Name: Dulguun Munkhuu

Group Members: Saskia Wijewardene, Dolgion Batbaatar, Naranerdene Enkhbold

Title of Newsroom story: Who’s the boss?

Who’s the boss?

In an era where kids are often diagnosed with ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder), ADHD
(Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), ODD (Oppositional Defiance Disorder) we can now
add a few more acronyms to the list- CAD (Communication Addiction Disorder), IAD (Internet
Addiction Disorder). Children are introduced to technology at a very young age, where
‘parenting’ is putting a screen in front of your two year old in an attempt to pacify them at the
dinner table, thereby establishing a long lasting codependency, where consistent attention is
impossible and distraction is the norm.

Hollywood dystopias seem close to home as people rely on their laptops and mobile phones for
everyday tasks, forcing us to ask whether the legendary power struggle between man and
machine is more than a bedtime story. The blurring of the boundary between the real and the
virtual tends to result in people being absorbed into their online activity forgetting that their are
real people and social relationships that need to be nurtured.

Social networking sites foster online relationships resulting in people forgetting to interact with
friends and family in the real world, staring at their screens more focused on getting a like than
being liked.

Technology appears to control more than social relationships, creating a world where body
image and mental state are determined by online forums with filters and photoshop pushing
people to be extraordinary and only present the “best” version of themselves online.

The psychological control technology has over individuals stretches further than body
dysmorphia, with experts suggesting that internet addiction is parallel to drug addiction in that
they present the same symptoms of reliance and dependency.
People seem divided in their outlook on the role technology plays in their life and some are
convinced that they are masters of their creation, speaking to Raghav Sethi who studies a masters
in computer science at the University of Melbourne, we are given insight into the role technology
plays in the life of an individual. Despite the general positive impact technology has had on his
life, he recognises that technology can be a constant “distraction” and doesn’t feel “entirely in
control of his technological usage, although he often wants to take a break from it all he feels
“the time has passed” and that he is “nothing” without it.

As someone entering such a dynamic field, he appears to believe that we control our technology
as opposed to the other way around; but this he admits, maybe short term as we make advances
in Artificial Intelligence and understand the world of applied science. It may not be long before
the tables are turned.

PART A: PRINT NEWSROOM REPORT & TRINITY NEWSROOM

● Week One (8/7 - 12/7)
○ This week we just came back from a two week holiday, and is slowly settling
back to reality. I had such a good break and because of that, it is hard to face
reality again with all the assessments and all. Journalism has always been an area
that I am not so strong in. So when I heard that we’re going to do a news related
project, I was a bit worried that my knowledge of journalism will be limited
compared to other students like Saskia, where she looked super excited and ready
to knock this project down. Therefore, during this week’s tutorial, I wasn’t paying
attention to the details of the project because I was mentally not prepared for this
project to come this quickly and that my learning goal for next week is to actually
start on this project and move forward with a steady pace as a group.
● Week Two (15/7 - 19/7)
○ This week, we had come to the terms of doing this project as a group and actually
complete everything with a good standard. We have dug and researched more
about our topic which we were a bit confused on where to actually begin. So, we
have decided to interview my flatmate about technology and its uses. Firstly, we
wrote down questions related to technology and had about 20 questions. Then I
 called my flatmate who’s currently in India and interviewed him with the
questions we got. I recorded our talk and had to write everything down word for
word. So, that is in a way an achievement we have done this week as we step
closer to the end. On the other hand, the lecture notes are very detailed as always.
However, I’ll have to go back and read the slides again to understand everything
in depth. Next week, Susan is going to edit that interview and will give us
feedback.
● Week Three (22/7 - 26/7)
○ This week Susan has given her feedback on our interview with my flatmate.
Basically, the feedback says that we were covering something very general, and
was not up to the standard. That kind of demotivated me but we must keep going
forward with the materials we have now. Among my group members Saskia
seems to have good taste in journalism which I’m very glad. She can lead this
group on the writing part and I can help with putting it all together or the editing
part. I hope this project goes well. We ended up writing about mental and
psychological disorders that derive from technology such as smartphones and
tablets. So, that is a big step up from last week’s progress on the project and we
hope to make more progress throughout this week.
● Week Four (29/7 - 2/8)
○ This week was sort of a fun and a chill week for us where in the tutorial we
looked at some radio topics and played pictionary on the topics of last semester.
However, as the weeks go, I try to stay on top of my assignments such as this
project. My main goal every week is to write the weekly reports without putting it
to the end. And I think it is going pretty well and smooth. The thing about writing
the reports every week is that the memories about the week is more fresh, so there
would be more details of what we did and learned.

