Electric Shock

Some monster got an electric shock and started screaming about it.

The Most Depressing Sound

the rooster crowing at the end of the night
and it won't shut up
shut up
shut up
shut up
shut up
shut up
shut up
shut up

chk chk boom

wvt?

if home is where the heart isss
this is not that plaaaccee
i'm sorry mum, and i'm sorry dad,
but i can't get myself far enough awaay

i wrote the first one for you because i figured one day you'd hunt it all down. i didn't think it would be yesterday.

Inland Island

Here I spend glued hours, biding time, rubbing sand into my eyes.
Here I dream of giant waves carrying me away to some smothering grave.
Here I wake alone shivering into the night, and
I squint into the sun.
Here I am the only adult and the only child.
Here I know no time.
Here I search the view for something changed.
I've padded myself in with leaves, but it won't keep out the breeze.
Here I've forgotten tones of other voices.
Here I've lost the words for things I have no need to say.
Here I'm lonely, and
I squint into the sun.
Here is where I rule, and this is my domain.
Here, a kingdom with no king.
Here's my stick and here's my rock and sand, and
Here I long for a book, and
Hear my long depressing rant, I
Hear no complaining, and
Deep breaths move out,
Deep breaths move in, and
I crane my neck, and
I squint into the sun.

Giant Waves

Sometimes I have nightmares about giant waves, about floating on the sea with giant walls of water rising around me. I guess I can't swim anymore, I don't know, I haven't tried.

i'm coming your way.

i'm destroyed.

Dead

the orchard by les savy fav

My eyes are smaller than my stomach is.
That is Quite a meal for me.
I have lost my appetite lately.

The basement is where we wait for the
storm to break.
Someone os lost outside, through the rain
we hear them cry.

Deafened by the sound of the
apples falling down.
They were rottong on the ground
when the winter came around.

My bedroom feels just like a parking lot
thats been closed up for the night
asleep beneath the buzzing light.

i feel the worst i've ever felt right now

http://www.davidhorvitz.com/2009/

This website is pretty cool.

innocuous |iˈnäkyoōəs|

adjective
not harmful or offensive : it was an innocuous question.
DERIVATIVES
innocuously |1ˈnɑkjəwəsli| adverb
innocuousness |1ˈnɑkjəwəsnəs| noun
ORIGIN late 16th cent.: from Latin innocuus, from in- ‘not’ + nocuus ‘injurious’ (see nocuous ).

Another weekend at home

Mum went to rinse a glass out tonight and broke it by accident.
"Sorry Kev," she said, "I've broken your glass."
Kevin looked over from the TV.
"What's that?"
"The glass you won for golf."
"With my name on it?" He askd, then sighed a massive, exaggerated sigh like she'd done something really slack and started about how special it was. "I can't believe you broke my glass..."
I grinned at him. I like a good sarcarstic joke, and Kev is usually pretty sharp with dry wit, but he didn't see me grinning. intead he went on some more, and he looked kind of serious.
"You're kidding aren't you?" I said finally and Kevin directed his serious look toward me.
"No, that glass was a trophy!"
I studied his face. His brows were furrowed and his mouth was pressed into a straight line. A serious line. "Wow. I can't beieve you aren't joking."
I think he was getting angrier here.
"It was an accident, Kev," I said. "Glasses that get used get broken, and we used it as a glass."
"I won that trophy, it was vey important to me, and then she just goes and breaks it!"
"Mum didn't break it on purpose, she wasn't doing anything irresponsible with it. It was an accident and I don't think you should be so upset. I really thought you were joking. In fact I'm disappointed you aren't joking." Mum had dinner on the table by this time, and so I sat down at the table and started to eat some.
"Maybe she should be a bit more considerate. That was a trophy."
"It was a glass. If it was a trophy, it should be with your other trophies and wouldn't have been broken. It was a glass and you kept it in the glass cupboard, with all the other glasses that often get broken. Accidentally. That's why I even used it, it was the only wine glass left in the glass cupboard. The others have probably been broken. I did't even know you won it, all the other glasses with writing on them are just boring brand glasses." I had used the glass earlier to drink a glass of red wine, which Kevin and I had discussed the flavor of extensively. It was nice wine. It's called 'Soft Red' and it's cheap and they said they'd give me a bottle of it. Anyway I don't think I played a part in breaking the glass though, just because I got it out. It was used regularly, by different people, it could have happened any night.
"Are you saying it's my fault that she broke that glass?" Kevin asked me.
"No, I'm saying it was a forgivable accident so maybe you should forgive her instead of carrying on like this. This is ridiculous. This entire conversation. I wish it was a joke. The glass is broken. We're not bringing it back."
"Well, it is broken, and it's not a joke." Kevin stormed out of the house where it's freezing cold, and I figured he'd regret it pretty soon. He left his dinner on the table getting cold.
Mum and I talked about jobs and things until we finished our food and then tidied everything up, except for Kevin's meal, cutlery and the salt and pepper for when he came back in. Before I left the dining room so that Kevin could eat without seeing my face, I told Mum I was sorry, but it's just not the right way to act when someone makes a mistake. "Bad things happen but you need to look at them in perspective. I know it's something everyone forgets sometimes but crying over spilt milk won't clean up the mess."

My parents have been fighting recently and I can't help but hate it. When they speak to each other badly I've been going insane, telling them they're being ridiculous and they're not dealing with things the right way. They're just so goddamn concerned with money. It's like they're dying or something. I've even had to explain why we aren't dying to them. When Mum told me they were surprised by how calm I was.
"Well you're taking this well," she said.
"Well, I know it means changing but I like changes."
Mum looked confused.
"Also, Kev told me last weekend so I've had a while to adjust," I added.
"I just don't know what to do. He's gambled away our lives!" She got a bit teary. Mum cries easily. I guess I do too when I'm stressed. It feels good to cry sometimes. Sometimes. Mum cries all the time.
"We're not dead, Mum."
"We may as well be," she sobbed.
"And Kev isn't a gambler. Business isn't gambling, Mum."
"He may as well be, everything we've ever worked for is gone!"
"It's not everything, and it's not gone. You shouldn't exaggerate everything like that."
It's hard to comfort Mum when it's a little bit funny, and a little bit annoying, and a little bit sad all at the same time, which is usually.
"And I can't believe he told you last week! He didn't tell me until yesterday, when we went to the accountant!" She was accusing Kev of keeping her in the dark, but I remember him telling me he'd tried explaining it to her, but she either won't listen, or doesn't understand.
"Mum, I think he told you and I think you weren't listening." I could tell she was thinking he might have told her too.
She didn't say anymore.

