The Big Issue- Multimedia Slideshow

The Big Issue, as you will soon find out when you watch this multimedia slideshow, is an independent current affairs and entertainment magazine, sold throughout Australia by people experiencing homelessness and unemployment.

Ashley Leal, Sarah Carswell and myself decided on this topic for our slideshow to illustrate the personal stories of those who sold the magazine. We intially wanted to share the lives of The Big Issue vendors in order to increase awareness of what they experience.

We arrived at the Woden Community Centre, where The Big Issue hold their monthly launch for the magazine. All vendors, volunteers and staff are invited to have some nibblies, share some gossip and generally mingle. As we got to know, this means a lot to the vendors, as they are often lonely and just in need of a good conversation.

Fair trade?

From that night at the Melbourne Comedy Festival when Josh Thomas did the promo for Fair Trade Easter eggs, I have started to take notice of what exactly Fair Trading is.

The Fair Trade Australia website says, “Fairtrade is about better prices, decent working conditions, local sustainability, and fair terms of trade for farmers and workers in the developing world.”

I knew the concept existed before, but I never really looked into it. We are so far removed in Australia from problems in other countries it is hard to imagine that people employ children, put them under horrible working conditions and then under pay them.

I found this article, where a man asks Nike to print ‘Sweatshop’ on his shoes as his personal I.D. Nike refuses, giving him all different responses in regards to his request. Read it for yourself here. I thoroughly enjoyed the final email.

“Service, struggle and sacrifice…”

President Obama said the above quotation in regards to the soldiers that have endured the War on Terror.

The death of Osama bin Laden yesterday, on May 1st 2011, is a very historic day.

In President Obama’s speech, he said, “His demise should be celebrated by all who believe in peace and dignity.”

The speech was very reassuring, as Obama continually does, to civilians everywhere. Obama said that we are not celebrating the death of a muslim, we are celebrating the death of someone who killed thousands of people, including many muslims.

“The death of bin Laden is the most significant achievement to date in our nations effort to defeat Al Qaeda,” said President Obama.

However, today, there are many people wondering what this means for the rest of the world.

The Royal Wedding

I love weddings.

I think this love started when I was about 16 and I found Mums wedding dress in the cupboard. I put it on, and it fit perfectly (at 16, which means it no longer does!)

Or maybe it was Mum’s recollection of Princess Di’s wedding, as she was in London at the time and it must have been hysteria.

She bought playing cards as memorabilia, and thats exactly what I am trying to do now, but it appears the website www.theroyalweddingwilliamkate.com may have crashed…

Tonight on Australian television there will be almost blanket coverage of the Royal Wedding with most channels broadcasting a commentary on the events in London.

Social Media

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A company called PaidContent has just released a new index called ‘Social Standing’ that allows companies to see if the branding for their companies or products are good or bad, from comments and likes on social media such as Facebook and Twitter.

This is just another way that social media allows us to interact with each other and the wider community.

Social media has so many different aspects.

It can be a networking tool for future journalists (like me!), it is a place where stalking and raping (in regards to Facebook) are acceptable, it allows everybody to know what you are doing at any one point in time, it records memories in the forms of photographs and conversations, it allows interaction between myself and my friends in South Africa, my cousin who is travelling Europe and my sister in Bathurst…. Okay, you get the point.

Facebook and Twitter and every other social medium are a fantastic way of doing all the things mentioned above. Sure, there are dangers to putting so much information net, youve just got to be sensible about what you share.

“Wolf!”

Rape.

Whether you’re male or female, young or old, wealthy or poor…. Rapists don’t discriminate.

From teachers and priests to mothers, fathers, family, strangers and gangs…. They have all been convicted of rape.

However, what happens when something of such a sensitive nature gets misinterpreted, miscommunicated…lied about?

When someone is accused of rape, it ruins them. There is no doubt that a right minded person would have a lower opinion of an accused rapist. Even if they have not yet been convicted.

Sex whilst under the influence is considered rape. How many people know actually think about this when they go out for a big night, and bring home that  girl or guy they danced with at the nightclub?

But wouldn’t someone, if they were able to give known consent, even whilst under the influence, not see this as rape? (However regretful it might seem in the morning).

