Story-Telling Exercise

John Madden: Surveyor of Life

When John Donal Madden, my grandfather, was diagnosed with Motor neurone disease in mid 2010, all I could think was that it was such a cruel twist of fate for a man who had so much life in him.

Motor neurone disease is a neurological disorder that affects motor neurons. Motor neurons are the cells that control most muscle activity such as walking, talking, eating and breathing. Motor neurone disease is of a progressive nature; eventually the sufferer is rendered disabled and will die. The particularly brutal part of the disease is that the sufferer’s mind is fully aware and able, only their body won’t respond.

I think this was the worst part of the disease for Pa, and everyone around him. Pa was an extremely intelligent man, always inventing new objects and ways to complete tasks. He was also very active for a man of his age; before being diagnosed with Motor neurone, he was 73 and still ran a farm on the Sunshine Coast with my Nana, Maureen. Nana and Pa grew a variety of fruits and flowers and their ten-acre property. They also kept bees and chickens for the honey and eggs that they produced. Every second Saturday they would get up at 2a.m., pack their truck and head down to New Farm Markets in Brisbane to sell their fruit, honey and flowers. I was their sales assistant for nearly two years, until school and my other job got too demanding. My younger brother Jake took over upon my departure, and he loved it as much as I did, despite the extremely early starts.

Nana and Pa’s story started way back in 1955. Pa was 19 years old, and Nana was 15. Nana tells everyone of the way that Pa used to drop by the pharmacy where she worked to leave her little gifts. One day Nana was sick and couldn’t make it to work. She was very surprised when Pa arrived on her doorstep with flowers and a ‘Get Well’ card; the older ladies at the pharmacy had told Pa all about Nana’s illness. The pair continued to see each other, and on Nana’s 16^th birthday, Pa presented her with a silver friendship ring. Delicate flowers were engraved all around the band, and on the inside was ‘Maureen, love John’. That ring is now mine; Nana bequeathed it to me on my 16^th birthday.

Pa also served in the Navy from ages 20 to 25 as a surveyor. Surveying is the science of determining the three dimensional distances and angles between points of land. Surveying is used to create land maps and boundaries. It was something that Pa loved, and continued to do right up until being diagnosed. He used to create maps of the blocks of land his children lived on, just to make sure the other maps were correct.

John and Maureen became Mr and Mrs Madden in 1961. In October 1962 they welcomed their first child, Bernard, my father. In September 1963, Michelle was born. In January 1965, they had Susan. And in April 1973, they had their youngest child Allison. The family lived very happily in Vermont, Victoria.

Being a staunch Labor supporter, politics was also something Pa was very interested in. In 1979, he was elected the Mayor of Nunawading, a suburb in East Melbourne. What followed his election was near constant media spotlight, from which my teenage father was conveniently absent most of the time. Pa served as Mayor for only a short time, until 1980.

Nana and Pa’s children all began to grow up. Bernard met Joanne, my mother, and the two married in 1989. I was born in 1994, and my brother Jake in 1996. Michelle met David Munro, they were married in 1990 but had welcomed twin girls Tahnee and Ashleigh in 1986. Their son Benjamin was born in 1991. Susan actually came out as gay in her late teenage years, and met current partner Michelle in the early 1990’s.  Little Allison married her husband Robert in 1997. The pair had two children, Cassidy, born in 2000, and Keely, born in 2002.

Starting with Nana and Pa, then my parents, the whole Madden clan relocated to the Sunshine Coast, Queensland. Nana and Pa started the farm, and Pa really got to hone his agricultural skills. The family remained close, regularly getting together for special occasions.

Fast forward to 2010. Pa felt his left hand going slightly numb. He didn’t think anything of it until a few weeks later, when the numbness began spreading. As a typical man, he put off going to the doctors until Nana forced him. The doctor’s results were that Pa had either had a small stroke, or it could be the beginning of Motor neurone. The latter was confirmed when the numbness spread up Pa’s whole arm, rendering it useless. Then the other arm started, then his legs. Eventually Pa could no longer get around without Nana, and a wheelchair. They had to stop going to the markets, and eventually had to sell their farm and move into a retirement resort. The next thing to go was Pa’s voice, and his bladder control. Nana could no longer take care of him by herself, so in early 2011 he was moved to an aged care facility in Caloundra.

The whole family went to visit him regularly. Nana sat with Pa all day and most of the night, and would do it all again the next day. However it was clear his condition was worsening. The last time I was Pa was on April 20^th, 2011. He couldn’t move or speak. It was truly heart wrenching for me. This horrible disease had struck down such a smart, capable man.

John Madden died the night of April 20^th, 2011. His wife, all his daughters, and two of his granddaughters surrounded him.  John Madden died an incredible man who had experienced a wealth of life experiences.

 (989 words)

Melbourne Adventures!

The most amazing vintage store ever, RetroStar.

Graffiti on Flinders Lane.

High Tea room in Block Arcade.

Week 7 Lecture

To be honest, I didn't attend this week's lecture as I am currently in Melbourne. I also found that hotel Wi-Fi is not exactly the best when trying to download a lecture recording. So in the end I had to settle for reviewing the Powerpoint. 

Following on from last week's lecture on commercial media, this week's lecture covered public media. In contrast to commercial media, public media are government funded companies. Their ultimate goal is to serve the public. 