I think they really understand the situation, but a lot of the time they forget reality and just get stuck in all their feelings, and then there are all these fights. I'm pretty sure they're nightly, unless they fall asleep early because they're exhausted from working or renovating or moving furniture all day, and drunk. I wouldn't know if they''re nightly though because I try not to be here most of the time. It's hard to write essays with all the screaming going on, but when I'm here I try to tell them what I think they're doing wrong and what they should do about it.
Once I told them it doesn't matter that I've run out of pity for them because they have enough self-pity for all of us. I've been telling them they need to work together and move on. I keep saying that if they speak to each other better they'll feel better about each other. I know I'm right, but sometimes I worry I'm doing the wrong thing. Once Mum was threatening to leave Kev, saying she doesn't know if she loves him anymore. She was telling me about it one night when I was getting ready to go somewhere.
"Mum," I said, "Kev's made a big mistake, but if you've married someone who you won't stand by when they fuck up, then I'm afraid you've made a bigger mistake." After I said that I was worried she actually would leave him, but tonight, after dinner and before I went to my room, Mum said she told Kevin the other day that she really does love him and she's prepared to stand by him as they move through the changes, as long as he listens to her.
I told her I'm glad she said that to him, but she's got to make sure she's easier to listen to. "Nobody wants to be screamed at."

Mum was good tonight, for once she made sense, except that when I went back to my bedroom and Kev returned to the house to feed, I heard her start up the conversation again so she'd be able to have the final word, which turned into a bunch of screeching and squawking about Kevin's feelings versus the fact that it was only a glass. I sat listening in my room getting furious and worried until eventually the noise errupted into a loud crash and clatter of things going everywhere, and I had to see.
"How do you feel about that? Have I hurt your feelings?" Kevin was standing back from the kitchen table that was covered in broken plate and half-eaten dinner.
"Kev," I yelled at him. "Talk about what's actually wrong, not about the stupid glass."
His face was red. "I'm talking about the fucking glass! She doesn't give a fuck about my feelings!" He was obviously not talking about the glass.
Everyone was fuming, and I was pointing everywhere as I spoke. "What good does this do?" I was pointing at the broken plate. "You're acting like an idiot about this."
Mum was also screaming about everything and shoved Kevin back as she moved toward him. I hate it when she shoves him. She has no right to shove him. I think she runs out of words and then she just shoves.
"Mum, don't shove him!" I yelled, and then Kevin jerked his fist back, and lowered it just as fast.
"You wouldn't!" I said.
"I know I wouldn't!" he said. I knew he woudn't. It always makes me worry, because maybe I would, but I'm my mother's child. Of course he wouldn't, and Mum shouldn't shove him.
"Both of you should stop. No wonder I don't like being here. It's a fucking circus. No wonder I hate this place!" My face was burning and I could hear my heart, and my eyes were getting wet.
"Then leave! You're a lazy bitch. You're a clingon, a lazy fucking clingon!" he pointed at me with wide eyes and I pointed back.
"I don't ask for anything from you anymore! You're making this up out of spite, you both do it, all the time when you get angry! Like when you say 'Oh, well maybe I should just off myself,' and when you, Mum, are like 'I don't know if I love Kev anymore maybe I want to leave him', you're both full of shit! You're saying things just to be spiteful! So Kev I don't know what exactly I'm clinging-on to, because there isn't a lot here, but I'm not exactly offended by that because I think you're just inventing this because you're acting like a stupid fucking ape over a stupid broken glass!"
"I'm upset because I won that glass when we went on a trip together, out to that golfing resort and had a wonderful weekend, and now it's fucking ruined. She broke it and she shows no remorse, which means that amazing weekend we had together means NOTHING to her. It's gone, forever now."
Kev stormed out of the house again and Mum locked the sliding door behind him, which was a bit much, and then we went and cleaned up bits of plate while the salad dressing soaked into the fabric on the chairs. I wiped down the table, amused that Kevin was so worried about Mum 'ruining' that one good weekend they must have had together by breaking that glass, when we could have had a good weekend this weekend without arguing about it.

I know it takes "two to tango", so to speak, but I think the rash of bad behaviour came from the other side. I think people should be less shit and I hope someone will tell me when I'm being shit so I can learn from it, like the other day when I thought someone was a jerk for cutting me off and drove close behind them in a carpark, until David pointed out that they probably didn't realise and now they'll just think I'm being a jerk for no reason. I thank him.

James Martin's pig head pudding

So I actualy got around to studying, and naturally I tuned out of what was on television...

Until just then, when I turned my head to find James Martin (whoever he is, some chef with a show) singeing a pig's ears with a blowtorch and then punging its head into a pot of boiling water.

Now it's boiled and he's pulling it apart with his bare hands; ripping the flesh off its skull, and adding parsley and shallotts and pig head soup, and making some sort of pudding.

Now he's following it with a sweet apple pie dessert.

Citizen Kane and Bonnie & Clyde

Essay for 'Film and Television Studies' course. years old. Not revised. Not serious.

Challenging and conforming to the classical Hollywood cinema style
Citizen Kane and Bonnie & Clyde

Compare and contrast TWO films studied in terms of the ways in which they conform to or challenge the norms of classical Hollywood cinema.


The idea of the formulaic ‘classical Hollywood cinema’ has been a benchmark for the study of consequent filmmaking styles and movements. It provides us with a template on which we may overlay other works and draw ideas as to the correlations between the different pieces. When viewed in context, it is these sorts of observations that help us to understand the interconnected relationships between the world, the filmmaker, the film and its audience, and to develop a more complex appreciation of the importance of art to the identification of man.

In 1941, Orson Welles released a film called Citizen Kane, a film that deals quite literally with the idea of the identification of man, specifically a man, Charles Foster Kane, who dies in the opening scene. This film, although initially not so successful due to a combination of mainly external factors, has been recognised as one of the finest made films to date (Carringer, 1996; Lecture Notes - Production). Deviating from the classical Hollywood cinema in several ways, including unusual mis-en-scene and audio-visual relationships, it is the narrative structure of Citizen Kane that makes it so effective in portraying the situation of the life and death of a powerful man in a time of great industry.

