Politics as Entertainment: The Shifting Format of Political Journalism

Political journalism maintains various vital functions for the fluid operation of democratic society; but with evolving media platforms, audiences and reportage – this form of journalism has had to adapt to survive. This essay will concentrate on how political journalism has been forced to transition towards fulfilling a more entertainment-centric role in news media, but in doing so has ensured its ability to perform the democratic functions expected of it. Several layers of theoretical analysis will be applied to this argument to better engage with the complexity of modern media systems, beginning with the underlying structural changes of news media and how they’ve influenced the contemporary adaptation of political journalism. A further factor of these changes can be seen in the shifting importance of audience interest and access in an increasingly competitive media landscape, featuring professionalised political machines. The rise of adversarial journalism is key to this debate, using satire as a response to both the domination of entertainment news in the political sphere, and the complex relationships news media now shares with consumers. A case study of the 2016 United States election coverage, incorporating the pivotal role of ‘fake news’, will be used to highlight how the modern form of political journalism is successfully engaging citizens in democratic progress.

Political journalism; adapting to survive in a new media climate

Structural changes in news media have been the most influential driver of political journalism reform, following the boundaries of entertainment style news. This definitive shift in news media presentation is a result of several underlying structural processes including: the declining authority of the press gallery, competition from media markets, diminishing resources but most importantly the way political journalism has been rapidly subsumed by entertainment content in new media (Bolin, 2014, p. 336-349). The Reithan mantra developed for the origin of the BBC elucidates that the role of journalism is to “entertain, inform and educate,” especially regarding broadcast news, where the bulk of political communications circulate today (Holtz-Bacha and Norris, 2000, p. 123-140).  With greater availability of all genres of content, audiences can abandon any form of political news by customising their intake of information to tailor their views (Prior, 2005). Key to this argument is not that contemporary political journalism is failing citizens because it has incorporated elements of entertainment, but that its effectiveness is overshadowed by the sheer volume of entertainment content. Markus Prior (2005) argues that there’s a duality to the way emerging digital markets impact political journalism; optimistically and pessimistically. The first view suggests that the increased availability of political information from new media, means journalists have increased opportunity to engage citizens in democratic process. Conversely, the pessimists argue the entertainment that springs from new media content hinders citizens from fulfilling democratic responsibilities, such as informed voting. Postman (1985) put it “amusing ourselves to death” as a result of the growing influence entertainment media has on the news. This feeds into the idea of news as entertainment, which historically can be traced to the soft-news tabloids and yellow journalism of the 1930s (Campbell, 2001, p. 209) – where news masquerades as entertainment to satisfy bored consumers (Holbert, 2005, p. 436). Modern political journalism doesn’t pretend to be entertaining, it has simply adapted to the tastes of emerging digital markets – a response to a rapidly evolving news consumption-culture that produces informative material very distinct from what traditionally would be labelled political journalism (Boler and Turpin, 2008, p. 383-404). These structural changes outlined impact the operation of modern political journalism, because they blur boundaries. Brian McNair (2006) in Cultural Chaos argues that with the pressures from new media advancements, the boundaries between news and entertainment are almost invisible. Both avenues of news media exist, they are simply indistinguishable from each other, which isn’t necessarily negative as with the more engaging entertainment content produced, vicarious political awareness is obtained (Bartsch and Schneider, 2014, p. 369-396). Underlying changes in media structures have catalysed reform in the production of political journalism and ushered in an era of entertainment-centric coverage that still manages to engage citizens in the process of democracy.

Engaging powerful audiences in competitive digital markets

Audiences have become increasingly pivotal to the effectiveness of modern political journalism, as splintering consumer groups and a competitive media landscape weaken the traditionally large markets that mass media once served. As platforms have diverged, classic forms of political reportage have become less attractive to new media markets (Kuhn and Neveu, 2013, p. 22-40). The competition to entice and inform citizens has grown exponentially, mainly attributed to the burgeoning professionalization of politics. Louw (2005) argues that this expansion of the news media landscape facilitates political discourse in a way that negates mass-propaganda and audience manipulation, however political journalism has become a site of struggle against professionalised media machines for audience engagement (McNair, 2009, p. 237). Currently, political journalism doesn’t only have to battle for the attention of audiences, but has to do so against an extremely professionalised political system that thrives on the entertainment-centric values of new media (Louw, 2005). This “PR-isation” (Louw, 2005, p. 5) revolves around the shift towards personality in politics, something that the rigidity of traditional political journalism catered for less. Professionalisation of politics occurs through public relations, spin and the marketing of personal-political identities through traditional news media but more importantly by directly engaging citizens through social media and advertising. In a strong entertainment-centric media climate, selling personality over policy has become dominant and forced political journalism to become facile to meet changing content preferences.  Neveu (2002) concedes that for political journalism to succeed in these sites of struggle against professionalised politics, it must widen the definition of what audiences consider to be political. This concept involves linking private lives and character to political journalism, broadening the notion that what is personal is also political – this has been successful in rebranding what political journalism functions as in society and has kept it relevant in democratic progress when combatting “PR-isation”. It’s a way of engaging in battle in entertainment media but also maintaining the functions that have made political journalism so integral to democratic society (Sobieraj, 2010, p. 505-528). Engaging audiences is a competitive process in entertainment-centric political coverage but is necessary for modern political journalism to enter into these sites of struggle in order to fulfil its role in a democracy.

The evolution of adversarial journalism in political coverage

In an increasingly competitive media environment that promotes values of entertainment-centric content, political journalism has had to evolve a different form of coverage to engage audiences in democratic progress. Effectively engaging citizens in modern democracy has led to journalism becoming adversarial, to fulfil a space where traditional political journalism has struggled to thrive. Adversarial journalism understands the tenuous relationship that the press shares with the political sphere including key actors and professionalisation (Blumer and Gurevitch, 1995, p. 25-44). This form of coverage is critical and impactful, scrutinising the conduct and rhetoric of political actors, pivoting on the conflicts of interest they share – a response to the soft political infotainment that preceded it. Where policy based coverage lacks the attention that spin and advertisements garner from political campaigns, adversarial journalism triumphs in effectively appealing to audiences by challenging the personalities and narratives that political communications form in entertainment-centric new media. It’s key that political journalism functions this way in order to serve a watchdog role in democratic society, keeping the politicians who represent its audience accountable. As adversarial journalism is a response to soft political coverage, satirical content confronts the professionalised politicians that exist within this realm. Satire or “fake news” as political satirist and former The Daily Show host Jon Stewart labelled it, is itself a form of political commentary used to help audiences locate themselves within participatory democracy – the laughter it attracts signifies the consent of viewers (Allan et al.,2009). Stuart Allan (2009) highlights how satire as an element of adversarial journalism is so effective in combatting the professionalised politics of an entertainment-centric media. It seeks out grabs, uncertainty and contradiction; this satire-laced political journalism challenges the narratives carefully constructed by politicians and scrutinises them through comedy and juxtaposition – drawing audiences into a critical analysis of their elected officials (Allan et al.,2009). This provides a method for news media to utilise more traditional techniques of investigation and scrutiny in their coverage whilst maintaining the important aspect of entertainment as news, which modern audiences have come to value. What’s so important about these programs for increasingly media dependent audiences is that they provide traditional, hard-hitting journalism, through a comfortable frame by which audiences unconsciously construct their reality. Mostly presented through television programs but now spreading rapidly to video sharing services and alternate new media platforms, satirical political journalism is a key example of how political journalism has adapted to entertainment-centric concepts of news media but maintained its ability to propel the functioning of democratic society.

