Invisible Children Book Drive

My friends younger sister was telling her about the book drive that her school is participating in for the Invisible Children. I remembered that someone had blogged about Invisible children so I thought I would show you guys what they are continuing to do to help these children.

The motive behind the book drive is to better educate the people of these nations and give them a better brighter chance at a future.

http://www.invisiblechildren.com/bookdrive

GAIA

Hey everyone, I know some of you had an interest in the presentation I gave at the beginning of the quarter on Global Action in the Interest of Animal's campaign against the food foie gras.

GAIA is a Belgian animal rights activist groups. Their foie gras campaign was against the process of making this French delicacy due to the mistreatment, suffering, and animal abuse that the ducks and geese go through in order to produce this food. Here is a link to the add as well as the website.

Ads:

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/2001/foiegrasthumbty0.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.blameitonthevoices.com/2008/03/anti-food-capaign-ads.html&usg=__HY_2K1wLuIh6VD-zdthzp2JDbys=&h=552&w=375&sz=38&hl=en&start=1&sig2=4FDr4OVZ-V1YM7xx-a4flA&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=5xNWkrN07IvvfM:&tbnh=133&tbnw=90&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dfoie%2Bgras%2Bactivist%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dsafari%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Den%26tbs%3Disch:1&ei=0acCTN-4B5jkNJuvmTU

and

Here is the link for GAIA:

http://www.gaia.be/

Environment Colorado

Hi everyone--

Here's my video I showed in class yesterday. Any input for improvement would be greatly appreciated? Can this video be considered activist? Is there an applied call to action to join the organization and enter into the democratic process?

Environment Colorado from Ben Zenner on Vimeo.

Free Speech TV

hey guys,

here's my video that i presented today. hope you guys enjoyed it.

Performance from DJ Spooky

DJ Spooky At TATE Modern London 2010 from Nonlineari.nteractive on Vimeo.

Gives a little taste of live performances by DJ Spooky and how he utilizes a lot of new media techniques in his alternative media shows.

Flash Mobs!

I participated in a flash mob on campus on Tuesday and I wanted to post a video and see what you guys think about the topic of flash mobs in general.

Flash mobs are becoming more and more common, especially because of organizations such as Improv Everywhere.

(Check out their YouTube channel:http://www.youtube.com/user/improveverywhere?blend=1&ob=4)

They are supposed to be a complete surprise, and performed in a public place, so that people going about their daily lives can witness the event. Sometimes they can be used to spread a message as well, therefore, in my opinion, becoming a form of activist media.

In our particular situation, we performed the event during a carnival for the DU May Days event because we knew people would be there. The object of this flash mob dance was to bring about school spirit in a creative and fun way. Unfortunately, as you will see in the video, a few too many people found out it was happening beforehand. But regardless, it was a lot of fun.

University of Denver Flash Mob from Jerad Larkin on Vimeo.

What do you guys think about flash mobs becoming a form of activist media?

Yo Peace

Here is the link for yopeace.org that I was thinking of doing my final project on, but decided on something else. Although I decided to focus my energy on the Help Elephants' campaign, I am still really interested in this organization as well. At yopeace.org, you can find a lot of information regarding their campaigns to stop the wars going on in Iraq and Afghanistan. They try to use their different artistic images from graphic artists, printmakers and visual artist to inspire a broader audience to be alternatives to violence.

Help Elephants

Here is the link to the website that In Defense of Animals created solely for their Help Elephants campaign. Here you can track how individual elephants are doing and the progress of their campaign and get involved.

http://www.helpelephants.com/

Free Speech TV: The Global Report (BP Spill)

So, for my project i interviewed some folks over at Free Speech TV. they offer alternative/progressive television programming that you really would not see on mainstream television broadcasting. because the organization does not accept money from governmental or corporate interests, they are not subjected to the same "bottom-line" policies that affect the content of their broadcasting. in this sense, they are able promote a more fearless type of journalism and social activism.

here's an example of one of the shows they have on FSTV. it's called "The Global Report." i think it's a good example of how FSTV differs from major news networks and how certain issues are reported.

what do you guys think of this style of news reporting/commentary? how does the content, presentation, and tone differ from what you would see on something like ABC?

Allie Pohl

Here's a link to Allie Pohl's website... I've had a lot of fun scrolling through her pictures and checking out her blog. It's great seeing the interesting pieces and relating them to the class and the greater media and art landscape as a whole. She said she didn't know of any other Denver artists who have a message like hers... Do you guys know of any other artists here in Denver with aims similar to Allies'? Hope you all buy a necklace and give Allie's art and message a stronger voice!

I just found this article on M.I.A., the artist who sings "Paper Planes". She seems very interesting because she is a mainstream musician/artist and yet her music is very politically driven. She focuses most of her energy on her native country of Sri Lanka and the injustices done to the Tamil.