Major players in Australian public media include:

· ABC 

· ABC 2

· ABC 3

· ABC News 24

· ABC Radio

· SBS

· SBS Two

· SBS Radio

· Triple J 

The main role of public media is to show media that is in support of public and democratic processes. The are still able to make a profit; SBS is considered a 'hybrid' channel but is still able to be known as a public media channel. ABC is a conventional public media channel. 

Public media should have public value. The Powerpoint outlined public value as:

1. Embedding a 'public service ethos'

2. Value for licence fee money

3. 'Weighing public value against market impact'

4. Public consultation

Public media broadcasting should also involve:

· Geographical universality - available to the whole population

· Universality of appeal - cater to all tastes and interests

· Special provision for minorities

· Special relationship to the sense of national identity and community

· Distance from all vested interests

· Universality of payment 

· Competition in good programming rather than competition for numbers

· Liberate rather than restrict broadcasters

Judging from this lecture, I would rather work for a public media company than a commercial media company. I like the public service aspect of their broadcasting, and would rather be dedicated to fair and just media than competing for advertisers and generating profit. 

Week 6 Lecture

“Advertisers are the real customers of a commercial media organisation, not its readers, viewers or listeners.”

This week’s lecture was about Commercial Media. Commercial media organisations are non-government funded organisations that aim to make a profit through selling advertising to their audience.

Major players in the commercial media arena include:

· News Limited

· Fairfax Media

· APN News & Media

· Southern Cross Broadcasting

· WIN Corporation

· Seven West Media

· Ten

· Nine Entertainment Co.

These companies produce a range of different media, such as television, newspapers, films, books, sports, advertising, magazines, and cable television. The commercial media industry is basically a competition - who can bring in the most advertisers? This brings up the point; can these companies be trusted to accurately and fairly portray news and other events, when their main goal is to make a profit?

In answer to the above question, commercial media companies have to meet certain legal requirements, formal state requirements and are overseen by the state to make sure everything is kosher.

But despite these requirements, commercial media players still manage to do the wrong thing. For example, Rupert Murdoch’s 2011 phone hacking scandal, in which it was revealed that the phones of the British Royal Family, celebrities, politicians were hacked and accessed by News of the World employees. Public outcry ensued when it was unearthed that employees had also hacked the phones of a murdered schoolgirl, deceased soldiers and victims of the London Bombings. The following video shows Rupert and James Murdoch giving a statement about the scandal:

Murdoch's defence for the hackings was that News of the World accounts for less than 1% of his company and that he employs many other ethical people. This shows that commercial media companies' only aim is to gain the biggest audience in order to profit from their true customers ... advertisers.

Week 5 Lecture

"Radio is the theatre of the mind, television is the theatre of the mindless" - Steve Allen

This week's lecture was a half hour audio recording about telling stories for radio. I procrastinated listening to it as I didn't think I had the attention span to simply sit at my computer and listen to audio for a whole thirty minutes. My intention was to just play the audio and surf the internet simultaneously. However once the recording had started I found it hard to concentrate on anything except the voices of these two men, whose opinions on radio broadcasting were so very interesting...

Radio presenters Steve Austin (left) and
 Richard Fidler (right)

The first guest was Richard Fidler, who hosts a radio show on ABC called 'Conversations'. The show is about ordinary people who have done or are doing amazing things. A few of the key points Richard made included:

• TV and Radio are completely different mediums and are not interchangeable; this makes for "bad TV and dull radio."
• Radio is a more intimate medium than TV - people watch TV from a distance, whereas radio makes listeners feel as if they are included in a conversation. As a radio presenter, you are a facilitator of conversation.
• You are more convincing as a presenter if you are genuinely interested in what your interviewee is talking about.
• A successful radio show is all about pre-production - pre-interviews with guests makes them feel more relaxed and trusting.
• You should always make guests feel safe - Richard prefers to avoid a prosecutorial style of interviewing as this will most likely cause your interviewee to clam up.
• Try to keep your mouth shut - allow guests to take and explain themselves. It is a privilege to be part of their recollections.
• Richard feels that public radio is thriving - it has remained unscathed through the 'deaths' of other old media by utilising new technologies and blending into new platforms such as podcasts and Twitter.
• Richard wants to be of use to listeners and give them something, the 'public service' aspect of radio keeps him energetic and happy.

Richard's pearls of wisdom to young Journalism students were: worldliness is good, read the paper, keep asking questions, be open minded, and most importantly, to expose yourself to different currents of thought.

The second guest was Steve Austin, who hosted ABC 612 Evening for nearly three years. This year Steve took over hosting for ABC 612 Mornings. Steve shared a lot of the same views as Richard, as well as some other wisdom:

• When on air, being yourself is important, but so is proper enunciation - people have to understand you.
• Like Richard, Steve also tries to avoid the prosecutorial style of interviewing. However if you want to pursue some information, find different ways of asking questions.
• On radio, it is very easy for people to tell whether you are lying or being fake. Unlike TV, there is no visual distraction.
• A good radio story involves being human - searching and exploring for emotion, not just facts and data. People are driven by emotional responses and life experiences.
• As Richard also mentioned, Steve encourages radio presenters to talk less, and listen more.
• Steve believes radio is popular because these days people are very time-poor. Radio also forges a human connection, and is more real.

Steve's sole piece of advice for those pursuing a career in radio was to 'never give up.' Pursue your goals and never give up on them, even when people tell you otherwise.

Let's just reflect back to the quote at the beginning of my post, "Radio is the theatre of the mind, television is the theatre of the mindless." Radio presenting is almost an art; you have to forge real human connections, include listeners in a conversation for which they are not present, and most importantly, you have to make pictures with words.