Satire and journalism in the 2016 US election

Political communications in the 2016 US election have been both militant and pervasive, a conducive environment for the candour of satire in adversarial journalism. This adversarial journalism is best represented by the ‘fake news’ (Cutbirth, 2011) defined by Jon Stewart and sustained by contemporary examples such as Last Week Tonight featuring John Oliver or The Late Show with host Stephen Colbert. These shows should not be taken as ‘fake’ but as experiments in modern political journalism; whereby techniques drawn from news, comedy and political commentary are implemented to revive the critical journalism of an effective democracy (Kuhn and Neveu, 2013, p. 22-40). This political journalism has become more prominent than ever in the current US election cycle with more media coverage, professional communications and “insanity” of events – as described by Stephen Colbert in his The Late Show segment One Diagram Explains Every Conspiracy Against Donald Trump (The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, 2016). Here Colbert, using his patented brand of deadpan political satire, embellishes upon the many absurdities of conservative candidate Donald Trump in the textbook political satire that his news show observes. Colbert eschews traditional political journalism norms, opting to present footage of the candidate and witnesses using alternative bites from the same candidate to refute Trump’s own argument, within the comedy framework audiences have come to love. It is very much comedic entertainment, but beneath this is an adherence to Reith’s objectives of journalism (Holtz-Bacha and Norris, 2000), it at once entertains and informs in what is a critical examination of both politics and media practices – typical of a hyper-democracy framework. The coverage focuses inherently on the personal flaws of the candidates and scrutinises them as such, key to the adversarial confines this hybrid political journalism exists within. Colletta (2009, p. 872) argues that this political journalism is an informed satire that can be considered some of the most engaging political commentary on the broadcast media landscape – an evolution of traditional political journalism that thrives to fill gaps in the market that it once could not. Colbert uses his segment to combat the carefully constructed and professionalised political presence of Trump, he evaluates how communicators have made Trump so successful by keeping him in the sights of the mass media (Mourão, 2015). Colbert educates the audience in how the candidate has disrupted the means by which adversarial journalism would operate, once heralded for its ambiguous political messages, it has now positioned itself to deconstruct the professionalised candidate in an adversarial manner. In a media environment dominated by the virtues of entertainment news, the ability of Colbert and those of his ilk, to be able to effectively involve audiences in nuanced discussions of democratic progress in an informative and educational format is exactly the function that political journalism should play in modern media spaces (Baym, 2006, p. 259-276). Colbert’s engagement of audiences with satire laced adversarial journalism is an example of how experimental forms of political journalism have adapted to competitive modern media spaces and utilised the concept of entertainment to propel their function in assisting the democratic process.

The news media landscape in which political journalism operates has evolved rapidly throughout the era of global communications. Examining the underlying structural changes to news media explains the dominance of entertainment content in modern political journalism. The rise of professionalised political campaigns has come to be the greatest challenge for political journalism in committing to its role of educating, informing and entertaining citizens as there is increased competition to attract these audiences. Adversarial journalism is the answer to that challenge, satirical news content that scrutinises politicians and the media landscape in a way that fulfils the entertainment centric needs of modern broadcast viewership. Finally, this theory ties into the journalism reflected by The Late Show’s enigmatic host Stephen Colbert and the way he employs this sort of political news satire to intrigue audiences, combat professionalised politics and entertain in a way that informs citizens of the mandates of democracy and journalism’s role within this. Ultimately, political journalism has adapted to the entertainment-centric landscape of modern news media, in an adversarial format that engages citizens in the democratic processes expected of it.

 

References

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BOLIN, G. 2014. Television Journalism, Politics, and Entertainment: Power and Autonomy in the Field of Television Journalism. Television & New Media, 15, 336-349.

CAMPBELL, W. J. 2001. Yellow Journalism: Puncturing the Myths, Defining the Legacies, Westport, Praeger Publishers.

COLLETTA, L. 2009. Political satire and postmodern irony in the age of Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart. The Journal of Popular Culture, 42, 872.

CUTBIRTH, J. 2011. Satire as Journalism: The Daily Show and American Politics at the Turn of the Twenty-First Century. Doctor of Philosophy, Columbia University.

HOLBERT, R. 2005. A Typology for the Study of Entertainment Television and Politics The American Behavrioual Scientist, 49, 436.

HOLTZ-BACHA, C. & NORRIS, P. 2000. “To Entertain, Inform and Educate”: Still the Role of Public Television in the 1990s? Political Communication, 18, 123-140.

KUHN, R. & NEVEU, E. 2013. Four Generations of Political Journalism. In: KUHN, R. & NEVEU, E. (eds.) Political Journalism: New Challenges, New practices. London: Routledge.

LOUW, E. 2005. The Media and Political Process, London, SAGE.

MCNAIR, B. 2006. Cultural Chaos: Journalism, news and power in a globalised world, Oxon, England, Routledge.

MCNAIR, B. 2009. Journalism and Democracy. In: WAHL-JORGENSEN, K. & HANITZSCH, T. (eds.) The Handbook of Journalism Studies. Routledge.

MOURÃO, R. R. 2015. The boys on the timeline: Political journalists’ use of Twitter for building interpretive communities. Journalism, 16, 1107-1123.

POSTMAN, A. 1985. Amusing ourselves to death” Public Discourse in the age of show business, New York, NY, Penguin.

PRIOR, M. 2005. News vs. Entertainment: How Increasing Media Choice Widens Gaps in Political Knowledge and Turnout. American Journal of Political Science, 49, 577-592.

SOBIERAJ, S. 2010. Reporting Conventions: Journalists, Activists, and the Thorny Struggle for Political Visibility. Social Problems, 57, 505-528.

THE LATE SHOW WITH STEPHEN COLBERT 2016. One Diagram Explains Every Conspiracy Against Donald Trump. The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. CBS.

