Journos
A STUDY GUIDE by Marguerite o’hara
http://www.metromagazine.com.au
http://www.theeducationshop.com.au Curriculum Guidelines
Journos would be an excellent series to show students from middle to senior secondary and at tertiary level across a range of subjects including English, Media Studies, in the careers area and the world of work, Studies of Society and Environment, International Studies and Journalism. These stories are told in a very accessible way and many of them are quite inspirational. They demonstrate the increasing need for journalists today to be multi-skilled as Introduction researchers, camera operators, sound recordists, writers and presenters. n a series of five half-hour programs Being a foreign correspondent today we follow the lives of five Australian is not simply to be one part of a much Ijournalists working around the world bigger production unit. as foreign correspondents. While there ‘It doesn’t matter where are some common features about their The activities in this guide encourage you are, people who work, there are many differences in students to develop an understand- how they approach their work in places ing of the lives and work of foreign do bad things will try that are often dangerous and war- correspondents, to discuss some of torn. These are the people we see on the broader issues about the work of and stop information television news and current affairs pro- journalism, to explore ways of con- from getting out, and grams, but here they are the subjects structing portraits of people at work of the documentary, interviewed and and hopefully inspire them to consider we should really try and filmed in the places where they work. becoming journalists. get that information out, They offer insghts into their different approaches to reporting and reveal Who are the journalists no matter what they try both the highs and lows of working far featured in this series? from home. to do to stop us.’ Episode 1: Sophie McNeill Paul Roy, the director and producer – Stephen McDonell, of the series has worked with foreign Beirut based Sophie McNeill is one ABC correspondent in China correspondents for many years as a of the new breed of video journalists cameraman, producer and ‘fixer’ and working for SBS Dateline. She is just had some insight into what really goes twenty-three. This episode follows So- on getting stories to air. He believed phie during a potentially dangerous trip that viewers would also like to see how to Kurdistan and Northern Iraq to meet SCREEN EDUCATION stories are made, what effect they have the people of Sinjar, a small village that and most importantly a bit more about suffered one of the world’s most hor- the journalists as people, not just rific yet under reported terrorist attacks names or faces on television. of the last decade.
2 to Washington for historic coverage • Locate Kirkuk and Sinjar on a map of the final day of the US Presidential of Iraq. elections. • Why does Sophie believe it’s Student Activity 1 important to tell the story of what happened to the Yazidi people in Foreign Correspondents – what Sinjar in North Western Iraq? they do and what they say • Sophie’s story from Kirkuk in Episode 1 – Sophie Mc Neill Northern Iraq needs to be back- grounded for viewers. How much One of the new breed of video journal- information does she offer to con- ists who, with access to affordable textualize her story? and small digital cameras, now work across the globe as ‘one-man bands’. • Why is it so important for Sophie to Sophie directs, films, records sound get as many pictures as possible of Episode 2: Stephen McDonell and interviews for her own stories which the people and place from where she researches and develops herself. In she is reporting? Stephen McDonell is the ABC’s China late 2007, she won an award for young correspondent based in Beijing, report- Australian journalist of the year. • What are some of the most difficult ing for both television and radio. This aspects of reporting from remote episode examines the ups and downs • What was one of the inspirations and dangerous locations like this of a frantic year, covering diverse for Sophie to become a journalist one? events from the traumatic aftermath of when she was just fourteen? the Sichuan earthquake to the circus of • What does Sophie find most the 2008 Beijing Olympics. • Describe her first experience of rewarding about being ‘in the field’ reporting in a country at war? as a foreign correspondent? Episode 3: Mark Davis • What are some of the dangers she In Their Own Words Mark Davis is a multi-award-winning is faced with in her work? journalist for SBS Dateline. Shooting Sophie as a ‘one-man band’ with an open- • How are these dangers compound- ended agenda, Mark accompanied ed by her being a woman? Your ‘fixer’ becomes your best friend Benazir Bhutto during her dramatic when you’re there [on location in a for- return to Pakistan after eight years in • What and who are essential for eign country] and it’s also the best way exile. He was to find himself too close her to be able to compile reports of understanding what it’s really like to for comfort as Taliban death threats in other countries to send back to be a local and live there. became a reality. Australia? When I was sixteen and back from East Episode 4: Luke Hunt • What are some of the dangers Timor, I would get angry at people back for journalists travelling in parts home … I find it hard to understand Luke Hunt is a 43-year old Australian of Iraq? why people don’t care more. journalist based in Hong Kong. Hav- ing worked for Agence France-Presse (AFP) for the past fourteen years, Luke swaps the security of a weekly wage for the life of a freelance journalist. We travel with Luke to Cambodia to cover the volatile elections and an escalating dispute on the Thai/Cambodian border.
