So a few weeks have passed since I had time to do any blogging. I have just finished a non-stop seven week cycle of university, work, study and attempts at a social life and feel like I have come through relatively unharmed. In the future I will know that the end of a week in which I have an exam and over 3000 words to write, I ought to take a night off work so I don't hit a brick wall! Furthermore it would benefit my workmates also who have to deal with me dragging my feet and wanting to burn small animals..

Aside from that I feel like I put out some pretty good stuff this term. An online news article I wrote would have got a distinction (but didn't due to a small oversight) and though I failed it because of that, it only counts for 5% of my grade so I am not feeling too horrible about it. Having never failed an assignment or received less than a credit for most work I do though I didn't feel too great about it to start with though.

If I knew how to upload videos, too, I'd put up a news story I wrote whose visuals I'm pretty proud of. I chose to do my first TV news story of the year on the issue of the insertion of Indigenous/Torres Strait Islander experience into the proposed national curriculum and ended up feeling like it was more about self-determination than the curriculum. I interviewed Andrew Barr (an experience I grew to hate after watching the interview over and over while editing; also learned what I can do to make myself cringe endlessly), a UC Ed. student and Aunty Jude at the National Tent Embassy and the latter two talent had a lot to say on the issue, mostly relating to the failures of paternalism in closing the gap.

In doing a piece on Indigenous issues I felt a little (very) white and that I was treading the fine line between perpetuating white paternalism and providing a forum/platform for those who are not only in touch with their community but in positions to address government/bureaucracy in order to create positive change.

In the conversations I had with Adam and Aunty Jude though I came to question why I felt I was in any position to do such a piece and in doing so I came to realise a few things about myself and what I may like to do in the future. Ultimately, I came to realise that the issue of human rights is one I feel strongly about. What I've learned in my International Studies units combined with Journalism will put me in a great position to research, understand and then bring attention to issues that prevent the realisation of equality between all people.

An offshoot of that is my increasing disdain toward global, liberal market. I'm still developing ideas but the overwhelming feeling that money is the ultimate device of control within such a system is leading me to some big thinking about the nature of capitalist society. I'm not quite ready to go and join Socialist Alliance but it is something I'd like to take a bigger look into.

But the news story I wrote is one I'm proud of, mostly in the way I illustrated it and tied it into my script - obviously there's a few little cringe-worthy moments where I had to cut bits of interview to get the strongest points from Adam but largely I feel I created good visual juxtaposition of White and Indigenous histories with good transitions that tied into the script.


Today is the first day I've had off with absolutely nothing on in such a long time it feels biiiizaare! Don't know what I should do with it. But because I feel this blog has been a little staid til now I think the inclusion of some visuals should liven it up.

But by liven it up I mean simply 'illustrate' - the images I'm going to use are black and white.

Some of my favourite hip hop artists right now.   (Mos Def/Aesop Rock/A Tribe Called Quest)

I wake up with a Sublime song in my head every day. I am not even kidding.
Yesterday it was 'Scarlet Begonias,' today it was 'New Song'.
And if the scope of Sublime's influence over my life is not evident yet, I'd like to share a paragraph from the essay I turned in on Friday for my Peace and Conflict Studies class.

" Before foraying into academia to explore ‘development’ however, many observations of the negativity of its various forms can be found in popular culture and may underpin these ideas with a more appreciable succinctness. One particularly favoured by the author and thought to have significant relevance to this argument can be found within the ska genre. Bradley Nowell of Sublime penned ‘We’re only gonna die for our own arrogance’ in the early nineteen nineties, a concise summary of colonial and imperial practices and applicable to the globalist system of today:
‘Early man walked away, as modern man took control. Their minds weren’t all the same, and to conquer was the goal. So he built his great empire, and he slaughtered his own kind. He died a confused man, killed himself in his own mind. We’re only gonna die for our own arrogance.’ (Nowell, 1992)
That example of popular culture’s observations of history warns against behaviour typified by arrogance and prompts an exploration of the various forms of ‘development’ to understand in greater depth its failures for that reason. "