Similarly, Arthur Penn’s film, Bonnie & Clyde, has also been a focus of critical study, since its release in 1967. “Combining commercial success with critical controversy” (Kramer, 2005: 1), Bonnie & Clyde is said to be one of the films that marked a ‘renaissance’ era in Hollywood cinema, one that continued into the 1970s and became known as ‘New Hollywood’ (Kramer, 2005). Notable of the ‘new Hollywood’ films was their continuation of certain classical genres, as filmmakers of the time were drawing influence from extensive knowledge the ‘old’ Hollywood styles, but were then expanding these genres into new areas that reflected the values of not only the times the films were set, but the times in which they were made (Lecture Notes – New Hollywood; Kramer, 2005). Bonnie & Clyde, reminiscent of the gangster films of earlier Hollywood, also shows notable influence from European movements, particularly the ‘French New Wave’ that had emerged in the late 1950s. Distinguished by strong themes of sex and violence this new wave openly acknowledged its filmic nature (Bordwell & Thompson, 2008; Lecture Notes – New Hollywood), fashioning the proudly glamourous, reflective style evident [especially in the cinema scene, the characters’ fascination with fame, etc.] in Bonnie & Clyde.

Like countless films before and since them, both Bonnie & Clyde and Citizen Kane adhere to a narrative structure; a chain of images occurring that represent events and are organized in such a way that the audiences reactions may be manipulated, arousing any or many of a spectrum of emotions, opinions or thought. It is the relationship between pictures that creates these narratives and our association with them is dependent on the way in which they are delivered.

As a loosely biographical account of the two real-life figures from the 30s Depression Era, Bonnie & Clyde enjoys a fairly linear plot structure, beginning with the meeting of the two and twisting through a condensed version of the comedy and drama of their adventures toward a great climax. As Lester D Friedman describes:

“Boy meets girl in small-town Texas. Their crime spree begins as girl goads boy into robbing a grocery store; they speed out of town in a stolen car, spirits high. Against the backdrop of depression-era America, this attractive and stylish young couple and their accomplices careen through stickups and shootouts, kidnappings and narrow escapes, ultimately meeting their dramatic end in a legendary ambush.” (1999: 1)

The traditional narrative form of introduction, complication and [briefly] resolution can be identified in the film. We are introduced to our unlikely protagonists at the beginning of the story, the exposition, and their situations are immediately clear; Clyde is a crook and Bonnie a small-town waitress, dreaming of something bigger. From this moment the action quickly escalates to a point where they can no longer turn back; Clyde shoots a man during a robbery.

The body of the narrative is a series of ups and downs; the film characterized by dramatic changes in tone. There is clear juxtaposition of light-heartedness and humour, realised in scenes of romance and friendship, and the very serious drama of some incredibly realistic violent scenes. The casting of the two main characters mimics these themes; a fair-haired Bonnie, capable of passion and gentleness and dreaming of fantastic romance, is often dressed in light coloured clothing that compliments her femininity. In the scene where the two first meet, she is like a ‘Juliet’ calling from her bedroom window. The fact that she is not clothed acts as a metaphor for her naivety and vulnerability. Clyde on the other hand has darker clothes and features and represents brutish masculinity and violent power. There are times when their power situations change though, for example Clyde’s self-assurance is challenged when he feels the need to express tenderness and open up to Bonnie [especially in sexual situations].

Unlike Bonnie & Clyde, Citizen Kane does not have a linear plot structure but, rather, follows an almost point-of-view revelation of a story through the eyes of the journalist Jerry Thompson, who encounters a number of different people’s perspectives and recollections of the man Charles Foster Kane as he pursues the origin of Kane’s dying word, ‘rosebud’. The limitations of this style contribute to a sense of mystery, which becomes the driving tension of the story, whereas in a movie such as Bonnie & Clyde, the tension is based on action and a snowballing sequence of events. Just like the recurring metaphor of the ‘puzzle’ throughout Citizen Kane, the picture falls together piece by piece.

Citizen Kane achieves a great deal of meaning from the devices of metaphor and motifs. The music score, for example, is notably based on ‘themes’, which encourage a sense of unity across the film and indicate the presence of certain forces, such as Herrmann’s “Power” theme, and the vulnerability of Charles Foster Kane represented by the “Rosebud” theme (Lecture Notes – Sound). The relationship between sound and picture is also a key to the movement of the narrative. Sound spikes, for example, are often used as a transition between scenes. Sound matching is also commonly employed as a continuity tool, very important in scenes to indicate a progression through time. Sound matching is used to trace the development of Charles Foster Kane’s political career, with the same speech moving through locations and speakers. It is also used to show the development of Susan’s ‘talents’ and the relationship between the two, from the ‘love nest’ to another house at a later date.

Graphic matches are also popular. In the opening scene a particularly powerful series of shots is used to introduce the audience to certain sorts of ideas:

EXT. XANADU – FAINT DAWN – 1940 (MINIATURE)
Window, very small in the distance, illuminated.
All around this is an almost totally black screen. Now, as the camera moves slowly towards the window which is almost a postage stamp in the frame, other forms appear; barbed wire, cyclone fencing, and now, looming up against an early morning sky, enormous iron grille work. Camera travels up what is now shown to be a gateway of gigantic proportions and holds on the top of it – a huge initial "K" showing darker and darker against the dawn sky. Through this and beyond we see the fairy-tale mountaintop of Xanadu, the great castle a sillhouette as its summit, the little window a distant accent in the darkness (Mankiewicz & Welles, Citizen Kane, Screenplay)

They set a premise for the movie in a number of different ways. Although the mis-en-scene is misleadingly gothic in appearance, the images of gates and fences imply a voyeuristic intrusion onto someone’s personal property.

The gloomy lighting, the deserted setting, and the ominous music give the opening of the film the eerie uncertainty that we associate with mystery stories. (Bordwell & Thompson, 2008: 309)

We later recognise, from his enormous collection of newspapers, statues and furniture and his treatment of Susan, that ‘property’ and ‘ownership’ are what Charles Foster Kane’s livelihood is based upon and what he prizes most. In each shot, the lit window appears in the same place and grows larger and larger. It is obvious that this window is the focal point, and it serves as a symbol for a ‘window’ into the story.

At the end of the film, this very first sequence is reversed, indicating that we are moving back out of the scene; Citizen Kane, the story and the man, is over. ‘Rosebud’, that very first utterance at the beginning of the film and the metaphor for Kane’s suppressed self, has taken a physical form and has been released into the atmosphere as a billowing plume of smoke. While Jerry Thompson is still oblivious to the mystery, he is resolved by concluding that ‘rosebud’ was simply a small piece of a much lager picture. The audience is resolved because our curiosities are satisfied and we understand that Jerry is very right. This style of resolution fits in line with traditional narrative structures and comfortably contrasts with the ambiguity of the opening scene. It ties up most of the loose ends, leaving a well-rounded story in its wake.