Episode 5: Hamish MacDonald
Hamish McDonald is a news anchor and correspondent for Al Jazeera SCREEN EDUCATION English, the new kid on the block of international news channels. In this episode, we accompany Hamish to Kabul and Bamiyan in Afghanistan and
3 I’m not an adrenaline junkie, I don’t like being scared, I hate it, that’s not addic- tive at all … I want to find things out … that’s what drives me.
Travelling to Sinjar is probably the scariest thing I’ve ever done … but you know I’m leaving tomorrow … but for the people I’m going to interview, this is the only road they have … they do this every single day … so in order to get a story you have to put yourself in the shoes of the people there, for just a few hours a day.
The biggest lesson I’ve learned from people in the Middle East … is to appreciate everything … this is what • Identify Sichuan Province in South • Stephen acknowledges that the always makes a story, the people … West China on a map. How far is pro-Tibetan protests, one of which they’re really keen to tell their story. it from Beijing where Stephen is he covers, are regarded by the Chi- based? nese Government as an attempt to You like to think what you do makes politicize the Olympic Games. How a difference. • Why was it important for Stephen does this attempt to stop the press to get there first to cover the Si- from reporting events like this only Episode 2: Stephen McDonell chuan earthquake on the ground? encourage him to report the story?
Stephen McDonell has been the ABC’s • Describe the immediate difficulties • What is Stephen’s view of his job China correspondent for three years. he and his film crew faced when as a journalist? His determination to learn Chinese and they were trying to film the immedi- immerse himself in the culture makes all ate aftermath of the earthquake? In Their Own Words the difference on some assignments. • What aspects of filming this mas- Stephen • Why do you think Stephen wanted sive disaster did Stephen find most to become a journalist? confronting? Journalists have a bizarre relationship with disaster. Any journalist who said • What does he think is the most • The pressure of filming the Aus- they don’t get some bizarre excitement difficult aspect of breaking into a tralian Prime Minister at the flag out of a disaster, they’re probably not job for someone wanting to work carrying announcement in Beijing telling the truth. as a journalist? for the Olympics, a ‘softer story’, provides a very different challenge You can be quite clinical about it in • What advantages does he have for Stephen. What are the deadline a way because you’re just trying to as an Australian working in China? pressures he is under to film this describe things … but I remember one reception? thing while I was describing what was • What happened in Sichuan happening … these little feet sticking Province in May 2008? • What throws him when the story out under the sheets … and I couldn’t goes to air live from Beijing on go on … it was just bang … reality … Lateline, ABC television’s Australian the whole scene was just shocking. night-time current affairs program? The obvious thing with learning a lan- • How are the protests by the Weag- guage is that people trust you and will ers in Kashgar, which Stephen speak to you because they think you travels 4000 kilometres to cover, are serious about the place and having related to the Beijing Olympics? a language opens doors for you, and once you’ve spoken to people they will • What are the difficulties in reporting give you more in the interview … It just SCREEN EDUCATION this story? How is Stephen’s ability drags you down to the deepest layers to speak and understand Chinese a of understanding of the place. distinct advantage in this situation?