 

Gradi’s Pizza Fest 2016

The Peronis were flowing at this year’s Crown Live event featuring the traditional pizzaioli stylings the AVPN is known for, striving towards classic Neapolitan. Five Melbourne pizzerias flanked a stylishly organised pavilion arrangement featuring a central stage with live music playing on the cusp of the Yarra River. Of the Melbourne five, Gigi Pizzeria had the longest wait for their simplistic Marinara dish.
Straight from their authentic wood-fire oven bubbled a small mozzarella topped pizza, bordered by a crisp, puffy crust. Immediately the aroma of fresh tomato was apparent which worked well with the scorched oregano sprinkled over the top to create a welcoming herb scent. The base was authentically thin, drooping slightly under the weight of the toppings. The wholesome and rustic flavour, let down by a damn and flexible centre. The centre weight was contributed to by the liberal use of extra virgin olive oil on what was already a thick layer of tomato sauce.

It’s hard to go wrong with a pizza marinara really, to a fault.

Marinara pizza from Gradi’s Pizza Fest at Crown Life

La Svolta fronted up with their ham and cheese pizza; same price, same size, same dough and same tomato sauce. Almost uniform were these two pizzas bar switching the drab stringy ham and sparse basil for onion and oregano.
For a free event, it sure was expensive… each pizza required a $12 voucher or $20 for two which is steep considering the size of the pizzas and the fact that most of the ingredients were shared between the five participating restaurants.

Depending on your arrival time and pizza choice, the wait stretched from five to fifteen minutes, understandable due to the pizzas being made from scratch. Vittoria coffee and an onsite bar provided the refreshment options as well as the event partnered Oakridge Urban Vineyard, inconveniently located across from Crown. Live music was provided by a soulful guitarist putting his smooth, earthy tones to work on some indie folk songs.

Crown Live wasn’t really a-live, its lazy vibe was fitting for a Saturday afternoon on Southbank with its vivid yellow and white beach vibe.

★★★☆☆
In their search for a simplistic and elegant pizza, The Melbourne Food and Wine Festival cruised through to adequate with their Crown Live event.

Selfish Bosses are Best for Successful Employees

 

In a job market plagued with cuts and closures, understanding how your employer ticks has become more important than ever. A study from the Personality and Individual Differences journal reveals how the Dark Triad personality traits in leaders can positively and negatively impact your career success, including personal job satisfaction.

The study of 811 public and private sector employees in Germany identified the three Dark Triad personality traits as narcissism, Machiavellianism and psychopathy. The traits all had differing degrees of impact on their staff; the latter two labelled the ‘Malicious Two,’ for their resounding negative effects. So how can a selfish boss positively benefit your career? Employers showing narcissistic traits were found to value their staff more, promoting them more regularly, and leaving them feeling more satisfied with their job. The study proposed that selfish bosses treat those well who can affirm their own ego.

So the three dark personality traits have individual impacts on an employee’s success. Workplaces that combat the ‘Malicious Two’ with alternative leadership styles are likely to become more welcoming organisations. It seems skills are just as important as the personality of your boss, for career focused employees.

 

Primary Article Full Citation:

Volmer J, Koch IK, Göritz AS (2016) The bright and dark sides of leaders’ dark triad traits: Effects on subordinates’ career success and well-being. Personality and Individual Differences 101, 413-418. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2016.06.046.

News & Power: A Trust Relationship

At its core, trust is the basis of a functional news media in democratic society. This essay will explore the notion of trust and how it best expresses the relationship between news and power theory and their impact on social processes. Looking at the social contract’s purpose within the public sphere gives a baseline, showing how ‘trust’ operates within the news and power dynamic. Examining how the mechanisms of press theory transition and develop is also pertinent. These concepts will further be expressed by applying them to a case study of Edward Snowden’s 2013 NSA leaks.

Establishing the relationship between news and power requires an understanding of those concepts individually and their manifestation within the public sphere – the trust component of the social contract. There are various ways to contextualise news, Lord Northcliffe maintains that it’s “what someone, somewhere, wants to supress,” that “someone” being elite power (More, 1968, p. 825). Power is paradoxical in news; it’s an oppressive hierarchy, but also an audience dependence; power flows in multiple directions throughout society (Curran, 2002). This pressure is placed on the selection and presentation of news, to be moulded by organisational processes, and moulded to public interests. This is where trust comes into play, to ensure the propulsion of dominant ideas by the news media is free from elite influence, and beneficial for the democratic process – this is the social contract. The social contract proposes that journalists are a bridge between news and power, entrusted with maintaining a moral responsibility in reporting the news, and not claiming absolution due to corporate allegiances or being a node in a corrupted network (Edwards and Cromwell, 2008). There’s a tension between journalists providing news, and their need to priorities their company’s welfare, this is the conflict that exists in the relationship between news and power – where trust is pivotal.

Examining the mechanisms of press theory expresses how the news and power dynamic is proposed to operate in society. The models of press theory outlined in Four Theories of the Press (Siebert et al. 1956), demonstrate how powerful media institutions should process and deliver news to society. James Curran (2002, pg. 163) argues that “media define the world through news… what gains prominence and what recedes into the background,” journalists and news organisations have been entrusted the power to define the important issues in society – the social responsibility model of press theory is the model by which this trust relationship works. There’s an inherent tension in news reporting, within a democratic society framework, libertarian and social responsibility theory are distinctive in their function. The libertarian model defines the press as “an open marketplace of ideas” (Norris, 1997, p. 58), where the truth is expected to surface from the public arena – a utopian concept. The social responsibility model is a more rational critique, giving definitive boundaries on how the trust relationship should operate between the elite, news and the public. There’s a dialogue formed in this model, a free press not only have liberties but obligations to ensure that news contributes to society’s democratic functions. That is how the social contract operates; as the mechanism of this model, a tool that implores trust and responsibility in reporting freely.  Press theory highlights the importance of the social responsibility model, facilitating the interaction between news and power – trust underscoring that relationship.

The news and power dynamic is highlighted by looking at the way media approached the Snowden NSA leaks and how press theory relates to that story. In 2013 Snowden disclosed thousands of classified documents, exposing the extent of the NSA’s surveillance on American citizens and ‘Five Eyes’ programs. Snowden did this with the cautious assistance of Glenn Greenwald, formerly of The Guardian (Reitman, 2013). Parallels can be drawn between this example of journalism and the mechanism of the social contract. Moral responsibility was so deeply entrenched in reporting this story that the works of Snowden and Greenwald seem compelled by the concept of the social contract to disseminate news that was of utmost benefit to American society, and even the global sphere; unbent to the hierarchical powers that be (Herman, 1996). Press theory applies to publicizing information in the leaks. The libertarian press model would be ineffective, assuming that the public arena could process this issue before it was subdued by state power is rash. Social responsibility theory is the filter by which this information was processed, trusting the press to treat the leaks deliverance to the public as an obligation.  The 2013 NSA leaks embody the importance of trust in the functioning of the news and power relationship in terms of both the social contract and press theory.