It's a really long article that gets into her fashion style, personal and stage life, but some things really caught my attention. Everyone knows the "Paper Planes" song from Slumdog Millionaire, but I doubt everyone knows about her political views and statements she makes through her music. She has been called a "terrorist sympathizer" and has been criticized for being "unsophisticated about the politics of Sri Lanka". In addition to this she in controversial in the way she dresses and acts as a celebrity. She was 9 months pregnant on stage and began to have contractions, she finished the performance even though she probably should have been in the hospital. She was also in a very revealing outfit at this performance.

I know a lot of celebrities act like this, but she sees herself as an activist. Credibility plays a huge role in who she is and how she adds to the Sri Lankan cause. Can one person be a fashion and pop star at the same time as being an activist? People like Bono and John Lennon have done this, but in a peace making way. M.I.A. on the other hand, is militant in her approach and has not received positive feedback from it and her fans don't seem to listen to the lyrics close enough to care.

M.I.A.'s Agitprop Pop

Mr. Brainwash-ed himself

Hey guys, last week I went and saw the movie "Exit through the gift shop" at the Mayan theater. Wow. It wasn't really what I expected the film to be like or about, but not in a bad way. I think the main message of the film fits perfectly with what we have been talking about all quarter - activism versus mainstream. In the beginning of the movie you're like oh this is interesting, we're going to see a bunch of different street artists while we learn about this cool French guy who likes to film a lot. The interviews with Shepard Fairey, the Invader (I think that was his name), and other graffiti artists were really interesting; you got to see their motivations, how they worked, and get a taste for their own specific style. I think it's important to note that each artist had their own style and their own theme to make them unique even though they were all kind of in the same section or type of activist or alternative media. They had similar intentions of trying to question authority and hegemony, but each one displayed their message in a different manner, which I think shows their respect for the art form and also their really honest intentions with their work. Shepard Fairey especially you can tell just loves what he does and loves creating subversive messages for everyone to see and have conversations about and ask questions. I think when the framing of the film switched over to Banksy taking the camera and having Thierry become the artist that's when the intention of the film really came out and matched up really well with the theme of our class. I think Thierry giving himself the name "Mr. Brainwash" is really ironic and coincidental because he not only brainwashed the hoitey toitey uninformed art collectors and the people who came to his exhibition and fell in love with his completely unoriginal work, he alos brainwashed himself. He moved out of doing the thing that he loved so much and into a world where he could finally get noticed. Instead of fostering creativity and innovation and change, the opportunity of creating meaningful work that would actually be seen by the world (unlike his failed attempt at a documentary) went to his head and really destroyed any possibility for him to make something meaningful and actually alternative/activist. He brainwashed himself into thinking he was an almighty important artist after only a few weeks/months(?) of making this art, before he could even really get his own style. Well actually, he did have a style - a copy cat style. He did cliche Andy Warhol-esque "art" which he didn't even make himself; he hired people to do what he "wanted" so that he would have an excess of art on time for his premature exhibition. This is a perfect example of mainstream motivations corrupting activist ones. On another note, I've been hearing some rumors that some people think that Thierry is actually Banksy himself since no one actually knows what he looks like. They're saying that the movie was just an inside joke and wasn't actually based off of anything real because they can't find any information about a Mr. Brainwash. I looked him up on google and he has a website that dates back to 2007 or 2008, apparently, and the wikipedia page wasn't very helpful either, so I'm not sure what I think... What do you guys think? (About the movie, what I said, and/or the theories that Mr.Brainwash is either made up or Banksy himself).
Linna

Exit Through the Gift Shop- Extra Credit

I saw “Exit Through the Gift Shop” over the weekend and I really enjoyed it. After talking about graffiti art in class, it was interesting to be able to have some sort of knowledge of street art in watching the film. Thierry, the main character in the documentary showed the issues that involve street art in comparison with mainstream art. At the end, Banksy explicitly brings up the issue of having no rules to art, but is it really okay for “Mr. Brain Wash” to blow up in popularity when so many street artists never get that popular or rich by doing something they are passionate about? It’s really up to one’s own perceptions and values to define what art is. It also shows that credibility helps frame certain things like art. The reason why people heard about and were interested in Theirry’s art was because Banksy and Shepard Fairey endorsed him. I guess it’s really something to think about.

Graffiti Art

This is a little delayed, but I was reminded of the day when Jenny Whitcher came in to speak to the class as a guest about graffiti art. I was walking through downtown and noticed some graffiti on a building and was reminded about how to read the tag and what it may have meant besides from just spray painting something on a wall. Before Jenny came to speak, I didn't really know much about graffiti art besides from when I encountered it passing through cities, for example. When she spoke a little about the poitics in regards to graffiti and basically how to read what the peice is saying, it really helped me put into perspective how much work and planning can go into peices like these that, otherwise, seem so simple.

