bachelor of communication honours

In Australia’s contemporary media climate, lobbying for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) by support group Friends of the ABC in the face of a senate-controlling and culturally hostile federal government, would perhaps appear futile.

What follows is a folio of three first-person journalistic features I wrote in my honours year,1 and an exegesis that gives a reflective analysis of these features.

This research project examines cross-cultural advertising and communication in the Asia-Pacific region. It looks at the issues and concerns raised by industry practitioners through a series of interviews, centred around several main threads.

With the creation of a new digital channel for children, there is industry concern that it will become a dumping ground for repeats and international productions. It has been recognised that in order for the initiative to have value, the number of new children’s television programs being produced in Australia for Australian children needs to increase.

When launching an advertising campaign with multi-cultural audiences, some advertisers, tend to forget the fact that they are dealing with more than one culture; especially when dealing with sensitive issue such as racism against international students where every culture experience and deal with this matter differently.

How will two key players in Melbourne’s community radio sector adjust to the inception of digital broadcasting?

Public and commercial radio have been quick to adapt to the new technology and have begun to venture into digital domain In comparison to community radio who has not yet embraced digital radio having a unique funding system and specific broadcasting values.

This project was interested in examining what could be an example of a ‘quality’ Australian Children’s television program. Limited research exists, which demonstrates what is important to take into consideration when creating a children’s television production.

The creation and publication of media objects has been altered significantly with the emergence of new media technologies, providing fresh challenges to media makers across a range of mediums, including the comic book.

The research problem examined in this honours project considers Generation Y's perceived lack of knowledge with regard to a key social advocacy issue. It is often suggested members of Generation Y do not engage with social advocacy issues, yet it can be argues this perceived indifference is a response to a lack of relevantly disseminated information.

We’re used to thinking of a narrative as a pathway: it moves from beginning to end in a predetermined route, chosen by the author, that gives the story a shape and a meaning for the audience. The popular understanding of a story, whether it’s told in film, books or television, is defined by this journey along a single pathway.

Immersion journalism uses personal experience as a method of research. This project consists of two pieces of feature writing using immersion as a journalistic methodology. These pieces are written for the “inspiring, nurturing, informing and empowering” magazine, Living Now. Journalism theory in relation to professional practice is contentious.

As Radio National pursues its online, networked media presence, it is engaging in the same media landscape as participatory cultures do, changing its relationship between the audience or uses and the broadcaster. As there is no precedent for this type of model, the ABC doesn’t know how to engage with their users, posing a problem with the formula of production.

Is that Smoker's Cough? And Other Fun Filled Stories Bought to You by Your Favourite Social Networks.

"Let's Do the Time Step Again" looks at the implications of media form on the ways that content is produced and received.

There is a gap in knowledge between media students and the media industry. With the development of an RMIT Masters of Communication (Media) program, we can create ways to close this gap and prepare beneficial industry pathways for students. The Masters of Communication (Media) program will also give students the (cross-platform) skills that are currently in demand by the industry.

Since 2006, the Korean version of Lonely Planet was out of print in South Korea because it was a too text-centralised travel guidebook for Korean travellers. They need a more visual-centric travel guide that has not only short explanations with a few photos about each location but many more images.

In an era of increasing global competition it is imperative that organisations have well researched communication strategies. To promote a product or service abroad, an organisation should clearly understand the political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental factors that may affect the success of the campaign.

This project explored the creative writing practice of screenwriting. How do I write an engaging thirty minute short film script?

Given the number of published approaches to writing for screen, combined with the personal nature of creative writing, research without practice cannot truly determine how an individual can write an engaging film of any length.

In 2004, Yasmin Ahmad launched her 2nd film Sepet, which drew much international attention and also eased a previous dearth of authentic Malaysian cinema. Known for her use of evocative storylines and sentimentalist themes, Sepet similarly portrays pristine interracial relationships.

Despite the apparent occurrence and development of culturally attuned ears coping with contemporary urban and digital soundscapes, there remains within this environment unwanted and personally obtrusive noises. Aural preferences that are subconscious or conditioned are both difficult and timely to achieve, but a quick fix to aural disturbances are only ever temporary.

The Australian landscape has long been subject to extreme weather conditions. The harsh climate of the outback along with dense vegetation and remote rural regions create the ideal setting for bushfires and other such emergencies.

We need to reconfigure the relationships between woman and world, woman and god, woman and father, woman and man in order to move into a new age of more fluid and ethical relationships.

I’m researching the role, benefits and features of podcasts and how to incorporate journalism techniques into a 12 episode serial. I don’t think mainstream media is embracing new online media as much as they can. In order to keep readers/listeners/viewers engaged mass media has to go online.

William Cooper, a pioneering Aboriginal rights activist, was the first Australian to lodge a protest with the German Embassy against Kristallnacht, and in doing so, brokered a link between his own struggle for human rights and the genocidal persecution against the Jews in Europe.

Michael Mann’s films have taken their place alongside the most dynamic and singular representations of modern urban environments within the cinema.

This thesis analyses Michael Mann’s representation of Los Angeles (LA) within his 2004 film, Collateral.