ACR204 AT1 INSTRUCTIONS PDF

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ACR204 AT 1 INSTRUCTIONS...

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ACR204 Crime, Media and Justice Assessment Task 1: Online Presentation Value: 25% of your total mark. Length: For an online presentation, ‘equivalent to 1000 words’, means a presentation of between 7–10 minutes in duration. The actual number of words you produce may well be less than 1000. Presentations longer than 10 minutes may lose marks and/or not be graded. Due date: Friday 14 August 2020 by 8.00pm Task • Conduct original research into an historical crime- or justice-related event; and, • Prepare an online presentation to discuss your findings. How to submit In order to submit your online presentation, you need to: 1. Upload your presentation to Deakin Air or a different web platform if you prefer – Please refer to the following weblinks for how to access and upload to Deakin Air: https://www.deakin.edu.au/students/help/about-clouddeakin/help-guides/videoand-audio/deakinair http://health-adu.deakin.edu.au/StudentHelp/DeakinAir-Upload.php 2. Submit your video, or a link to it, to the Cloud Deakin Assignment portal. 3. Please also submit a document with the full transcript of your voice-over (if you have one) and/or the text which is displayed in your presentation. This document will be processed by Turnitin and the usual rules regarding academic integrity apply. There is a Rubric attached to the assignment, which can be previewed in the Assignment Dropbox. Background In this Unit, we seek to understand how the media influences our understandings of crime and justice. One way to better understand the contemporary media environment is to explore a very different media environment – that of the past. By looking at how crime and justice issues were reported in the past, we can gain insight into how media messages are constructed, have changed, or perhaps even remained the same in different media formats. This task requires you to explore the news coverage of an historical event. You will conduct primary research into the media coverage of an historical crime or justice issue of your choice. The historical incident or issue must precede 1 January 2000. Your selection of an historical incident or issue can include: •

A particular crime incident (e.g. a murder, including its investigation, the trial, or its punishment).

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•

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A particular crime problem (e.g. drugs and crime, fraud, burglary, family, domestic or sexual violence, either based on a single incident or pattern of incidents in a given time period). A policing issue (discriminatory policing, racial profiling, use of force, fatal killing, road traffic pursuits, corruption). An issue relating to criminal trials (regarding a specific trial, or a component of the trial process, like the role of the judge, the jury, or sentencing). News about issues relating to punishment, corrections or imprisonment processes (which can involve historical examples of execution). The reporting over a particular historical time period. Pick a time period of your choice (it could be your birthday week, for example) and go back 3 or 4 decades, or even a century, and monitor the reporting of a particular crime- or justice-related incident in newspapers over the course of a full week.

The main platform to gather your news stories is via the digitised newspaper collection accessible through the Trove website: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/. Other online and located sources can be used, including academic journals and historical texts. The aim of this task is twofold: it is intended to promote critical thinking around historical media representations and their associated implications, as well as enhance your capacity for independent research. You will learn how to absorb, process and concisely communicate information drawn from fragmented primary sources, and accurately reference primary source material. Your findings will be communicated via your online presentation. A list of suggested events is provided below, but you are encouraged to choose your own topics. You might want to tune in to a podcast to find a topic that interests you. Case File is one such example of a podcast series that provides insight into historical crimes (but ensure that your case is Australian). Trust your intuition. If you have selected something relevant to any crime or criminological issue that has attracted primary media coverage, and it is interesting to you, then trust your judgment that the topic is appropriate, and justify your selection based on your view of its significance. Help: I have never done anything like this before! I know, that is the point. This assessment task is designed to be enjoyable and provides you with an opportunity to gain a rich insight into both the past and present of the media crime nexus that challenges your thinking. By choosing your own topic, we hope that you will find personal interest in the case. This Task is equivalent to a 1000 word written assessment. The scope of your research will, as a consequence, be somewhat limited. You cannot hope to, and are not expected to, research hundreds of news items. You are advised to examine between 5–8 sources at a maximum. Or, perhaps you may choose to focus on one week’s worth of coverage of a