I really took note when she passed around a graffiti artist's sketchbook. This was really interesting for me as an art minor because having the ability to look at someone's sketches can be very personal and invassive, however in this case, I think it helped me take in all of the steps that the artist's takes before even thinking about putting paint to a wall. Before this guest speaker, I wouldn't have really thought of graffiti artists to have sketchbooks and things of that nature, even though it makes complete sense that they do; they are artists after all.

Hope Is Ready

Hey guys, here's the link to Hope Is Ready on Facebook. Pretty cool to see what they're working on and how people keep adding them as friends. Here are the rest of my discussion questions for you guys to ponder.

•Most of the mainstream media framed their stories to be very pro-Hope Is Ready. Do you think there is a way that the media could write a story that would frame the trustees to be the “good guys?”

•Do you think the alumni, students, faculty, or media, have the most pull in changing policies? Consider that the alumni fund many of the building, etc. on campus.

•Why do you think Hope College is sticking with its old policy for now?

Also, you can check out this story on lots of different sites, but Huffington Post articles were great.

Aaron Huey's photos of prison art

Aaron Huey is a DU alum and a famous photographer, and I have been looking at his work a lot ever since his TEDxDU speech. I came a cross an interesting category in his blog: PRISON ART.

This category is dedicated to the photographs Huey took of Travis Lone Hill's artwork. Travis is an inmate at the Springfield State Penitentiary, and he draws all artwork on prison paper, such as parol hearing notices & agreements.

Here is one of the photos:

Do you think this is activist media? What kind of message do you think Aaron or Travis were trying to send?

Here's the link to the PRISON ART category page on his blog:

TWLOHA UChapters Tour

I talked about the organization To Write Love on Her Arms in my class presentation, and I just wanted to post a few things to expand on some of the things we talked about.

I talked a little about the UChapters that are developing, but I wanted to post a video about the UChapters tour. This tour is an attempt to celebrate and support the UChapters and bring the message and mission of TWLOHA to college and university campuses. Evenings of "Lyrics and Conversation" take place when the TWLOHA reps stop at each campus, and they post videos about the chapters as well.

Here is a short video about the tour as a whole:

They mention in this video one example of how TWLOHA actually helps those who have issues with depression. The university chapters act as a support for students and a link between students and the places of help, especially counseling services on campus. This is one way that TWLOHA connects people with help, and they also work to educate everyone about depression issues and when to help loved ones find help.

Do you think these "Lyrics and Conversation" nights are a form of activist media? What other events could be considered activist media, if any?

CODEPINK

For my final project I interviewed a woman from CODEPINK - a women-initiated grassroots peace and social justice movement working to end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

I will tell you more about it tomorrow, however wanted to leave you with this entertaining video of CODEPINK women calling Donald Rumsfeld a "war criminal" to his face.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDmRdfyAUio

What do you think about this video? Do you find it funny, too extreme, inappropriate? Do you think they make differences with protests like these?

Postsecret

Hi everyone,

For those of you that missed my presentation last class, below is a youtube video about postsecret.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6rTkp1dek4

I didn't have time to ask you questions and was really curious about your thoughts on this particular post card:

http://www.kickaction.ca/node/1166

Do you think sometimes the post cards can be too extreme and offensive? (like the previous example) or do you like the idea of no censorship?

More Censorship

http://www.ypnation.net/censorship-pakistan-youtube-and-450-urls-blocked

Here is a link to a site discussing the recent censorship in Pakistan. What are your guys' thoughts? Do you think there are ways around having youtube blocked? maybe other social networking sites?

Free Speech Activist Arrested Over 40 Times

So, here's an artist and free speech activist who protests the requirement of vendor's licenses for selling street art. He believes that such a requirement is unconstitutional in that it restricts an individual's right to free speech and expression. What do you guys think? Should vendor's licenses be required for all street artists, performers, etc.? Or is that a violation of constitutional rights?

Brainwashing by Kotex???

I came across this ad when I was watching TV the other day and I was shocked. This commercial is selling Kotex which has been re branded with new packaging. The advertisement is telling the consumer all the subtleties that commercials use to get young women to buy their product. When watching the ad I felt uncomfortable because it was telling me what I was thinking, even if I did not know I was thinking it. What kind of media do you think this is? Why would this messaging useful in advertising?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOM4AMV050A

Nina Berman: documentary photographer

I did my short presentation on Berman. I focused on her personal story photographs documenting the effects of war. There are other series she has that focus on cultural aspects of the war. Berman's series called Homeland shows military presence in the US during the Iraq war. Even though many of her series focus on war and the military she brings up topics such a mega churches and the Obama campaign. She does not claim to objective. Berman wants to show the affects of war on America. Is she creating media or art? Is there a difference between the two? Is Berman's art activist or alternative?

http://www.ninaberman.com/

Robert McCheasney Speaker

Sorry for the delayed post. But, I noticed that McCheasney's talk has a lot to do with our class. More so than i originally thought. I find it interesting how he discussed the differences between old media versus new media. Today's new media has now become part of the private sphere, /(and must originate from the private sphere) before it can become a public good. His example of this was with the internet... it was originally part of the US military (private sphere) and has now gone into the global public sphere. I never thought of seeing things that way but now it all makes sense.

