British ISPs restrict access to Wikipedia amid child pornography allegations

Potentially a sign of things to come here in Australia, if the government's proposed Internet Filtering plans go ahead. They've blocked access to the crappy poodle haired German cock rock band The Scorpions because they have an album called "Virgin Killer" which features a prepubescent girl on the front cover. I see that no one has called for Led Zeppelin's "Houses of the Holy" to be banned either...

It's a crap album, by a crap band and it was made in 1973, plenty of time in which to have had anyone connected with making/distributing/listening to or purchasing the album arrested. I think it's high time people to a long hard look at themselves before they try and break the Interweb Googletube. It's a series of tubes apparently and people can do things on it that are bad. Although there is no plans to filter/legislate content sent via peer to peer networks, email, torrenting or such, only the big bad "Internets".

http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/British_ISPs_restrict_access_to_Wikipedia_amid_child_pornography_allegations

http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Wikimedia,_IWF_respond_to_block_of_Wikipedia_over_child_pornography_allegations

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgin_Killer

No opt-out of filtered Internet

by Darren Pauli, Computerworld

Australians will be unable to opt-out of the government's pending Internet content filtering scheme, and will instead be placed on a watered-down blacklist, experts say. Under the government's $125.8 million Plan for Cyber-Safety, users can switch between two blacklists which block content inappropriate for children, and a separate list which blocks illegal material. Pundits say consumers have been lulled into believing the opt-out proviso would remove content filtering altogether.

The government will iron-out policy and implementation of the Internet content filtering software following an upcoming trial of the technology, according to the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy. Department spokesman Tim Marshall said the filters will be mandatory for all Australians. “Labor’s plan for cyber-safety will require ISPs to offer a clean feed Internet service to all homes, schools and public Internet points accessible by children,” Marshall said. “The upcoming field pilot of ISP filtering technology will look at various aspects of filtering, including effectiveness, ease of circumvention, the impact on internet access speeds and cost.”Internet Service Providers (ISPs) contacted by Computerworld say blanket content filtering will cripple Internet speeds because the technology is not up to scratch. Online libertarians claim the blacklists could be expanded to censor material such as euthanasia, drugs and protest. Internode network engineer Mark Newton said many users falsely believe the opt-out proviso will remove content filtering. “Users can opt-out of the 'additional material' blacklist (referred to in a department press release , which is a list of things unsuitable for children, but there is no opt-out for 'illegal content'”, Newton said.

“That is the way the testing was formulated, the way the upcoming live trials will run, and the way the policy is framed; to believe otherwise is to believe that a government department would go to the lengths of declaring that some kind of Internet content is illegal, then allow an opt-out. “Illegal is illegal and if there is infrastructure in place to block it, then it will be required to be blocked — end of story.” Newton said advisers to Communications Minister Stephen Conroy have told ISPs that Internet content filtering will be mandatory for all users. The government reported it does not expected to prescribe which filtering technologies ISPs can use, and will only set blacklists of filtered content, supplied by the Australia Communications and Media Authority (ACMA).

EFA chair Dale Clapperton said in a previous article that Internet content filtering could lead to censorship of drugs, political dissident and other legal freedoms. “Once the public has allowed the system to be established, it is much easier to block other material,” Clapperton said. According to preliminary trials , the best Internet content filters would incorrectly block about 10,000 Web pages from one million.

[via]

Phone a friend in exams

Anna Patty Education Editor, The Age, August 20, 2008 - 10:31AM

A Sydney girls' school is redefining the concept of cheating by allowing students to "phone a friend" and use the Internet and i-Pods during exams. Presbyterian Ladies' College at Croydon is giving the assessment method a trial run with year 9 English students and plans to expand it to all subjects by the end of the year. An English teacher, Dierdre Coleman, who is dean of students in years 7 to 9, is co-ordinating the pilot which she believes has the potential to change the way the Higher School Certificate examinations are run. The Board of Studies is looking at ways it could incorporate the use of computers in the exams. Ms Coleman said her students were being encouraged to access information from the Internet, their mobile phones and podcasts played on mp3s as part of a series of 40-minute tasks. But to discourage plagiarism, they are required to cite all sources they use.

