s attention amidst the scanning.

Unlike web design, print document designs are different although they would also have a non-linear design. It engages the reader’s attention through an entry path, while being observed as a whole (Visual Communication 2009). Hence, print documents have to be balanced visually with white spaces to allow eye rest for better information consumption (Pearson Custom)

(Print) : Readers eyes would be fixated at the headlines. Entry paths would begin through the dramatic photos, leading them down.

 Web  Publication : Are you skimming through for your article of choice?

Second, it’s accessibility. Online publishing is very convenient for readers to skim through. Readers will be lead to various pages at any instant through embedded links. Hence, if a writer or web designer wants their content to be read – it would be advisable to place it at the right bottom, where eyes land last (Kerry, R 2003). As for print documents, readers are inclined to linear reading. Aligned and neat subheadings would be encouraged for comfortable eye accessibility.

 Print : Would you be interested in reading this text? Any idea where you want to skip to without the subhheadings for your easy navigation?

Third, it’s the typography. Sans serif fonts are used in web design as it appears neater and legible on monitor display (Benetos, K 2005). The idea here is that serif fonts shift the reader’s attention to the content, rather than the layout. That being said, designers also have to consider the content of the medium before deciding on the font (Learn Web Development) .

Web : Are you liking the fonts? Do they complement the content so much better?

Print : Significant approach of typography, neater for reading on hands with naked eyes

In conclusion, all kinds of publishing material will need to have their own formatting design due to the context and information it holds. 

REFERENCES

1. Benetos, K 2005, Design Considerations when writing : Print versus Screen, Accessed 25 August 2011, Available at http://tecfa.unige.ch/staf/staf-k/benetos/staf13/per5/lire.html
2. Kelly, R 2003, Web Writing vs Print Writing, Accessed 25 August 2011, Available at http://www.kerryr.net/webwriting/guide_web-vs-print.htm
3. Learn Web Development, Web Design Basics: Typography and Layout, Accessed 25 August 2011, Available at http://www.learnwebdevelopment.com/2011/08/web-design-basics-typography-and-layout/
4. Nielson, J 2006, F Shaped Pattern for Reading Web Content, Accessed 25 August 2011, Available at http://www.useit.com/alertbox/reading_pattern.html
5. Pearson Custom,Effective Print Document Design, Accessed 25 August 2011, Available at wps.pearsoncustom.com/wps/media/objects/3388/3469470/ch35.pdf
6. Visual Communication 2009, Entry points and reading paths on newspaper spreads: comparing a semiotic analysis with eye-tracking measurements, Accessed 25 August 2011, Available at http://vcj.sagepub.com/content/5/1/65.abstract

Are "New News" New?

News publishing has been around for the longest time. Now, instead of tangible newspapers – more people are gradually shifting to online publications. There has been an evolution of change for online publications too, as they used to be published on a website where readers would have to access manually. Lately, they have shifted to the evolution of gadget applications where users are able to access all type of news on the go.

Multimodality is introduced by Kress, V.L (1996) as an interaction of speech, visuals and sound. It is heavily considered in information conveyance as visual integration allows readers to digest information with a more accurate understanding. Words and images frequently come together to create the better approach to a publishing.

With information being published online, extra materials like videos and recordings can be embedded along with the information. Such features enable users to visualize and relate better, at a convenient state. Hence, these smartphone applications are dominating the general favor of the public.

Following would be affordances that express the varied possibilities of how multimodal modes are being executed and understood. Norman, D (1988) has explained ‘affordance’ as the understanding of a piece of information, stating that is it heavily culturally affected. For example, highlighted texts may be perceived as being an important portion of a text body to a scholar. However, a piece of highlighted text may just seem like another coloring activity by a 4 year old. With the existence of smartphone applications to access information online, the extra embedded links and messages that come along ensures an afforance to the receipent of information.

 267 words

REFERENCES

Kress, G.R. and van Leeuwen, T. (1996). Reading Images: the grammar of graphic design. London: Routledge

Norman, D. 1988. The Design of Everyday Things. NewYork: Doubleday.