Archive - Feb 2007
February 6th
Social Network Media Gatekeeping
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Tue, 02/06/2007 - 12:55During a particularly difficult period in my life, a friend of mine, who was a therapist, pointed out one of my psychological defenses and went on to note the importance of our defenses. Without them, during times when life is coming at you fast, things can easily become overwhelming.
I thought of that today as I read Enric’s post on a video blogging mailing list about the recent discussion about authenticity in digital space.
Enric notes,
“The mistake is in thinking that networked media is about content
(scripted or not, personal or show, etc.)It's about the disappearance of media gatekeepers.”
I thought about this in terms of presidential politics. My wife was Ned Lamont’s scheduler during his U.S. Senate campaign. There is an important role for gatekeepers, especially in the political realm, and this is what led me back to my thought about psychological defenses.
Perhaps the old media gatekeepers are not disappearing. Perhaps they are being replaced by a different type of gatekeepers. After all, YouTube and the other videosharing services have their own gatekeeping rules about what can go on the site, how it can be shared, how it makes it to the front page, etc. Social networks serve as another part of the gatekeeping mechanism as popular and well liked videos rise to the top.
Are popularity and user ratings better gatekeepers than the producers, editors, and anchors in the traditional media? The fiercely democratic, as well as those interested in ideas like emergence and collective intelligence are likely to think so.
February 5th
"What is authenticity in this digital space?"
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Mon, 02/05/2007 - 20:31Matthew Bernius responds to my post, Hope is Presidential. He writes,
Aldon mentions Ask a Ninja, Hope is Emo, and Lonelygirl15 as YouTube exemplars. I’m not quite sure what the candidates can learn from these content creators, as they all are essentially “old media” examples in the new media space. All of these are professionally produced (read as scripted, acted, filmed, and edited by professionals).
I guess the first thing that jumped out at me was suggesting that Ask a Ninja or Hope is Emo are essentially “old media” examples in the new media space. What are the essential characteristics of new media or old media? Matthew seems to suggest that the issue is either the roll of professionals in the production, or the use of techniques like having a script, having good filming and having it edited.
Yet many of my video-blogging friends, or for that matter, friends that text-blog, all aspire to be paid for their work. Is there something about receiving money for one’s work that makes the work less valuable? Or, for that matter, what is wrong with having a good script, good camera shots, or good editing?
He goes on to ask “What is authenticity in this digital space?” and wonders if “it’s any different than authenticity in the so-called real world”. It is an important question to ask. My first reaction is that there probably isn’t a significant difference between authenticity in digital space then there is in the so-call real world. Does having a script make things less authentic? Was the “I have a dream speech” or the Gettysburg Address somehow less authentic because it was written out? I don’t think so.
Politicians are professional speakers. It would be foolish to expect them not to be professional speakers. Yes, we might not want a canned speech to every question we pose, but most people want a well thought out answer. Perhaps good political speaking, whether it is captured on video or not, is a bit like doing improv.
Yet I also feel that the comments about Ask a Ninja of miss the bigger picture. One of the essential characteristics of new media, to me, is the ability for anyone to do it. Anyone can put a video up on YouTube. If they have ‘professional’ skills, can write a decent script, use good camera shots, edit it, then the video is likely to get more widely viewed. Yet having professional skills isn’t necessarily correlated to being trained at a traditional school, or having a traditional job in the profession.
Getting more widely viewed gets to a second essential characteristic of new media; the viral nature of successful productions. That is where we can learn from Ask a Ninja and Hope is Emo. The professional qualities of Ninja and Emo contribute to them going viral, but it is the viral nature that matters.
Yes, talking about professional qualities may be part of the question, but the big question is, what makes a video, an idea, or a meme go viral? Why is it that Martin Luther King’s speech 44 years ago still inspires us to have dreams of a better country when so many political speeches of today inspire us to change channels?
Yes, I do have a dream, and part of it includes people using new media, no matter how professionally produced, to reach new audiences with a message of hope and inspiration dating back to the oldest of all media.
(Cross-posted at Greater Democracy)
The Libby Trial Narrative: Character Development
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Mon, 02/05/2007 - 08:56I continue my quest to find out what people around me would like to see from bloggers’ coverage of the Libby trial. Some people are solely focused on gaining that one nugget of information that will tie the whole story together. I will leave that to the more experienced professional journalists or a gadfly with laser like focus. Instead, right now, I’m looking more at character development.
One of the first things I wanted to think more about is what is it like inside a Federal courtroom? What is it like to be on the stand? What are the stories of the people involved? My father-in-law and mother-in-law are both retired U.S. Treasury Agents. They have spent a fair amount of time testifying at Federal trials. The stories they tell at family picnics about their work are much different than the stories you see in TV dramas.
February 4th
Real Journalists
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Sun, 02/04/2007 - 12:52Below is my letter sent to the Connecticut Post in response to Ken Dixon's opinion piece, Plenty of fingers can be pointed in Krayeske issue
I read, with amusement, Ken Dixon's opinion about the Ken Krayeske case, "Plenty of fingers can be pointed in Krayeske issue", Feb. 4, 2007. He states, "First, beware of people who call themselves `journalists.' It's a highfalutin appellation. Real journalists are too busy working, gathering information to share with readers, to cop existential 'tudes."Dixon is right. We do need to beware of people calling themselves journalists. I do hope that Dixon doesn't call himself a journalist, or if he does, that he doesn't mislead many people. He seems to be too busy copping his own existential attitude to get beyond name calling and provide any real information about the important issues of what constitutes journalism in the twenty first century and what that means for our democracy.
What do you think?
(Cross posted at MyLeftNutmeg. Please vote in the poll there.)
February 2nd
R.I.P. Jo Wheeler
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Fri, 02/02/2007 - 22:46At around 9:30 on a Friday evening, my daughter looks over to me from her computer. She has been reading notes on Facebook from her classmates from The Long Ridge School. She tells me that they are saying that Jo Wheeler has died. I check the local paper and find this obituary.
JOSEPHINE STALDER WHEELER - creative and beloved teacher of young children, died peacefully Jan 28 at home and surrounded by family. She was 81. She had for several years suffered from COPD and lung cancer.
My mind goes back to the numerous times my children brought treasures to school for Jo to talk about in class. You never knew what you would find in her classroom. I thought of the urgent phone calls I would receive from her about some important physical phenomena that I should show the kids.
Long Ridge School always spoke about giving children a life long love of learning. It was more than just a marketting line, it was embodied in the life of Jo Wheeler, and it is now carried forward in the lives that she touched.
In the song Joe Hill, Joe tells young labor activists, that he didn't die, "Where working men are out on strike Joe Hill is at their side, Joe Hill is at their side." Well, perhaps something similar applies to Jo Wheeler.
Whenever a teacher joyfully accepts a little discovery, a dead beetle or a piece of animal dung that some child brings to the the teacher with urgent fascination, Jo Wheeler is at their sides.