I also used Mos Def/MF Doom in the same essay:

" Even in developed countries like the United States, unequal distribution of wealth contributes to systems whose structure contributes to conflict. Observations of this can also be found in popular culture, and though vernacular of the following quote is specific to the culture from which it came, its message is relevant to the idea that even in developed nations liberal principle maintains an inequitable system.
Beef is when working [folk] can't find jobs, so they tryna find [folk] to rob. Tryna find bigger guns so they can finish the job ... [Beef is] when a soldier ends his life with his own gun, [then] tryin' to figure out what to tell his son ... Beef is oil prices and geopolitics ... Beef is Iraq, the West Bank, and Gaza Strip ... Beef is real life, happening every day. (MF Doom, Mos Def, 2006)
Highlighting issues that contribute to a state of negative peace even in the so-called developed world, this kind of social commentary is widespread and is a reminder that simply compelling states or previously marginalised peoples to join the ‘free’ world and providing them the tools thought to be needed to do so is not enough to support the achievement of peace. "

/wank.
In any event. Will be back in the swing of posting regularly soon!

Okay so it is way late but today has been an excellent day re: getting places with journalism. Absolutely loving that Online and Advanced Broadcast are able to be based on stories from the same lead but, obviously, made appropriate to each with creation/pursuit of new angles to do that.
Had a very positive 'pitch' with my lecturer (Caroline Fisher) today (sheepishly I don't want to admit previous grumpiness/indignance at a recent reprimand) after which I was able, despite being in a post-three-back-to-back-classes slump at 2pm, to get myself to NLA to take advantage of prime afternoon sun in their courtyard to down some San Pellegrino while making use of their wireless internet.
I was looking for information on the Canberra Institute's one-man band Peter Conway, who was a Hawke government advisor, and found it to be scarce so decided to give Shane Rattenbury a call; I interviewed him last year and thought maybe he'd like to have another chat. He was a lovely guy and really gave me some time, on and off record, so I feel he's a real genuine, humble sort of guy which made my first interview with an Ediroll and a politician much easier.
Turns out however education isn't his area of policy - how could I forget? so I was directed to Meredith Hunter's office and am now waiting to hear back from her. Then I thought I'd see if Andrew Barr had anything to say. His media adviser returned answers attributable to Mr  Barr by the end of the day, and has my number to confirm a quick meeting with the MP at some stage next week. Also, my wonderful friend Maddie gave me the number for an final-year education student at UC with lots of relevant experience and studies in the area under his belt so I've lined up an interview with him next week too.
So it has been a day of chasing leads and getting places I didn't think I would so feeling rather good about the whole thing now.

To put the proverbial icing on what was a very journalism-flavoured day, this evening at work I had the pleasure of looking after Virginia Haussegger and her partner for dinner! Affter the bill had been paid, I let some sycophant out. I told her I was a student of journalism and that I thought she was wonderful and she was so lovely, she knows Caroline and Matthew (Ricketson, fave lecturer/dude) and had great things to say about them and the course at UC and talked about the changing media landscape. She also said that that'd made her night - I think it was actually the other way around though!

So really, today was one of those, "I could totally be a journo when I grow up" days.

More to Media Watch

Thanks thisisapastiche (don't mind my blog-illiteracy when it comes to fancy tagging of other bloggers..) for that link. Thought I'd share to start with; who'd have thought 10 minutes of ragging on journos would be a week-in, week-out gig?

My next point - and I wanted to get it out there asap - is about the new national curriculum proposal. I'm going to have a little vent now because I'm chasing leads (hey International Studies readings, you're waiting ANOTHER day) in a hurry, first story of the semester is due on Thursday and I'm hoping I can use this one (for Online News) as the foundation for my next one, a TV news package due in two weeks (for ABJ).