An article about the ADFA accusations say that the Commodore Kafer has been asked to stand down.

There are rumours circulating about “Kate” from ADFA that I don’t want to believe, but the source is pretty reliable.

“Kate”, as she is being called, is the girl that has accused the guy she had sex with of broadcasting the encounter over the internet, via skype.

My source tells me that “Kate” has willingly had sex videos distributed before, and is well-known for being promiscuous on ADFA campus.

My source tells me that since this story came out, people in the defence force have had at least four meetings with their seniors, to ensure there is not this kind of culture, and to ensure that if anyone is experiencing this kind of thing to come straight forward, not to hide it, not deal with it themselves. This illustrates to me that the ‘culture’ that keeps being referred to in news stories are being blown out of proportion (who would have thought the media did that? [says the Journalism student])

The Backpacker

The Backpacker Blogger

[The above photo is taken from the SMH website]

Sitting in Online News, we are asked to look up a blogger for a mainstream media website.

There are two others in my group, and we decide to look at “The Backpacker” who blogs for the Sydney Morning Herald.

http://www.smh.com.au/travel/blog/the-backpacker

What a fantastic blog! Ben Groundwater’s blogs are compelling, exciting, funny and real.

Japan

What is your worst fear?

Drowning? Suffocating? Choking? Heart attack? Being crushed?

Imagine living in Japan when the Earthquake hit. And then the Tsunami. And now a possible nuclear disaster.

I imagine you have seen the photographs that have lined the front page of every Australian paper in the aftermath of this natural disaster.

And I also assume you have watched the news and seen the graphic images blanketing every network?

This highly emotive imagery is being watched by the world- but is it too graphic?

I found the front page of the Australian  and the Daily Telegraph newspaper to be quite a powerful picture- caturing emotion whilst still being conservative about which pictures are shown.

Front page image from The Australian and Daily Telegraph 15.03.2011

Here is a map of some of the affected places in Japan…

View Larger Map

And here is a video showing the ” target=”_blank”>tsunami.

In my humble opinion, Australian’s are very lucky that we have never had a disaster of this scale- Japan authorities say they are expecting more than 10 000 deaths.

I think that these images create the scene that I, personally, and many other people in Australia have never seen and probably will never see. This scale of destruction is awful to see, but it is happening and nobody should deny that.

These powerful images we see portray the crisis in real terms, they are not subtle, they dont hint- this is what is happening. I think we have to accept that, and know that we are lucky to be where we are right now.

Running late for an interview… the life and times of Kimberley Granger.

My interview with Amanda Bresnan starts at midday at the Legislative Assembly.

I wake up early for my morning exercise, have brekkie, shower and put on my “I’m an awesome Journalist” clothes.

I head up to uni to pick up the new Edirol (voice recording equipment), and get the paper. I grab a coffee, as it is only 11.10am and I really need one after my late night.

I get to my car, remember I don’t have fuel and choose ignore that the gauge is on empty so I can get to Civic early.

I arrive in Civic at 11.30am, park my car right near where Google says the Legislative Assembly is and gather my equipment.

I start walking and realise with disbelief that I have forgotten my headphones. Uh-oh, big mistake.

I think, “It’s ok, there are plenty of shops around.”

Unfortunately, none of these shops sell headphones, from newsagents to the post office, nobody can help me.

Shit, now its 11.50am!

Ok, i’ll have to go without and hope for the best. So I start walking in the direction Google tells me and at 11.55am when I have not arrived at the L.A I ask some workmen where I can find it.

“Oh thats all the way down there,” he says as he points in the way I have just come.

Happy Mardi Gras!

I went to Sydney on Saturday to participate in the ‘Equal Love Canberra’ parade for Mardi Gras.

We arrived in Sydney about 3, just before the road closures. Parked the car, trekked to the backpackers hostel, checked in, claimed our beds then started getting ready.

First go on the fishnets, then short shorts and then on goes the corset.  Makeup, eyeshadow, diamontes and glitter. Then the room fills with hairspray as the hair gets curled, straightened.  Next we bathe ourselves in perfume… and we are just about ready. On go the heels, and the final touches of lipgloss.