"In terms of preparing them for the world, we need to redefine our attitudes towards traditional ideas of 'cheating'," Ms Coleman said. "Unless the students have a conceptual understanding of the topic or what they are working on, they can't access bits and pieces of information to support them in a task effectively. "In their working lives they will never need to carry enormous amounts of information around in their heads. What they will need to do is access information from all their sources quickly and they will need to check the reliability of their information."

A year 9 PLC student, Emily Waight, said she was apprehensive about the new approach when it was introduced. "I was a bit hesitant because I didn't know how it could help us," she said. "But I don't think it is cheating after having done it twice. It just helps you find information to answer the question appropriately." A fellow student, Annie Achie, aged 15, said she loved the new method. “Phoning a friend really helped," she said. "It was good to have someone else to talk to and brainstorm some ideas with. "I phoned my aunty who is pretty good at English. I asked her about the Olympic Games and whether it was a waste of finances. She gave me the idea that they use the money for infrastructure instead of for China's people. I expanded on that idea."

Ms Coleman said the assessment task was set after students had read Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" speech and Dickens' book, A Christmas Carol, as studies in persuasive language. "They weren't marked on their information about the Olympic Games but on whether they used persuasive language effectively to make their argument." PLC's headmaster, William McKeith, was inspired to stretch the open-book exam to new technological heights after hearing the views of an international education consultant, Marc Prensky. Mr. Prensky threw out the following challenge to educators in a British Educational Communications and Technology Agency publication: "What if we allowed the use of mobile phones and instant messaging to collect information during exams, redefining such activity from 'cheating' to 'using our tools and including the world in our knowledge base'? "Our kids already see this on television. 'You can use a lifeline to win $1 million,' said one. 'Why not to pass a stupid test?' I have begun advocating the use of open phone tests ... Being able to find and apply the right information becomes more important than having it all in your head."

[via]

Why buy the format when the premise is free?

We could be heading back to the dark days of 2004/05, when accusations of TV format theft were flying all over the place, if what appears to be a leaked memo from ABC Studios is anything to go by.

The memo (left) was apparently sent to US showrunners and exec producers to encourage them to 'be inspired by' successful foreign shows rather than pay the licence fees, and it has set the format industry ablaze. It's been emailed around Hollywood for the past few weeks and is now making its way out to the international market, after first appearing on LA blog site Deadline Hollywood Daily.

ABC Studios wouldn't comment on the memo, when contacted by C21, but it is seemingly written by ABC studios exec VP Howard Davine and tells exec producers who have deals with the studio that he would prefer that they come to him with hits from overseas before they licence the US format rights, so studio mandarins can see if they could get away with copying the "underlying premise" without having to licence the actual format.

The memo has split the format industry down the middle, with some saying it's a blueprint for format theft, and others saying it's a legitimate strategy for avoiding paying for something you don't have to. After all, "why pay for the format when the premise is free?" asks one online commentator. Furthermore, some remade shows end up so unlike their originals that some question why a licence was required at all. In the memo, Davine is quoted as saying: "Often-times, what is appealing in the format may be nothing more than a general underlying premise, which, in and of itself, may be no reason to licence the underlying property."

The downsides of format licensing are then listed: the original creators wanting exec production credits on the resulting show, "adding an unnecessary layer to the creative process"; the "significant" costs of format fees and exec production fees; a large chunk of the backend going to the original creator; and the added expense of having to then licence further rights, if the show hits, such as for a spin-off feature film or stage production. The memo also points to one of the oldest problems in format business, that of the original producer wanting unrestricted rights to sell their original show in the US, and the distributor of the new US version wanting unrestricted rights to sell their show internationally.

ABC Studios is apparently learning the lessons of Ugly Betty (left), which is a huge domestic and international hit but is based on IP its US producers (which include ABC Studios) and distributors (Disney-ABC International Television) don't own. The ABC Studios man then, if the memo doing the rounds is for real, suggests that instead of licensing foreign formats, either pitched via talent agents or spotted themselves, producers should first discuss the format in question with ABC Creative Affairs. This is so the studio can "make our own independent evaluation whether the licence of the property is necessary or appropriate."

