Strategically Communicating

Has European media has turned the corner on publishing paparazzi culture photos?  The Huffington Post reported on Nov. 24th that the editor of the Irish Daily Star resigned over his decision to post topless photos of the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton.  Editor Michael O’Kane drew the ire of the British Media who  agreed to not publish the controversial photos of the Duchess sunbathing topless at a private residence. Some have argued that celebrities and other well-known people have no expectation of privacy, even when they are in private locations. The Star wasn’t the only publisher, media in France, Ireland, and elsewhere also published the photos.  Interestingly the Star is owned by a British media mogul who threatened to shut down the paper after it ran the photos. American tabloid newspapers did not publish the Kate photos and perhaps the firing of O’Kane served as a wake up call for other editors who publish scintillating photos to sell papers.  

Today’s paparazzi culture may be what is driving other types of publication of inappropriate photos. “Creepshots”  and upskirts can be found everywhere online, not just in tabloid papers, and feature everyone, not just celebrities.  Teenage girls are also targeted and can be especially vulnerable to cyberbulies who take pride in embarrassing their victims. This type personal invasion affects women, even if they are unaware they’ve been victimized. Legally there is no expectation of privacy while in the public. What about the expectation of respect? Can’t we expect that?

Do you think the firing of the Editor signals a change in public perception of what’s appropriate?

My research paper explores how youth form friendships on Facebook. When I first began researching this project, I thought I knew exactly what my hypothesis would be, which was that youth form fewer strong friendships online in favor of collecting a larger quantity of acquaintances. But I was surprised when the research I found suggested that this might not be the case.

Some research suggests that indeed, youth (and adults, as well) value quantity over quality of online friends. Yet, other research shows that youth are adapting to the online communities in such a way that nothing is actually changing.

This idea is a bit hard for me to understand. While I consider myself tech savvy, I now realize I am not truly a digital native and why. I personally can’t fathom how online interaction wouldn’t change how we make friends. My best friends in childhood were people I spent time with in person, and I can’t imagine developing close bonds with someone in a chat room instead of the playground or my backyard.

So, is everything changing, or is it the same as it always was? Are people changing how they communicate, or are they just adapting to a new medium?

My  paper for this Media & Society course is called “THE NEW SURVIVALISM:  How news media-inspired fear and social media-inspired networking have produced the modern American Prepper.”  In researching, I’ve realized how attenuated I’ve become to the connections between journalistic media, advertising, and entertainment.

Hurricane Sandy spawned this NYT article about survivalism last week.  Writer O’brien uses a survivalist industry business owner as his interview subject…and somehow manages to drop said business’ name 9 times within a single page.

Of course, at the top of the article are the standard Google, Facebook, and Twitter icons for “sharing.”  The NYT article also mentions plenty of (for-profit) books, magazines, expos, and blogs, as well as iPad, Macbook, Chevy Suburban, Smith&Wesson, Hooters, Sun Ovens International, Vivos Luxury Bunkers, Starbucks, Frappucinnos, National Geographic TV channel, EnerHealth, et al.

Each of these company’s websites feature plenty of other “mixing” of media—the Vivos site, for example, uses a Discovery Channel video embedded from YouTube to sell its Armageddon “prophecy” (and the requisite need for a Vivos brand luxury bunker).

It’s a wonder that each of the 52 items shown in the NYT lead photograph didn’t include brand names (or simply an button to add them to your Amazon.com shopping cart).  Truly, this media project has forced me to reconcile the imminence of the Year of the Depend Adult Undergarment.  Did Hurricane Sandy have a sponsor?  Is “preparing for the end” just a ruse to get us to buy more crap while we can?

Throughout this term we have looked at many aspects of communication and discussed its pros and cons, as it has become an influential aspect of the 21st century life. We also pondered the role journalist play in this ever-evolving age of technology that provides us with many avenues of communication. The opinions and theories on this subject have been as diverse as the history of communication itself. As we wrap up the term, I can’t help but to wonder what kinds of conclusions can be drawn, if any, from the mountain of information we just consumed?