Molleindustria

Sorry for the late late late post, but here is the link to the Molleindustria site, the one i presented on. Now you can play the creative commons game or anything other game they have. Just click the games tab to see a list of them all.

Brian Ulrich - photographer

Brian Ulrich is a photographer that focuses on the consumerist lifestyle runs this country. He is interested in exploring the intricacies of our culture that is controlled by capitalism. His project, Copia, meaning “a plentiful supply,” deals with “the roles we play in self-destruction, over-consumption, and as targets of marketing and advertising,” according to his artist’s statement. I’m interested in how he uses the medium of photography to subvert the hegemonic power of capitalism that permeates every aspect of our lives. Check out his projects here. Do you think his photographs are effective? Do you think photography is an appropriate medium to explore retail, thrift, etc. consumerism?

The Ruckus Society - Take Action: Donate Today!

hey guys,
I just looked and for some reason the video i asked you all to watch didnt post, here it is. Sorry about that confusion.

More backlash against airbrushing

Newsweek recently published an article concerning the airbrushing of models and celebrities. According to the article, France is considering a bill that would prohibit "from pro-anorexia Web sites to advertisers to editors, to publicly incite "excessive thinness" or extreme dieting." I was shocked to read about this and how the current policy on photo-shopping was being threatened. The video that goes along with this website was also very interesting. Would you want to be photo-shopped if you appeared in a magazine? Do you think this type of censorship is called for? Do you think it's too harsh? Do you think it's the government's job to monitor magazines and the internet, or do you think it's the industry's job to monitor itself?

CANstruction

Hey guys, I saw this while I was watching Unwrapped: Canned Foods on the Food Network the other night and I thought it was really unique and interesting. There is an food charity organization called Canstruction that organizes competitions between architects, engineers, and students all across America and in a few other countries around the world. The competitors must build a huge structure made entirely out of canned foods and can only use glue, tape, and rubber bands (nothing permanent) to keep them together. After the competition the thousands and thousands of cans used in the construction are donated to local food banks to distribute to the needy. Here's a link to their website; check out some pictures of the impressive structures built in past competitions, they're really fun! Let me know what you think,
Linna

http://www.canstruction.org/index.php?option=com_expose&Itemid=29

"Exit Through The Gift Shop" - Official Trailer [HD]

Health Magazine Airbrushes model

http://www.stylelist.com/2010/05/17/healthy-magazine-airbrush-skinny-model-adds-weight/

This is a link to an article about a British magazine, Healthy, that admitted to airbrushing weight on to a model who was too thin. I thought that this was a good article because it relates to what Kat and Kaelen said in their presentations. So what are your thoughts? Is it ok to airbrush if they add weight or is itjust better to pick a healthy looking model?

Economist TV commercial - India May 2010. Football

I got this Economist advertisement on my facebook updates. I thinks it's really interesting who their target audience is, what they are trying to accomplish, the timeliness of it all, and that it is a mainstream media/new source that is choosing to take a stand on a specific issue. What do you guys think? Why is it affective/not affective? Keep in mind that it is an advertisement in India.

(additional) Reading for Thursday

Hi Everyone:

Please read and explore the information on net neutrality here.

And here is a link to the Creative Commons website. Please check it out. And also please listen to this NPR interview with Larry Lessig.

Thanks and see you Thursday!

The Ruckus Society - Take Action: Donate Today!

Hey guys,

So I know this is a bit of a spoiler alert but I wanted you to get a chance to watch this before my presentation in class Thursday. If you dont get a chance to view it dont worry, I will most likely show something similar to introduce the organization to the class. However I thought it would be nice for you guys to have a little familiarity with the topic and the actions this group, The Ruckus Society, takes part in. I think what is so interesting about this is the actual action part, and allowing interested parties to not only get involved but have a physical training and commitment.

If anyone has any thoughts or suggestions please feel free to share. Obviously I will show you more video and explain the organization in greater detail Thursday.

Thanks

Ali

Don't Die for a Diet TV Commerical

Hey Guys,
Here is the television commerical I used in my presentation. The British organization Don't Die for a Diet, who created this commerical did not renew their website domain in 2010, but they are still heavily active in television production to get their message across. Do you feel this is activist media in that it is critiquing another form of media ( pro-ana-mia websites)? Do you feel that there should be censorship on websites that promote destructive behavior? Or do you feel restricting web content goes against freedom of speech?
-Kaelen

Final Project Specs

For those of you who missed the email...

