Media and Production Usage

Internet

It is evident in both the table and pie chart that the majority of my media and production usage is spent on the internet, particularly on Facebook. I generally only spend 10 to 15 minutes checking my emails everyday which is very apparent in the table. The inordinate amount of time I spend on Facebook is due to the fact that this social networking site is my primary communication outlet, allowing me to chat to friends and family from across the globe with ease, upload pictures and videos of myself, share my thoughts to the world on almost any topic as well as much more. The results from the recent survey which journalism students took part in illustrates that I am certainly not alone in my addiction to Facebook, revealing that over 90% of students spend most of their online time on facebook. In my view Facebooks obvious popularity is due to the fact that it allows instant communication between everyone and anyone in the world, provides an avenue for ordinary people to speak out and be heard by large numbers of people and allows for people to express their personality to world through the photo’s, videos and statuses they share. The instant access to communication and the ease at which photos and videos can be uploaded onto your profile has dramatically changed the face of Journalism and I believe I use it so much because it allows me to feel as though I can have a voice in society.  

Television

Television would clearly be the second highest consumer of my time according to both the table and the graph. I have always held a great interest in the world which lies beyond the boundaries of my own and as a result have always made sure I reserve time from my day to watch the news, even if it is just 10 minutes, so I am able to catch the headlines. This is what most likely sparked my enthusiasm to study journalism. The graph reveals that 8% of my media and production usage is spent on watching the news. Where I receive my news, directly correlates with the majority of my peers. The survey reveals that over 70% of students receive their news from the TV. A much larger percentage of my time watching TV is spent watching entertainment programs. On weekdays I generally watch an hour of TV a night as this is when the “the Biggest Loser” is on. The survey reveals that the average amount of TV people watch is between 1 – 2hrs a night and as can be seen I would definitely fit into this category.

Phone

Both the graph and the table reveal that phones are the third highest consumer of my time, with the graph showing I spend 18% of my media and production usage on my phones. I use my mobile phone a lot throughout the day, however only for short periods at a time. This is because generally I only use my mobile to communicate with others via text. My home phone on the other hand I use to have long conversations with family and friends overseas.

 Radio

Least of my media and production usage is spent on listening to the radio. This can be put down to the fact that I only listen to the radio or my ipod on commutes and I only spend little time on the bus or in the car. It can be noticed that generally on the days I listen to fm radio I listen to my iPod less and visa versa. This is because when I drive to university I listen to the car radio, whereas when I catch the bus to university I listen to my Ipod. In addition to this while I enjoy listening to music I don’t particularly enjoy listening to the morning radio talk shows as I often find the topics they discuss have little substance. The amount of time I spend listening to the radio again correlates with the amount of time spent by my peers. The survey illustrates that on average students listen to less than one hour of radio per day.