4 I’m lucky in a way because I’m not married and don’t have kids. I think if you had a family and you [were] trying to do this it [would] be hard … because you can end up working just every day for so long … people’s private lives do • What philosophy did SBS’s Date- In Their Own Words suffer a bit for it. line embrace that gave the reporter more autonomy over how stories Mark We’ve received a tip-off for this event were presented? and policemen are trying to stop us Dateline was probably the first in the from filming … but funnily enough the • Describe Mark’s attitude to the world to embrace it as a philosophy fact that it’s so hard to report here often-recommended practice for that the reporter actually counted, makes it attractive because the allure a journalist to ‘be objective’? How they weren’t anonymous. It does of journalism is to find out things that does his presence at the events give you some individual voice there, no one else knows and to tell people he’s writing about and filming which people often back away from in about it. make him an inevitable ‘part of the journalism. story’? It doesn’t matter where you are, people If you are making these stories quite so who are doing bad things will try and • How does Mark’s compelling and much by yourself, well you’re embed- stop information getting out, and we intimate story of Benazir Bhutto’s ded in that story; it does become your should really try to get that information return to Pakistan after eight years story and you do have a voice in that no matter what they try to do to stop in exile illustrate his approach to story, and you don’t have to be shy us. journalism? about saying ‘I was there, I saw it, this is what I think’. To be a good journalist you’ve got to • Aware of the danger Bhutto is likely really believe in it, you’ve got to believe to encounter on her return to Paki- Most television stories are pretty much in this concept of the fourth estate,1 stan, Mark says that he could not painted by numbers; the story is known that we’re holding corporations and ‘walk away from’ it. Describe the before you leave … You literally go out governments accountable, and if you kind of situation he finds himself with your template and it’s a four day don’t believe it, don’t do it. involved in on the plane? shoot and you’re going to speak to the Prime Minister one day, the opposition Episode 3: Mark Davis • How does Mark become a part of leader the next, the NGO (non-govern- this story as he follows Bhutto’s ment organisation) the next, and then Mark Davis is a senior journalist for bus and her supporters as they you need the struggling farmer whose SBS television’s flagship current affairs travel through the streets of Kara- land is about to be dispossessed etc. program Dateline. During his ten years chi? … So you literally tick the boxes. working for them he’s crisscrossed the globe on numerous assignments such • Less than two months after her The expectation of her [Benazir Bhutto] as this one to the US Primaries election return to Pakistan, and having was enormous and the threat was also in 2008. survived the bomb blasts that killed enormous and it was one of the few 130 others, Benazir Bhutto was situations I have been in where you • What advantages has being ‘a self- assassinated. How did Mark Davis know something terrible is going to shooting journalist’ had for Mark? feel about her and the way in which happen. she chose to return to Pakistan? • What was one of the first stories She was a sitting duck, she had a bit of SCREEN EDUCATION he did utilising his ability to move • What is Mark Davis’ view about the protection around her; certainly anyone quickly and relatively cheaply into future of current affairs on televi- with her was in mortal danger. different places and situations? sion? Where are the threats to the future of his style of journalism coming from? 5 There was some sort of aggression there; I was the only Western journalist there so I was getting things thrown at me … and people glaring … it was a little bit ugly.
It’s slightly surreal … you feel like the walking dead in a way. But I also felt lucky, and I also felt a need to make the story … it seemed important to me to somehow show what was happening.