The industry's reaction to the memo has been two-sided. One commentator on the original DHD story accuses the site of fear-mongering, adding: "Doesn’t this simply explain the legal need to differentiate between an inspirational source and a direct influence?" Another says: "Nothing in that memo proposes ripping anyone off, they are simply trying to protect themselves from over-zealous agents and attorneys." Others, however, are concerned that the memo will mean their ideas are now more likely to be stolen. One described the memo as "an elaborate justification for plagiarism" while another warned: "Who in their right mind thinks this attitude will stop with foreign properties. If they want your idea, but haven’t worked with you before, they’ll just go through the same process. We all need good lawyers."

The memo might simply be guilty of putting down on paper what most studio business affairs execs already think, but many on the creative side of the business are criticising its somewhat cavalier attitude to the ownership of original ideas. The original creators of any hit show don't like being reduced to simply "an unnecessary layer" in the creative process of the US version. And while producers, both domestic and foreign, are now worrying that ABC Studios might hear their pitches and simply take the "underlying premise" for free, the real issue is that across the studio lot from Davine's office is a very big company that relies on distributing not only US programming but also intellectual property. It's called Disney. Perhaps executives there won't appreciate a similar attitude being taken by its international clients when it comes to Disney's own formats?

Ed Waller 5 Aug 2008 © C21 Media 2008 http://www.c21media.net/features/detail.asp?area=24&article=43551

The ABC and RollerMache are pleased to present you a free teacher's tool kit!

Are you to teaching media studies or digital storytelling to school age students, now or in the future?

This complete media studies lesson plan can be used by teachers with no experience in media production but can also be used by established instructors to augment existing Media Studies, English, Art, Multimedia or related courses. You can download the whole toolkit here:

Rollermache Teacher Toolkit (PDF)

Whats in in the Toolkit?

Produced by staff from ABC TV Multiplatform in collaboration with Media Studies teachers, the downloadable classes cover all stages of media production and with a focus on animation. Providing overviews on key subject areas, instructions on making your own media, detailed class activities and links to related sites and media, this total lesson plan provides all the tools and information required for the conceptual analysis and practical production of media products.

At the end of this class students will have planned made and edited their own animation complete with sound, and will have uploaded it to the RollerMache gallery where they can send it to friends and family to see and rate. Students will also learn to:

• Investigate the nature of storytelling and the reasons for its popularity
• Consider the individual production of a media product from pre production through to distribution
• Learn to critically analyse films and other media
• Investigate and analyse their own and others' experiences of media
• Learn to conceptualise, visualize and express their own ideas and gain self-confidence and communication skills through that expression
• Become familiar and practiced with the principles of film production including idea development, animation production, editing and sound
• Become familiar and practiced with the principles of self produced web content and conscious of identity and privacy concerns
• Produce their own short animation for web distribution

You can download the tool kit in four separate heading areas

Media Heroes Trading Cards

Reclaim the Media honors a small handful of media heroes who have inspired thousands of people to become more thoughtful media consumers and media makers. Media heroes are everywhere: journalists, activists, media innovators and educators making sure that we all have access to media that supports democratic values of justice, community and respect. Some media heroes are solitary voices keeping a candle of truth burning through a period of darkness. Others are organizers working to expand the range of people who can wield the power of publishing and broadcasting. or reveal hidden aspects of the media that is all around us.

http://www.reclaimthemedia.org/mediaheroes

Education revolution worries teachers

TEACHERS want more training, better technology and more support to take full advantage of the digital revolution sweeping through the education sector, a survey has found.

Conducted by education.au, a national agency set up to support the integration of technology in teaching, found most teachers were internet savvy and locked into the latest technology but that more investment was needed to transform classrooms for the 21st century. The survey quizzed more than 1,100 educators, including teachers, tutors and principals and found that while 79 per cent said the internet was an essential part of their work only 36 per cent considered themselves proficient and confident. An even smaller group (27 per cent) believed the internet was transforming the way they engaged their students within and beyond the classroom.

Educators cited a range of barriers to using online technologies including poor infrastructure and bandwith, limited access to computers, limited confidence or expertise in computer technology and the increased blocking and filtering of internet content. Education.au chief executive Greg Black said the survey showed the willingness of many teachers to embrace new technologies to enhance their teaching and professional development. But he said it also revealed issues blocking the pathway to the future, including fears about cyberbullying and data security and an old fashioned reluctance in some sectors to allow students to use what was seen as fun technology, including mobile phones. "Of course we need levels of protection, but we've got a generation of kids who are saying that they actually have to power down when they go to school," Mr Black said. "My fear is not only that we're putting kids off learning, but we'll start to make governments question whether or not it's worth all the investment they're putting into the digital education revolution."

http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,,23889276-5013040,00.html

Best notes on Film Making EVER!!!

