Reflections

Dear readers,

And with this post, we say goodbye. In the great cinematic classic, Casablanca, Rick Blaine comforts Ilsa Lund with the sentiment, “we’ll always have Paris.” A heartrending farewell indeed.

This blog, however, is made of stronger stuff. Throughout this journey, the blogger has learnt to edit text in rich text format and HTML, upload photos through websites such as Photobucket and through a direct Blogspot.com Photo Uploader.

The blogger has expanded intellectually, learning more theories about transduction, web design and the social semiotics of multimodals: hand-in-hand with those indispensable academics: Kress & van Leeuwen, Schiver, Walsh, and many more.

As a blogger, I have learnt to write ethically, ensuring there are accurate citations to my words. To use gender-neutral and politically correct terminology to ensure tempers are not raised. I have learnt that simplicity and a competent (preferably Z-shaped!) website design are best.

With that, dear readers, I say farewell.

We’ll always have IPD.

Issue#4; Publicity & Privacy on Web 2.0

Dear readers,

With the advent of Web 2.0, the divide between private and public space has shrunk exponentially. What was previously private is now public for anyone with a modem and central processing unit, especially with the aid of search engines such as Google. Who decides what is private and what is public? In the world of Web 2.0, it’s not always the user.

Web 2.0 allows people to personalize and disseminate information in a way that is tailored to their needs and interests. This interactivity makes it simpler to get to know someone without them even knowing, an acceptable form of voyeurism (Boyd, 2007): take the fame of Jessica Rose as lonelygirl15.

As with all new communications technologies, the debate of whether it hurts more than it helps arises. Along with the unrestricted freedom and the easily-personalized platforms (Smith, 2003), Web 2.0 carries with it baggage of a more dangerous sort. Hacking and identity theft, very real threats of the Digital Age, have become more prevalent; as so many sites are free services. With the file-sharing interactivity of Web 2.0, how will profits be garnered?

(Sangrea.net, 2007.)

Information can be found on the Internet, but so can fabrications. Just as there are terabytes of education data to be devoured on Web 2.0; there are people who decide to abuse these privileges. Inasmuch as we have a right to communicate and make use of new technologies for a positive outcome, there will be someone who wants to manipulate the system for their own ends.
The perceptions of publicity and privacy have shifted greatly with the advent of new technologies.

Despite the legal repercussions, the lack of privacy, the blatant consumer-driven social networking – this does not detract from the fact that Web 2.0 and its free flow of information is indispensable to the public. Knowledge is to be shared, as it in itself is harmless.

According to Lange (2007), the idea of secrecy is unsuited to an online world – we see privacy as a more nuanced element: sharing personal information with others is routine.

As responsible individuals and users of Web 2.0, we should aim to be educated about the risks of the Internet. Web 2.0 doesn’t infringe upon privacy: people infringe upon privacy.

References

• Boyd, D. (2008). Why Youth Social Network Sites: The Role of Networked Publics in Teenage Social Life. In Youth, Identity, and Digital Media. Edited by D. Buckingham. The John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Series on Digital Media and Learning. The MIT Press: Cambridge, Massachusetts. p119–142. Viewed 21 October 2008 from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/dmal.9780262524834.119?cookieSet=1
• Lange, P. G. (2007). ‘Publicly private and privately public: Social networking on YouTube’. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 13(1), article 18. Viewed 2 November 2008 from http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol13/issue1/lange.html
• Smith, G. (2003). Introduction to Web 2.0. Exforsys Inc. Viewed 4 November 2008 from http://www.exforsys.com/tutorials/web-2.0/introduction-to-web-2.0.html

Issue#3; In Wiki We Trust?

Dear readers,

How many of you, when given an assignment, head straight to http://www.wikipedia.org/? I’ll admit: the site’s clean-cut lines and neat layout are seductive. The matter-of-fact information is compelling. But hark: what of the cries regarding its inaccuracies?

