JOUR 1111 Factual Story: Andrew Symonds

In 2006, Australia was in trouble at 5/84 on the second day of the fourth Ashes Test. The incoming batsman was Andrew Symonds, a man whose talent was widely known, but rarely fully exercised in the Test match arena. The opposition had their tails up, after removing three of Australia’s in-form batsmen early that morning. The situation was pleading for patience and calm – circumstances in which Andrew Symonds was not expected to succeed.

He took 22 deliveries to get off the mark which for most people would be a sign of paralysis, but in Symonds’ case, it was a positive departure from the expectations of many pundits. It made everyone believe that he wanted to stick around.

129 balls later, Symonds reached his hundred with a six. The reaction that followed was rousing. It was such a genuine celebration from Symonds, one that was indicative of the personal struggles that he had gone through to reach that point. That century may never have happened if it weren’t for his past failures, and all the controversy that had previously surrounded him. Many had questioned his commitment to the game and his team, but he had come through it.

Andrew Symonds' emotions overflow as he brings up his hundred in the 2006/07 Ashes series. Photo: Reuters

Andrew Symonds was born on 9 June 1975 in Birmingham, England. One of his biological parents is of West Indian heritage; the other is believed to be Danish. When Symonds was just three months old, he moved to Australia after being adopted by Ken and Barbara Symonds. In his autobiography ‘Going for Broke’, Andrew says that he is not sensitive about his adoption, and is very content with the parents he has. “...I’ve no desire to ‘rediscover my roots’, and I don’t spend time imagining what my biological parents might be like...”

Symonds’ cricketing talent was evident as a young man. He attended the Cricket Academy at the age of 19, and made his first class debut for Queensland soon after. However, it wasn’t until the 1997/98 Sheffield Shield season where he began to string some performances together. He averaged just over 50 that year, including four hundreds. He was quickly becoming known as one of the most explosive batsmen in the country. He was rewarded for this good form with selection in the Australian one-day side late in 1998.

He found himself in and out of the Australian one-day team for the next five years, struggling with consistency. He was well established as a pinch-hitter, and was yet to be taken seriously as a player that could bat for long periods of time. Impatience was costing him, a characteristic that would later on prove a source of concern off the cricket pitch.

Still yet to fulfil his potential, Symonds’ break came in 2003. A host of injuries to other players meant that he was sent to South Africa on the eve of the World Cup. Whilst there was criticism that Australia needed a ‘proper’ batsman, captain Ricky Ponting stood up for Symonds and ultimately got him the opportunity. The next few weeks proved to be the best form Symonds had shown on the international stage, and was a prominent figure throughout Australia’s successful World Cup campaign.

After his outstanding performances throughout the 2003 World Cup, Symonds was fast becoming one of Australia’s most popular players. However, this didn’t come without controversy. In fact, Symonds had a string of off-field dramas that would ultimately lead to his fallout from the Australian cricket team.

In 2005, the Australian team was in England competing in a one-day series. They had a match coming up against minnows Bangladesh, but Symonds decided to go out on the eve of the game. "Ah, it's only Bangladesh," he wrote in his autobiography, "a little bit of fizz won't be a worry."

He returned to the team hotel after sunrise, and was woken up only when team mate Michael Clarke put him in the shower. Mainly due to Clarke’s efforts, he made it to the ground on the team bus. However, Symonds raised the suspicions of his captain and coach when he slipped off a wheelie bin while doing his stretches.

"You're drunk. You're not playing today," Coach John Buchanan told Symonds.

"No, I'm right to go," Symonds replied. "I'm playing."

Buchanan then told Symonds to “sort himself out.” Explanations to cover the story such as flu and injury were now being considered by staff. This did not sit well with Symonds.

"As it started to sink in that I was gone I fired up. If you're going to drop me, then you better tell them why or I will." Symonds recalls in his autobiography.

The story ended up coming out during the match, as Symonds later faced a disciplinary hearing.

As Symonds explains, he then had to deal with the anger of his team mates – "The team meeting went for ages... They might have been my mates, but they were united in their fury at my actions."

The situation was compounded by the fact that Australia lost the game. With an Ashes series so close, the loss put an amount of unnecessary pressure on the team.

Ultimately, Symonds was sent home from the tour.

"... I felt as if my guts had been ripped out because I'd let down some of my closest mates, my family and, let's face it, the whole country.” Symonds also made himself ineligible for the Allan Border Medal that year, further illustrating the regret that he felt.

Symonds then began the long process that would culminate in that century in an Ashes test match. Even though he had made his test debut in 2004, he had hardly been impressive. At first, many doubted that he would ever be capable of playing in the national test side again. Many believed that, despite his impressive one-day performances in the past, his style was simply unfit for tests.

But Symonds worked on his game, demonstrating a more conservative approach in his return to the domestic competition. His performances were telling people he could be versatile, applying new-found patience whenever he could.