Here is a COLLECTION OF INFO that has been accumulated throughout the years when it comes to PRODUCING A FILM from the experts. Some of this stuff is good for everyone, in all aspects of life when it comes to setting up projects. Taken from the FaceBook group

FILM PRODUCTION
http://www.wildsound-filmmaking-feedback-events.com/film_production.html
Producing
http://www.wildsound-filmmaking-feedback-events.com/time_management.html
Time Managment
http://www.wildsound-filmmaking-feedback-events.com/hiring_your_crew.htmlRules of the Trade of Hiring the best Crew you can.
http://www.wildsound-filmmaking-feedback-events.com/negotiating.html
Negotiating
http://www.wildsound-filmmaking-feedback-events.com/film_agreements.html
Film Agreements
http://www.wildsound-filmmaking-feedback-events.com/meetings.html
Meetings
http://www.wildsound-filmmaking-feedback-events.com/good_cheap_and_fast.html
Good, Cheap and Fast
http://www.wildsound-filmmaking-feedback-events.com/film_budget_rules.html
Film Budgeting
http://www.wildsound-filmmaking-feedback-events.com/film_producer_quotes.html
PRODUCING A FILM NOTES!
http://www.wildsound-filmmaking-feedback-events.com/film_production.html
FILM CREWS AND THE JOBS THEY DO
http://www.wildsound-filmmaking-feedback-events.com/film-crew.html
DIRECTING A FILM NOTES!
http://www.wildsound-filmmaking-feedback-events.com/directing-a-film.html
DIRECTING ACTORS AND ACTORS WORKING WITH DIRECTORS
http://www.wildsound-filmmaking-feedback-events.com/what-is-a-film-director.html
TIPS ON SCREENWRITING
http://www.wildsound-filmmaking-feedback-events.com/how-to-write-a-screenplay.html
PITCHING YOUR STORY TO THE RIGHT PEOPLE
http://www.wildsound-filmmaking-feedback-events.com/pitching.html
LEARNING TO USE YOUR INNER CREATIVITY
http://www.wildsound-filmmaking-feedback-events.com/jen_frankel_writers_way.html
FILM PHOTOGRAPHY
http://www.wildsound-filmmaking-feedback-events.com/cinematography-shots-and-camera-angles.html
FILM EDITING
http://www.wildsound-filmmaking-feedback-events.com/film-editing.html
SOUND DESIGN
http://www.wildsound-filmmaking-feedback-events.com/sound-design.html
ART DIRECTING
http://www.wildsound-filmmaking-feedback-events.com/art_director.html
DOCUMENTARY FILM
http://www.wildsound-filmmaking-feedback-events.com/documentary.html
WRITING A GRANT
http://www.wildsound-filmmaking-feedback-events.com/writing-a-grant.html
FILM FUNDING
http://www.wildsound-filmmaking-feedback-events.com/joint_ventures.html
FILM DISTRIBUTING
http://www.wildsound-filmmaking-feedback-events.com/film_distributing.htm

filmforay

filmforay is about collaboratively creating a Hollywood film from the ground up. Right now we have no production deal and no Tinsel Town connections, and we like it that way! Stage 1 is all about dreaming up the big idea. Ever thought you had the next Star Wars rolling around in the back of your head? Maybe you're more into thrillers and you dreamed up a plot so creative and complex there's no way the studios would ever touch it. Or perhaps you have a great idea for a parody on recent events. filmforay is the place to share it. Who knows, it might just be you walking down the red carpet on opening night. Log in or sign up and lets get started!

Corey Delaney's other party

Sorry, but he hasn't been on here for a while...

Surfing the web is the new TV

Surfing the web is replacing television as the medium of choice for young adults, according to a new overseas survey. The survey, commissioned by social networking website MySpace and conducted by UK-based analyst The Future Laboratory, found a quarter of 18 to 24-year-olds had reduced their television watching in favour of social networking on the web. A similar number (22 per cent) said they spent less time playing video games. More time in front of the computer meant 43 per cent had increased the number of emails they sent and received, while 25 per cent increased their use of instant messaging. Internet analyst Hitwise believes the figures would be similar in Australia. "Given the similarities between Australian and UK social networking users, the MySpace UK research findings should be reviewed by anyone interested in the impact online social networks are having in Australia," Hitwise spokeswoman Tessa Court said.