The final scene of Bonnie & Clyde, however, does not necessarily evoke that same sense of completedness, which can be considered unfitting with ideas of the classical narrative structure. The story itself, though linear, exists as almost a sort of snapshot of the tale. This echoes throughout the narrative, with the theme of wanting to capture and preserve moments in time often appearing, through suggestions of photography, poetry and news articles. There is a clear logic to it; the story of Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrows begins when they meet and ends when they part, a snapshot of the period that they existed and not before and not after.

Consideration of the classical structure of Hollywood cinema is important to filmmakers and viewers and critics alike. It is the ways in which filmmakers approach these norms that sets certain films aside from the rest. Both acclaimed as leading examples of the situation of the cinema of their times, Bonnie & Clyde and Citizen Kane take what they need from already established cinematic conventions, then push the boundaries into a league of their own. The rounded, non-linear form of Citizen Kane constructs the whole picture of a life and death of the fictional Charles Foster Kane from a sea of ambiguity, while Bonnie & Clyde’s progressive sequence immortalizes an interval of the lives and deaths of the historical figures Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrows. Both works strongly reflect their situations and, by acting as a portrait of these characters, serve to explore and comment on the human condition through the endless possibilities of the film medium.


Bibliography

Barton Palmer, R. 1986. ‘The metafictional Hitchcock: The Experience of Viewing and the Viewing of Experience in “Rear Window” and “Psycho”’, Cinema Journal, Vol. 25, No. 2 , University of Texas Press, Texas. [Online] http://www.jstor.org/pss/1225456 Accessed 12/6/08.

Bordwell, D and Thompson, K. 2008. Film Art: An Introduction, 8th Ed., McGraw-Hill, Sydney.

Carringer, R.L. 1996. The making of Citizen Kane, University of California Press, California

Friedman, L. D. 1999. Arthur Penn’s Bonnie and Clyde, Cambridge University Press, London.

Hitchcock, A. 1995. Hitchcock on Hitchcock, University of California Press, California.

Kramer, P. 2005. The New Hollywood: From Bonnie and Clyde to Star Wars, Wallflower Press, London.

Mankiewicz, H.J and Welles, O. Citizen Kane, A Screenplay, [Online] http://64.233.179.104/scholar?hl=en&lr=&client=safari&q=cache:OW9fgaC8ejoJ:ftp://162.105.169.100/pchen/MGF2002s/CitizenKane.doc+citizen+kane+musical+score [Accessed 12/5/08]

The Invisible Photo Album

I want to make a photo album for my friend. But he has all the photos I have. I don't know what to do.

Procrastination

Posting uni papers to avoid concentrating on uni papers.

Communication and Media in the United Kingdom

Report for an 'International Media Studies' class. No good. Not to be taken seriously.


Communication and Media in the United Kingdom

Table of Contents

1 Introduction to the United Kingdom
2 Communication Forms and Media in the United Kingdom
2.1 Print Media
2.2 Broadcast Media
2.2.1 Radio
2.2.2 Television
2.2.2.1 The Television License Fee
2.3 Telecommunications
3 Policy and regulation of Communications and the Media in the United Kingdom
3.1 The Department for Culture, Media and Sport
3.2 The Office of Communications
3.3 The Press Complaints Commission
3.3.1 The Editor’s Code of Practice
4 Relevant Defining features of Media in the United Kingdom
4.1 Public Service Broadcasting in the United Kingdom and Australia
5 Challenges to Media and Communication Policy in the United Kingdom
5.1 Switching Over to Digital in the United Kingdom
5.2 Media Convergence in the United Kingdom
5.2.1 The Digital Britain Review
6 Recommendations and Conclusions for the Minister and for Media and Communication in Australia
6.1 Switching Over to Digital in Australia
6.2 Media Convergence in Australia
7 List of References


Executive Summary

This report is intended for Senator Stephen Conroy, Minister for Broadband, Communication and the Digital Economy, to aid his visit to the United Kingdom to discuss approaches to media and communications policy with the Minister for Communications, Technology, and Broadcasting, Stephen Carter CBE (Department for Culture, Media and Sport, 2009, ‘Our…’). It gives a brief outline of the current situation of the media industry in the United Kingdom, identifying key challenges affecting media policy and the strategies being implemented to address them. This report highlights similarities between Australian media and communication industries and those of the United Kingdom, and suggests ways by which Australia might benefit from correspondence between the two countries on media and communication issues.

1 Introduction to the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom (UK) has long played a key role in international affairs, and is a significant member of organisations such as: European Union (Europa, 2009); the United Nations (Department of Public Information, 2009); and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO, 2009). The UK consists of Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales), and Northern Ireland. Queen Elizabeth II is head of state and the Prime Minister of the UK is Gordon Brown (BBC News, 2009).

2 Communication Forms and Media in the United Kingdom

2.1 Print Media
There is a widespread press presence in the UK, which includes Telegraph Media Group’s The Daily Telegraph (Telegraph Media Group Limited, 2009), Pearson’s The Financial Times (Pearson, 2009), The Guardian Media Group’s The Guardian (Guardian Media Group PLC, 2007), Independent News & Media PLC’s The Independent (Independent News & Media PLC, 2008), News Corporation’s The Times and The Sun (News Corporation, 2009), Trinity Mirror PLC’s The Mirror and Western Mail (Trinity Mirror PLC, 2009), Associated Newspaper’s The Daily Mail (Associated Newspapers Limited, 2008), Northern & Shell’s The Daily Express (N&S Network, 2006), and Johnston Press’ The Scotsman (Johnston Press PLC, 2009)(BBC News, 2009).

2.2 Broadcast Media
Public-service broadcasting has been a significant part of UK broadcast media since 1922, when the British Broadcasting Company began broadcasting on the radio. Commercial television was introduced in 1955 and commercial radio in the 1970s. These days the BBC competes with many commercial broadcasters (BBC News, 2009).

2.2.1 Radio
The BBC’s radio broadcasting role is extensive, with services that include eleven national radio stations, forty local radio stations and BBC World Service (BBC Radio, 2009). These non-commercial stations are funded by the Television License Fee (see 2.2.2.1). Some of the main commercial groups in radio broadcasting are Absolute Radio, Talk Sport and Classic FM. Radio in the UK is beginning to move away from analogue and into digital formats (BBC News, 2009).

2.2.2 Television
Public and private broadcasting companies provide television services in the United Kingdom. The Television Licensing Fee also funds the BBC’s non-commercial television services (see 2.2.2.1). Channel 4 and, in Wales, S4C are public stations financed by both Government grants and advertising revenue. There are also privately owned commercial broadcasters ITV, Five and Teletext. (Department for Culture, Media and Sport, 2009, ‘The BBC…’). Television in the UK is also moving toward completely digital transmission (see 5.1). There are also many cable and satellite networks available.