This struggle and doubt is what led up to his innings at the MCG in 2006. To see Symonds once again be at the top of his game, and to witness the emotion that poured out of him when he got there, was special. Whilst this is not his full story, this chapter of his career is a perfect insight into the character of Andrew Symonds. 

JOUR 1111 Lecture 5: Trust on Air

Week five saw us listening to two interviews on ABC Local Radio. Carmel spoke with Richard Fidler, former member of comedic group the 'Doug Anthony All Stars', and current talk show host on ABC radio. In the second part of the interview, Carmel talked to Steve Austin, another long-time ABC radio presenter. 


Both men shared their experiences on how they entered the industry, as well as some special moments while interviewing certain people. 


One of the things that stood out to me was when Richard Fidler talked about when conducting an interview, was how important trust is between the interviewee and himself. He said that because the interviewee has no legal obligation to tell you anything, it is vital that you build a sense trust in each other to get the most out of whoever you are talking to.

"Sometimes there are moments when guests remember things for the first time, in the middle of an interview... I love moments like that, when people surprise themselves and feel they have enough trust in the program that they can say those things without me ridiculing it." 

Richard Fidler (right) in the studio.

I actually found this lecture easiest to engage with. Because is was purely audio, there were no visual distractions, as opposed to being in a lecture theatre. I was able to just sit back, close my eyes, and listen. 

JOUR 1111 Lecture 7: Public Media

 ‘The difference between commercial broadcasting and public broadcasting is the difference between consumers and citizens’ – Nigel Milan (former Managing Director of SBS)

The role of public media is to hold the public interest as its top priority. It is funded by the taxpayer, and is designed for the people. Public media is used as a tool for nation building, an expression of national heritage and identity with emphasis on local stories.

One of the questions that was posed in the lecture was Public Media's role in a democratic society. Bruce explained that is the public media's duty to support public and democratic processes.

According to Robert Richter, Public Media is important because is the last bastion of long form investigative journalism.

“It is such a special vehicle for voices to be heard … [for] visions and viewpoints … ignored by commercial media.” 

2pac Makes a Guest Appearance at Coachella 2012... In the Form of a Hologram!

2pac back! Just the fact that people have created a hologram of the man performing two of his classics - 'Hail Mary' and '2 of America's Most Wanted' is a testament to the impact 2pac had on not only hip-hop, but the wider global community.

It was also great to see Snoop join the 'gangsta party' and perform along side Hologram Pac. Enjoy!

JOUR 1111 Lecture 6: Commercial Media

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

 In my opinion, this sums up the motives of many commercial media companies. Privately owned and profit driven - generated by advertising.

Lecture six basically went through all the major competitors in the world of commercial media, and the different ways that corporations branch out in order to gain the attention of viewers.

One of the biggest challenges commercial media faces is that a loss in revenue equals less investment. Without the ability to invest, there isn't as much money for production, leading to more bought content from overseas. This bought content tends to be old programs prominently from the US.

An interesting point that was raised was the challenges this sort of media faces when balancing commercial (profit) and social (public trust). Do these coporations care about providing true and accurate broadcasts? Or is it all about the 'Benjamins' ($$$)?

Much of the criticism of commercial media is based on its perceived inability to serve the local community because of media consolidation. Freepress.net defines media consolidation as the act of a large organisation buying into local media outlets, and as a result having control of the 'flow' of information that is provided to the public. With this regression in diversity of ownership and programming, comes less viewpoints. Coverage
of local events is affected, and the community is prone to propaganda through excessive advertising.

"Comment is free, but facts are sacred." - C.P. Scott (Editor / Owner of The Guardian)

There is a feeling that the tabloid news that is seen on commercial stations, puts more emphasis on pleasing the viewer, rather than deliver 'real' and quality news. This is indicative of the whole commercial attitude - putting ratings before quality, a clear contradiction of the Hutchins Commission.

This idea of media consolidation helps me understand what Bruce said about private companies creating their own competition. For example, I was surprised to hear that radio stations B105 and Triple M are both owned by Southern Cross Broadcasting.

There is no doubting that commercial media has a tendency to put money before public interest. By definition, 'commercial' is concerned with or engaged in commerce. I guess all we can hope is that the public don't expect anything different. 

JOUR 1111 Lecture 4: Power Through Pictures

Photo journalism was the topic of the day. Most of the content Bruce spoke about had been covered in my COMU1999 lectures, but it was useful to hear Bruce's angle on the topic. 

The main theme of the class was based on the importance of picture stories, and how they have evolved over time. Australian indigenous cave paintings and early century Holy books are an examples of picture stories.

By outlining these primitive concepts, an illustration of how these forms of visual communication have evolved and filtered into the media over time. The first use of photo journalism began in 1880. The rate at which technology has evolved is astounding. 