1) The focus of the project should be on the media products, strategies, tactics, dissemination and so on. Find out how media is being used and to what end. What are the aims (of the group, individual, or organization) and how to they use media to achieve them? Are they trying to change how people think? Are they trying to influence policy? Are they trying to raise awareness? Are they drawing on traditional methods or protest or are they breaking new ground? Are they trying to get mainstream media attention or are they communicating outside the mainstream?

2) You must conduct an interview or interviews with the activist media producers or the people designing the media strategies.

3) You might also want to interview fans, supporters, community members related to the media you are focusing on.

4) You need to contextualize the work by drawing on theories of media power and resistance that we are studying in class. This means you must draw from some academic sources. For example if you are focusing on an artist you need to include a discussion about the relationship between art and activism.

5) Extra credit is given to work that is particularly theoretically rigorous or work that can be of some promotional or other use by the group or person you are focusing on.

6) If you are doing something other than a paper you must include a written component that describes a) the research you did and what you found out (including interview(s) with your subject and theoretical context that informs your work); b) a explanation of why you made what you did; c) any other relevant information you want to include. This written component should be at least 6 double-spaced pages.

7) If you are writing a paper only, the paper should be 10-15 double-spaced pages.

The project is due the last day of class.

Please email with any questions.

Pirate Radio

I saw this quite a while ago, and thought it was pretty interesting and well done (not to mention relevant).

What does it mean when an activist is not only creating their own media, but creating the means for media distribution?

http://www.palladiumboots.com/exploration/london-pirate-radio

EDIT

Don't know why google is signing Ryan Jeffers... This is Dillon Doyle!

Here is the link to Du's TEDx event Thursday.

The original TED conference site is here. The TED videos hosted on the site include amazing talks by innovative speakers in the fields of technology, education, and design (hence the name TED). They use the word "mind-blowing" on the site a lot to describe the talks.

Here are two I'd like you to watch, both of which help clarify what Twitter is and what it does (to follow Claudia's lead in bringing this tool into the discussions we've been having).

I found this article in the economist about Twitter for politicians. I know I should know more about Twitter, but I don't. I have only heard about it for celebrity gossip etc. I thought it was interesting that companies and now politicians are using it in everyday life rather than just for campaigns. Barack Obama used it during the 2008 elections, hiring 100 people to deal with his social networking accounts. Now over 400 Japanese politicians, Hugo Chavez, Denis Coderre, and Sebastian Pinera use it as well.

This idea of politicians using Twitter makes it seem as though these icons, for many people, are more accessible when in reality they are not even reading the "tweets" or responding to them personally. Here is a quote from the article:

"The days when tweets involved a sweaty-thumbed real-life politician giving candid thoughts on the day’s events may be passing. Risk-averse politicians are likely to make their tweets bland, and bland tweeters may be less likely to be followed. Once politicians understand that everything is public, they are much less likely to offer the unadorned truth, at least to ordinary voters."

Do you agree with this comment? Do media outlets like this sometimes seem new, exciting and "activist" at first but the more people use it, the more diluted it becomes?

What do you think about how Twitter has and will affect politics all over the world? Will it change public perception of these people?

Here is the link to the article:

Politics and Twitter: Sweet to tweet

Disabled Artists - Angryfish

As Katie and I have been researching the arts and disabilities, and how they involve activist media for our final project, I have come across some interesting groups and individual artists that create media that addresses issues that people with disabilities have. This is a pretty interesting one, and I thought I would share with you all:

Robin Surgeoner, also known as Angryfish, is an established Disability Arts singer songwriter in the UK. He writes songs with powerful lyrics that are about realisation, oppression, potential, determination and one worldism. I would consider this activist media because Robin is part of a minority group and he is creating media to spread messages about the different obstacles he has because of his disability.

This is the cover for his album, entitled "Barbed Wire and Pot-Holes" ->

Angryfish's lyrics page:

http://www.angryfish.co.uk/lyrics/

Here is an example of lyrics from Angryfish ("Silent Tyranny"):

"Look at me, what do you see?

Do you see a man who's got no guts or destiny

But that would be true, it will happen to you

If we don't deny their silent tyranny"

Thoughts?

banksy

Hey Guys

I came across this while I was exploring today in class and I think it is pretty interesting considering what Jenny talked to us about during her class discussion.

The infamous Banksy quotes, "The segregation wall is a disgrace.... The possibility I find exciting is you could turn the world's most invasive and degrading structure into the world's longest gallery of free speech and bad art...."

He is a controversial figure but has gained highly publicized access in the media and continues to challenge the message that the wall represents. Do you feel as though his artwork has an influence on the greater public and how they perceive the wall?