So, on the subject of the National Curriculum proposal, its history outline in particular, Christopher Pyne (admittedly a hitherto unknown name to me) has said, 'the early signs were the “black armband” view was back.
“How can Australians know where we are heading in the future if we don't have a balanced view of our past,” Mr Pyne asked. ' (From this article)

*five minute blog-writing interval as I lurk Lily Allen's twitpic account after teeth/face washing*

So, in my attempts as lead-chasing, crack investigative Lois Lane I came across The Shape of the National Curriculum. There I found this doozy:
"The ... draft of the National Declaration declares commitments ‘to supporting all young Australians to become successful learners, confident individuals and active and informed citizens’ (Box 2) and to promoting equity in education."
According the draft,
"Active and informed citizens…
• have the capacity and inclination to act with moral and ethical integrity
• have an understanding of Australia’s system of government and civic life and
appreciate its diversity of culture and history, including the special place of
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures
• are able to relate and communicate across cultures, especially in relation to
cultures and countries of the Asia-Pacific
• have a desire and capacity to work for the common good, including
stewardship of the natural environment
• are responsible global and local citizens"

According to Pyne, this is a 'black armband approach.'
Julia Gillard defended the curriculum draft, saying it is 'neither black armband or white blindfold' as she and Kevin Rudd got cosy with kids in a classroom today (undoubtedly for the ABC TV news crew also in attendance). In spite of their very peachy-keen PR smiles and forced banter with children that made me slightly cringe, I am definitely in favour of curricula that seeks to shape children's knowledge so roundly.

This may be because, as UoM's Stuart Macintyre said earlier today, "[Our best estimate is] probably only half the children in Australian schools are studying history in any systematic way." (see Simon Santow's article for more from Pr Macintyre)

Case in point is my own education. The first four years of my primary schooling were spent at Collombatti Public School and if you make it to the website, you'll see that it's 10 years out of date. What's more is the school actually closed in 2001. This isn't a trip down NotQuiteLois' memory lane though; case in point being that I cannot recall any history subjects done in my time there. The next school I attended was a Catholic primary school in Kempsey and the general gist of history seemed to be the Roman Catholic view of the time when BC was becoming AD - or when Joseph received his coat, Mary Magdalene was turning tricks and Jesus H. Christ didn't quite become the carpenter his parents had thought he would.
Australia's colonial history was offered in the form of caricature prisoners in striped garb, cute fellows who stole little more than bread to feed their poor families and spent months on a boat with rats to arrive in the 'lucky country.' What small snatches I learned about our indigenous past came from playmates who attended public schools across Kempsey. When I arrived in the ACT, the idea of SOSE (Studie of Society and Environment) seemed to be similar to HSIE (Human Society and its Environment) though I had done neither in any real capacity. I touched on Mesopotamia in year 8 at an ACT government school and came second in history in year 9 (while on a 10 month stint back in Kempsey), but the content was sporadic and anyway, the achievement of being second best in the year surpassed retention of any content. In college here in the ACT, I elected to do all ancient history subjects, from the birth of Civilisation to Rome, receiving a minor in history for my studies. 

There you have a nice cross section of NSW/ACT schools. I have always felt the knowledge of Australian and world history I gained in any classroom to be lacking. That which I know outside of what I have outlined  I pursued outside of school, and upon reflection I feel rather that millions of Australians would benefit greatly from a broad focused, national history curriculum.

Blindfold or armband? How about give the kids the information and let them decide. Youngsters appear to have a great sense of right/wrong or fair/not until that code is demoralised somehow, and just maybe the examination of folly and triumph across time, culture, land and sea will actually enforce this moral code.

So while Pyne is whining about the Magna Carta and the Westminster system being overlooked, and only 10 references to Britain amid 66 references to Asia, maybe our kids will grow up with a relevant geopolitical awareness and regional understanding (heck, maybe even compassion!) while old fuddy duddies like Mr Pyne linger in a colonial past clinging to the Motherland and imperialism, more than comfortable with white blindfolds that will obscure armbands of any colour.