2.2.2.1 The Television License Fee
The BBC Royal Charter authorises a Television License Fee, set by the Department of Culture, media and Sport, which funds the BBC’s public broadcasting services across the UK Television licenses are compulsory for households with a television receiver (BBC, 2009, ‘About the BBC: Royal…’).
A group of private companies called TV Licensing oversee the enforcement of this system under contract by the BBC.
There are currently 25 million active TV Licenses, 3.9 million of these are provided free of charge to people over 75 and about 40, 000 are provided at a 50% blind concession rate. The current annual TV license costs £142.50 for colour and £48.00 for black and white (TV Licensing, 2009).

2.3 Telecommunications
There are mobile and landline telephone networks in the United Kingdom and Broadband and Dial-up Internet service providers. Many traditional media (print, radio and television) are turning to the Internet as a new improved platform for reaching audiences (Thussu, 2006:217-218). Privately owned providers dominate telecommunications in the UK (p.67).

3 Policy and Regulation of Communication and Media in the United Kingdom
The main bodies that regulate the media and enforce policy in the UK include The Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the Office of Communications and the Press Complaints Commission.

3.1 The Department for Culture, Media and Sport
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport overlooks government policy for broadcasting, the arts and the creative industries (Department for Culture, Media and Sport, 2009, ‘The BBC…’). Rt Hon. Andy Burnham MP, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport and Stephen Carter CBE, the Minister for Communications, Technology and Broadcasting, work under this department (Department for Culture, Media and Sport, 2009, ‘Our Min…’).

3.2 The Office of Communications
Under the Communications Act 2003, the Office of Communications (Ofcom) was established. It is the regulatory body for UK radio, television, telecommunication and wireless communication systems. The act describes their main duty as furthering the communication and media interests of citizens and promoting market competition in the interests of consumers (Office of Public Sector Information, 2003: Section 3).
Ofcom is also obligated to ensure diverse radio and television services, diverse broadcast providers, and the broad availability of electronic communication services. They are also responsible for protecting citizens from any possible harm, privacy infringement, unfair treatment or offense from television or radio programming.

3.3 The Press Complaints Commission
In 1953 a voluntary Press Council was established and since then UK print media has been mainly self-regulated. In 1991 the Press Council was replaced by the Press Complaints Commission, which regulates publications by responding to complaints and enforcing the Editor’s Code of Practice (Press Complaints Commission, 2009).

3.3.1 The Editor’s Code of Practice
The Editor’s Code of Practice is a set of values similar to those of Australia’s Media Alliance Code of Ethics. It provides guidelines for UK magazine and newspaper publishing, with a set of ethical standards relating to privacy, accuracy, discrimination, harassment, right to reply and many other possible media issues (Press Complaints Commission, 2007).

4 Relevant Defining Features of Media in the United Kingdom

4.1 Public Service Broadcasting in the United Kingdom and Australia
Public service broadcasting has been recognised by the UK as a key tool for shaping their national media identity. Not only intending to provide cultural access to wide sections of the public, but also to enable people the opportunity to fulfill their roles as citizens, the BBC model has greatly contributed to the global media presence of the UK (Jacka in Cunningham and Turner, 2006:345), still being one of Europe’s largest television program exporters (Thussu, 2006:119).
The BBC was established in 1927 and was originally intended to create a non-profit, publicly run broadcasting monopoly in the UK (Thussu, 2000:26). Australia’s public service broadcasters, SBS and especially ABC were originally based on the BBC model, but these channels did not enjoy as much government support as their UK counterpart, and continue to receive less funding yearly (Jacka in Cunningham and Turner, 2006:348)
The United Kingdom has forged a strong international identity with their cross-media pubic broadcasting sector and is evidence of how government support can strongly reinforce cultural development.

5 Challenges to Media and Communication Policy in the United Kingdom

5.1 Switching Over to Digital in the United Kingdom
The ‘switchover’ to digital radio and television broadcast services is one of the primary concerns of the broadcast media industries in both the UK and Australia at present. Under the Communications Act 2003, Ofcom initiated a plan to discontinue analogue broadcasting methods in favour of digital. Digital promises a wider range of subscription options, increased quality, greater selection of channels and wider access, in particular for the hearing and sight impaired. The plan was enacted in 2008 and will be carried out by 2012 (DigitalUK, 2009).

5.2 Media Convergence in the United Kingdom
As technologies become more accessible and advanced, the distinctions between different sectors of media, company interests and content areas are progressively becoming ambiguous. Australia and the UK alike are in an era marked by ‘media convergence’ that has resulted from the relaxation of cross-media ownership restrictions and deregulation of the industries. Companies are moving to expand their interests with acquisitions and mergers, resulting in a more concentrated ownership across media outlets (Thussu, 2006:98) The UK is responding to this change in the media landscape and its implications for policy and regulation. One of these responses includes the establishment of a core body of experts known as the Digital Britain review.

5.2.1 The Digital Britain Review
On January 29, 2009, the UK Government published a report proposing many steps toward asserting their country as one of the leading countries in the digital economy. This report listed 22 goals such as the digitalization of television and radio, increased access to broadband Internet and the possible creation of a second large-scale UK pubic service provider (Department for Culture, Media and Sport, 2009, ‘Digital Brit...’). The Digital Britain review replaced the Convergence Think Talk, a joint initiative between the U.K. Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, which aimed to examine technological implications for media and help shape policy (Convergence Think Tank, 2008).

6 Recommendations and Conclusions for the minister and for Media and Communication in Australia

6.1 Switching Over to Digital in Australia
According to the Australia’s Department of Broadband, Communication and the Digital Economy, Australia’s deadline for switching over to digital media is end of 2013. The Digital Switchover Taskforce is the section of the department that will oversee the switchover and aims to address research, awareness, policy, information and access issues (Department of Broadband, Communication and the Digital Economy, 2009).

The Department of Broadband, Communication and the Digital Economy will benefit from dialogue with the United Kingdom over implementation of switchover timetabling and strategy, as well as discussion of awareness, intention of the public to convert and research into conversion rates.

6.2 Media Convergence in Australia
Media convergence will certainly call for a reconsideration of policy and regulation in Australia in relation to ownership across mediums, service delivery and content. The level of market competition increases as the variety of content provided by media outlets decreases (Cunningham and Turner, 2006), which could have positive effects such as encouraging providers to provide quality services at less cost to the consumer.
Like the UK, Australia too should prepare to change with the evolving landscape of the media. The growing influence of multinational and transnational corporations and the effects of industry globalisation mean that it is up to the Department to keep abreast of both international and domestic converging markets.