Trust is the core to these conceptual processes of press function in the news and power relationship. Looking at the social contract as a mechanism of trust in the public sphere is integral to the news and power dynamic. Analysing press theory and models of news highlight how trust works in news media. Applying these concepts to the case study of Snowden’s NSA leaks, reveal the impacts of their function on society. Ultimately, trust is foundational to the relationship shared between news and power, regulating their impacts on democratic society.

Rail Plan for Regional Commuters

The Andrew’s Labour Government have launched the Connecting Regional Victoria plan to combat a steep decline in public transport service quality.

Victoria’s regional rail usage has seen sharp increases over the last decade, now peaking at 100% capacity for various services across the five lines.

Overcrowding, track faults, delays and increasingly longer trips between Melbourne and regional centres have marked a treacherous period for country commuters, culminating at the rail outages experienced earlier in the year.

From mid-January to April, regional rail users suffered crippling delays as issues with wheel wear heavily impacted V/Line’s newer VLocity fleet.

The four-month outage saw much of the service’s timetable replaced with temporary coaches which, although free, didn’t compensate travellers for the extra time they had to spend travelling on already extensive trips.

Gippsland commuters suffered most however, the combination of the wheel wear issue and a recurring signal fault near Dandenong reduced the fleet to three return services per-day, forcing users onto Metro trains after coach trips to Pakenham.

Natalie Thorne is a Melbourne professional and manager of the Gippsland V/Line Users Group who has experienced first-hand how diminishing regional service quality impacts the wider community.

The peak of the V/Line outages took a toll on Ms Thorne and her family, ‘It had a huge impact… I was spending up to five to six hours a day extra on trains per week and you couldn’t rely on the trains to get into the city at the time they were meant to,’ she said.

‘After a few weeks of getting home at 7:30 to 8 o’clock at night it got to the point where, every night I got home and the kids would be crying… basically they didn’t see me for quite a few months,’ Thorne said.

Warragul Railway Station prior to the launch of Connecting Regional Victoria

The stress on Gippsland’s public transport infrastructure will only be exacerbated further by the continued real estate growth in the south-eastern corridor.

Connecting Regional Victoria, the government’s regional network development plan has been criticised by locals who are sceptical of its lack of immediate action.

Member for Narracan and vocal transport advocate, Gary Blackwood, said ‘it doesn’t address the issue of Gippsland trains competing with metropolitan trains beyond Pakenham.’

‘We are treated as second class citizens compared to Geelong, Bendigo and Ballarat commuters,’ he said.

The most impactful development for the Gippsland line was the announcement of the long anticipated duplication of tracks between Longwarry and Bunyip, which would see express services return to the region.

Rail has become an integral part of travel for eastern Victoria, effecting both city commuters and also local tourism heading out to Gippsland.

The Minister for Public Transport, Jacinta Allan, revealed the plan in Warragul (Gippsland) accompanied by acting Public Transport Victoria CEO Jeroen Weimar and V/Line Chair Jenny Dawson.

Key areas that the plan focuses on are increasing train stock, improving station facilities, reviewing fare structures and creating better bus and coach services for intra-town connectivity.

The project features a horizon goal structure with short, mid and long-term development plans that are slated for completion over the next two decades.

Immediate action that has been funded in the 2016/17 State Budget will provide regional areas with increased train and bus service improvements but the extent of these upgrades varies between the regions.

The key regional centres named in the plan are Geelong, Ballarat, Bendigo, Seymour and Traralgon.

Barwon South West and the Grampians will see bigger short-term benefits, with additional trains set to bring services closer to the future goals of off-peak trains every 40 minutes and peak trains every 20 minutes.

The large scale plan involves the addition of 170 extra services, construction of 27 new VLocity carriages and a focus on rolling stock to increase reliability.

Connecting Regional Victoria has been influenced by over 15,000 pieces of individual regional feedback, from 40 workshops that had been held across the state.

Public Transport Minister Jacinta Allan said ‘it is the product of one of the most extensive public consultation programs ever carried out in regional Victoria.’

‘[The plan is] setting out a more coordinated network where trains, buses and coaches work together in the best interests of passengers,’ she said.

The Gippsland line is expected to receive two additional return off-peak services from Melbourne to Traralgon each day, bus service improvements, signage and planning.

The majority of developments shown in Connecting Regional Victoria (five of eight for Gippsland) are business cases, meaning they are in a pre-planning phase.

Acting CEO of Public Transport Victoria, Jeroen Weimar, said ‘this is the start of the journey, not the end of the journey.’

Connecting Regional Victoria: Regional Network Development Plan aims to deliver ‘commuter-style’ service to regional customers across the state.

 

 

 

Celebrity, Media Influence and YouTube

This essay will reveal why new media is so adept at cultivating celebrities with non-traditional narrative formats, encompassing the age of the social media celebrity. A case study of YouTube personality and ‘prankster,’ Sam Pepper, will be introduced to highlight the uniqueness of YouTube as an instrument. Media convergence will explain the influence of platforms manipulating through celebrity. Technology is integral to the system of celebrity creation and YouTube is a key figure in this field. Sam Pepper is a prime example to convey the ways in which modern media influences society and celebrity. Focusing on the social media celebrity, the role of prank videos will exemplify how YouTube creates particular types of fame through the transition of power.

The convergence of media influence from new and traditional formats plays an intrinsic role in the evolution of celebrity as a phenomenon (Jenkins, 2006, p. 243). The media industry has been built on those with marketable traits who can be moulded to appeal to the masses (Cashmore, 2006, p. 19-51). Celebrity is an industrial process, selecting average people to play characters that are drip-fed to the masses with public appearances and carefully crafted images (Cashmore, 2006, p. 19-51). Enduring celebrities are transformational and as Cashmore theorises (2006, p. 142), whether the “social response is one of condemnation or compassion… the … subjects typically loom large in the public imagination.” Therefore celebrity exists at the whim of the media, public approval isn’t consequential if they remain within the zeitgeist. The institutionalisation of celebrity is a means by which media organisations extend their influence into society by way of creating cultural norms through the actions of their icons (Cashmore, 2006, p. 10). With the development of the internet individuals were able to publish works free from this top-down hierarchy (Mueller, 2014, p. 5). New media is an open platform providing a more social experience to consuming content, Henry Jenkins categorises this as participatory culture (Mueller, 2014, p. 5). This results in a convergence of new and old media, a platform where private and public interests can produce content by means of blending media in everyday life (Burgess and Green, 2009, p. 38-57). This convergence and evolution to new media notes that the value in content is no longer placed on the author or producer but to the consumer-creator relationship (Burgess and Green, 2009, p. 38-57). Viewing, commenting, liking and sharing are the hallmarks of participatory culture. The evolution of traditional media and the rise of new media reveal the ways in which the cultivation of celebrity has progressed concerning social advancement.

