media activism

http://www.peoplesvideo.org/andors1.htm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CO-zGbEasTA

Fall 09 Media Studies Class.

Hi folks. lets use this for the media memoir and media diet assignment postings. Feel free to cruise the links, posts and videos from previous classes in the archive drill down.

media education foundation newsletter,

here: MEF

check it out

here's the statistic i was grasping at in class...

"The United States has less than 5 percent of the world’s population. But it has almost a quarter of the world’s prisoners."

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/23/us/23prison.html

think about it.

made me laugh out loud

Week 8

Nathan sent me this Bill O'Reilly clip... interesting

O'Reilly on 'The View"

and here's an interesting quote from graffiti artist Banksy about what he calls "Brandalism"

"Any advert in public space that gives you no choice whether you see it or not is yours. It's yours to take, re-arrange and re-use. You can do whatever you like with it. Asking for permission is like asking to keep a rock someone just threw at your head."

see the full interview quoted here

check out Banksy's work here... pick a submenu, wait for images to load and scroll right. there are many 'next' buttons that reveal more strips of photos.

Week 7 politics aside, mailman index, commercial free childhood

This week, I plan to play a clip from NPR about how a mail carrier can tell LOTS about the people on her route. This made me think about, among other things, our discussion on blogging and information mining by marketers on the web, the chapters in 'Feed' that deal with Violet resisting the push marketing on her feed, and how to approach your next project on 'Media Analysis.' 

I'm passing out an addendum to that project's description in class, to clarify how you should proceed.

I'll copy it below the links and videos here.

We also will screen a trailer from Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood's video called 'Consuming Kids' and if there is time, begin looking at the Mark Achbar film 'The Corporation'

here is a link to the NPR mailman index clip:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=95664787

and the consuming kids video is here:

Media Analysis  (present)

Individual or group project:  2-3 students per group

Using data collected from the media diet posts on the weblog, Create an analytic interpretation of this data for a creative 10-15  minute in-class presentation. The form of the presentation is open: power-point or keynote lecture, video, audio, performance, web-based.

Your findings should be framed by a thesis statement and supported by collected data, and presented to the class using media creatively. Be prepared for a brief Q & A discussion period after presenting.

Due week 9, Wednesday (oct 29)

 

project addendum:

based on the in-class clips-

(npr’s andrea mailman index, and ccfc consuming kids)

AND, the narrative thread in FEED about targeted marketing,

and how the character Violet tries to thwart  it, (94-104)

 

Present a profile of yourself,

written as though you are a marketer who only has access to your media diet. (extend this to include your mail, credit card purchases, whatever media consumption trail you leave in the public domain)

 

What would they conclude (correctly or incorrectly)

What inferences might they make.

What could they tell about you that you might not want them to know?

Might they jump to conclusions, make assumptions, stereotype?

What products, services, special offers might you be a perfect marketing target for, and what form might that information take in order to most effectively reach you?

 

Write it like you are someone else. Not yourself.

 

Example (but not template)

“The  Subject in question… Mr. G, is most likely  a male between the ages of 30 and 50. He is hypercritical of consumerism, but susceptible to counter-cultural anti-branding. Examples of media that would pass beneath his radar are: (slide of X, Image of Y, clip of Z). He is however an avid consumer of: (Magazine cover A, Logo of radio station B, Local Beer label C) He spends this much money on that, Drives this much for that, etc. etc. His consumer profile suggests he may be exploited with marketing campaigns that target Blah, delivered via morning radio broadcasts, or magazine ads in magazine DaDaDa, including discount coupons or special offers.”

week 6 Media Diet and Digital Ethnography (more)

Here is a snapshot from my media diet that traces a little digital ethnography like what we saw and discussed with Michael Wesch's youtube presentation to Library of Congress.

My wife heard about this first clip on NPR and shared it with me. It has thousands of hits on youtube. (obama, llama, duck) 

The clip itsself is based on a viral video phenomenon, i had also not seen, but i'm betting many of you have, (llama, llama, duck) (many many many remixes and versions posted)

This reminded me of a viral video phenomenon that i did know about (all your base) which incidentally pre-dates youtube- (many versions and remixes posted)

high res-here.

http://allyourbase.planettribes.gamespy.com/video1_view.shtml

which then, is mentioned in the Vlog Bros. description of creating the 'obama llama duck' piece where this all started. 

Full Circle.

I then watched the presidential debate on CNN because it has that fascinating response graph along the bottom (discuss) and fell asleep about 3/4 of the way through. zzzzzz.

when i woke up this morning the first thought in my consciousness was the obama llama song, and it has continued to loop until this very moment.

(google infectious repetitis, see dan dennett, memes)

also, if you are looking for ideas for any of your class presentations- browse here, an excellent resource- Media Education Foundation

http://www.mediaed.org/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?display=home

0 comments : (

wow, zero comments on last weeks post.

stick this in your digital ethnographic pipe and smoke it.