Monk burns himself to death

When does activist media go to far? For instance, suicide bomber’s not only kill themselves and others for their religion but to create publicity. Another example that involves someone taking their own life in an act of protest took place in 1963 when a monk burned himself to death. A Buddhist monk from Vietnam placed himself at the busiest intersection in Saigon and then proceeded to light himself on fire. He did this to bring attention to the repressive policies of the Catholic regime that controlled the South Vietnamese government. The Catholic regime implemented strict bans on Buddhist monks and nuns. For instance, they prevented the flying of the Buddhist flag. Supposedly, the monk never moved a muscle.

Here is a picture of the monk burning himself. Just to warn you all, it is pretty disturbing.

Public Access Faves

Here's one of the videos that Tony mentioned as evidence of the value of public access channels.

And here is artist Ravi Zupa's website. Scroll to the bottom to watch some of the music and other videos Tony was also talking about.

M.I.A. - Born Free [WARNING: EXPLICIT CONTENT]

So, I just saw this video last week and it blew my mind. There are a lot of subtextual elements at play in this video... and I don't want to give too much away before anybody watches, but I think there's a lot of meaning and purpose in this music video, as violent and disturbing as it is.

I definitely regard this video in activist terms, but I wonder what you guys think it is trying to say about: A) American power and figures of authority (especially considering that M.I.A. is British), B) the absurdity of profiling, and C) fear of those that are "different"?

WARNING: CONTAINS EXPLICIT VIOLENCE, SEXUALITY, NUDITY, AND DRUG USE. FOR REAL.

M.I.A, Born Free from ROMAIN-GAVRAS on Vimeo.

Banksy Gets Erased

A group of street-cleaners in Melbourne painted over one of famed graffiti artist, Banksy's pieces of work. This is raising concern over graffiti and whether it should be preserved and protected like other more conventional forms of art. I feel that graffiti is just as worthy of protection under the law as "fine art". What do you think, what defines "real art" or "fine art", and can we even put a label on one's creation?

Here's the link:

http://www.good.is/post/banksy-gets-erased-should-some-street-art-be-preserved

Robert McChesney and John Nichols

Robert McChesney and John Nichols came to speak about their book that was recently published, the “Death and Life of American Journalism”. They discussed the importance for Generation Y to get involved in Journalism. McChesney stated that there are now 4 P.R agents to 1 journalist in the United States today. McChesney and Nichols blame the lack of content that is present in the news you find today.

McChesney and Nichols argue that journalism should be seen as a public good and that the government should help save American journalism by granting more subsidies to newspapers and media outlets. They believe that under the first amendment the government should help subsidize journalism. Nichols said that the first duty of the state is to make sure the press system exists, and that is a structural requirement.

Finally, I found it interesting how they stressed the importance of printed journalism and discounted online media such as blogging. Blogging is more of an opinion based media however, I disagree that people who blog cannot be considered journalists. What is your opinion of bloggers and journalism? Can people who maintain a well respected blog be considered a journalist, where is the line drawn?

-Erika

Ears To Our World

Although a bit delayed, here is the website for the organization I talked about in my presentation.

There are many organizations out there that provide poor, rural areas of the world with basic opportunities that the developed world has been using for decades. Introducing radios into these countries is providing the people with the building blocks for creating public voice. It is a different perspective taken on the term "alternative media" and makes you think twice about the meaning of it all.

Ears To Our World

AZ=Nazi?

The “Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act,” Arizona SB1070 was recently signed by Governor Jan Brewer. This Law allows police to investigate the residency status of anyone they suspect may be an illegal immigrant. This has caused uproar throughout the country. There have been many protests, like this one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWXIDcS7Pvo

However, the form of protest that stuck out to me most was this one:

http://www.azfamily.com/news/local/Swastikas-painted-with-beans-found-on-Capitol-grounds-92091314.html

Although it's considered a hate crime or vandalism, it still sends a very powerful message.

Extra Credit Summary

John Nichols and Robert McChesney discussed the book they recently wrote together. They stressed that the United States have never lost so many journalists at such a rapid pace, which is frightening because a democracy cannot exist without journalism. Over 140 newspapers closed last year and on average 1000 newspaper employees have been laid off each month for the last two years. Thomas Jefferson once said that each generation has its own revolution and Nichols and McChesney believe that we’re losing a generation to journalism. Not only are we losing a generation to journalism, but they argue that there is an immense lack of content in journalism. For instance, the local news consists of weather, which is free and fills up time. They also focus on crime stories, which they claim is not a ‘real’ form of journalism. Consequently, McChesney and Nichols believe our country has a very dysfunctional source of journalism.