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particular crime issue across several newspapers. There is some flexibility with this task, but try to keep your focus narrow. It would be too much to try to compare ‘police shootings’ with ‘domestic homicides’, for example. Try to stay relevant and purposeful. Online Presentation The online presentation can be created using any suitable platform, such as: • •

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Microsoft PowerPoint Google slides, or Mac Keynote (please ensure if you use either of these services that you download and save in pptx (Microsoft PowerPoint) before uploading into Cloud Deakin or Deakin Air) Prezi iMovie YouTube

Please note: you must include a voice over that discusses your slides, content, representation and findings. The presentation should be a clear and engaging, but we are not expecting high quality production, so don’t feel worried if you decide to stick to the basics – i.e. PowerPoint with voiceover is fine. In addition to your spoken narrative, you may choose to include music to accompany the slide presentation, providing that it doesn’t detract from our ability to hear you speak. Whatever platform you decide to use, please TEST IT FIRST. Just create a small 30 second trial video with voiceover to ensure that: • • •

the platform works; it works on your computer; and you can upload the file without issues to the Assessment Dropbox on the Cloud.

Failure to do a simple test, and then discover 30 minutes from the deadline (or even upon submitting) that the presentation is not accessible, will be treated as a late submission. If you have a PC, the easiest way to create the video is by using PowerPoint. For instructions, open PowerPoint, open the Help menu (hit the '?', or 'F1') and search for 'narrate presentation', which gives you detailed instructions. To turn the recorded PowerPoint presentation into an MP4 video, search Help again using the text 'save your presentation as a video'. Again, the instructions are detailed, and easy to follow. For Mac users, QuickTime might be a better option. Content The video should contain a brief overview of the event, issue or time period of reporting you have investigated. While you need to outline the facts of the case or the issue you are examining, spend as little space and time on this as possible, because the focus is on how the event(s) was (were) reported. Your focus should be on cases or issues involving Australia, or the activities of Australians overseas. You should confine your investigation to 5–8 Australian news sources that are

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gathered via the Trove website (https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/) or other credible online sources (Wikipedia does not count as credible!). Your topic should therefore be Australian-based or involve Australian reporting of the activities of Australians overseas. Do not choose a topic that does not involve an Australian focus. You are encouraged to also refer to Surette or other works which suggest theoretical approaches to media content (you can do this in the same way we referred to Garland’s work on lynching in the Week 1 class/lecture). The main thing is that you 'visit' the strange media environment of the past, look carefully at what you see, and report back. Read closely, think for yourself, and tell us what you notice. The following prompts may be useful to you: •

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You should not merely reiterate ‘what the story is about’, but rather, focus on explaining ‘what the newspapers said about what happened’. You are focusing more so on the media coverage of the event. This includes paying attention to media representations at that time, their associated implications, and how they relate to the key themes and concepts explored throughout the Unit. You may also want to consider: − how the media described the victim, offender, and the roles of government officials; − the messages conveyed by the story or stories you cover; − the language, tone and imagery (if any) that was used – for example, can you detect in the language of the reportage the prejudices of the time? How might the same event be reported today?; − any moral lessons for society as a whole drawn from the event; − any particular groups of people tarnished by association with the event; − any broader policy developments reinforced by the reporting, and the benefits or problems of these approaches; − any variations in the style or emphasis of the reporting between different news sources (e.g. local versus national, different state newspapers, or different time periods where the same or similar issues are examined).

These are prompts only – they are simply signposts for you to consider, and you do not need to cover them all. If you want to consider other issues, please feel free to do so. You should, however, explain why an issue you are examining is related to understanding, in a critical way, how the media reports the issue you are examining. In other words, once you have found the sources, we are giving you relative freedom to determine the style, format and interpretations you adopt within the presentation you develop. This aspect of Assessment 1 – namely, your inventiveness – is crucial to what we are examining. Secondary sources, such as Wikipedia or Murderpedia, may be useful as a starting point to get the background to a particular event or issue. However you MUST do further research, and find original media from the historical time period. Similarly, do not cite the summary of the case you are examining which you find on Murderpedia or similar sources, as this will be picked up by Turnitin.