Week 5 Exposé, Outfoxed, & Vonnegut

in conjunction with our ongoing discourse, please view, read, and comment on these clips and links below-

information is intellectual self defense.

animated illustration of Naomi Klein's 'Shock Doctorine"

an introduction to Kurt Vonnegut, his 1961 short story 'Harrison Bergeron'

http://instruct.westvalley.edu/lafave/hb.html

famous commencement speech falsely attributed to Kurt Vonnegut

http://www.wesselenyi.com/speech.htm

true story behind false Vonnegut post-

http://www.wesselenyi.com/Vonnegutstory.htm

fox news' obituary for Kurt Vonnegut

in these times article 'cold turkey' by Kurt Vonnegut May 2004

http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/cold_turkey/

in these times interview with Kurt Vonnegut  Jan 2003

http://www.inthesetimes.com/comments.php?id=38_0_4_0_C

liberal viewer's youtube channel of fox news clips etc.

http://www.youtube.com/user/LiberalViewer

Week 5 Media Memoir responses

I''ve read the media memoirs that were presented in class, and those that have been posted on this blog. I'm posting a list of main ideas that I pulled from the paragraphs submitted as they occurred to me.  You may see repeated themes or concepts which I hope you'll consider as we continue to move through this discourse and examine our own media consumptions and production patterns. I thought it might be interesting to see them all lumped together like this.

Those that are posted elsewhere on the Blog, i'll post as a comment there, and copy paste below here when I'm done.

Nathan

limits, parents, limited, specific cinematic diet, choice, distinct, specific, influence, developing, expanding, humor

Chelsea

limits, literacy, strong opinion, active, sing, dance, play, preference, reading, priority, enjoyment, unexamined, moderation, formative, socialization.

Nate

developing, changing, shifting, documentary, technology, active, interactive, vs. passive, different demographics, cinema consumption, limits, maturity, preference, gossip, news, local focus, control, urgency, priorities, limits, choices, regulation, exposure, moderation, appreciation.

Leah

addiction, limits, conditions, priorities, influence, identify, identity, formative, escape, cultural identity, trappings, interpretation, energize, activate, inspire, perception, individual, interpretation, power.

Hallie

wholesome, countercultural, music, no TV, limits, educational, nurturing, literate, formative, perspective, choice(s), enlightened.

Julia

entertainment, difference, limits, use, education, identification, formative, transcendent, emotional, disconnect, epiphany, counter-cultural, class, art, activism, use, change, system,

Erin

influence, affected, losing sleep, parents, fantasy, singing, memory, rare treat / value, media as babysitter, occupation / pre-occupation, exposure, energy, ambivalence.

Delia 

(this list is a little beyond main ideas, and more plucked out 'power words.' your memoir has so many charged terms, i just culled them as they struck me and listed here out of the context) here goes...brilliant by the way.

fascist, regime, silenced, media, protest, graffiti, slogans, political, revolution, reform, leftist, entertainment, art, rally, appreciation, art, influence, street, mix, expression, staged, silenced, assemble, forms, lines, shapes, depths, textures, lights, shadows, challenge, content, message, parents, allow, appliance, censor, dictate, theatrical, storytelling, mimic, curriculum, learn, singing, meaning, super-heroes, humor, culture, history, learned by ear, inside/interior, together.

Nick

dominant genre / channel, age, computer games, intuitive, interactive, develop, own tastes, music, rebellion, discovery, influence, develop, follow, interest, experimentation, inspiration, instill emotions, variety.

Week 4 Media/Environment

This week I had planned on screening Koyaanisqatsi, an incredible film but rather dense and operatic. In light of ramping up political campaigns, the news media blizzard of financial crises, and skirting up against political discussions in class, I am most likely going to screen a more confrontational piece that was scheduled for later in the semester called "The End of suburbia."

I encourage everyone in class to investigate this issue either through links provided, or on your own, and post a response comment here. We'll revisit Koyaanisqatsi in upcoming weeks.

Fresh Air with New York Times' Thomas Friedman- response to 

"drill baby drill" worth listening to the whole thing here-

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=94385403

other relevant links:

Peak oil primer and links | Energy Bulletin

Peak Oil Debunked

Peak Oil: Life After the Oil Crash

week 3 Digital Ethnography

This week we listened to student's media memoirs, discussed higher education as a credential, the conspicuous absence of video games in peoples' memoirs, watched Michael Wesch's presentation to the Library of Congress on youtube and digital ethnography.

Looking forward to insightful posts reflecting on readings, screenings, synthesizing ideas, relating to links, new content, anything.....

new posts?

i think the way this is set up right now, maybe I am the only one who can start a new post.

let me look into it.- i have a new post button/link in the upper right after logging in-

do you get that?- 

i just looked it up, if you send me your email (blowthewhistle@mac.com)

i can add your email to the list of people who can post.

just send your email in the body of the message with the message

please add me to mediascuba blog, and i'll paste you in.

thanks

g.

media diet/glover

glover

weds aug 27

wake-

7:15 am-7:30 reading novel Feed

9:30 am to 10:45 car radio scan. 20 mins on Burlington Techno station, 10-15 minutes on 'air-one' (erehwon) christian rock station, 20 mins +/- on glenn beck listening to response to last nights hillary clinton speech.

afternoon-approx 30 minutes on and off facebook trading messages with some old friends who found me.

evening/after dinner approx 30 minutes shopping vermont craigslist for some things

8:30-9pm reading aloud garth nix novel to my son

9:30-11 tivo of demo nat convention clinton and biden speeches, followed by some daily show

11-12:30 syllabus development work laced with email and web multitasking

12:34 bed