7 List of References

Associated Newspapers Limited, 2008. Daily Mail [Internet] Associated Newspapers Limited Website, available at: http://www.associatednewspapers.com/dailymail.htm [Accessed 29 April 2009]

BBC, 2009. About the BBC: BBC License Fee [Internet] BBC Website, available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/info/licencefee/ [Accessed 27 April 2009]

BBC, 2009. About the BBC: Royal Charter and Agreement [Internet] BBC Website, available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/info/policies/charter/ [Accessed 28 April 2009]

BBC News, 2009. Country Profile: United Kingdom [Internet] BBC News Website, available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/country_profiles/1038758.stm [Accessed 27 April 2009]

BBC Radio, 2009. Home [Internet] available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio [Accessed 28 April 2009]

Convergence Think Tank, 2008. Welcome to the Convergence Think Tank Website [Internet] Department for Culture, Media and Sport Website, available at: http://www.culture.gov.uk/Convergence/ [Accessed 26 April 2009]

Department for Culture, Media and Sport, 2009. Digital Britain: The Interim Report – Government outlines plans for UK’s digital transition [Internet], Department for Culture, Media and Sport Website, available at: http://www.culture.gov.uk/reference_library/media_releases/5783.aspx [Accessed 29 April 2009]

Department for Culture, Media and Sport, 2009. Our Ministers [Internet] Department for Culture, Media and Sport Website, available at: http://www.culture.gov.uk/about_us/our_ministers/default.aspx [Accessed 24 April 2009]

Department for Culture Media and Sport, 2009. The BBC and other Public Service Broadcasting [Internet] Department for Culture, media and Sport Website, available at: http://www.culture.gov.uk/what_we_do/Broadcasting/bbc_public_service_broadcasting/ [Accessed 24 April 2009]

Department of Broadband, Communication and the Digital Economy, 2009. Digital Television Switchover, [Internet] Department of Broadband, Communication and the Digital Economy Website, available at: http://www.dbcde.gov.au/media_broadcasting/television/digital_televison_switchover [Accessed 26 April 2009]

Department for Public Information, 2009. United Nations Member States [Internet] United Nations Website, available at: http://www.un.org/members/list.shtml [Accessed 28 April 2009]

Digital UK, 2009. What is the digital TV switchover? Benefits, information and advice [Internet] Digital UK Ltd., available at: http://www.digitaluk.co.uk/what [Accessed 28 April 2009]

Europa, 2009. The European Union at a Glance [Internet] Europa Website, available at: http://europa.eu/abc/index_en.htm [Accessed 27 April 2009]

Guardian Media Group PLC, 2007. Our Businesses: Guardian News & Media [Internet] Guardian Media Group Website, available at: http://www.gmgplc.co.uk/Ourbusinesses/GuardianNewsMedia/tabid/129/Default.aspx [Accessed 28 April 2009]

Independent News & Media PLC, 2008. About INM [Internet] Independent News & Media PLC Website, available at: http://www.inmplc.com/about-inm/profile/ [Accessed 28 April 2009]

Jacka, E. 2006. ‘The Future of Public Broadcasting’, in The Media & Communications in Australia (2nd ed), Cunningham, S & Turner, G (Eds.), Allen & Unwin, Sydney.

Johnston Press PLC, 2009. The Scotsman Publications [Internet] Johnston Press PLC Website, available at http://www.johnstonpress.co.uk/jpplc/ourbusiness/publishingdivision/division.jsp?ref=7 [Accessed 29 April 2009]

NATO, 2009. NATO Member Countries, [Internet] NATO Website, available at: http://www.nato.int/structur/countries.htm [Accessed 28 April 2009]

News Corporation, 2009. Newspapers & Information Services [Internet] News Corporation Website, available at: http://www.newscorp.com/operations/newspapers.html [Accessed 28 April 2009]

Office of Public Sector Information, 2003. Communications Act 2003 [Internet] Office of Public Sector Information Website,available at:http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2003/ukpga_20030021_en_1 [Accessed 26 April 2009]

Pearson, 2009. About Us, [Internet] Pearson Website,available at:http://www.pearson.com/index.cfm?pageid=2 [Accessed 28 April 2009]

Press Complaints Commission, 2009. History [Internet] Press Complaints Commission Website,avaiable at: http://www.pcc.org.uk/about/history.html [Accessed 26 April 2009]

Press Complaints Commission, 2009. Newspaper and Magazine Publishing in the U.K.: Editor’s Code of Practice [Internet] Press Complaints Commission Website,available at: http://www.pcc.org.uk/cop/practice.html [Accessed 26 April 2009]

Telegraph Media Group Limited, 2009. Terms and Conditions [Internet] The Daily Telegraph Website,avaiable at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/topics/about-us/3692012/Terms-and-Conditions.html [Accessed 29 April 2009]

Thussu, D. K., 2000. International Communication: Continuity and Change, Arnold, Great Britain.

Thussu, D. K., 2006. International Communication: Continuity and Change (2nd ed.), Hodder Arnold, Great Britain.

Trinity Mirror PLC, 2009. Nationals Division [Internet] Trinity Mirror Website, availabe at:http://www.trinitymirror.com/brands/nationals/ [Accessed 29 April 2009]

TV Licensing, 2009. TV License Information [Internet], TV Licensing Website, available at:http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/information/index.jsp [Accessed 27 April 2009]

Channel Nine and Four Models of Communication

Essay for a 'Communication Studies' class. Not serious.

Channel Nine and Four Models of Mass Communication

The technological facilitation of communication has become commonplace in the everyday lives of individuals of Western society. Devices for mass communication have found places in the houses and daily routines of many. It has, for example, become unusual for average homes to be without Internet and television provisions, and even less common for individuals to be completely without access to these media. Flew and Gilmour write that:

“Television is the most widely used mass media form in Australia and in the world. About 99 per cent of Australians own at least one television and, on average, they spend over 20 hours a week – or 36 per cent of their leisure time – watching television programs.”
(Productivity Commission 2000, cited in Flew and Gilmour, 2006:175)

While there is no doubt television has a role in Australian Society and culture, that role is not necessarily easy to define. McQuail (1994: 49-55) identifies four models by which we may attempt to describe mass communication media. These include the transmission model, a view which accounts for mass communication as mainly unidirectional and prescriptive, where messages are ‘loaded’ into media material and ‘fed’ to the masses; the ritual model, by which mass communication is the routine maintenance of public unity by reinforcing a collective cultural identity; a publicity model where the mass media’s main role is to attract and hold the attention of audiences; and a reception model, which locates the actual power over the effects of mass media in the hands of audiences themselves. While it is possible to identify fundamental properties of each of these models in specific examples of mass media, we will here explore whether it is possible to account for each idea simultaneously, using Channel Nine as an example of Australian free-to-air commercial television programming.

