Communications II Learning Reflection

      I have learned a lot during my time in Communications class. At first before I even entered into this class I didn’t even know what diversity meant, it means what makes a person unique, by their skin colour, religion, personal style etc.  We also learned about bias, how you hear only one side of someone's point of view. Ethics was another term I wasn’t familiar with before entering this course. I heard of the term before but I didn’t know what it actually was in great detail, which is, is it unethical to accept a gift from your employer, so you faced with decisions that are difficult to decide upon but we are faced with them in our everyday lives.

  I have learned a lot about the media as well and how it can twist people’s minds in such a way that it is some form of brainwashing, but not all media is bad. I love watching CTV and Steve Murphy because he is not biased, and he ask questions in a respectful manner. He incorporates what we have learned in this program and puts them into action in his interviews and when he is anchoring, and that is what I admire about him and the CTV organization. When I graduate I plan on putting all of the things I have learned from this course into action, diversity for example. If I was hired to be a reporter and hope to be someday, I will try and incorporate diversity into my work because now I know how important it is in our community. Ethics, we are faced with decisions everyday but I will do my best to not make the wrong decision. Bias I think is one of the most important ones of them all because if you are doing a story, lets say and you are being bias towards it then you will begin to lose respect from your co-workers and that’s not something that I want to encounter when I am in the workplace. I want to be respected. Respect is something that you earn and throughout this course I feel that I have worked very hard to earn my respect from my colleagues and from my faculty and I want to maintain that reputation, and do my very best to keep striving for success.

The Falling Man

Last week our class watched a documentary called “The Falling Man”. It was about a man falling from the North Tower of the World Trade Centre, during the September 11 attacks in New York City, and aboutRichard Drew’s photograph, and the  controversy surrounding it. The identity of the man is still unknown. Because of the number of jumpers (200) that day, identifying the man wasn’t going to be an easy task.  So the media searched high and low for the falling man and they came across who they thought was the man’s family. The family of the alleged falling man, Norberto Hernandez, went through at least twelve photos until one caught their eye. It turned out Norberto Hernandez was not the falling man.

Five years after the attacks, the media came across another photo, of a man by the name of Jonathan Birley, who was an employee of the Windows of the World restaurant.  He was identified  by his boss, Chef Michael Lomonaco as the falling man.

Photographer Richard Drew dealt with a lot of controversy after taking this photo. In at least two cases newspaper stories using the image have attracted criticism from readers who found the image disturbing.

Personally I think the film told a great story and followed every single RTNDA code of ethics. One of the things that I disagreed with was when the media was saying that when the people jumped out of the buildings it was because they wanted to commit suicide. That was not the case they had nowhere else to go, it was either burn up into flames or jump. In my opinion, when the people jumped to their deaths it was the only time that they felt free after the plans crashed into the buildings. For the family members of the victims when they look at those pictures of their loved ones it is the last memory that they have of them, and when they said that in the film it was very emotional and a powerful statement.If you asked me what I would do in that that situation, the truth is I don’t know.Until I am actually in that situation I would just never know.           

A Class Divided

Last week our class watched a documentary called “A Class Divided”. The video was basically about Jane Elliott, an Elementary school teacher and her grade 3 class, and an exercise that would show people’s views about discrimination. She rounded up the children and separated them. The ones that had blue eyes were treated properly, the ones that had brown eyes they were treated very poorly, and unfair.  Then the tables were turned. After the exercise had concluded the children seemed really confused. But who really expected an 8 or 9 year old to understand the concept of what discrimination really is? The children were relived and that it was only a game to them, and now they can be whole again. Ten years later they all reunited, only this time they were all grown up and their teacher Jane Elliott came in and reflected on what happened on that day.

Personally I think everyone should experience this film no matter what race or ethnicity a person might be. Whether we realize it or not everyone in their life has experienced some form of discrimination or prejudice. I also think this was a brilliant example of how discrimination was presented. It also presents what it is like to be on the other side of the coin. After viewing this film hopefully a person would be less likely to focus on the differences they have with other people and see them as equals.    