We went on to look at some hilarious (but sad) examples of digital manipulation. This was my favourite example - 

But what makes a great photo? Aspects such as framing, focus, viewpoint and lighting were all touched on by Bruce. The importance of timing was emphasised, as it was stressed that a photographer’s ability to ‘capture the moment’ is vital.

“A picture has no meaning at all if it can’t tell a story.” - Eetu Silanpaa

Here are a few images which are true to Eetu Silanpaa's words. 

Robert Peraza, who lost his son Robert David Peraza in 9/11, pauses at his son’s name at the North Pool of the 9/11 Memorial. (Getty Images / Justin Lane)

A protester gets sprayed in the face with pepper spray at an Occupy Portland protest. (Randy L. Rasmussen/The Oregonian)

Chile's Puyehue volcano erupts, causing air traffic cancellations across South America, New Zealand, Australia and forcing over 3,000 people to evacuate. (Reuters)

Facebook played an extremely important role in the uprisings throughout the Middle East. (Source: theatlanticwire.com)

A U.S. Army soldier takes five with an Afghan boy during a patrol in Pul-e Alam, a town in Logar province, eastern Afghanistan. (Reuters / Umit Bektas)

A woman rebel fighter supporter fires an AK-47 rifle as she reacts to the news of the withdrawal of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's forces from Benghazi on March 19. (Reuters / Goran Tomasevic)

 A man sits in front of a destroyed apartment building following the Joplin, Missouri tornado. (Reuters)

A demonstrator shows his bottom to riot police during a protest by European workers and trade union representatives to demand better job protection in the European Union countries in Brussels on March 24. (Reuters / Thierry Roge)

JOUR 1111 Lecture 3 cont: Importance of Text

As I posted earlier in relation to the week three lecture, the importance of text journalism was explored by journalist Skye Doherty. She spoke about how factual story telling should be structured, using an inverted pyramid to differentiate the most important details from the background information. To be honest, I had learnt this the previous week in my reporting lecture and tutorial, so I did struggle to stay interested (no disrespect to Skye, it was simply a matter of content).

However, as I talked about in my first post on week 3, Skye Doherty answered some questions at the end of her lecture. Have a look to see my reflection on what she said.

JOUR 1111 Lecture 2: Media Evolves and Journalism Regresses

Source: http://mastersofmedia.hum.uva.nl/2010/10/14/evolution-of-twitter-through-alternative-ways-of-usage/

In week two Bruce took us through the evolution of media, and its impact on news and journalism. Things such as old media (newspapers, radio etc), Web 1.0, which is the internet in its most basic form (information accompanied by ads), Web 2.0 (Facebook, Twitter, and other social networks), and finally Web 3.0 or the 'Semantic Web'. Web 3.0 revolves around structured data which allows users to share and find information more easily. An example of websites implementing this concept can be seen on YouTube, where they provide the user with 'recommended videos', derived from search history. 

Brilliant, and a little scary.  

Bruce also talked about how these different forms of media were changing news and the way in which it is distributed. Personally speaking, there is no doubt that news on the web has led to me neglecting older forms of media, simply due to accessibly. This is illustrated in my media diary. 

The fact that web news is so accessible means that people generally will look towards the internet for news. Whilst there is nothing wrong with qualified journalists writing up a story on the internet as opposed to a newspaper, I feel that the accessibility of the web has diluted the quality of journalism. 

The web is open to anyone.  In my opinion, this means that ANYONE can be a journalist. Anyone can write about an event and how they saw it, without verifying facts. Facebook and blogging are forums that are typically used for lazy journalism. 

I'm not saying that the number of good journalists has decreased as media and the internet has evolved, I am arguing that we are just more prone to bad journalism.

People might disagree with me, arguing that just because the average Joe wrote a story on something, doesn't make him a journalist. Well, yes it does. It just doesn't make him a very good one. 

Mos Def killing it on Letterman

One of my favourite performances from one of my favourite artists. The song is 'Quiet Dog' from his album 'The Ecstatic', which was released in 2009. Big-ass drums and flow - a simple formula, but it works. 

JOUR 1111 Lecture 1: I am the Journalist?

I must admit I was pretty pumped for my first ever university lecture. In saying that, I was curious of what sorts of things we would be doing in the course, as I had been having some doubts as to whether journalism was for me.

The main message that I got out of my first lecture was that we had to see ourselves as a journalist. Lecturer Bruce made it clear that if we were to succeed this semester, we had to act as if we were IN the industry. Talk about ‘faking it till you make it’...

But in all seriousness I knew that it would be a challenge. My attention to media tends to revolve around only my personal interests – I assume this is natural but it’s something I need to work on. I got the impression from Bruce that to be a journalist, you have to be aware of everything happening around you. This will require me to read a lot more than I currently do, and to broaden my understanding of what is going on in the world.

Regardless of whether or not I am certain about my future in the journalism field, there is no doubt that I am willing to step outside my comfort zone and give it a go.