Technology plays a vital role in the structuring of celebrity and on the forefront of new media is the video sharing platform YouTube, a unique fledgling of the social media age and a banner for the modern celebrity. With the emergence of new media, modern platforms are free from the constraints of the traditional hegemony and the commercialism of that content (Mueller, 2014, p. 5). It gives people with cameras and internet the ability to, as YouTube’s slogan promotes, ‘broadcast yourself,’ (Tufnell, 2013).  This form of media is replacing traditional models with current generations of youth who feel an investment in the content and the emergent culture due to the deeper stake they have in the production, a feature of YouTube’s participatory culture (Jenkins, 2009, p. 12). YouTube influences a particular brand of celebrity, the social media celebrity, completely accessible. It’s a platform that allows avant-garde forms of expression, disruptive to classic production and distribution (Mueller, 2014, p. 5). The democratising of the media industry through a free-to-use platform like YouTube is successful at creating celebrities through its ability to lower the barrier of entry for the average person (Mueller, 2014, p. 5). Still, economic restrictions on serious productions require revenue systems like advertisement schemes which align to the traditional model of content production and ultimately celebrity. YouTube is an all-encompassing video platform that promotes democratically sourced content whilst simultaneously giving rise to the social media celebrity through its participatory framework.

A posterchild for the YouTube platform and the essence of social media celebrity, Sam Pepper illustrates how the unique features of YouTube content are a vehicle for his certain type of celebrity. Pepper’s origins began on Big Brother UK where his reality TV pranks bought him 21 days of screen time before audiences voted him off (Fletcher, 2010). A post TV Sam Pepper thrived on the attention of TV audiences, who were quickly adapting to his brand of shock culture and the character he plays, eventually migrating to YouTube (Grainge, 2011) where there’s little content restrictions. These platforms utilised the brash nature of Pepper to capitalise on their audiences expanding tastes for content. Building off of the success he had gained marketing videogame content to young audiences, Pepper started to take his pranks to the mainstream confronting audiences with sexually charged ‘social experiments’ (McCamley, 2014) and collaborating with other successful social media personalities, a path traditional media forms wouldn’t permit. The flexibility the internet provides in terms of hosting media allows creators like Sam Pepper to flourish by delivering culturally subversive content to a thriving audience (Burgess and Green, 2009, p. 38-57). Pepper’s content elucidates his interest in video experimentation, something that has come to be associated with the inception of new media (Burgess and Green, 2009, p. 38-57). Sam’s pranks descended deeper into salacious territory resulting in ‘social experiments’ that were intensely derogatory but gained him millions of followers. Pepper’s exploration of a genre that is inflammatory to traditional media content or the conventional style of amateur productions is a reflection on the values new media, especially YouTube can create. The values of decency that seem to be ignored when people divide themselves between social media life and real life (Reeves and Nass, 2003, p. 19-36). The most significant distinction between the conventions of social media celebrity and traditional media stars is the freedom with which that content carries the personality. From his kidnapping prank to sexual assault allegations (McCamley, 2014), livestreamed parties to groping escapades, Sam Pepper embodies new media’s take on fame as a social media celebrity. Pepper’s rise through the content he produces reveals how efficient the unique features of YouTube act as a vehicle for the social media celebrity.

Recognising the place of the social media celebrity and the role of prank videos, the dichotomy between the institutionalisation of traditional media and new media can be seen through the transition of power in new media narratives. The evolution of modern media has lowered the barrier of entry to become a celebrity and has given counter-cultural producers, like Sam Pepper, the opportunity to succeed off of vulgar stunts where traditional platforms wouldn’t allow this (Loy, 2014, p. 31). It gives people an alternate narrative to follow; external to music, magazines and silver screens. This new media narrative doesn’t completely breakaway from the traditional media arc, Burgess and Green (2009, p. 38-57) theorise that “YouTube has been mythologized as literally a way to ‘broadcast yourself into fame and fortune […] Even when ordinary people become celebrities through their own creative efforts, there is no necessary transfer of media power: they remain within the system of celebrity native to, and controlled by, the mass media.” Sam Pepper and an abundance of other YouTubers still adhere to the story portrayed by all high profile personalities before them, their videos are still part of a wider cultural conversation and are not only contained to the realm of the internet, nor the YouTube platform. In terms of prank content and its transition to web-based platforms, YouTube pranks are essentially the same as pranks aired on television often with people startling others and recording their reactions (Hobbs, 2011, p. 31-35). The greatest discrepancy is that video content is now largely placed on the internet and is increasingly crude. Pepper’s pranks may invert the power relationships in the context of the video but the underlying reality is that YouTube as a unique video hosting service is the herald for this content, its creators and the success of the creator-consumer relationship (Hobbs, 2011, p. 31-35). YouTube and new media is simply a facelift of the traditional hierarchical model of old media albeit with a more open platform with which to accommodate the social media celebrity. Understanding the rise of the social media celebrity and using Sam Pepper and prank content as an example it’s clear that the contrast between new and old media in terms of celebrity narrative is more aesthetic than functional.

Broad views encompass the nature of celebrity manufacturing and the way society responds to this phenomenon. The cultivation of celebrity in converging media platforms depicts much about the nature of media influence in society. Technology is an intrinsic part in the role of celebrity in society especially platforms who have triumphed in this field, like YouTube. Sam Pepper is an accurate reflection of the attitude of YouTube towards content creation and his rise to popularity reveals much about media influence and YouTube as a vehicle for celebrity. An investigation into media narratives and the existence of the social media celebrity shows where the evolution of celebrity has reached. Ultimately, new media is an effective system to create modern generations of celebrities through evolving platforms whilst maintaining traditional forms of media influence.

VAMFF Global Indigenous Runway

Earthy tones and flowing textiles to the beat of a spiritual drum, the Global Indigenous Runway took VAMFF by storm.

The intimate show was held at the Melbourne Museum as part of the 2016 Virgin Australia Melbourne Fashion Festival. Native designs from Australia to north-western Canada’s Yukon region featured in The Offsite Runway. After four years in the fashion circuit, the Indigenous Runway Project was this year funded by the State governments’ Creative Victoria initiative.