I don’t think I’ll be doing this in ten years because I don’t think the format will be there … I think current affairs will probably be dead, investigative journalism will be pretty thin on the ground in television … I don’t want to do news, there’s no interest for me, so • Luke describes the four basics There’s different types of reportage re- I think I would get out, once this era of journalism as being ‘accu- quired for different kinds of countries; comes to an end, which I think it will. racy, objectivity, telling the truth when you’re working in Afghanistan and finding an interesting story’. or Cambodia, they are primary report- Episode 4: Luke Hunt However he believes the logistics ing countries … no PR companies, have changed. What does he think no police spokesman, no government For the past fourteen years, 46-year- multi-skilling involves for journalists spokesman, nobody who’s going to old Luke Hunt has worked for Agence today? send you a fax with quotes all neatly France Press – [otherwise known as] laid out for what you need to get your AFP. In two weeks, he is quitting and • What is the story Luke pursues on story done that day, and then you go going freelance, swapping the security Election Day involving Cambodian to the pub … If you’re lacking the basic of a weekly wage and expenses for the opposition leader Sam Rainsy? qualities of being able to do primary life of an independent journalist on the reporting in a country then you have road. • When he finally gets to the Cam- deep problems. bodian–Thai border dispute at the • After four years office-bound on ancient temple of Preah Vihear, is Journalism, photographers, shooters, the economics desk in Hong Kong, there much of a story to report? we’re all hunters in a way; we’ll all sort what is the attraction for Luke in of fix a target, track it down, find out going freelance as a journalist? • What is Luke’s view about the key what is going on and then we write role journalists have to play in the about it. • Does Luke believe a journalist can world? be objective in reporting news? News reportage, you’ve got to be How does he define ‘objectivity’? In Their Own Words on top of the game, you’ve got to be in it and you’ve got to be playing • How does he explain ‘primary Luke and you’ve got to be competing with reporting’ from countries like Af- everybody else who’s trying to break ghanistan or Cambodia? Most good stories write themselves … the same stories … you’ve got to want but the trick is when there is not much to be first. • What is the dispute on the Thai– going on and you need to produce fea- Cambodian border that Luke thinks ture material, other story ideas, there The profession of journalism is chang- he should cover? are things that might be sitting on the ing radically; the basics are still there back burner that you are aware of but … which is like accuracy, objectivity, you’ll save for a rainy day. tell the truth, find an interesting story. But the logistics in how this trade is … many people think it is impossible to done is changing and you need to be objective and to be honest – that’s multi-skill. garbage, just nonsense. Objectivity is SCREEN EDUCATION simply the ability to stand aside, weigh If you look at all the great tragedies up everything that you know and make that have occurred in recent history, a sound assessment. the killing of the Jews in World War Two, Pol Pot in Cambodia and what
6 life is like under the Taliban … we need • What is the role of his producer ferent angle so there’s no attempt to journalists to be there. You can’t have Qais and cameraman Arcmed? make the news more relevant to any a democracy without a free press … it given country. really matters … telling the noble truth. • Why does Hamish believe the fea- ture stories about people they do in It is very difficult to walk into a place Episode 5: Hamish MacDonald war-torn countries are important? and suddenly know who to talk to on any given subject and being able to 28-year-old Hamish MacDonald is • How did producer Qais get into get yourself established and in contact an Australian journalist working for Al journalism? with all the appropriate sources; it’s im- Jazeera English2 as both a correspon- possible to do that in a day or a week dent and a newsreader. Al Jazeera • Why is it important to tell this story or even a month. The most crucial part English and its parent partner Al of the ethnic minority Hazara peo- is to have someone on the ground Jazeera, which is broadcast in Arabic, ple of Northern Afghanistan? that you work with who does have both faced considerable opposition that knowledge and that experience of from the west when they were per- • What angle is he able to take on the environment so that you can work ceived as a voice of Arabic extremism. the US Presidential elections in together as a team. Even now it is not broadcast widely in 2008? the USA or Australia. In many respects I prefer doing the • What are some of the time pres- feature stories because I think they • What is there in Hamish’s back- sures to get stories to air quickly? provide context to the harder stories; ground that may have led him into it’s not all suicide bombings; that’s not journalism? • What award did Hamish win in what happens every day. 2008? • What does Hamish see as the ad- Your ‘fixer’ is effectively your eyes and vantages in Al Jazeera English not In Their Own Words ears; he can interpret the situation for having a domestic audience? you. Hamish • What difficulties did he face in his I do find it really difficult to sink back early years as a journalist, particu- A lot of people were peddling mis- into my world after being in these larly working with Channel 4 in the information about what Al Jazeera places which are so unfamiliar and so United Kingdom? meant and what its objectives were. sad a lot of the time. Al Jazeera brought press freedom to • What does Hamish consider as the Middle East. It was really a ground- It’s the biggest story in the world [The the most crucial part of working on breaking operation from the start. election of President Obama in 2008] assignment in countries like Afghani- … being there for important moments stan? Civilians die in wars … women and in history … and today we just might children die … and Al Jazeera is de- be. termined that we will show that side of the story. It’s very lonely [travelling around the SCREEN EDUCATION world] … it’s just you in the end. We report the unheard voices, the untold stories; we look at it from a dif-
7 Student Activity 2
Collating information
Fill in the chart below to compile a summary of what we see in the five epi- sodes. The first one has been done as a guide. This chart should be useful for completing the exercises that follow.