Nichols and McChesney believe there are solutions to this growing issue. They discussed how James Madison and Thomas Jefferson believed journalism to be one of the most important aspects of democracy. Thus, they incorporated journalism into their policies and allocated money toward the industry. Consequently, Nichols and McChesney believe the government should help subsidize journalism organizations. They also believe that this matter is as serious as a military attack on the United States.

Media Construction

On the topic of mass media influencing thought, the following focuses on the male gender and what comprises the ideas of masculinity.
Tough Guise.

I came across another video that I'll post up once I find the link, and complete the post...

More Advertisement Shenanigans

So, I was introduced to the video of the presentation given by Jean Kilbourn entitled "Killing Us Softly 4: Advertising's Image of Women." The link to the trailer may be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTlmho_RovY

While watching this, I was reminded of the Dove "Evolution" commercial we had discussed weeks ago (as it was in it), and the presentation brings up some relevant points on the nature of the way in which mass media influences everyday life, much of which we have already addressed. This is one person standing up against the messages that are being broadcast and forced upon society, and trying to spread the message to others. From this, her message spread only slightly, but with the advent of new technology and today's internet access, especially to sites like YouTube, the messages may be spread more rapidly, and has gotten her some attention; the filming of her presentations are all recorded under IMDB, a site which catalogs movie information (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0156707/).

The first presentation was given in 1979, and she has subsequentially released "Still Killing Us Softly," the 2nd lecture given in 1987. The 3rd presentation, "Killing Us Softly 3" was given and may be found below: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSXDCMSlv_I&feature=related

These films have inspired university courses, and gotten recognized otherwise in sites and blogs that look into advertising and messages constructed by the media (for example: http://www.cambridgedocumentaryfilms.org/beyond.html). I wonder how it would be if the DVDs were to be promoted through advertisements on TV...

Here's a link to YNIG, the Denver-based graffiti company Jenny mentioned.

Here's a video I produced last quarter subverting the War on Terror.

Food for thought:
How is this activist media? How does it challenge hegemony? Do you think it has an impact?


-Danielle

Exit Through the Gift Shop Trailer

PETA's Campaign

Hey guys! For my final project I am focusing on P.E.T.A and their ad campaigns. This video I found on youtube is the official PETA video and it is hard to watch. I wanted to it with you guys to show you why they launched their new campaign 'I rather go naked than wear fur'. Each year thousands of animals are tortured and killed for the purpose of their skin. Not only do they slaughter the animals, they poison the earth while doing so. PETA is the biggest voice right now in advocating for animal rights. I wanted to share it with you guys since animal cruelty is a large arising issue. Do you guys have any thoughts or ideas about how they can better communicate their message through advertising to reach the largest number of people?

-Erika

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTZQnQeAPJc

My Friend Is...

Happy Earth Day all! This PSA is in support of the academy award winning motion picture, "The Cove" . The cove documents the slaughter of more then 20,000 dolphins and porpoises off the coast of Japan every year. The film spawned a campaign for this cause and has been vastly successful. I thought this was a great PSA to get buzz about the campaign circulating. What are your thoughts?

-Kaelen

Extra Credit: Attend this talk by Bob McChesney and John Nichols

The University of Denver Department of Media, Film & Journalism Studies and the
Digital Media Studies program present

The Life and Death of American Journalism:
The Media Revolution That Will Begin the World Again

Join Robert McChesney and John Nichols, authors of The Life and Death of American Journalism: The Media Revolution That Will Begin the World Again, speak about their vision of the future of journalism and of public life.

Monday, April 26, 10:00 - 11:15 a.m.
University of Denver Campus, Ritchie Center Gottesfeld Room*

Robert McChesney is the author/editor of 16 books. He holds an endowed professorship in communication studies at the University of Illinois. John Nichols is a Washington correspondent for The Nation and is one of America’s leading progressive authors and political journalists. Both are founders of Free Press, the leading media reform organization and creators of the National Media Reform Conference.

This event is free and open to the public.
*The Ritchie Center is located Southwest of I-25 and University Blvd. Short-term parking is available around the building. The RTD Lightrail-University Blvd. station is across the street.

For additional information: visit http://www.du.edu/ahss/schools/mfjs/news/Future_of_Journalism.html

more before/after photoshop ads

Before and After shots...

this is really rather sick... and very sad.

http://www.hemmy.net/2007/05/25/celebrities-before-and-after-photoshop/


aa

Britney Spears UNTOUCHED Candie's ads

http://www.fitceleb.com/node/7598 <>Yesterday, the pictures of Britney Spears‘ new Candie’s ads debuted. I thought they looked great. It was met with criticism as people were saying that the polished pictures give girls an unrealistic goal to aspire to. So, to try and calm everyone’s nerves Candie’s released a pre-photoshopped picture of Britney (on the top) so everyone could see how much they didn’t really change the picture at all.