According to Hitwise, 8 per cent of all visits to websites in Australia were to social networks and forums, compared to 7.6 per cent in the UK. The average time spent on these websites was also similar, with Australia clocking up 18 minutes and 54 seconds, compared to 18 minutes and 57 seconds in the UK. The two biggest social networking sites in Australia attracted even more attention. The average time spent by Australians during the month of January on MySpace was 27 minutes and 46 seconds, while Facebook was 21 minutes and 15 seconds. "While MySpace will always be a great way to communicate with friends, the site has evolved into the centre of people's online and offline lives," MySpace Australia vice president Rebekah Horne said. "MySpace is now a collaborative and creative hub that allows people to keep up to date with, comment on, and define the wider cultural scene."

BBC bids to revive web education service

Leigh Holmwood. guardian.co.uk, Wednesday February 27 2008

The BBC has proposed replacing its axed digital education offering BBC Jam by "enhancing" its existing portfolio of services with new skills-based online educational initiatives. BBC Jam was closed in March last year by the BBC Trust with the loss of 200 jobs following concerns raised by the European Commission about its commercial impact. The corporation's management has spent the past year developing proposals for a replacement online education service.

These proposals would meet the corporation's educational purpose for children and young people by "enhancing its existing portfolio with some new online educational initiatives which are skills based", the BBC said. The BBC Trust said it had not received the full proposals or their costings - but once they had been "developed in more detail" it would submit them to a public value test later this year, which will include a market impact assessment by Ofcom. "Education has always been at the heart of the BBC's mission and promoting education and learning is one of the BBC's six public purposes," the trust added. "The trust's own research last year underlined that education and learning is seen by audiences, particularly those with children, as core to the BBC's remit. "This way forward reflects the shared view of the trust and the executive board that even a modified version of BBC Jam based around delivery of the curriculum is not deliverable given the regulatory constraints and ongoing commercial concerns." The BBC Trust decided at a meeting in January that BBC Jam should remain suspended and formally close when its service licence expires on September 30 this year.

At the trust's request, BBC management is now undertaking a post-investment review of the BBC Jam closure and is "taking all reasonable steps to mitigate the financial losses which are an inevitable and unavoidable consequence of the decision to close the service". "We will report publicly the final cost to the public of decommissioning BBC Jam once this review is complete," the trust said.

Retired Teacher Reveals He Was Illiterate Until Age 48

OCEANSIDE, California. John Corcoran graduated from college and taught high school for 17 years without being able to read, write or spell. Corcoran's life of secrecy started at a young age. He said his teachers moved him up from grade to grade. Often placed in what he calls the "dumb row," the images of his tribulations in the classroom are still vividly clear. "I can remember when I was 8 years old saying my prayers at night saying, 'please, God, tomorrow when it's my turn to read please let me read.' You just pretend that you are invisible and when the teacher says, 'Johnnie read,' you just wait the teacher out because you know the teacher has to go away at some point," said Corcoran.

Corcoran eventually started acting up to hide his illiteracy. From fifth through seventh grade he was expelled, suspended and spent most of his days at the principal's office. The former teacher said he came from a loving family that always supported him. "My parents came to school and it no longer was a problem for me reading because this boy Johnnie the -- native alien I call him -- he didn't have a reading problem as far as the teachers were concerned. He had an emotional problem. He had a psychological problem. He had a behavioural problem," said Corcoran. Corcoran later attended Palo Verde High School in Blythe, California. He cheated his way through high school, receiving his diploma in June 1956. "When I was a child I was just sort of just moved along when I got to high school I wanted to participate in athletics. At that time in high school I went underground. I decided to behave myself and do what it took. I started cheating by turning in other peoples' paper, dated the valedictorian, and ran around with college prep kids," said Corcoran. "I couldn't read words but I could read the system and I could read people," adds Corcoran.

