Sunday, April 27, 2008
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Social Movements
Social Movements, 1768-2004 written by Charles Tilly is a fact filled historical account chronicling the creation and rise of modern social movements. The book primarily focuses on social movements in the context of the democratic political arena, from the intentions of America’s founding fathers to the global deployment of the World Wide Web. At times I found it frustrating to read because Tillly does not seem to account for a lot for a lot of the historical precedent that lead to 1768. Although it is beyond the scope of Tilly’s work here, more crucial to understanding social movements are the studies of linguistics, the written word and print press and ultimately the incredibly swift rise of human communication.
Page 49 contains a chart of 19th century challenging groups and their claims. The 2nd from last listing is 1893-1932, American Proportional representation league, PR against urban political machines. I found the double meaning of PR in this context incredible ironic. Modern public relations PR does the very opposite of “proportional representation.”
On Page 87, Tilly writes about a colleague of his, Todd Gitlin who was one of the original presidents for the national organization of Students for a Democratic Society in the mid 1960’s. The book describes how Gitlin grew disconnected from SDS in the late 1960’s in large part due to interactions SDS openly had with the news media. He felt that the potrail of SDS in the mainstream media was chipping away at the effectiveness of the organization. I found this interesting for a number of reasons. The concept of not talking to the media for fear of misrepresentation is something often found in modern anarchist literature, which seems to have grown out of this sort of thought process and historical action. The equation between SDS and anarchy is quite relevant in the context of SDS’s current role in Olympia and at Evergreen, and the recent actions taken by and against them. I understand the fear historically held by SDS as well as other organizations and movements of misrepresentation in the media, but to me that just shows that they don’t understand how to effectively deal with and talk to the media.
Page 49 contains a chart of 19th century challenging groups and their claims. The 2nd from last listing is 1893-1932, American Proportional representation league, PR against urban political machines. I found the double meaning of PR in this context incredible ironic. Modern public relations PR does the very opposite of “proportional representation.”
On Page 87, Tilly writes about a colleague of his, Todd Gitlin who was one of the original presidents for the national organization of Students for a Democratic Society in the mid 1960’s. The book describes how Gitlin grew disconnected from SDS in the late 1960’s in large part due to interactions SDS openly had with the news media. He felt that the potrail of SDS in the mainstream media was chipping away at the effectiveness of the organization. I found this interesting for a number of reasons. The concept of not talking to the media for fear of misrepresentation is something often found in modern anarchist literature, which seems to have grown out of this sort of thought process and historical action. The equation between SDS and anarchy is quite relevant in the context of SDS’s current role in Olympia and at Evergreen, and the recent actions taken by and against them. I understand the fear historically held by SDS as well as other organizations and movements of misrepresentation in the media, but to me that just shows that they don’t understand how to effectively deal with and talk to the media.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
We The Media
“We The Media,” written in 2006 by Dan Gillmor is a historical account of the rise citizen journalism with the World Wide Web. Technology has made communicating across the farthest reaches of the globe as easy as hitting the send button. This has had serious implications on what used to be the pillars of big media. Media outlets large and small have had to adapt to meet the needs of their readers in a world wide economic structure that is based on the trade of information.
On Page 101 under “Open Source Politics,” the book talks about a MoveOn.org project called Bush in 30 seconds. The book doesn’t go into detail about these ads’s, which is a shame. They were some of the most creative and effective political ads ever made and hold an important place in the history of user-generated media. The winning ad called Child’s Play depicts children working industrial jobs to pay off the financial deficit created by President Bush. These ads pushed the boundaries of political correctness, and it was all ok because of the user created format. There is a new MoveOn project called Obama in 30 seconds, which is going on currently, with a deadline of April 15th. The winner receives $20,000 in editing gear and gets their spot aired nationally on TV. I am sure that this will result in an equally groundbreaking set of ads as the original Bush in 30 seconds did.
Page 111 contains a quote by Jeff Jarvis, who head’s Advance.net. He states, “The internet is the first medium owned by the audience, the first medium to give the audience a voice.” This quote arguably summarizes the whole book, “We The Media.” Never before could the viewer be the teller in the ways the Internet has created. Anyone with the knowledge can become a content creator and publisher. This creates a new power dynamic between newsrooms and the greater community. Those focused on the bottom line of big media have fears that the integrity and investigative quality of journalism goes down, as citizens become active news contributors. This might very well be true, but the more view points expressed the more options the news consumer has to pick from. Although seeking variety of options and sources in the past has not been the normal course for the average viewer, technologies like RSS are changing that. RSS is really a revolutionary idea. It makes the web efficient, and brings it to the user. No longer does the user have to seek out information, it comes to them. This is incredibly effective for both content providers and end users.
Page 198 briefly describes a situation that took place in Zimbabwe when a British journalist was held of trial because the government did not like what he had published back in the UK. He was eventually deported, but this story is especially timely in light of the recent elections in that country. Zimbabwe, under the rule of Robert Mugabe, has effectively banned journalism from entering the country. This came under intentional fire and claims of election abuse run rabid there right now. By not letting the media in, they take it as a sign there is something being hidden.