Ethics

Last December when I volunteered with Eastlink TV there was an event called the Christmas Angles where elementary schools all across Colchester County come to either sing or show off their talent. It was a great show and I had an amazing time, until half way through the show a man had a heart attack right in the middle of the show. I was on camera I didn’t know what to do and I was really scared. I was really apprehensive at the time, it was my first time experiencing something like this.

The ambulance, firefighters, and everyone circled around the victim. Meanwhile, in the control room everyone was confused about what was going on, but the show went on. Now is it ethical or unethical to still go on with the show? The motto in any live event or business is the show must go on. In my opinion the show should of stopped because it created so much distraction and it was very scary to say the least. Especially when you have children present at the event and their parents are there all happy about their son and daughter performing, it killed the mood, and all of us should have waited until the victim was escorted safely out of the building. Unfortunately, when the victim made his way to the hospital he died. It was a horrible tragedy and I hope I never have to encounter a situation like this ever again. This sort of thing was unexpected obviously, and I hope that in the future all of us on the crew can take precautions and the next time we can be prepared.   

Residential Schools a Stolen Heritage

In 1928 a government official predicted Canada would end its “Indian problem” within two generations. Residential Schools were supposed to prepare the Micmac children to get them ready for life in a “white society”, but it did not turn out that way. Children between the ages of 6 to 15 were prohibited in speaking the aboriginal language if they did the children would be punished severely. The students would be forced to live on school premises , most of them had no contact with their families for up to 10 months at a time, sometimes even years. This would continue for decades leaving physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual scars that haunt the Micmac people to this day.

  In 2008 the government gave a public apology stating “the treatment of the Residential schools is a sad chapter in our history”. The Prime Minister not only not only apologized about the Residential school system but the creation on the system itself. Today many of the aboriginal people are still traumatized by the horrific events that the Residential schools have put on them, and the scars it has left.  The Aboriginal people will always have an influence on citizens not only across Canada but all around the globe.

Incorporating Diversity in My Work

What I am interested in perusing after I have completed the Radio and Television Arts program is becoming a videographer, and making documentaries is my main goal. However, after I graduated and am out looking for work, I am open to anything so I can have a foot in the door and to be able to work my way up to my goal.

5 ways that I would be able to incorporate diversity in my work are:

1. I would find subjects that focus on diversity for documentaries.

2. I would make an effort to find people of different ethnic and religious backgrounds to interview.

3. Shoot documentaries in different areas of the world to show different cultures.

4. Make an effort to work with people who are different than I am and can give another perspective.

5. Not be biased against any type of diversity in my documentaries.

Doing these five things would show that I am making a conscious effort to show diversity in my projects. It would help demonstrate different ethnic and religious backgrounds can be shown in any type of media work. Also it would educate people about diversity and give exposure to things people may not always see.

Media Court

I have recently read about the guidelines for Media and public access to the courts of Nova Scotia. The first part I read was about the justice system. I personally don’t agree with what the Justice System is doing right now because recently they just released a man that committed 2^nd degree murder, and said that “we educate our citizens about the law and enhance their confidence in the fairness of the legal system and the way it operates”. How is this fair? I think the law is not telling us certain things and want us to believe that our justice system is fair, but judging what they have done lately this proves that it hasn’t.

The next section I read was about the use of cameras and other recording devices in the public areas of court facilities.  I agree with having cameras outside of facilities and allowing journalists to videotape anywhere along the grounds of any building. I never ever had an experience in court, but I have observed other people in court. I have wanted to cover a story in a courtroom for the longest time because there is so much drama, plus I am interested in doing crime stories in the future. Our court system states that there is a notice of application for cameras to be in the courtroom that should be filed with the registrar and all other parties on their counsel with two clear days of receipt of the notice of application. 

After I read these sections I have learned a lot about the media courts that I never knew before. Now when I go out on a news shoot I will have the basic knowledge of the do’s and don’ts of what goes on in our court system.