He stole tests and persuaded friends to complete his assignments. Corcoran earned an athletic scholarship to Texas Western College. He said his cheating intensified, claiming he cheated in every class. "I passed a bluebook out the window to a friend I painstakingly copied four essay questions off the board in U.S. government class that was required, and hoped my friend would get it back to me with the right answers," Corcoran said. In 1961, Corcoran graduated with a bachelor's degree in education, while still illiterate he contends. He then went on to become a teacher during a teacher shortage. "When I graduated from the university, the school district in El Paso, where I went to school, gave almost all the college education graduates a job," said Corcoran. For 17 years Corcoran taught high school for the Oceanside School District.

Relying on teacher's assistants for help and oral lesson plans, he said he did a great job at teaching his students. "What I did was I created an oral and visual environment. There wasn't the written word in there. I always had two or three teacher's assistants in each class to do board work or read the bulletin," said Corcoran. In retrospect, Corcoran said, his deceit took him a long time to accept. "As a teacher it really made me sick to think that I was a teacher who couldn't read. It is embarrassing for me, and it's embarrassing for this nation and it's embarrassing for schools that we're failing to teach our children how to read, write and spell!" While still teaching, Corcoran dabbled in real estate. He was granted a leave of absence, eventually becoming a successful real estate developer. It wasn't until he was 48 years old that he gave reading and writing another chance. He drove to an inconspicuous office with a sign he couldn't read. He studied and worked with a tutor at the Literacy Centre of Carlsbad. Assigned to a 65-year-old volunteer tutor, Eleanor Condit, he was able to read at a sixth-grade level within a year. "I'm just an optimistic hopeful person that believes in the impossible and miracles," said Corcoran.

Carlsbad City Library literacy coordinator Carrie Scott said people of all walks of life go through the reading program, including teachers. Corcoran is now an education advocate. "I believe that illiteracy in America is a form of child neglect and child abuse and the child is blamed and they carry the shame, if we just teach our people how to read we'd give them a fair chance," Corcoran said. He has written two books, "The Teacher Who Couldn't Read" and "Bridge to Literacy." He is also the founder of the John Corcoran Foundation. The foundation is state-approved as a supplemental service provider for literacy in Colorado and California – providing tutoring programs for over 600 students in small group settings, and individually in homes through an online program.

Find out more about John Corcoran at his Web site: johncorcoranfoundation.com

Scrap ABC3 plans say experts

Play School, Bananas In Pyjamas and overseas childrens programs are exploited by the ABC for merchandise revenue, say industry leaders. Australian children, says Patricia Edgar and Barbara Biggins, deserve a better model than the ABC3 proposal being pushed by the national broadcaster. Writing in today's Sydney Morning Herald, the two women who served on the Australian Broadcasting Tribunal's children's program committee want to see multi-platform media delivered via broadband, that allows children to "access, manipulate, create and share multimedia content." They argue the $82m ABC3 model is an outmoded approach to the needs of children.

"The amount of money suggested over four years - $82 million - won't go far if spent on new quality programs, so the new channel will show many repeats of programs children already see." Edgar and Biggins argue strongly for the Rudd Government to reconsider the ABC3 proposal and incorporate the array of media that comprise the lives of Aussie kids. A model of government subsidy and merchandise to finance a children's TV channel is seen as antiquated and inappropriate. "There will still need to be a subsidised, contestable fund for Australian dramas and programs produced by professionals as part of the mix. Broadcasters that have never accepted responsibility for children's programming could relinquish their programming role, but only if they are levied to support a well-financed development and production fund."

So far the federal government has not thrown its support behind ABC3, and will not comment until the Federal Budget. Both Edgar and Biggins have a long history in children's television. Edgar was the founding director of the Australian Children's Television Foundation. Biggins is a former president of the Australian Council on Children and the Media. Their stance today will certainly ruffle some feathers in the industry. But that's exactly what the piece seems intent on doing. "No education revolution can succeed unless it encompasses all the media that dominate children's lives," they say.

Corey's other party

Corey's story: fair game or camera fodder?

They say a week is a long time in politics - but it can be even longer in the world of celebrity status. One minute a hero, the next minute the fall guy. I'm referring of course to the recent 'star' turn of 16-year-old Melbourne boy, Corey Delaney. Was there ever really a news story here or was this just part of what's known in the media as the 'silly season', when everyone's on holiday and there's little 'real' news to report on? Actually yes, there was a very serious news story here, particularly in the light of a number of parties over the years that have escalated out of control, often resulting in violence, sometimes even in death.