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Keep in mind, search terms might be tricky and require some practice or several attempts to find relevant information for your presentation. Here’s some hints: •

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Domestic and family violence was only recognised as a crime in Australia during the 1980s. For earlier examples of these forms of offending, you will need alternate terms (assault of woman at home, ‘battered’ woman, or some other variation). Many other crime types have also altered their common names over time (e.g. today infanticide is the replacement for the historical term ‘child destruction’); If you look for a case involving an individual offender, chances are you will only get reporting from the time they are identified as a suspect (which could be well after the incidents are first reported). Hence, it might be an idea to look in secondary sources for the date an incident was first reported, rather than the suspect’s name, and then begin searching for news items (so cross-referencing with other sources becomes useful); Selecting a particular date or time period might be an easier way to approach this assessment because it will help you to discover the types of crimes considered ‘worthy’ of reporting during the time you select, rather than ‘hunting’ for a particular crime type, incident, individual or policy to investigate.

Please attempt a search before posting questions about the suitability of your topic on the Cloud. All topics are suitable if they cover an historical Australian crime or justice issue of interest to you, and there is information available via Trove (or other credible sources) on the reporting of that issue/event. References It is suggested that you draw upon between 5–8 primary media sources from the Trove website: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/. You may also use other credible sources to attain news stories. You must use the Deakin Harvard referencing system. You can find details on how to reference via the Harvard format at: https://www.deakin.edu.au/students/studying/studysupport/referencing/harvard. For this task, you need to provide a list of references at the end of your video/presentation, as well as at the end of your transcript. However, in instances where you describe each article, or directly quote an article, you should provide a citation (for example: ‘An article in The Argus from 9 December 1927 depicts …’. Your reference list must include every source you have consulted in your research. Illustrations One aspect of a good online video is the visual: illustrations are useful. In some cases, particularly very old crimes, you may find it difficult to find good illustrative material, simply because newspapers then were visually dull. Just do your best, and perhaps look for generic pictures which help liven your presentation. Trove has an extensive collection of Australian media reports (many from newspapers that are no longer in existence), as well as historical images which you can use. One thing: please don’t just copy the pictures on Murderpedia! It is much better to use sample text, or headlines, from the newspapers you look at, either taken from PDF downloads of the articles you are reviewing, or screen shots.

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You should reference your images where possible. Possible Topics The following list of topics is intended to stimulate your interest in some of the fascinating events which form the story of the Australian people. I hope this exercise will help you discover how interesting it really is. The Australian focus is also intended as a counterweight to the international/American emphasis of the set text. The only restrictions are that the event must have a clear crime or justice element, and have occurred before 1 January 2000. Original media coverage must be readily accessible. Where possible, try to find minor or localised cases that might be more obscure, or examples to compare over time. This will ensure your focus stands out from the more ‘popular’ cases that generally capture the media’s attention. See below some possible examples to consider in framing your focus or building your interest on historical news issues in Australia. 15 November 1823 Van Diemen’s Land (Tasmania): Two white stock-keepers are murdered by a group of Aborigines led by Musquito, an Indigenous man who had previously worked for the police. 23 May 1892 Victoria: Serial murderer Frederick Deeming is hanged in Melbourne 7 October 1958 Northern Territory: Albert Namatjira, the great Indigenous artist, is sentenced to six months in prison for supplying alcohol to an Aboriginal person. 14 May 1905 Western Australia: The police practice of restraining Aboriginal prisoners with neck chains is abolished.

25 March 1919 Queensland: Returned soldiers brawl with police during an anti-communist demonstration in Brisbane. 24 June 1935 New South Wales: A coronial inquest into the so-called "shark arm murder" has been abandoned. A captured shark vomited up a human arm in a Bondi aquarium recently. 24 February 1874 South Australia: Two operators at a remote station on the Overland Telegraph line are killed when their station is attacked by Indigenous Australians.

