Introduction:

This is the very first assessment of Introduction to Journalism - a diary documenting my personal media use.

Over the period of 10 days, I have recorded my interaction with different forms of media. This recording has included my interests in broadcast, print and Internet media. This post will analyse the results of my media diary. The media outlets will be organized into categories:

· ‘News & Journalism’;
· ‘Communication’; and
· ‘Entertainment’.

‘News and Journalism’ will fundamentally include broadcast and print media. ‘Communication’ will include situations where I am able to communicate with others and vice versa. Finally ‘Entertainment’ will include media outlets that I typically use for entertainment purposes only. Although these categories cross over frequently and share media outlets (i.e. all three categories are available via the internet), I believe that the organisation is useful and clear.

Findings:

Over the course of the 10-day recording period, I had spent a total of 54 hours and 15 minutes using media outlets. The extent of this use was very surprising to me as the total number of hours is over 2 full days of constant media usage. Although I used a great deal of this media as forms of entertainment and socialising, the total quantum of time I had devoted to media use was shocking.

Throughout this post, I will be comparing my media usage results with a media survey taken by all students in 1111 Introduction to Journalism and Communication.

News & Journalism

My use of this category of media was surprisingly small. Only 11% of my media use was related to broadcast and print news. Of this 11%, the largest proportion (33% was spent listening to the radio), with 5 % of my overall media usage being radio related. Just over one-half (54 %) of my 1111 class also listens to the radio for less than an hour on a daily basis and most (83%) of these students listen while in the car. My radio use is typical of my student peers.

Overall, my use of online newspapers was lower than my 1111 class peers. The news website News.com, the U.Q. Library website and podcasts each accounted for 2% of my overall media usage. I did not use online newspapers during the diary period (i.e. recording 0% usage of online newspapers). This is well below the average of my student peers, with 69% of 1111 students indicating that they had received their news via online newspapers. This is supported by 41% of 1111 students stating that they read news online, while I spent less than 2% of my media usage reading news online.

My use of podcasts is also below the average expressed by 1111 students. A small proportion (6%) of 1111 students claimed to have spent the majority of their online time downloading podcasts. Personally, I have spent less than 2% of my media usage doing the same. Furthermore, my use of the U.Q. library website was only for university readings.

Finally my use of newspapers/magazines was only 1% of my overall media consumption. I recalled having read one article in the Women’s Weekly. It was, however, interesting. This is below the 1111 student average with 52% of 1111 students claiming to receive their news updates via hard copy newspapers.

News and Journalism Pie Graph

Communication

Compared to other categories, my use of the media communication category was significant, with one-quarter (25 %) of my overall media usage related to communicating. This included acting as a recipient or sender in formats that were either (intended) private or non-private.

A small proportion (12 %) of my overall media consumption was focused on the non-private, interpersonal website Facebook. Disregarding Facebook, my Internet related media (i.e. online news) accounts for only 4% of my overall media usage. Considering 12 % is my highest percentage regarding online media, I fit in well with the 92% of 1111 students who claim to spend most of their online time visiting the Facebook site.

Furthermore, I am like the other 95% of 1111 students who have a Facebook account. Additionally, similar to 95% of 1111 students, I too use the Smart Phone Facebook application.

Finally, the key way in which I differ from my 1111 student peers is that 48% of 1111 students claim to receive their news via Facebook. As I use Facebook for communicating to people I know for leisure purposes, I would not say that I am part of this group.

All of my other uses of media communication were comparatively small. My use of the non-private, interpersonal website U.Q. blackboard accounting for 6% of my overall media usage while my use of the Blog, a non-private, mainly sender (myself) only communicating website, accounted for 4%.

Regarding use of Blogs, I differ substantially to the majority of my 1111 student peers. Of these students, about one-third (33%) of 1111 students spend most of their online time reading the Blogs of others, whilst I do not. Furthermore, most (59%) of 1111 students at the time of taking the media survey did not have a Blog. Unlike these students, I already had one Blog, in line with the 41% of 1111 students who also blog.

My use of the (intended) private, sender/recipient functioning U.Q. email accounted for 2% of my overall media usage. This is in marked difference to the 53% of 1111 students who claimed to spend most of their online time focused on emailing. I would say I am below this average as I spend very little time viewing and sending emails.

I do not actively use Twitter or Skype and neither were used during the diary period. Similar to about 90% of 1111 students, I do not spend most of my online time using Twitter. In contrast to most (80%) of 1111 students, I use the Smart Phone Twitter application. Furthermore, in line with most (88%) 1111 students, I do not receive my news via Twitter. However, at the time of gathering data for the media survey, unlike most (68% 1111 students, I only had one Twitter account. In line with the feedback from most (75%) 1111 students, I did not spend most of my online time using Skype. This evidence shows that I mostly rely on the Facebook and Email media outlets for communicating.

Communication Pie Graph

Entertainment

My use of the entertainment media category was the largest, with a majority (61%) of my media usage related to entertainment. This includes my using media for mostly relaxation or enjoyment purposes.

The largest proportion (30%) of my overall media consumption was watching television. The majority (30%) of 1111 students (myself included) watch television for 1-2 hours per day. On average, I watched 1.6 hours of television per day during the 10-day period, which is inline with the viewing habits of my peers. The majority of my television viewing was spent watching non-news related shows, although a large portion of my television viewing was related to morning and evening news and this is inline with other 1111 students – 71% of whom receive their news in this way. Furthermore, differing to my peers, I do not watch television programs/shows online (which is done by 37% of 1111 students).

Other entertainment media use included:

· 12 % of my media use was watching movies

· 9% was spent reading novels and using smart phone applications (music).

Like other 1111 students (44%), I too have an Internet enabled smart phone. I use my Iphone mostly to listen to music, although the Iphone is fundamentally for communication. Most (89%) 1111 students listen to music using their smart phone or iPod.

Entertainment Pie Graph

Conclusion

Overall, the experience of reviewing my media and production diary has been eye opening. While I was surprised by the overall quantum of time I spent using media, I did not realise how little time I spent reviewing information from the more respectable news outlets and sources. I have, however, not been surprised regarding the amount of attention Facebook and smart phones both receive from my peers and myself.

Reference: Dr Bruce Redman – 2012 – Media survey - http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/MPHPL7K