But when the journalists turned up on Monday to cover the legitimate story, it's highly unlikely they expected to find this teenager - egged on by his mates - ready to talk to them. His blond hair, bare chest and, oh, those sunglasses made him appealing to the cameras and also easy fodder for the media. Commercial current affairs went into overdrive scrambling for the 'exclusive' and it appeared by Monday night that Channel 9's A Current Affair had secured it with a one-on-one interview between Leila McKinnon and Corey. But rather than a probing interview to find out what this 16-year-old was really thinking, it became an aggressive and petulant display. "Take off your sunglasses and apologise," she demanded. He said he would apologise but he wasn't taking off his sunglasses and this then became the substance of the interview. Is this really what current affairs news has turned into? It would be laughable if it wasn't so sad. McKinnon's dismissive sign-off at the end "I suggest you go home and take a long, hard look at yourself", prompted nothing more than a smart-arse kid retort which has made him legendary among youth worldwide: "I have... everyone has... they love it."

Love him or hate him, this kid seemed extremely media savvy. His interview with McKinnon was posted on YouTube, his MySpace site had thousands of hits and news organisations and bloggers around the globe were obsessed with the story. But the media outlets which were condemning him were merely perpetuating his new found 'star' status. If they hadn't given him the airtime they did, it would have been all over and done with. The story now is not about what had or hadn't happened on the weekend but about Corey Delaney himself. Sadly, our current obsession with 'celebrity' and hence the media's coverage of it, allowed this to happen. By Wednesday it appeared he was demanding money or freebies in return for media interviews. At least one radio station apparently complied - but again the focus was on those sunglasses - and as a presenter tried to snatch them off his face, in true celebrity style, Corey got up and walked out of the studio. What a professional.

Party promoters and top publicists were saying he was worth more than bad girls Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears put together and could demand thousands for appearances all over the world. What for? Clubs he couldn't legally enter himself at just 16. And while we're on the matter let's not forget what happened to those three party girls last year. How soon they can fall from the media high life - but once you court the media in this way it's almost impossible to turn it off. Did Corey know what he was doing with the media when he fronted them on Monday? No. Did he think his face and name would suddenly be known worldwide? Of course not. No matter how media savvy he thinks he is - he's a 16-year-old kid. Was the media acting irresponsibly by interviewing a minor? This is an interesting question. He wasn't hounded, pestered or harassed - he didn't try to hide away and take refuge behind a closed door - he openly talked to them and then asked for money from them. Fair game. Or is he?

Look on the internet today and it's well beyond this teenager's control - and if he ever thought he was in control he was sadly mistaken. While his few minutes of fame on Monday night may have given him that feeling, now he's being parodied on websites and made to look an idiot among his peers. Fake websites have been set up, appearances on US radio stations have been faked and his image (or one similar to it) has been used in online advertising. I've even heard the expression 'Coreygate' - and he has no say over it. The power of the media cannot be underestimated. Where they see a drawcard for an audience they will use it every time. I'm not defending Corey Delaney's actions this week. But there are many people who should consider carefully how this teenager has been used and exploited, and all because he was left home alone and his parents trusted him.

Ann Lund is a lecturer in Journalism at Queensland University of Technology.

Heywire

HEYWIRE is a chance for you to tell your story. Sure, you might not have mobile phone service, and yes we can't see your face under that big akubra and through the blowflies. But Heywire is about breaking the stereotypes, keeping it real and giving a voice to Rural and Regional youth. If you do a really good job, we'll cut the akubra line next time, ok?

We do this by:

• Letting young people from rural and regional Australia take over the ABC and broadcast their stories on ABC Radio: Local Radio, Triple J, Radio National, Radio Australia and ABC Online
• Giving young people the opportunity to participate in our yearly forum in Canberra: a chance for the Heywire winners from around Australia to come together and discuss the issues facing young people

At any time during the year you can enter Heywire. Just put on your creative cap and submit a piece to Heywire for radio, television or online content (have we mentioned that we don't want crop-circle stories? We have? Good. 'Cos we don't. Ever again. Are you listening, Brian?).

By the way: we now have a MYSPACE account to keep in contact with our Heywire mates. You can be our friend by visiting www.myspace.com/abcheywire, and we regularly send out bulletins about Heywire.