A fervent opening performance lead Melbourne’s Lyn-Al Young and her exotic collection of silken evening gowns. Young’s ‘Fasheaming’ philosophy was revealed in dazzling hand-painted tapestries, delivering a masterfully crafted vision of grounded desertous colours cavorting on sleek, lustrous fabric. The tribal palette seeped together on pristine silk, shimmering under light and manifesting protection from negative energy.

Lyn-Al Young’s silken designs stunned the runway. 

If Lyn-Al protected from negative energy, Rauwhiro brought ferocious vibes…

Tessa Bailey-Lont stunned with her daring and primal collection for New Zealand’s Rauwhiro. The line was a journey, beginning with a raw, oxblood fur piece draped over an angular bronze dress. The designs descended into deeper maroons and eventually to a commanding monochrome number. The jacket’s pearl-white leather upper, evolving from a smoky grey beneath.

The line concluded with a simple, eloquent white cotton dress flowing delicately to the baby blue stitching on its front. Rauwhiro’s was an innovative collection, experimenting with textures, hues and adventurous silhouettes which told a passionate story, boldly.

The conclusion of Tessa Bailey-Lont’s collection for Rauwhiro was fearsome.

The Global Indigenous Runway was a pillar of the VAMFF experience, sounds surrounding the stage with shattering base lines, guttural tribal vocals… and dubstep? Odd choice, slightly annoying, but it ended quickly.

The runway was slim, making the experience profoundly personal, adding to the cultural vibrancy accompanied by seeing the intricacies of the designs up close. Autumnal palettes are a big part of this season, Lyn-Al Young’s selection of tribal shades complemented this trend. Oxblood will be prominent also, reflected in Rauwhiro’s line.

From ambitious beginnings it’s clear that the Indigenous Runway Project has graduated from behind VAMFF’s cultural veil, and is now ready for the main stage.

The Effectiveness of Long-Form Journalism

Long-form journalism is a timeless genre that consistently and effectively engages audiences and delves deeply into content (Scanlan and Fadiman, 2003). This notion can be seen through the origins of the medium and how it was able to grow to be a well appreciated journalistic style, from humble precursor works. The wave of New Journalism flourishing in the 20th century is also a prominent concept when exploring the effectiveness of long-form journalism. Narrative nonfiction continues by finding a home between realism and relativism theories. The use of literary techniques to express narrative is a way of detailing how long-form journalism impacts on society. Throughout its history there have been many iterations of narrative nonfiction and these various forms have revealed the genre’s ability to evolve to fill the niches that keep it relevant and functional in a progressive media space. Immersion journalism has an extensive and well-documented history, exploring it will explain much about the quality of its audience interaction as a writing medium.

Long-form journalism, or immersion journalism, is a way of deciphering the stories of a complex world in a format that engages audiences through the emotional experiences of the day to day (Vanoost, 2013). It’s a genre believed to have originated with Daniel Defoe in the 18th century but gained traction with audiences en masse in the mid-20th century (Kramer, 1995). This more modern take on journalism is inherently broad in nature, but can be defined through Kramer’s expression of the traits of narrative journalism (Kramer, 1995). Narrative journalism involves immersion into the content and research, writing with accuracy and disengagement whilst concurrently sharing intimate perceptions of events with the audience (Kramer, 1995). Authors build a relationship with the reader and create meaning through implicitly evoking reactions (Kramer, 1995). It’s a sought after form of journalism, with millions of readers flocking to the growing style (Logue, 2014) but it’s very particular and has a pedigree of notable names at its foundations, names originating from Daniel Defoe (Kramer, 1995). Defoe, known primarily for his novel Robinson Crusoe (Gutkind, 1996), is the genesis for long-form creative nonfiction (Miller, 2011), essentially moulding the style with his novel The Storm in 1704 (Defoe, 1704). This broad work of both science and journalism (Miller, 2011) encapsulated the events of a fierce tempest that lashed Britain. The rise of the form was slow but as the depth of detail increased so did the willingness of authors to identify themselves as producers of this style (Kramer, 1995). What makes this an effective form of writing is its ability to move past the basics of a news story and as Gay Talese has said to find out “what is happening to the people, what is it like to go through this, what does it mean?” (Koch et al., 2010). This means that the genre produces constructive stories that have complexity and substance, they provide the reader with a more rounded knowledge of the content and find meaning (Gutkind, 2012) through accurate and personal perspectives (Gutkind, 2012). It’s forming truths. At its beginnings it was slow for society to accept long-form as a news medium (Kramer, 1995) but these foundational works, such as Defoe’s writings, were key in establishing public consciousness of the genre. This changed as time and society progressed with the golden age of narrative journalism rising in the mid-20th century (Wolfe, 1972) from the minds of Tom Wolfe, Capote and Talese. The origins of narrative journalism reveal a starting point for the medium and how it began to impact on society.

The 60s and 70s certainly popularised long-form journalism with the style redefined as New Journalism, breeding lengthy pieces of culture driven nonfiction and delivering them directly to the public in various formats (Gutkind, 2012). New Journalism, although not too different to older forms of writing (Murphy, 1974), hit a nerve during this period finding a place in a rapidly progressing society (Fakazis, 2014). Kramer describes the potency of narrative journalism as a style that combines the thrust of journalism with the art and creativity associated with the stories that appeal to so many (Gutkind, 2012). Long-form grew at this time as it was a means of presenting stories that were too large in scope to be constrained by normal news articles and were liked for their ability to present the news in more interesting ways. Truman Capote and his in-depth and engaging style exploded into the genre (Murphy, 1974) by his ability to truly immerse himself into his work. Capote revelled in the fact that narrative nonfiction has a “double effect” in that the story is motivating and interesting but also benefits from being completely true (Newquist, 1964). Trends began to diversify in this era of rebelliousness and cultural exploration (Kramer, 1995). In 1957 Capote wrote The Duke in His Domain, a deeply engaging profile on Broadway to movie star Marlon Brando whilst he was in Japan for his film Sayonara (Capote, 1957). This piece highlights the intricacies of immersion journalism, the slight perceptions of Capote are all included to give the audience a more wholesome view of the subject (Gutkind, 1996). It delves deeply into both American and Japanese culture and allows a subjective insight into the presence that was Marlon Brando; what he thought and why he thought it (Capote, 1957). This is how long-form gained recognition during this period, it found a piece of popular culture and explored it with the audience in a profoundly personal way (Scanlan and Fadiman, 2003). Narrative journalism is a genre that’s very flexible in its production and can flow between formulaic reporting whilst being presented in a narrative format (Vanoost, 2013). Creative nonfiction has developed greatly over its lifespan, especially during its rapid evolution in the mid-20th century, highlighted by an increasing audience that had a longing for more depth in their news content.

