Friday, May 25, 2012

Annotated Bibliography; Four Queensland Girls


Source One: Brisbane Times “Judge Orders Children to Italy”

Calligeros, M & Peterson F. (2012, May 16). Judge Orders Children to Italy. Brisbane Times. Retrieved from http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/judge-orders-children-to-italy-20120515-1youm.html

The authors, Marissa Calligeros and Freya Peterson are both esteemed authors in their respective fields.  Calligeros, resident courts and property reporter for Brisbane Times alongside Peterson, who has previously worked for some of the biggest publications in the world, bring a professional and credible perspective to the story.  The authors, both based in Brisbane, will have a local perspective on the story, which adds to the believability and locality factor.  This article visited many different areas to the story, beginning with a background to the story, giving the reader an insight to what had happened previously and the latest information in the issue.  The article then recounted how the girls were found and a statement from the judge working on the case.  The mother, father and grandmother were also spoken to, ensuring that many different sides to the story were covered.  The only people who had not been contacted for a statement were the girls, who are protected under law.  The article then moves on to cover legal and ethical implications of the Courier Mail reporters who published the names and photographs of the girls.  This part of the article reinforces the credibility of the article, seeming as though they are against this style of reporting.


Source Two: Northern Rivers Echo “Girls Facing Deportation Vanish”

Bathersby, D. (2012, May 14). Girls Facing Deportation Vanish. Northern Rivers Echo. Retrieved from http://www.echonews.com.au/story/2012/05/14/desperate-plea-over-eviction-of-four-sisters/

The author, Damien Bathersby, is a regional weekend reporter for the APN regional news network.  He is located in Mooloolaba on the Sunshine Coast.  His location is an important factor in this article.  The four girls were living on the Sunshine Coast, so it will be important for him to report correctly and tactfully whilst remaining unbiased as he is close to the source of the story.  Ethically, it is important that he is careful with what he reports as he is in close contact to the friends and family involved in the case.  However, being that he is close by to the news source, the story could be influenced causing bias.  This story has many statements from those close to the girls, particularly the grandmother.  Although factual, this could be seen as showing bias, this could be rectified by including more statements from the courts or the father.  In comparison to the article published on Brisbane Times, it appeals more to a community, rather than a state-wide audience, Brisbane Times was more about publishing the facts rather than the sensitive sympathetic side.


Source Three: Ninemsn “Missing Queensland Girls Found”

Pearson N. (2012, May 22). Missing Queensland Girls Found. Ninemsn. Retrieved from http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/8471296/missing-queensland-girls-found

Ninemsn is the online source for Channel Nine’s news coverage.  Ninemsn is very lifestyle oriented; they have an abundance of stories regarding celebrities and sports stars.  The only news story about the four girls (who have been making headlines in other news sources around the country) was this one, reporting that the girls had been found.  This does not indicate that Ninemsn is a good source for groundbreaking news stories.  The reporter, Nick Pearson graduated from Charles Sturt University as the Editor in Chief of the student newspaper.  This story was stating the facts, nothing ethically questionable or groundbreaking.  However, that is not a problem as there is little information regarding the girls, the court or anything mentioned in court.  In comparison to earlier articles, this has content similar to Brisbane Times with more of a factual base.  However, it was neither as in depth nor as up to date nor did it have a locality factor.  In comparison to the article in the Northern Echo, it appealed more to a national level of news.  It did not go into family relationships nor was it a sympathy story.


Source Four: Media and Journalism Ethics “Media Ethics”


This book is all about the Ethics of Media and Journalism.  The Author, S. P Phadke, has written a number of academic books regarding media and journalism.  The chapter of the book, Media Ethics, ties in with the news articles as there are many ethical responsibilities when dealing with both court proceedings and children under the age of eighteen.  As mentioned in the first article from Brisbane Times, the Courier Mail recently contravened these laws.  In the chapter, he mentions the different areas of journalism ethics; news manipulation, truth, public interest, privacy, fantasy, taste and conflict with the law.  Although the book provides information for general ethical media, it is based on America, so the laws may be different here in Australia.  Also, there was very little to no academic referencing within the chapter.  This helps to reinforce that the information is true and factual.  The book was published in 2008, which is recent although there could be slight amendments to the laws in the time since then.  Overall, this book was a good read, however, for more informational or academic reading, it would not be appropriate.

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