On Page 101 under “Open Source Politics,” the book talks about a MoveOn.org project called Bush in 30 seconds. The book doesn’t go into detail about these ads’s, which is a shame. They were some of the most creative and effective political ads ever made and hold an important place in the history of user-generated media. The winning ad called Child’s Play depicts children working industrial jobs to pay off the financial deficit created by President Bush. These ads pushed the boundaries of political correctness, and it was all ok because of the user created format. There is a new MoveOn project called Obama in 30 seconds, which is going on currently, with a deadline of April 15th. The winner receives $20,000 in editing gear and gets their spot aired nationally on TV. I am sure that this will result in an equally groundbreaking set of ads as the original Bush in 30 seconds did.
Page 111 contains a quote by Jeff Jarvis, who head’s Advance.net. He states, “The internet is the first medium owned by the audience, the first medium to give the audience a voice.” This quote arguably summarizes the whole book, “We The Media.” Never before could the viewer be the teller in the ways the Internet has created. Anyone with the knowledge can become a content creator and publisher. This creates a new power dynamic between newsrooms and the greater community. Those focused on the bottom line of big media have fears that the integrity and investigative quality of journalism goes down, as citizens become active news contributors. This might very well be true, but the more view points expressed the more options the news consumer has to pick from. Although seeking variety of options and sources in the past has not been the normal course for the average viewer, technologies like RSS are changing that. RSS is really a revolutionary idea. It makes the web efficient, and brings it to the user. No longer does the user have to seek out information, it comes to them. This is incredibly effective for both content providers and end users.
Page 198 briefly describes a situation that took place in Zimbabwe when a British journalist was held of trial because the government did not like what he had published back in the UK. He was eventually deported, but this story is especially timely in light of the recent elections in that country. Zimbabwe, under the rule of Robert Mugabe, has effectively banned journalism from entering the country. This came under intentional fire and claims of election abuse run rabid there right now. By not letting the media in, they take it as a sign there is something being hidden.
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Cyberactivism Notes Week 1
I found the Yahoo/Geocites case study of particular interest. Not for there faulty TOS but for there business model of user content creating web real estate which was very pioneering considering it was 1994. That concept has surely had a great influence in the way the web has evolved.
Watching this feud makes me smile, it plays out like a game of battleship.
It's interesting to me to see what facts the MSM portrays when they reverse the cards back on her. They just can't ever get it right. I would think they would want to sink her boat with the bias in her reporting being the punch, not the financial backing of it. If anything, the point O'Riely tries to make is diluted by the fact she has as much financial backing as she does.
Score:
Huff +1
Fox 0
It's interesting to me to see what facts the MSM portrays when they reverse the cards back on her. They just can't ever get it right. I would think they would want to sink her boat with the bias in her reporting being the punch, not the financial backing of it. If anything, the point O'Riely tries to make is diluted by the fact she has as much financial backing as she does.
Score:
Huff +1
Fox 0
Synergy Wiki Project
Cross Pollinating Ideas for a Sustainable Future
7 years ago at Evergreen's first Synergy: Sustainable Living Conference there was a great need to spread the word about the green movement. Now that it has become mainstream in the campus community, it is important to continue to spread the message of Synergy and “cross pollinate” it’s values in the most effective ways in order to achieve social change.
Using Evergreen.edu/Synergy as a host, we will install the wikimedia application to act as a database management tool for articles related to sustainability. The website will feature an event program for the Synergy conference based in Wiki form with pages about the speakers and projects happening during the week. This online comprehensive and searchable event program will help reduce the amount of printed materials and handbills associated with the event. Created for the site will be a series of informational pages using video and text highlighting the work of local governments and NGO’s that are making efforts to make the community more sustainable. Additionally we will attempt to work with academic program faculty as well as campus groups focused on sustainability in an effort to provide a database where user generated information on the history of student sustainability projects can be shared and digitally preserved by the campus community. The ease of use of the wikimedia application opens up web publishing to people who otherwise don’t know html or css, giving them an easy outlet to share valuable information.
The ultimate goal is to create what can evolve into a digital destination portal of information related to sustainability that will act as another steppingstone in the college’s quest for carbon neutrality by 2020.
7 years ago at Evergreen's first Synergy: Sustainable Living Conference there was a great need to spread the word about the green movement. Now that it has become mainstream in the campus community, it is important to continue to spread the message of Synergy and “cross pollinate” it’s values in the most effective ways in order to achieve social change.
Using Evergreen.edu/Synergy as a host, we will install the wikimedia application to act as a database management tool for articles related to sustainability. The website will feature an event program for the Synergy conference based in Wiki form with pages about the speakers and projects happening during the week. This online comprehensive and searchable event program will help reduce the amount of printed materials and handbills associated with the event. Created for the site will be a series of informational pages using video and text highlighting the work of local governments and NGO’s that are making efforts to make the community more sustainable. Additionally we will attempt to work with academic program faculty as well as campus groups focused on sustainability in an effort to provide a database where user generated information on the history of student sustainability projects can be shared and digitally preserved by the campus community. The ease of use of the wikimedia application opens up web publishing to people who otherwise don’t know html or css, giving them an easy outlet to share valuable information.
The ultimate goal is to create what can evolve into a digital destination portal of information related to sustainability that will act as another steppingstone in the college’s quest for carbon neutrality by 2020.
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