Long-form journalism rests fluidly between the more traditional realism theory of journalism and modern relativism (Eason, 1990).  Journalistic realism is a creation of the 19th century, a time where the craft was relinquishing political affiliations in an effort to become more objective (Dean, 2015). Realism provided authors a consistent method of approaching news stories that allows them to present the facts from most to least newsworthy (Dean, 2015). Audiences can interpret the truth of an event naturally without the presence of bias in this format, except for the presence of editorial bias. Following this period propaganda and press agents began to cause problems in the news media space, so a transition to evidence and verification method was sought by field leaders Lippman and Merz (Dean, 2015). This transition gave rise to the utilisation of the inverted pyramid technique for producing news stories (Dean, 2015). This formulaic approach was established to give audiences an uncoloured deliberation of events but as with most formulas, these news stories were conventionally dry and business-like (Vanoost, 2013), whereas narrative journalism is influenced by relativism theory and flows more freely with truth and story (Tulloch, 2014). Relativism within the confines of journalism is something that’s very situational (Richter, 2001), depending heavily on the context of any given story and that is why it applies so well to narrative nonfiction. This genre of journalism is very individualist and will share little overlap with other stories, as most general news stories will. It’s a brand of journalism that is shaped by personal values and perspective, more so than universal principles (Kramer, 1995). Returning to Capote’s The Duke in His Domain relativist theory is typified by his use of basic facts as the foundation and his layering of truth and perception to build a coherent and creative, nonfiction piece (Kramer, 1995). Truman Capote crafted his story to a level of sophistication most deep and his narrative was fluid and engaging. Moving chronologically through the single evening meeting that Capote had with Brando, Truman trickled his perceptions and emotions into an overarching narrative built on the basic facts of the profile (Capote, 1957). The story noted the intricacies of the Japanese hotel; how the staff walked and talked, the quality of the American food replication, Brando’s attitude towards his peers and the film industry (Capote, 1957). He delved further making qualified conclusions on Brando’s character, his essence and how he perceived and interacted with people. All this information from one meeting and contacting Marlon’s acquaintances. Capote went further than a news story and produced a nonfiction narrative that reached for the meaning behind the facts and created truth (Fakazis, 2014). Long-form journalism’s ability to flow between realism and relativism gives it an edge in relation to both audience and content engagement. The genre gives further context, provides the reader with a greater picture of the event (Blair, 2006) and is in some ways more respectful towards the subject. It’s a style that resides between the comforts of basic news stories and towards the next story, towards New Journalism.

Literary technique is the primary device that allows creative nonfiction to effectively engage with an audience and a subject in ways that allows for appropriate depth and exploration. As both technology and society develop, so too do the ways in which narrative journalism can penetrate the public consciousness (Tenore, 2012a). There are more people, more screens and more pages available to immerse audiences in the subject matter (Tenore, 2012a). Gutkind developed the ‘Five R’s of creative nonfiction’ and believed that the anchor of this genre is the maxim “you can’t make this stuff up” (Gutkind, 2012). The traits identified by Gutkind can all be found in one of today’s most popular works of narrative journalism, they are the elements responsible for its popularity. This work is called Serial, a ten part audio series by Sarah Koenig investigating deeply into a single story (Koenig et al., 2014), allowing her to develop the narrative and characters to a meaningful degree (Robertson, 2014). Koenig investigates the case of Adnan Syed intently, immersing herself in the real life events (Zepps, 2014). She shares her thoughts with the audience, reflecting on the events as they unfold in an intimate way (Robertson, 2014). Koenig recreates situations, reviews case files and expert evidence and explains this conversationally with the audience, bringing them into the story (Logue, 2014). It’s a procedural investigation that suits narrative form well, the way it adheres to Gutkind’s theory of creative nonfiction forces the listener to be engaged with the content, it becomes addictive (Robertson, 2014). The style due to its truthful narrative has the benefit of being relatable (Robertson, 2014) for the audience, there is no fiction present just people and places. Chuck Leddy argues that this relatability is due to people always wanting to know what their stake in the story is. Audiences yearn for the meaning behind the events of a story and long-form journalism elaborates on the meaning of a story in a personal way, making it relatable (Dean, 2015). The ways in which authors are able to structure their story and derive meaning from facts, or literary technique, is essential for this genre to be able to effectively engage with audiences and present a fluid story.

Long-form journalism is a medium that has shown it can consistently adapt to the pressures of an evolving media space, keeping it an effective genre of journalism now and for the future. Creative nonfiction in more traditional forms is declining markedly (Sesno, 2013) in news media with decreases in publishing reaching nearly double that of previous years in the United States. In response to this the genre is exploring new styles to convey the same quality content (Tenore, 2012b). Documentaries, podcasts, extended blog posts and social media ventures are all on the frontier of pushing long-form journalism further into the mainstream. Podcasts give producers the freedom to explore what they want and to take risks, they aren’t tethered and can appeal to previously untouched audiences more effectively than traditional media forms (Zepps, 2014). Podcasts, such as Serial. Serial can have its impact on the mainstream measured not only by traditional metrics, such as the number of downloads, but by the way it has interacted with the subject. The writing, the narrative, was so effective that it brought key witnesses forward and revitalised the attention given to the case (Chaudry, 2015). It has spurred other journalists, citizens and lawyers to do their own further research into the story and eventually led to a successful appeal by the defendant earlier this year (Chaudry, 2015). Narrative journalism has an extensive effect on people and can drive change within society such as what happened in the case of Adnan Syed. It can truly be said that the genre is an effective method of communicating narrative, if long-form journalism can hook and propel people deeper into a story.

Through investigating the history of societal engagement in long-form journalism, the effective genesis of the genre can be seen and understood. The way the medium evolved over time and saw its renaissance in the mid-20th century reveals a shift in audience engagement with creative nonfiction. Delving into long-form’s place within theoretical perspectives gives the genre substance, resting between realism and relativism theory. The use of literary techniques within narrative journalism explains the mechanisms behind why the genre is impactful, showing its ability to reach well within the facts of a story. Looking into the evolution and future engagements of long-form reveals the potential for the medium and how it can effect society in the future. Long-form journalism is primarily an intimate method for expressing news in a narrative format and connects with audiences in a profound and personal manner.