Table 1
Name and age Background and Employer Work locations Local assistance Key Beliefs (where given) motivation about work
Sophie McNeill, 23 Seeing John Pilger’s SBS Dateline Based in Beirut; Relies on local The reality of 1994 documentary mainly covers knowledge and ‘fix- stories needs to Death of a Nation Middle East. In ers’ who speak the be told to bring the about East Timor Kurdistan, North- language and can plight of minorities when she was ern Iraq. interpret. to the attention of fourteen. the world.
Stephen McDonell
Mark Davis
Luke Hunt
Hamish MacDonald SCREEN EDUCATION
8 Discussing similarities Student Activity 3 and differences The Style and Look Respond to the questions that follow. of the Series
Refer to Table 1 (on page 8) and to the This program was written, directed ‘In Their Own Words’ sections of the and produced by Paul Roy, who also guide in Student Activity 1. narrates the episodes. The Associate Producer was Jenny Ainge. Paul Roy • What are some of the qualities all has a background in journalism. five journalists share? The world of work provides a window • What are the major differences in into the daily lives and challenges of their approaches to reporting? others. Working as a foreign corre- • Do you think the more intimate and spondent is unlikely to be something reflective shots of the journalists • How many of them speak languag- offered to you as part of a work experi- offer a more complete picture of es other than English? ence program, though, like Sophie, how their work lives impact on their with a lightweight recorder, you can personal lives? • How important are their local col- make your own films of places you leagues ‘on the ground’, some- might travel to where there may be op- Editing – each episode is about half times referred to as ‘fixers’? portunities to record something more an hour. In this limited time frame, it is than holiday images. not possible to offer a complete picture • What kind of dangers are journal- of each of these individuals. We are ists likely to encounter in some of Narration – this series includes offered a ’snapshot’ where the focus is the locations where they work? the voice of the writer, director and on one or two stories they are cover- producer Paul Roy. While we do not ing, interspersed with their own sense • Why do many governments and re- see him and he does not ask ques- of what their work means to them and gimes feel the need to keep a tight tions directly, it is his approach to the their views about the role of journalists hold on information and to restrict individuals and their work that shapes today. journalists and camera operators the mini-biographies. access to many areas? • Does the structure of each portrait • Were you conscious of either the allow all the journalists to show us • What do you understand by the narrator’s voice or his presence in what they do and what they think? term ‘freedom of the press’? the stories? • Were there questions you would • Apart from governments and • What function does the voiceover have liked answered in some of the security forces, who controls much narration serve? portraits? of the information given to journal- ists? Camera – it is the journalist who is Student Activity 4 being filmed as the central subject • How is the remoteness of the loca- of each episode. While this is not a Death on assignment tions in which many of them work fly-on-the-wall approach (it is much disruptive of their personal lives more prepared and edited) we do see As we see in this series, working in and relationships? the journalists in domestic settings and war zones and unstable regions and occasionally in unguarded moments, countries can be very dangerous for • If you could invite one of these cor- e.g., Sophie calling her mother at home journalists. While all the journalists respondents to your class to talk when she is unwell, Stephen frustrated we meet are careful about planning about their work, which one would at not having the ready answer for the and security, sometimes preparations you choose and why? Australian interview about the Beijing and caution can be in vain. Change Olympics, Luke showing us his bach- and volatility is at the heart of many • Write down five questions about elor pad in Cambodia. conflicts and this can be dangerous their work that you would like to work. For reporters, covering conflicts, ask the person you have invited to • How might the presence of a particularly in places where they are speak to your class. camera affect the responses of the unfamiliar with local issues – the land, journalists, as it so often affects the society, the history and, often, the SCREEN EDUCATION • What would be the advantages the behaviour of those people and language – is an inherently risky busi- and disadvantages in working as a situations they film? ness. Many journalists and cameramen freelance journalist or as part of a have been killed while reporting on larger organisation? and filming news stories. In the five
9 deal of access to places is limited by governments and corporations and information is often denied or carefully managed and massaged, how difficult is it for journalists to accurately report what is happen- ing?