PART B: BROADCASTING NEWSROOM REPORT & SYN RADIO

● Week One (5/8 - 9/8)
○ On this week’s tutorial we went to Syn Radio to make a trial recording for our
Podcast. One thing that made me fascinated was the quietness of the studio, where
 you can almost hear every subtle sound you make and also it made our voices
sound super clear and nice. I’ve learned about the equipment in the studio room
and how to properly use them without any damage. So, that was a new experience
for where I actually been and spoke inside a studio. On the progress of the project,
we have managed to figure out what we are going to talk about when the day of
the Podcast comes. I feel like the podcast goes well and natural when we just talk
like we normally do, whereas with a script it sounds staged and awkward.
Therefore, my personal and hopefully my group’s goal is to talk as naturally as
possible with our topic in our minds.
● Week Two (12/8 - 16/8)
○ On this week’s tutorial, Helen was our tutor and we listened to our recordings
from the previous week. It was quite weird to hear your own voice from a
recording that has been through a professional editing procedure. Our podcast was
actually not bad regarding the fact that the limit was only about 2 minutes. After
we listened, we had a talk with Helen where she gave us some tips and advice and
said that our group talked very clearly. So, I guess we just have to keep up the
good work and keep pushing through as we are almost at the end. Lastly, we have
made little changes to our podcast script, where we tweaked the topic of our focus
to more of a central technological topic like artificial intelligence. This way we
are more ready for the real deal.
● Week Three (19/8 - 23/8)
○ This week is the last week before the real Podcast recordings. In the tutorial, we
have showed Sarah our podcast discussion where we fell just a little under the
time limit but that is due to Naraa being absent like always. Our discussion
sounded a bit robotic because we followed our script and used our names when
talking to each other. However, the goal for next week is to just dive into the
discussion and make it sound natural as possible. Also, the use of names and
verbal agreements need to be used more as it is only capturing our voices and not
our body language like the nods we make when we talk. We have achieved the
goal of staying on top of the podcast discussion as we are well prepared for next
week.
 ● Week Four (26/8 - 30/8)
○ This week we finally completed our podcast and is left to complete our final
report. The podcast went better than I thought where we were just conversing
about technology and its potential future. At first, I thought the podcast was going
to be a disaster due to us having a small amount of script detail. However, we had
our ideas written down, and had to just somehow get on that thought train during
the podcast. OG started talking and we followed with our own ideas and in the
end, it turned out great. At some point during the recording, I felt like I was
actually a podcaster doing a legit official podcast on technology. Afterwards, it
felt beautiful as we sounded pretty professional in the studio. I’ve learned from
this project that journalism and podcasting is something special in their own way
that connects people all over the world through a microphone and a speaker. On
the first week, I was not so keen about the topic of journalism and podcasting but
now I feel confident and excited about the concepts that come with the practice.

PART C: YOUR NEWSROOM REFLECTION

The Newsroom Project was an eye opening experience that enabled me to take a glimpse
of the world of journalism and podcasts. To begin with, like other students, our class was put into
groups where my group consisted of OG, Naraa and Saskia. Our class was assigned to the topic
of technology and our group chose the subtopic of ‘Master or Slave?’. It started out rocky as we
were struggling to put our foot down on a manageable and interesting area of technology. It
came to our attention that the topic we chose was a very general and broad topic that can fit
practically everything related with technology. Through few tutorial classes we have finally
decided on writing an article about the psychological impact of technology with the help of our
tutor, Sarah. Our group work went smoothly as everyone did what they were supposed to do and
also knew what they were doing. This made it extra simple for us to communicate and work
through the problems we faced like deciding on an article topic and title. Everyone had the
amazing ability to listen to other’s ideas without disrespecting or questioning their thoughts. Due
to this, we were able to work out what we lacked and had to improve on. However, one
drawback of our group was that some members seemed to not care about this project and just
keep being absent on the days we had Media tutorials. This made it difficult for us to move
forward with the project as a group, and in a way dragged us down. It definitely made me
frustrated because I would come to class with an idea where half of my group decides to not
show up. Through it all, we have managed to write an article on technology considering the
concepts like the values of essential news where interest, timeliness, and clarity came to guide us
through the process of writing. During the process of this project, I have been aware of my
strengths and weaknesses where it helped me to make progress. My strong side would the ability
to stay on top of the work that needed to be done and to not put it aside until the last minute. This
skill has helped me many times to reach my goal and especially in a time of a big project like the
Newsroom. Another strength I would mention is my collaborating skills where I am able to listen
to everyone’s ideas and make decisions from there. However, there is one weakness that in my
opinion holds me back which is during morning time I would usually be tired and not in a great
mood that results our group to be unable to connect thoughts, and ideas about the project.
Moreover, the podcast part of this project was a bit challenging for me as I am a bit shy when it
comes to talking, and especially in front of a microphone. We tried to make our podcast as
interesting as possible where we, in my opinion, followed the concepts of podcast that consists of
education, entertainment and inspiration. For me, the idea of Artificial Intelligence, and the
concept of whether we are the master or the slave of technology is both entertaining, and
educational. At the end of the day, it inspires tech moguls to achieve more in the technological
part of our world. Thus, I worked with my strengths and weaknesses, and my group worked well
to stay on top of our work which guided us to finish this project strongly.