A bit of background information for you readers: Wikipedia was founded in January of 2001 by employees of the American company, Bomis. The now-head of Wikipedia, Jimmy Wales, was the chief executive of Bomis. After developing Wikipedia, he created a non-profit organization to run it. Currently, the Wikipedia Foundation is fuelled by donations and has a paltry three employees: a software developer, an assistant for Mr. Wales, and an intern (Hickman & Roberts, 2006).

Alistair Coleman of the BBC wrote an article entitled Students ‘should use Wikipedia’ (click for the article!). In this article, he discusses Jimmy Wales’ viewpoint regarding teachers who ban students from using Wikipedia as a source, calling them “bad educators”. The article goes on to argue Wikipedia’s credibility and reliability as source; with Wale’s insisting that “there is no substitute for peer critique”.

On the flipside, however, Ian Allgar of Encyclopaedia Britannica maintains that thanks to its 239 years of service, it remains the best source to use: the basic argument of “of paid-for, thoroughly-reviewed content” versus peer-reviewed and prone-to-vandalism Wikipedia.

However, according to Terdiman (writing for CNET News, article here: Wikipedia as accurate as Britannica), “is about as good a source of accurate information as Britannica”. This fact was uncovered in a study by Nature journal, which found “eight serious errors (such as general misunderstandings of vital concepts) in the [selected] articles. Of those, four came from each site”.

(Cyanide & Happiness, Explosm.net, 2005.)

However, Britannica would definitely never have mistakes such as the following!:

- David Beckham was an 18th-century Chinese goalkeeper.
- The Duchess of Cornwall carries the title Her Royal Un-Lowness.
- Robbie Williams earns his living by eating pet hamsters in pubs “in and around Stoke”.
(Roberts & Hickman, The Independent, 2006.)

To conclude, despite the obvious credibility and reliability issues inherent in Wikipedia, I personally would still head there first when given a topic to research. Obviously, I would back it up with concrete facts later on: but to give me a vague, overall feel of a topic; it is the first stop on the information superhighway I’d make.

References

• Coleman, A. (2007). Students ‘should use Wikipedia’. BBC News, 7 December 2007. Viewed 13 November 2008 from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7130325.stm
• Roberts, G. & Hickman, M. Wikipedia under the microscope over accuracy. The Independent Media, 13 February 2006. Viewed 13 November 2008 from http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/wikipedia-under-the-microscope-over-accuracy-466444.html
• Terdiman, D. (2005). Study: Wikipedia as accurate as Britannica. CNET News, 15 December 2005. Viewed 13 November 2008 from http://news.cnet.com/Study-Wikipedia-as-accurate-as-Britannica/2100-1038_3-5997332.html?tag=news.1

Issue#2; New Media Publishing: Citizen Journalism

Dear readers,

Jeff Ooi, Raja Petra Kamarudin, Scott Thong – these are shining local examples of citizen journalism via blog. What is citizen journalism, you ask? According to Laura Riggio (2007), citizen journalism is the principle that “anyone can be a journalist – it doesn’t have to be left to the professionals. Blogging gives the amateur a chance to voice his or her opinions, ideas, and thoughts without an editor”. NYU Professor Jay Rosen writes in his blog PressThink that “the people formally known as the audience are taking a permanent seat in the changing world of journalism”.

Citizen journalism has several advantages over traditional journalism: they can cater to niche markets, or perhaps report on things that traditional newsrooms cannot do due to time or budget constraints (just run a Google search for the 2004 tsunami and see how many examples of citizen journalism there are!).

Korea currently leads the way in pioneering citizen journalism, being one of the most Internet-literate countries in the world, according to The Media Report’s show on Alternative Online Media (click the link for a transcript!). The news website OhMyNews, brainchild of Jean K. Min, has more than more than 45,000 people who act as journalists. Being a liberal and progressive media, we learn that despite tradition being dispensed with, principles such as credibility and accountability are still paramount.