• Television, rather than newspapers, is now the main source of informa- tion people depend on for news. Several of the journalists we see in this series are multi-skilled, able to research, record, edit, write and present their material. How might this level of autonomy change the way stories are both presented and received?
• How typical do you think these years since America invaded Iraq, 136 Student Activity 5 journalists are as representatives of reporters are believed to have been their profession? killed, mostly Iraqi citizens. On 28 May Journalistic Ideals 2009, a Kurdish journalist gunned • Investigate the world of ‘online down in the northern city of Kirkuk was After so long in the industry, I was fairly journalism’. How is it both simi- the 136th reporter killed in Iraq since cynical about journos in general but lar to and different from being a the US-led invasion. this reaffirmed my faith that there are reporter attached to a television talented, ethical, insightful journalists network or large organisation such • Research and investigate the life out there, working extremely hard and, as Al Jazeera English? and work of one of these Austral- sometimes taking great risks simply to ians or groups killed while reporting get the news to the public. Student Activity 6 overseas: – Paul Roy, the director of Journos Modelling The Balibo Five – Five Australian- It will be my earnest aim that The based newsmen were killed in East New York Times give the news, all A world of work or play Timor in 1975. Brian Peters, Greg the news, in concise and attractive Shackleton, Gary Cunningham, form, in language that is permissible in Seeing what people do in their jobs is Malcolm Rennie and Tony Stewart good society, and give it as early if not a source of fascination and sometimes were shot in the East Timorese earlier, than it can be learned through inspiration for many people. Whether border town of Balibo during the any other reliable medium; to give the workplaces are shown in the form of Indonesian invasion. An Australian news impartially, without fear or favour, drama series (the ubiquitous police coronial inquest in 2007 found the regardless of party, sect, or interest dramas, legal stories, hospital dramas, five journalists were deliberately involved; to make of the columns of the world of criminals, school life) or killed by Indonesian troops to pre- The New York Times a forum for the documentaries about a range of oc- vent them exposing the invasion of consideration of all questions of public cupations and work worlds including East Timor. A film about this story importance, and to that end to invite those of doctors, vets, teachers and is being released in 2009. intelligent discussion from all shades journalists, they all offer glimpses of of opinion. Neil Davis – A photojournalist and – Adolph Ochs, owner and publisher cameraman who photographed the of The New York Times, 1896 Vietnam War and other Indochi- nese conflicts, Davis was killed by • How do the journalists in this series shrapnel in Bangkok in 1985 while demonstrate the ideals enunciated reporting on a minor Thai coup by Adolph Ochs more than 100 attempt. years ago, and reaffirm Paul Roy’s SCREEN EDUCATION faith in the importance of the work William Lambie – First Australian they do? Give some examples war correspondent killed on duty from the series. while covering the Boer War in South Africa in 1901. • In an age of ‘spin’ where a great 10 life in other worlds. There are some References and Resources common elements in all these sto- about Hamish MacDonald’s background ries, whether they are fact or fiction. Novels and appointment to Al Jazeera, English. Fictional dramas need to be at least plausibly factual and the factual ones Evelyn Waugh, Scoop, Penguin books, http://www.abc.net.au/rn/mediareport/ need to include people and stories that 1938. stories/2007/1799387.htm are at least as interesting as fictional characters and stories. Here are some Christopher Wren, Hacks, Simon and Read the transcript of a program about important elements: Schuster, 1996. the relationship between foreign corre- spondents and their ‘fixers’ from ABC Engaging characters or individuals, Graeme Green, The Quiet American, radio’s Media Report. not just faces or occupations but Penguin books, 1955. Also adapted individuals to film in 1958 (Joseph L. Mankiewicz) http://www.abc.net.au/rn/mediareport/ Good talkers and in 2002 (Phillip Noyce). stories/2008/2432633.htm Workplaces that include the prob- ability of drama and audience Films and television series A number of journalists, including So- engagement phie McNeill, talk about the changing A work world that may have some There are many films about the work of role of foreign correspondents on the recognizable