Factual Story: Noela

Edward Chapman James, 33, New Guinea

On May 18, 1942 a baby girl was born in the Royal Brisbane Women’s Hospital. She was no different from any other human being, well not yet anyway. Next to her mother were two young boys, Steven and Theodore, and next to them was her Grandmother. Her father Edward however was nowhere to be seen. Eight months previously he had left for the Middle East with the Australian Army to fight in what we now call The Second World War. The baby girl's name was Noela.

The first two years of her life were spent on Ella Street Fortitude Valley, with her two brothers and her mother Nancy. While her brothers were at school Nancy would cook and clean, but most of the time she just sat on the front steps of the house, waiting for the day her husband would come walking up the street. But he never did.

Then something bad happened; a letter came. In it Nancy’s husband explained he had fallen in love with a nurse in Papua New Guinea, he wasn’t coming home. 

The boys were glad that he hadn’t died, but
Nancy said what their father had done was much worse than dying.

Steven 7, Noela 2 and Theodore 5 (from left to right)

Two weeks later another letter came, this one from the Australian Military. Edward Chapman James had died by way of a faulty grenade.

Nancy had been wrong, dying was worse.

After the death of her father, Noela's family moved to Morningside with her grandmother. She started school at Fortitude Valley State in 1947, excelling in sports. She was an average academic, but Noela loved school. It was the only place she could get away from her mother, who had taken a steady dive into depression.

Nancy Bertha James, age 24

The 1940’s in Brisbane saw the rise of Bex, a 

compound analgesic used for pain relief, and in many cases as an anti-depressant. Nancy, shattered and broken with the loss of her husband, preferred to use it as the latter. She spent her days indoors, anesthetizing her heartbreak with the numbing white powder. 

By the time Noela was eight years old, her mother had died. The doctors said it was kidney failure, but that wasn’t true... Nancy James died of a broken heart.

The rest of her life people would tell Noela how beautiful her mother had been.

After her Nancy’s death, Noela was put in the care of her Aunt Audrey. She was a severe woman who never showed any love or compassion for her niece, and Noela’s years with her were a special kind of hell. She left her aunt's after falling in love with a man named Pieter. 

Noela Phyllis James at 20 years old

Like countless Brisbane couples in the 1950’s, Noela met Pieter at Cloudland Dance Hall. He was a tall, handsome and foreign, but best of all he could make her laugh. 

They were married not long after and bought a house together, sparsely furnished with a small table, a fridge and a double bed. Noela had less than she ever had, yet more than she ever had before. Her happiness was made complete when she found out she was pregnant.

The next nine months were spent getting ready for the baby. Pieter worked late, so Noela would stay up all night making tiny frilled pants, knitted booties and little woollen jumpers. Finally everything had settled into place. Against impossible odds, Noela was living a normal life.

Pieter (23) and Noela (22) VanLeeuwen 

One evening Noela was playing a game of Monopoly with Pieter and two friends, when she felt a sudden wetness between her legs. Her water had broken. Not wanting to embarrass herself Noela continued playing. As soon as their visitors left Pieter called a taxi for The Royal Brisbane Women’s Hospital.

Without a mother to talk to her of such things, Noela had no idea that childbirth would be so painful; nor did she know about contractions, or pushing, and her labour was arduous. Twenty-four hours later her baby was born alive and well, but for a small wound on his head from where the forceps dug into his skull.

Noela and Pieter named their first born son Peter VanLeeuwen. They took him home from the hospital, and at first Noela had a little trouble getting him to eat... Then she had a lot.

All of the doctors she saw told Noela that there was nothing wrong with her baby, but his condition continued to worsen. Eventually they had to take him back to hospital, but he did not get any better. 

After three months alive on this earth Noela’s baby boy died in hospital of a Golden Staph infection which had entered his skin though the wound on his head.

After her son’s death Noela swore she would never have any more children. Her life so far had been a series of bitter and angry hurts. Any more pain and she thought she might die.

But the years passed, as they do. All of the useless tiny clothes were given away, and Noela’s wounded heart scarred over, toughening again. She did have more children; five of them, and they care for her more than the earth.

Today she is old, loved, and happy. 

Family portrait (from left) Paul, Linda, Noela, Judy, Pieter, Nicole and Geoffrey

Noela and Four of her children, Nicole, Geoffrey, Paul and Linda (from left)

Mother Duck: Noela and her children at North Stradbroke Island, 1970

Noela (left) and her Aunt Norma (Nancy's sister) 2012

North Stradbroke Island

For one of my other journalism subjects we were asked to write three articles which would be suitable for our local media. Growing up on North Stradbroke Island, all of my stories are based on events that are happening over there, namely the shutting down of the mining industry.