 For me, it comes down to personal awareness of media consumption and its implication on my progress. While it has been obvious that the introduction of technology to our daily lives has increased our efficiency, it has also limited our productivity encouraging the quantity over quality of our output. This realization is significant as it forces me to think about my role as a journalist of the 21^st century. Do I want to give in to the demands of rapidly-approaching editor deadlines in favor of a less in-depth report, or do I challenge the status quo and take a deep dive into the ocean of information? Will I survive not conforming to the mainstream methods? Or is there simply a way to be in-depth and timely? I have more questions than answers at this point, but I guess it is a start.

There are many ethical responsibilities that come with being a journalist. The Society of Professional Journalists’ Code of Ethics emphasizes the need to “minimize harm [and] treat sources, subjects and colleagues as human beings deserving of respect.”[1] But what are “subjects” and “sources”? Don’t these terms suggest objectification and deprivation of power? What if journalists dealt with “participants” and “collaborators” instead of “subjects” and “sources”? The fields of anthropology and archeology, amongst others, have been undergoing a paradigm shift for the past fifteen years with scholars pushing for a different methodology emphasizing the participation of community members in the research process. The name of this approach is “community-based participatory research” and its main goal is to decolonize the process of collecting and interpreting data in academia. This approach encourages the active participation of those formerly known as “subjects” in designing and researching projects, and puts community members at the forefront.[2]

An argument can be made for the development of “community-based journalism” following the same principles of the community-based participatory research approach developed for anthropology. This method will advocate in favor of the participation of the community in choosing topics and stories to cover, as well as in the creation of the journalistic content. The journalist will bring a specific set of skills to the collaboration such as knowledge of recording technologies and journalistic storytelling abilities, while community members will offer their expertise on the issues that affect their lives.

How can this method work? I look forward to trying it out!

This term, we explored how the Internet, digital devices and media affect our thinking and values. However, we don’t often think about how our own digital media consumption choices and habits play into this. The Internet can only change us as much as we use it. Kara, for example, reads physical books, doesn’t own a smartphone and doesn’t watch TV. She would probably rather explore the outdoors or a novel than cyberspace. Her brain and thinking patterns are likely less affected by the web than those of us frequently attached to several devices simultaneously. Sunday, Anthony observed of the Thursday StratComm class that almost every student takes notes with pen and paper. Maybe those students find, by removing digital distractions, that taking notes this way keeps them more focused. The students of the MMJ/StratComm cohort are intelligent, highly motivated people willing to sacrifice being “plugged in” to achieve their educational and career goals.

Which brings me to today’s children. Why do we let them convince us that they cannot live without computers, smartphones and the Internet? What happened to giving kids boundaries and limits? As our resident teacher Kathryn mentioned, her students become better writers and researchers when forced to put their cell phones and computers away. Parents are part of the problem too. Kathryn said several parents excused their kids from class because they stayed up all night for the Halo 4 release. Maybe educators and teachers should learn from South Korea and start teaching our children some “netiquette.” 

The current issue of Outside magazine (December, 2012) contains an article that mirrors our discussion of the book, The Shallows. Here’s just a few statistics that the magazine cites from a years-long study by the Boston Consulting Group. Fifty-one percent of participants say they check e-mail obsessively while on vacation. Twenty-six percent sleep with their smartphones within reach (I do as it’s my alarm clock).

Such nonstop engagement changes how the brain processes information, says Outside, and in some cases changes the brain itself. So it’s no wonder that Outside magazine, when they asked the director of the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, what the cure is, got the answer back that, “An expanding literature suggests that exposure to nature – either a walk through a park or looking at nature photographs – can enhance attention and memory.”

So put down those smartphones, unplug that computer and hide that IPad.

Question: Can UofO grad students get outside during the Thanksgiving break without an Ipod and enjoy a bit of nature on its own quiet terms? My guess is yes.