The Nine Network is one of Australia’s major free-to-air commercial television broadcasters, and is a prime example of mass media due to its scope and accessibility, with headquarters in Sydney, Darwin, Brisbane and Melbourne (Free TV Australia, ‘TV Stati…’, 2008). The television medium lends itself to earlier transmission views of mass communication with what could be seen as a predominantly unidirectional flow of information: from a central point (creators of content like Channel Nine) to multiple possible peripheral receivers (audiences like the Australian public). McQuail locates the transmission model at the core of common conceptualisations of mass communication (what he refers to as the “dominant paradigm” (p.41-45)), and describes it as the transmission of a fixed amount of information, or a ‘message’, that is determined by the sender and received by a broad audience (p. 49-50).
When we look at Channel Nine, it is not difficult to identify this process. If we were to ask Laswell’s question of ‘Who says what to whom, through what channel and with what effect?’ (McQuail p.50) we might, to use an example, answer: ‘Channel Nine gives gardening advice to the Australian public on their program Domestic Blitz, which is broadcast and received by Australians on televisions, and Australians become better gardeners’. But here we can already see an emerging flaw in the fundamental ideas of the transmission model; the supposition that reception of these fixed messages necessarily results in the fulfilled desires of the sender. We will later return to this idea when we discuss the reception model.
Westley and MacLean (1957, cited in McQuail) built on this early transmission view, suggesting that the sender determines what they send based on an assessment of what their audience wants. This incorporates a feedback idea, which more appropriately situates mass communicators as actual media (a medium between “events and ‘voices’ in society” and “receivers”) rather than as the source of messages (McQuail, p. 50). This feedback role reshapes this model from linear to more circular, but further implies that media has no further purpose than to reply to these ‘voices in society’ and satisfy audience needs.
While pleasing audiences is surely a key intention, suggesting it’s television’s only intention paints the image of a public-spirited mass industry without interests outside of the service of others. When factors like ownership and politics, advertising content and competition between broadcasters are considered, this appears to be an unlikely, oversimplified representation. A publicity model, which we will also discuss later, implies that these interests belong to those who use mass media for their own devices (advertisers, network owners, etc.), and not the mass media themselves, but it could be seen that these are one and the same, as surely it is these peripheral interests that determine the longevity of the medium. There are also many other possible motives for mass communication.

One of these possible motives is the preservation of culture. Unlike a transmission view, the purpose of mass communication from a ritual perspective places emphasis on maintaining a society, and less on ‘controlling’ it. The ritual communication model describes mass communication as celebratory in nature, with the power to help societies develop a rich cultural identity, a power commonly associated with art, religion and festivals (McQuail p.51). The repetitive nature of television programming (serials, regular news updates etc.), and the incorporation of television into everyday life (eg. morning cartoons, Saturday night movie, Friday night football) have ritualistic values not necessarily unlike those of religious practice (Carey, 2002:39). Like a religious ceremony would celebrate certain cultural values, Channel Nine dramas like McLeod’s Daughters and lifestyle programs like Domestic Blitz and Getaway could be seen to be celebratory of capitalist values and a perceived Australian culture of home-owning, land-loving, family-valuing and world-traveling.
It is important to note, however, that while not viewed as directly influential, ritual communication is not without consequence. There is a soft-power factor involved in the promotion of certain cultural values: it incidentally involves discouraging conflicting values, and so such communication can be seen to be ideologically loaded and, by its subtlety, seen to be a more sinister influence than a direct message. For example Getaway, a program where several charismatic presenters travel the world to sample many different forms of foreign culture (albeit often quite ‘packaged’ forms of culture), could be seen as ritual communication, designed for the pleasure of the communicator and audience; celebratory of the senses, with images like sweeping desserts and mountain ranges; and the sense of traveling vicariously through the program. However Getaway, as well as acting as a sort of exclusive extended video catalogue for destinations and services (like Hilton Sydney and Virgin Blue)(Getaway, 2008), it encourages a sort of consumerism by equating purchased experience with self-improvement and spirituality, and presenting the increasingly unattainable ideas of world travel and worry-free luxury to average Australians. While the value-setting nature of ritual communication is fundamental to the maintenance of culture, the selective role of the communicator, as highlighted by the transmission view, means that relatively small amount of mass communicators potentially have a very great amount of influence over society and culture.

Lifestyle programming was a key to the success of Channel Nine throughout the nineties and still plays an important role. Flew and Gilmour write that “lifestyle programming was most strongly associated with the commercial networks, particularly as it allowed close tie-ins between programs, program sponsors, associated magazines and the broadcaster’s website”(p. 183). In the last decade ‘reality’ television has risen to the front, Channel Nine’s current top five most popular shows including The Farmer Wants A Wife, Australia’s Funniest Home Video Show and Aussie Ladette to Lady (Channel Nine, 2009). Flew and Gilmour would identify reality television, despite the fact that most incorporate imported formats, as “culturally specific local content” (p.191). This particular genre fits well with a third model of mass communication: a publicity model.
The publicity model outlined in McQuail posits communication as an attention-seeking display, aiming simply to “catch and hold visual or aural attention” or generate “audience revenue” (p.52). It could be, in fact, that reality television is an audience revenue machine, having not only the content and production values (eg. theme songs, bright logos, exciting camera angles) necessary to attract and maintain large audiences, but the feedback mechanisms in place to actually measure their audience revenue; their viewer telephone voting systems, online content and live audience specials and finales. One prime example of this adaptable hybrid genre was Channel Nine’s successful renovation program The Block, which aired in 2003 and 2004. Flew and Gilmour write that The Block:

“…combined lifestyle and reality TV staples such as home improvement, competition among contestants, public auctions, viewer voting, dramatic tension among the participants and a quite breathtaking amount of product placement. It tapped into the national obsession with realizing capital gains through home improvement in the early 2000s…”
(Flew and Gilmour, 2006: 184)

However the audience revenue of The Block and programs like it is of little import without peripheral concerns like advertising. Audience revenue not only attracts the attention of advertisers for advertising in breaks, but during the program as well (sponsor logos are often visible and supplier lists available at the end of shows and online). While advertising agendas are evident, this model would suggest that these agendas belong to those who use mass media, while the purpose of the media themselves goes no further than creating and maintaining a potentially transient ‘spectatorship’, which is competitive because it ensures the media outlet continues to exist in its role of cultural maintenance. But, though peripheral, advertising and competition agendas also provide compelling motives for attention seeking.
There also remains the question of whether the idea of audiences as mere inactive spectators is in fact reasonable. While audience roles are acknowledged in the three models illustrated above, and obviously essential to the idea of mass communication, it is possible that their role has not yet been sufficiently accounted for. A transmission model, as we have seen, would hint at a malleable mass audience who yield easily to comply with media messages, while above we explored possibly negative implications to audiences from a ritual perspective. A publicity model situates audiences as idle onlookers, but these models have not yet acknowledged any potential agency of individuals in perceiving media messages.