The issue is very controversial within our community. This is because while many people wish to preserve the beauty of our home, the mines employ a large amount of the island's population. I am still a bit torn on the issue, but am learning a lot through my research.

If the mines do shut down, the Island will depend heavily on tourism, which is more difficult than one might think.. but I'm confident. It's an amazing place, and close to home for most South East Queenslanders. Here's a film clip that was made a few months back by folk singer Xavier Rudd on North Straddie, I don't think anyone can argue that we are very lucky to have somewhere like this on our doorstep. 

Q and A: Richard Dawkins vs. Cardinal George Pell

I watched this episode of Q and A after it was mentioned in one of our lectures. A very compelling discussion, but for me the most interesting part was seeing how the ABC has used social media to involve its viewers in the program. Not only could you ask questions, but comments could be made on the conversation, which pop up on the screen for the whole of Australia to see. 

I love seeing how all the different types of media are blending with one and other. Have a look, the topic was based around the existence of God.

Wk 1 : Introduction

The first lecture for the year was inspiring. I loved the use of quotes throughout the first part, I think my favourite one was “journalism is the first rough draft of history.” It really made me think of the here and now, and helped me see how important it is to keep track of what is happening in the world. I have always been passionate about writing, and it feels so good to leave school and see how important the art of writing is to the world.

After leaving my first JOUR1111 lecture I felt ready to take on the world, and I plan to do just that. 

Wk 7: Public Media

Brought up in an ABC household, I have always been surrounded by great programming such as Australian Story, Summer Heights High and Q and A. However, it wasn’t until I saw this week’s lecture that I fully appreciated everything public media does for our national and local communities. I always enjoyed the lack of advertising and quality of Public Media programs; what I didn’t realise was that they had such high quality shows because they had no advertisements to worry about.  

I love the way that the ABC in particular involves their audiences through texting, and social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook. Because their content is so different from other commercial stations, public channels need to keep in touch with the younger generation. It also helps them to figure out what their audience wants; genius!

The YouTube clip below was made by Triple J radio when they were working towards becoming a national radio station. A lot of good points are made by the Triple J team about the benefits of a public national radio.

An interesting point made in this video was that a lot of Australian musicians are discovered via public media. Because public radio is focussed on Aussies and not on top 40 tracks, it allows them to discover up and coming artists long before they make the charts. I can see now this also happens in the news. In this case public media supplies a vessel for news stories that may be ignored by commercial media, due to different ideas on what is in the public’s interest.  

National programs like Triple J and ABC News are important because they unite the nation. All over the country people can request music that everybody can hear, or vote in polls everybody can see. It makes people feel a part of something, rather than just receiving information. It also allows them to experience programming that is based on importance, not ratings. Public media connects our country, and stops us from becoming an ignorant Australia. 

Wk 6: Commercial Media

Just before I wrote this blog, I sat down on the couch where everyone was watching Channel Seven’s Today Tonight. They were presenting a story about milk. Black and white footage and ominous music was played as we learnt companies are adding waste products to their milk... a product which they took from the milk in the first place. I mumbled something about it not being real news and left the lounge room in disgust. Then I went to the kitchen, where I drank a big glass of milk, take that Helen Wellings! Below is an excerpt from the ABC show The Chaser's War on Everything criticizing both A Current Affair and Today Tonight. For all their lack of etiquette, I think these boys have some pretty valid opinions.  

Before I moved house, I very rarely watched commercial television. I hate it, so I was very interested in this week’s lecture, particularly the question why does commercial media exist?.

Commercial media exists because advertisers pay for it, and they pay for it because we watch it. For me this was an interesting concept, a company that has to please someone other than their clients, in order to get clients. Like any other business, the aim is to make money. If commercial media companies fail in doing this, the result is that we get low-quality, anti-intellectual television. Imported shows, re-runs and reality TV are cheaper options that are seen all too often. Below is another report I found by A Current Affair on brands of frozen chips. It’s this sort of news that makes me reach for the remote.

A Current Affair - The Best Frozen Chip

This sort of reporting is one step ahead of propaganda stories, like those seen on Fox News. In these stories events and opinions are often exaggerated or bias, almost to the point of un-truthfulness. However, this may be something we should expect from a show that depends on a large audience for its success. Fox news is currently the most watched cable news channel in the world, so apparently their methods are working.