According to Bentley (2008), citizen journalism in the form of blogs provides an outlet for those discontented with the everyday media. There are also the obvious, theoretical benefits of blogs and citizen journalism: with more and more Internet users each day, functionality increases. According to Penman (1998), “a document’s functionality is dependent on its structure matching readers’ habits, expectations, and context of use”. This is a highly pertinent point as more people are become accustomed to using the Internet for everything.

(Cartoonstock.com, Royston, 2005.)

As Bentley said, citizen journalism is improving journalism as a whole. I hold with this idea firmly: the future of traditional journalism and citizen journalism is the same, two paths to the same location. Journalism without a preface.

References

• Bentley, C. D. (2008). Citizen Journalism: Back to the Future? University of Missouri School of Journalism. Viewed 13 November from http://www.hks.harvard.edu/presspol/carnegie_knight/Conference%20June%202008/Bentley.%20Citizen%20Journalism.pdf
• Penman, R. (1998). Document structures and readers’ habits’. Communication News, Vol. 11 pp10-11.
• Riggio, L. (2007). Blogs and Citizen Journalism: The Effect on Our Culture. Viewed 12 November from http://mediacrit.wetpaint.com/page/Blogs+and+Citizen+Journalism:+The+Effect+on+Our+Culture?t=anon
• Rosen, J. (2008). Bloggers vs Journalists is Over. New York University. Viewed 11 November 2008 from http://journalism.nyu.edu/pubzone/weblogs/pressthink/2005/01/21/berk_essy.html
• The Media Report. (2008). Leading the Way in User-Input Journalism. ABC Radio National. Viewed 12 November from http://www.abc.net.au/rn/mediareport/stories/2007/1843323.htm

Issue#1; Photojournalism: To Click or Not To Click?

Dear readers,

Why is a photograph of a dead child so much more upsetting than a dozen articles? They say a picture speaks a thousand words, and photojournalism is a brilliant example of this. In The Power of Photography, the speakers discuss the War Photo Gallery in Dubrovnik: a gallery dedicated to conflict zone photographs only. Here, wars from all over the globe are photographed and displayed for public consumption: to increase awareness. Suffering and pain are so more shocking when seen through images and with an impartial filter. Print/TV news tends to have a political agenda behind it, which can affect the news, compromising impartiality. According to Schriver, “memory for pictures tends to be better than memory for words” (1997).

However, people can also misuse the power of a photograph for their own ends. Take the case of Adnan Hajj, who used photomanipulation to subtly but significantly edit an image he snapped of Beirut after Israel had attacked. This photo caused public outcry, which increased dramatically when the photo was revealed to be a fake.

(Adnan Hajj/Reuters, 2006).

Not only this, but graphic images can lead to compassion fatigue. The ease with which pictures are taken can lead to compassion fatigue, wherein audiences are so numb to images of suffering as the media has become inundated with it. According to Moeller, compassion fatigue is a state of utter habituation to disasters, which "militates both against caring and action" and creates passivity. Do graphic photos of war, famine and turmoil truly educate the public, or do they just add to this overall fatigue?

To conclude, photographs can be used to expose expose poverty, famine, disease. But they are also able to showcase the hardiness of the human spirit, the small victories.

To inspire.

References

• Moeller, S. (1999). Compassion Fatigue: How the Media Sell Disease, Famine, War and Death. Routledge: New York.
• Schriver, K. A. (1997). ‘Chapter 6: The Interplay of Words and Pictures’, Dynamics in Document Design: Creating Texts for Reader, Wiley Computer Pub: New York.
• The Media Report. (2007). The Power of Photography. Viewed 16 November 2008 from http://www.abc.net.au/rn/mediareport/stories/2007/2051819.html

The Blogging Phenomenon: New Forms of Media Publishing

Dear readers,

Blogging isn’t just for geeks anymore. Trends that spark online are just as in-style as those on the runway: take the new crazes regarding video blogs (or ‘vlogs’: lonelygirl15, anyone?) or alternative news sources.