A reception model instills significance in the encoding and decoding process present in mass communication. While, congruent with a transmission model, senders may be able to ‘encode’ meaning into media content, a reception perspective suggests that:

“…receivers (‘decoders’) are not obliged to accept messages as sent but can and do resist ideological influence by applying variant or oppositional readings, according to their own experience and outlook.”
(McQuail, p.53)

A model with its focus on reception would imply that an ideologically loaded lifestyle program could have little to no effect on a viewer whose knowledge and environment has predisposed them to be able to recognise unrealistic ideologies and separate them from their perception of reality. While this sunny situation for individual audience members is not always the case, the fact that it is possible must be considered. McQuail writes that:

“…the most significant point is that decoding can take a different course than intended. Receivers can read between the lines and even reverse the intended direction of the message.”
(McQuail p.54)

This approach is consistent with Pierre Bourdieu’s notion of habitus; that human thought and behaviour is relative to their practical knowledge of the world. Here a possible complication emerges: if perception depends on habitus, and habitus consists of “tradition, practice, and other forms of tacit knowledge” that form and exist within a cultural context (St. Clair et al, [nd], p.149-150), and mass media perpetuates culture, then a cycle becomes apparent where individuals may not have access to the knowledge that allows them such perceptions. But still yet there are those who do, just as mass media sustains a mass culture, alternative communication channels provide arenas for discourse and alternative views.
A reception perspective compliments and expands on other views of mass communication. It elaborates on the ‘feedback’ and ‘voices in society’ ideas suggested above in a transmission model. It acknowledges audiences’ possible awareness of the values sustained by ritualistic mass communication, and highlights the available option of opting out of participation. While a reception approach clashes with the idea of an inactive spectatorship, it adds a new dimension to the publicity model that increases cause for competitive production values: the possibility of a critical spectatorship.

The fact that it is possible to identify fundamental aspects of each of these models in a particular example of mass communication suggests that these models are not mutually exclusive; they do not conflict in ways significant enough to render them unable to co-exist. While some ideas are incompatible, like the transmission model’s underestimation of the audience role in shaping meaning as illustrated in the reception model, for the most part each of these ideas overlap. McQuail too suggests that these four models for mass communication are “not necessarily inconsistent” with each other (p. 49), suggesting that any single model would be insufficient to describe the mass media role. A more complete picture might incorporate ritualistic fulfillment of the transmission model’s feedback, communicator, message and audience roles, but without the implications that the message remains clear throughout the process (as it can often play second fiddle to attention-seeking devices as outlined in the publicity model) or that the receiver determines the message and acts as ‘intended’ (for, as illustrated by McQuail’s description of a reception model, the social contexts and personal choices of individual audience members can shape their interpretation of media material).
While here our discussion concludes with the idea that these models are not mutually exclusive, a more thorough study would, of course, more completely cover the topic. Shortcomings of this discussion include the extent to which Channel Nine broadcasting content could be deconstructed, and the fact that it provides merely a thumbnail sketch of the key ideas of these four different models of mass communication.


BIBLIOGRAPHY

Carey, J. 2002. ‘A Cultural Approach to Communication’ in Dennis McQuail, McQuail’s Reader in Mass Communication Theory, Sage, London.

Channel Nine, 2009. ‘Home’ [Internet] Available from: http://channelnine.ninemsn.com.au/ [Accessed 9 April 2009)

Flew, T and Gilmour, C. 2006. ‘Television and Pay TV’, Chp. 10 in Stuart Cunningham and Graeme Turner (Eds.), The Media & Communications in Australia, Allen & Unwin, Crows Nest.

Free TV Australia, 2008. ‘TV Station Members’ [Internet] Free TV Australia Website. Available from: http://www.freetv.com.au/Content_Common/pg-TV-Station-Members.seo#Nine%20Network [Accessed 8 April 2009]

Getaway, 2009. ‘Getaway Fact Sheets’ [Internet] Ninemsn Website. Available from: http://getaway.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=799813[Accessed 9 April 2009]

McQuail, D. 1994. Mass Communication Theory: An Introduction. 3rd ed., Sage, London.

St. Clair, R., Rodriguez, W. and Nelson, C. [nd]. ‘Habitus and Communication Theory’, Intercultural Communication Studies XIII. [Accessed online Feb 2006, Published in 2006 CMNS1110 Introduction to Communication Studies Course Reader]

You and I

We're very different people, you and I, and sometimes I just wish I could delete you, or mute you, but i can't because you're human, and I'll miss you when you die.

Things I keep that I don't need

paper, blue pens, old notebooks, magazines, old bags, broken things i might be able to fix, bad clothes with nice material, bad company, myself awake when i could be sleeping, chips on shoulders, bad music, insane paranoia, shoes i don't wear, old planners, bad socks, bad belts, bad products that might come in handy one day bad pictures, pictures of nothing, pictures of boring things, pictures of ugly things, pictures of ugly people, videos i don't need, won't use, videos rom that horrible video camera, dockets, other.

I don't Want

i don't want to sit over some trendy cafe lunch table and sip coffee with you. i hate coffee. i don't want to learn what you're like, so i'll be able to more accurately pinpoint how much better you are than me. i don't want your stupid awkward looks, or to hear about your stupid music tastes, or books, or look at your stupid face, or hear about the stuff you make, which i probably wouldn't like. i've built you all up in my head and i bet you're nothing alike.

Looking for Liars

Hello, I'll assume you've found my Draft blog somehow or another. Here I will write. Here you will read. Here you will finish reading. You will forget to tune in. I will forget you read. I will forget to update. You will forget I update. We'll all forget. We'll all get down. Down on downdates. We won't even know where we're up to. Where are we up to? I forgot.


made in the car the other day:

The water

the shore is looking safe, the water's cold I'm sure. i'm looking at the water, i'm standing on the shore, and nothing's gonna change me, i'm staying where I stand. understand.
i'd have to take off all my clothes and jump into the water and swim out to te rock and climb its scaly side, and when i get to the top, there's nowhere left to hide. i'm staying on the shore.

recorded a draft,
it'll see you in the future.