The only problem people seem to have with commercial TV is that they don’t actually like commercials. This has caused a slip in the revenue of broadcast advertising which further lowers program quality, as advertisers stop investing their money in television. The only way to fix this problem is to continually pump out quality programming; shows so good that we sit through the ad breaks. Commercial Media must supply this to all sorts of consumers, or advertisers will invest their money elsewhere.

The pressure is on to entertain, and the ethical wall protecting good programming seems to crumble a little more every day. 

Wk 5: Sound Lecture

I’m not a fan of the radio, but I listen to it almost every day. Any time I get in my car or go to work, it’s on. This week’s lecture on ‘stories for the radio’ made me consider radio from a different perspective. I learnt that radio is not struggling to maintain its audience like text media is, but rather is flourishing in the modern world. Below is the radio broadcast which expressed that the British would go to war with Germany, it was a dark message and I believe it sounds much more personal coming through radio than it would through a television. 

Since its beginnings, radio has adapted itself to be used in conjunction with social media, through facebook and twitter. It’s also developed podcasts which can be downloaded as an MP3, again furthering their availability to the public. Furthermore, digital radio appears to be moving forward as well, with images, song names and severe weather warnings all being used as part of the radio experience. I found it very interesting that even though radio is the oldest electronic media, it’s still going strong, blending perfectly into today’s society. 

Steve Austin attributed the radio’s success to the fact that people today are ‘time poor’. We don’t have many spare hours in the day to sit and read the paper, or listen to music. For this purpose radio is perfect. It can be used easily in out multitasking lives, slipping into the background as we drive, played in the kitchen when we are cooking or in the car on the way to work. Radio is possibly the easiest way for us to receive news and information. It’s available for free, from your home, mobile phone, workplace and online. It seems to me that the challenge with presenting radio is to keep people tuned in to what you are saying, because most of the time while they are listening to you, people are also doing something else.

Richard Fidler stated that one of the most important things to do as a radio presenter is to make your listeners feel included. You must never forget that you are being listened to by people who may have different views than yourself, or the person you are interviewing. Interviewers who forget this run the risk of making their viewers feel uninvolved in the story. We must also take note of the way we approach the people being interviewed. Prosecutorial interview styles or ‘entrapment radio’ can often prove to be fruitless, both Richard and Steve agreed with this.

It appears people react better to silence than to prodding. Given space, interviewees will often feel more comfortable and are more likely to share their story. However if the conversation starts to go in the wrong direction, it is the interviewer’s job to steer them back. We still must be thinking about what is interesting to the audience, because on the radio, they will hear everything; not just the exciting parts as in television and newspapers. 

Wk 4: Picture Stories

When I was at school, I was the top of my grade for Visual Arts. I put in a lot of time to get those marks, but the real reason I did so well was because I loved it. Creating images is one of the most ancient human skills. The art has always been important to us; we painted pictures before we could write, and made idols from clay before we thought to make bowls. The lecture in week four, Picture Stories, really resonated with me. I loved seeing how the journalistic world still uses images to convey meaning in a story, and to attract attention to an article.

The history of picture stories was an interesting segment, below is a photo I took of some Aboriginal Artwork at Canarvon Gorge. Twenty Thousand years ago, somebody placed their hands on this wall, and long since died. Today we can see the hands of these people, it takes my breath away.

Twenty-thousand year old Aboriginal Art

Today images are used very differently. The invention of the camera revolutionised the way we saw the world, and beyond it. Below is an image that has become iconic, the man on the moon.  This image allowed the billions of people of Earth to relate to the handful of astronauts that actually made it there. 

US astronaut Buzz Aldrin on the surface of the moon

Another iconic image seen here is the collapse of the twin towers. It’s photos like this that say so much more than any words could.

The moment of impact - 9/11 Twin Towers collapse

As for the 9/11 photo, not many photographic skills were employed. It was all about the moment, proof for those who need to see to believe. However, not all photos can be trusted as proof. The Photoshop section of this lecture was confronting to say the least. In the image below, you can see Jess Alba before and after Photoshop. I mean, if they have to make her more beautiful, what hope is there for the rest of us? I think it’s pretty amazing what can be done with image editing, though it is a shame that we must be so sceptical with what we see.

Actress/Model Jessica Alba before and after Photoshop

I think that photography and video making are only going to grow in popularity in the years to come, with programs like Instagram and Viddy. People like to create and to share their story with the rest of the world, just like they did thousands of years ago, when they painted the walls of caves.