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27 October 1900 New South Wales: Jimmy Governor, a part-Aboriginal man wanted for several murders, is captured. 27 October 1927 Victoria: Melbourne underworld figure Les ‘Squizzy’ Taylor is murdered by a rival gangster. 26 October 1878 Victoria: Three police are killed in a shoot-out with the Kelly Gang at Stringybark Creek. 8 February 1886 New South Wales: The coroner reported on the death of Henry Osmond from a fatal assault by William Ward. 6 January 1949 Victoria: Government officials proposed to inspect a new prison farm site near Ballarat. 30 January 1941 Northern Territory: A station owner was taken into custody after the death of an Aboriginal person on his property.

3 September 1934 New South Wales: The murdered body of an unknown woman who would become known as the ‘Pyjama Girl’ is found in a ditch near Albury. 20 June 1893 New South Wales: John Makin and his wife Sarah are convicted of the murder of two babies. 11 December 1950 Victoria: Jean lee, a Sydney prostitute, and two male associates are sentenced to death for a brutal murder. Lee would become the last woman hanged in Australia. 18 October 1928 Norther Territory: At least 31 Aboriginal men, women and children have been killed near the Coniston cattle station, by a punitive police expedition. The killings were in reprisal for the murder of a white dingo trapper, Frederick Brooks. 23 September 1834 Norfolk Island: Eleven convicts are hanged, after a bloody attempted mutiny, in which convicts attempted to take over their island prison 22 May 1942 Victoria: A US Army private stationed in Melbourne is charged with having killed three woman, the so-called ‘brown-out murders’

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18 December 1838 New South Wales: Seven white men are hanged, having been convicted of the cold blooded murder of 28 aboriginal men, women and children at Myall Creek. 16 December 1929 New South Wales: Police guarding the Rothbury colliery open fire on picketing miners. Norman Brown, a 29-year-old miner is killed and at least ten other miners are injured. 13 January 1992 ACT: Reports emerge over the accuracy of DNA as a new technology to assist in the identification of criminals. 13 April 1936 Queensland: Two people fatally bashed on an overnight train. 1 March 1994 ACT: Canberra proposes the installation of CCTV in the Civic mall area to prevent vandalism and disorder. 13 August 1943 New South Wales: Frederick Jobson fined for electricity theft.

27 November 1826 New South Wales: A soldier, private Joseph Sudds, dies while wearing spiked chains at the direct order of the Governor of the colony. 17 April 1876 Western Australia: Six Irish convicts, political prisoners for their anti-British activities, escape from Fremantle Prison and escape to America aboard a whaling ship, the Catalpa. 27 December 1898 Queensland: The bodies of a man and his two sisters are found, brutally murdered, near the town of Gatton. 23 June 1902 Queensland: Patrick and James Kenniff, suspected horse thieves, are arrested for murdering three men, including a police officer. 17 September 1879 Victoria: Reports emerged of a ‘man impersonator’ engaged in an early marriage scam. There are also cases of female impersonators during the same time period throughout the Victorian goldfields. 28 March 1939 Western Australia: An alleged charge of an axe attack against a police officer was dismissed in a Perth court.

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7 June 1995 New South Wales: Allegations of police corruption led to the establishment of the Wood Royal Commission. 28 January 1931 New South Wales: A major case of stock exchange fraud is identified, one of many throughout Australia and globally reported during the 19th and 20th centuries. 14 January 1995 Victoria: Heather Osland and her son are charged with a violent domestic murder in Bendigo. 10 April 1939 Victoria: There were calls for reconsidering the death penalty after the execution of George Green. 22 August 1979 New South Wales: George Geiger was scheduled to face court in Sydney after a request by the United States for his extradition to face trial for the murder of his parents in Cleveland, Ohio. . 22 November 1928 New South Wales: Rep...