Response for Thurs, Jan 22

In Leo’s discussion post, he brings up the two questions that Boler poses in her introduction to Digital Media and Democracy. These stuck out to me as well. She asks,

1. how to alter the axes of domination so that those with little or no power have a seat at the table, and
2. how to conceive of media (whether dominant, grassroots, or tactical) with the capacity to intervene at the level of public perception, and that can challenge the perverse manipulation of ‘facts’ about something like global warming. (Boler 2008, 11)

Leo mentions that social networks are the medium, and I agree for the most part. There are several ways in which we can now seek out news from almost infinite sources. The best thing about the abundance of information is that we can piece together the truth from those many sources. One organization that comes to my mind as being a source for finding news on an international level is Global Voices Online. Global Voices is an organization that aggregates blogs from all over the world, translates them into several different languages and makes them available on their site. From blogs such as these, people can find a vast amount of news that we can learn about through firsthand sources. For example, a friend of mine was in Chile when General Augusto Pinochet Ugarte died on December 10, 2006. She shot several videos of the celebration that occurred in the streets the following day that also documented the military’s use of water and pepper spray on citizens who were in the streets. The use of force later caused rioting and vandalism of public property. All of this was not documented in the mainstream media, at least not in sources I saw.

Footage and images from the day Pinochet Died

Whereas we now have the opportunity to both produce and consume media, there is an issue that is not addressed by social media being the answer alone. That is the disenfranchised population who don't have access to computers or the Internet in order to access social media, let alone the tools to produce any d.i.y. media. A cool not for profit is addressing this issue in an educational manner alone is One Laptop Per Child (OLPC). OLPC works to get computers to the world's poorest children in order to help them learn. Each laptop costs $199 and the program is funded through contributions. Perhaps something similar can happen regarding tools for reporting. A perfect example of this is the Skid Row Photography Club. A Los Angeles-based photographer Dave Bullock started the project in which homeless residents of L.A.’s Skid Row were given digital cameras and asked to take photos of their area. The images were then taken and displayed in galleries, showing a different perspective on what is widely thought of as an undesirable location.

I think that we still have several questions to answer regarding accessibility, truthfulness in media, and the role of social networks and whether they will in fact provide the perfect public sphere. I believe that, if we can somehow make technology and information accessible for all, then the public sphere, with equal status for all can be met.

October 17, 2005: The Word - Truthiness

Boler mentions Colbert's "truthiness" in the introduction to Digital Media and Democracy, I wanted to include it here for those of you who may not actually watch The Colbert Report.

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

The Word - Truthiness

Colbert at Christmas
Colbert Christmas DVD

Green Screen
Bill O'Reilly Interview