Let’s talk about alternative online newspapers, readers.

According to Meza (2006), “many mainstream television programs today claim to offer the viewer an impartial approach on any given issue, this just isn’t true”. From a local standpoint, this remains pertinent. However, Malaysian mainstream media is getting much less readership due to the rising preference for more balance. Nowadays, to get the “real news”, Malaysians turn to MalaysiaKini or MalaysiaToday: both of which have substantial readership (Foo, 2008). We turn to alternative media because the articles in them “hit the spot because they’re tapping into concerns out in the public arena” (Big Ideas, 2005). We want the truth, and we want it now. Web 2.0 has spoiled an information-hungry populace with instant gratification, and this case is no exception.

(Socialcritic.org, Wuerker, n.d.)

Not only this, but there are aesthetic reasons. Online newspapers are easier to read due to their succinctness and multimodality (Kress & van Leeuwen). Archives and other records are more easily found with online news. Online newspapers can also hyperlink to pertinent sites, creating intertextuality (Schirato & Yell, 1996) – we make sense of texts in reference to relations with other texts.

References

• Big Ideas. (2005). New Media Publishing. Viewed 13 November 2008 from http://www.abc.net.au/rn/bigidea/stories/s1485827.htm
• Foo, Y. H. (2008). The Alternative News. Viewed 13 November 2008 from http://yeo-innocreative.blogspot.com/2008/06/alternatives-news-malaysiakinimalaysia.html
• Kress, G. & van Leeuwen, T. (2001). Multimodal Discourse: The Modes and Media of Contemporary Communication. Hodder Headline Group: Great Britain.
• Meza, M. (2006). Goodbye Mainstream Media, Hello Alternative. Viewed 13 November 2008 from http://enterthealternativemedia.blogspot.com/
• Schirato, T. & Yell, S. (1996). Communication and Cultural Literacy: An Introduction. Ch. 5, Framing Contexts, pp90-117. Allen & Unwin: St. Leonard’s, New South Wales.

The Blogging Phenomenon: Online versus Print

Dear readers,

Designing for print media and designing for online media are two very different challenges. Visual appearance and the arrangement of writing with other visual representations “contributes to meaning” (Kress & van Leeuwen, 1998). Colours, layouts, voices, pathways, spatial positioning – these and other elements contribute to an overall meaning.

When designing for print, it is important to make sure your text has a voice and can appeal different reading habits. This article from Vogue magazine has been designed according to the Gutenberg diagram, which theorises that writing in a Z-shape for print is more appealing. It is two-dimensional, with much attention paid to layout.

(Vogue, 2007.)

According to Nielsen (1997b), writing for the Internet requires succinctness and scannability. Because reading from a computer screen is up to twenty-five per cent slower than from paper (supra), there should be less text present on a page. Eyetracking visualisations have shown that we read online content in an F-shape (Nielsen, 1997a), meaning “two horizontal stripes followed by a vertical stripe”. Because readers won’t read text thoroughly, subheadings, bullet points and emphasising information-carrying words is used. The plus point of a website is that it is more reflexively intertextual. This article from Vogue Online is done according to these theories: an F-shaped layout, headings and subheadings; as well as hyperlinks and large text are used.

(Vogue, 2007.)

References

• Kress, G. & van Leeuwen, T. (1998). Approaches to Media Discourse. Ch. 7, Front Pages: (the Critical) Analysis of Newspaper Layout. Hodder Headline Group: Great Britain. Blackwell: Oxford. UniSA Electronic Library.
• Nielsen, J. (1997a). F-shaped Pattern for Reading Web Content. Accessed 13 November 2008 from http://www.useit.com/alertbox/reading_pattern.html
• Nielsen, J. (1997b). Writing for the Web. Accessed 13 November 2008 from http://www.useit.com/alertbox/9703b.html