Stand Up for Refugees Rally – Melbourne, Australia

Objectivity in News Photography

Canadian Al Jazeera English journalist Mohammed Fahmy, second left, and his Egyptian colleague Baher Mohammed celebrate with their wives Wednesday after being released from Torah prison in Cairo. PHOTO: AMR NABIL/ASSOCIATED PRESS

Photographs can be objective but the truth portrayed through an image’s values is more important than the factual reality of the photo (Boeyink and Borden, 2010). Perception and its relationship with the nature of objectivity is an important facet in the realm of photography and objective thought. Examining a contemporary empirical example, being the above photograph illustrating the release of two Al-Jazeera reporters, and the image’s context will be used to highlight the importance of truth over fact in a story’s narrative. The relationship this image shares with the concept of advocacy journalism exemplifies truth and objectivity regarding the photograph’s values. Furthermore the association the image has with democracy and the Fourth Estate elucidates the importance of the perception and communication of truths in narrative.

For a robust comprehension of the objective nature of photographs, delving into the theory of objectivity is necessary as well as the context of imagery. What one deems objective relies heavily on their ability to perceive (Mullen, 1998, pp. 1 – 16). There are two subdivisions of comprehending objects, those that can be seen and those that are distant and obscure (Rist, 1972, pp. 37 – 39). Perception is the way in which our brains consolidate and process information gathered by these two sources and formulate truths. It’s impossible to encapsulate an entire event within a photograph but what can be captured is a specific moment in time, an object that can be seen and gives meaning (Rist, 1972, pp. 37 – 39). In terms of biology, everyone perceives and processes images in the same way, through the functioning of the eye and the interpretation of the brain (Mullen, 1998, pp. 1 – 16). That is objective truth, from there thought and experience become the prime factor in perception, in ascertaining an image’s meaning (Mullen, 1998, pp. 1 – 16). In news photography what is shown are images that encapsulate brief moments in time that have their own context, their own distance and obscurities (Rist, 1972, pp. 37 – 39), that present the reader with a visual truth in regards to the narrative of the story (Lowe, 1995, p. 57). Objectivity theory and human perception are key elements in constructing truth through an image’s values, without solely relying on a picture’s factual composition.

The above photograph is an objective image and its composition and context will provide a boundary for the ways in which photographic truths can be explored. The picture shows two Al Jazeera reporters, Mohammed Fahmy and Baher Mohammed and their wives, shortly after the release of the two men from prison on the 23rd of September, 2015 (El-Ghobashy and Kholaif, 2015). The image was taken by Amr Nabil of the Associated Press, an Egyptian photographer who has contributed to both liberal and conservative outlets in Egypt and internationally (Nabil, 2008). Nabil and the subjects chose everything about this photo. Nabil selected the lighting and framing whilst Fahmy, Mohammed and their wives chose the symbolism and positioning which all contributed to the values that the photograph is able to represent (Lowe, 1995, p. 57). This image exhibits a moment in time that was clearly constructed but this is an important element that will be explored further through the theme of advocacy journalism (Gunning, 2004, p. 44). The image of the two Al Jazeera journalists, its context and construction, highlight a moment in time that has values of truth more critical than fact.

Advocacy journalism and the notions of truth and objectivity share a dynamic interplay within the realm of photography and this interplay highlights journalism’s relationship with truthful narrative. The narrative in the case of Fahmy and Mohammed was one of oppression and freedom that called for advocacy journalism. Sue Careless (2000) of Canada’s The Interim, defines an advocate as “someone who speaks or pleads on behalf of another, giving the other a face and a voice”. The above photograph was published in the Wall Street Journal and from composition to outlet it’s an image constructed for a Western audience. It’s an image that allows this Western audience to understand the feelings and emotions that saturate the story (Hall et al., 1978), it advocates for the freedom of these men to be able to express their ideas and not to be oppressed, in a compelling manner (Careless, 2000). The composition that’s so appealing to this audience is one framed to resemble a happy family picture, that’s the facts of the image. The picture has no intention of concealing its bias for these men, nor does it hide the editorial opinion (Careless, 2000). Even though the framing and positioning portrays the image as something constructed there is still objective truth in it (Lowe, 1995, p. 57). The photograph is a mere moment in the evolution of the event, just because there was an awareness of being photographed doesn’t change the overarching narrative (Hall et al., 1978). Images preceding and after this photograph show elated and incredulous individuals and because it was structured this way it may give the image more truth than if it was candid, as it declares to the audience the true feelings of those pictured. There is no covert posing to make the image more aesthetically pleasing, no imitation of action, just positions chosen to convey the story without taking anything wildly out of context or dispensing propaganda (Careless, 2000). Advocacy journalism reflects the values of truth accurately within the realm of photography and more specifically the story of these two Al Jazeera reporters.

Democracy and the media’s role as the Fourth Estate play a major part in the promotion of truth through the values of objective photography. Theorised by John Keane (1991) in The Media and Democracy, the role journalism plays in society is one that limits parliament’s power by the rights of individuals to speak and publish their views freely (Keane, 1991, pp. 4 – 17, 37), the exact kind of freedom that was denied to Fahmy and Mohammed in Egypt. The image of these men, the symbolism captured, reveals much more than the fact that it was a press photo opportunity. The imagery of the peace sign shown by Fahmy or the thumbs up shown by Mohammed and his wife are essential to the perception of the photo and a truthful and objective understanding of the event (Lowe, 1995, p. 57). It’s the right of a free press to publish their views according to the theory developed by John Locke and John Asgill and further prompted by a public very attentive to the constitutional evolutions of France and America (Mills and Barlow, 2014, pp. 41 – 42). When analysing the photograph with political intention one can see that Nabil positioned it in a way that illustrates a ‘left’ and ‘right’ side. On the ‘left’ side of the image is Fahmy, the Canadian citizen, and his wife who are both dressed casually in what one might perceive as Western attire. On the ‘right’ is Mohammed and his wife, both Egyptian citizens with his wife dressed in traditional clothing of her culture yet standing independently (Stathos, 1995). What this connotes about the imagery, what Amr was able to capture, is that the role of a democracy is a highly important value across a broad cultural spectrum. The press plays an important part in the separation of Church and State and especially in the context of state control (Basen, 2012), the type of control exercised in this story. It’s the rights of individuals that the press also shares (Keane, 1991, pp. 4 – 17, 37). Journalism and democracy are harmonious displayed by journalism’s fourth estate role in society, promoting objective truths. The role of democracy and the Fourth Estate is integral to the human perception of imagery and the importance of truth over the factual reality of an image.

Objectivity is a difficult concept to approach and to define. Cognition is where a person’s ability to perceive something loses what is traditionally thought of as objective. Explaining this through the image of Fahmy and Mohammed after their release reveals much about the role truth plays in both the realms of objectivity and photography. Advocacy journalism in relation to a photos ability to portray the truth of a narrative is an essential concept within human perception. The notion of democracy and the Fourth Estate also link to an image’s ability to portray truth. Essentially objective imagery is wholly bound to human perception but the values of truth portrayed by a photograph exceed its factual reality.