and familiar elements journalists as investigative reporters, in ABC’s Media Report. but also contain some surprises war zones and working for networks. Some represent the journalist as inves- (All websites accessed 27 May 2009) • Choose a world with which you are tigative hero, while others take a more familiar. Not necessarily a school cynical look at the way in which the Race Around the World world, but perhaps a place where media can manipulate the news and you have some casual work, or a exercise power. http://www.abc.net.au/tv/race98/ sports club where you spend time. Citizen Kane (Orson Welles, 1941) Race Around the World was a series • Select, or create, four people who screened on ABC Television in 1997 are each an important part of this All the President’s Men (Alan J. Pakula, and 1998. work world e.g. at a sports club 1976) – the coach, the star player, the For each series, eight young ‘racers’ average but dedicated player, the The Year of Living Dangerously (Peter were selected from video auditions retired player who helps out each Weir, 1982) from the Australian general public. The week, the committed parent, etc. successful applicants undertook a brief State of Play (Kevin Macdonald, 2009) course in documentary filmmaking, • Outline a four-episode drama se- before deciding on an itinerary for their ries to pitch to a television compa- Frontline – comedy series that satirised journey around the world. They were ny about your idea for a workplace Australian current affairs television. then given a digital video camera, and drama with each episode featuring sent to their first destination. a particular perspective about the Websites world you have chosen. Over the next 100 days, the racers http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/ were required to devise, arrange and • Outline the main areas you intend the-aljazeera-aussies/2006/05/06/ film a series of ten four-minute docu- SCREEN EDUCATION to cover in the first episode. 1146335966101.html mentary films, as well as a stand-by documentary and five ‘postcards’. This A 2006 Sydney Morning Herald report gave them ten days to travel to their
11 next destination, film the video, and Marguerite O’Hara is a send it back to the ABC in Sydney with Melbourne-based writer. • to be the first global high-definition detailed editing instructions. television network. Endnotes Al Jazeera English is the world’s The series was broadcast as a weekly 1 The term ‘Fourth Estate’ refers to the first English-language news channel half-hour program, with four films press. The term goes back at least headquartered in the Middle East. shown per episode. Each film was to Thomas Carlyle in the first half The channel aims to provide both then judged by a panel of three media of the nineteenth century. Thomas a regional voice and a global and film experts as well as being put Macaulay used it in 1828. perspective to a potential world to a popular viewer vote. Points were Novelist Jeffrey Archer in his work audience of over one billion English deducted for late submissions. The Fourth Estate made the obser- speakers, but without an Anglo- vation: American worldview. Instead of Most of the racers from the series went In May 1789, Louis XVI summoned being run under central command, on to pursue careers in media and to Versailles a full meeting of the news management rotates around filmmaking: ‘Estates General’. The First Estate broadcasting centres in Kuala consisted of three hundred clergy. Lumpur, Doha, London and Perhaps the biggest success story The Second Estate, three hundred Washington DC, ‘following the sun’. amongst the racers has been that of nobles. The Third Estate, six hundred The station also aims ‘to give voice John Safran. Safran actually came last commoners. Some years later, after to untold stories, promote debate, on the first series (won by Olivia Rous- the French Revolution, Edmund and challenge established percep- set), despite winning the popular vote. Burke, looking up at the Press Gal- tions’, and to ‘set the news agenda, He later made two comedy documen- lery of the House of Commons, said, bridging cultures and providing a tary series for SBS: John Safran’s Mu- ‘Yonder sits the Fourth Estate, and unique grassroots perspective from sic Jamboree (partly directed by fellow they are more important than them under-reported regions around the Racer Olivia Rousset), John Safran vs. all.’ world’. God, which received cult followings, as 2 Al Jazeera English is a 24-hour, 3 Adapted from the Wikipedia site well as the show Speaking in Tongues. English-language, news and current
12 This study guide was produced by ATOM. (©ATOM) [email protected] For more information on Screen Education magazine, or to download other free study guides,
visit