What changes do you see? I see her roots have been fixed up, she’s a bit more tanned, and the color is more vibrant. They didn’t have to do much work on her at all.

http://entertainment.oneindia.in/music/international/2010/britney-remain-untouched-140410.html

Britney Spears wants to remain untouched

New York (ANI): Pop princess

Britney Spears is said to have refused permission for her latest ad campaign to be airbrushed. Spears, 28, has insisted that none of her shots for US-based fashion firm Candie's should be digitally enhanced.

Buzz up!But she agreed for re-touched versions to be released simultaneously - highlighting the pressure on women to look perfect. In the "raw" pictures, bruises are visible on her calf, her thighs are larger and dimpled with cellulite, and dry skin is evident on her feet.

In the airbrushed images her waist is slimmer and her legs flawless. "Britney is proud of her body - imperfections and all," the New York Daily News quoted a source as saying

scary

The Westboro Baptist Church (the group who famously yelled "God Hates Fags" at Mathew Shepard's funeral and staged protests at military funerals) has planned protests in the Denver/Boulder area for this afternoon.

Several counter-protests and strategies are being organized using facebook and blogs. Here is a Westward post with more background and a listing of planned counter-protests.

Westboro's presence is in part prompted by controversy surrounding the decision by Boulder's Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic School to not allow re-enrollment of the daughters of a lesbian couple. The Denver Post and The Daily Camera both reported that most Sacred Heart parents were outraged at the school's decision.

We'll learn about these issues in class today. Coincidentally our guest is Kate Burns, a powerful force in the gay rights movement and creator of, together with Prof. Sheila Schroeder, the documentary Sole Journey.

Update: Here is my favorite story on Thursday's protest. (Disclosure: my husband wrote it.)

Invisible Children Pt (1/6)

Hey guys! I am assuming a lot of you have either seen or heard of the "Invisible Children" documentary. However if you haven't, the film was created in 2003 by three USC film students. They went to Africa to create a documentary about the rebel war occurring in the Sudan. They wanted to draw attention to the child victims of the war who are being abducted from their homes and turned into child soldiers. Their goal of this film was to save those children. The film started a huge movement on campuses around the world through use of social media. This film and it's creators have gotten a lot of negative flack. Many say they were more focused on self-promotion then the actual cause. Many critics believe this documentary is too similar to a MTV reality show and thus loses it's activist message. I've attached the opening portion of this film. Tell me what you guys think. Is this activist media or not?
See you tomorrow!
-Kaelen

Long live the Ning

About the Ning
How the Ning relates to activism
The changes being made

This is a big deal. The ning is a free social networking platform that allows any user free of cost to create their own online community with profiles, blogs, forums and more. I know of the Ning because a lot of youtuber's use it as a pseudo fan/community site for their subscribers. The ning has been used by everyone from politicians, non profits, and everyone in between. There has been a shift in management and the new guy is going to start charging for their service thus eliminating so many communities and their base. What was a free platform for advocacy, communities, and outreach is now just another tool to make money.

If you read any of the comments to the CEOs blog post my sentiments are echoed among a lot of the users who have utilized the free services.

Political Activist Media

Here is the googledoc I presented during class. I think it's really fun and interesting to view Obama's website from 2004 till now; It provides a great context.

"...Because We're Winning"

On Tuesday, one of the discussion questions that was asked was: "Why is collective organizing important?"

I wanted to relate that question to another clip from This is What Democracy Looks Like. I think one of the most important aspects of the WTO protests (and something that is highlighted in the film) is that SO MANY people banded together in order to confront an organization they felt was committing global injustices. I am of the opinion that the protests in Seattle would not have been as big of a deal if the group was significantly smaller. As the one interviewee points out in the clip, "What they're telling us is that it's okay for you to protest if you're small in numbers and weak, but once you grow into a mass movement it's not okay to protest." While this quote obviously comments on the undemocratic viewpoint of the Seattle government and police (and the way they handled protesters), it also makes a comment on the "atmosphere" of the protests--they weren't carried out by stereotypical "liberal, activist, lefties," but by a wide variety of people in a very organized fashion. The protests were a true social movement.

I uploaded this clip from the movie to YouTube. Hopefully it doesn't get pulled because of copyright issues, but if that happens I'll find another way to upload the clip.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_9IdSxvi04

Do you guys (dis)agree that the Seattle protests would have caught as much national attention if the number of protesters was significantly lower (even if the same tactics of peaceful protest and civil disobedience were used)?

Katya - Penn and Teller's Bullsh!t (contains footage of Code Pink)

Hey Katya,

I found a YouTube video of that Penn & Teller episode of Bullsh!t. It has some good footage of Code Pink. I don't really agree with a lot of Penn and Teller's libertarian ideologies (some of their episodes really annoy me), but this episode has a very anti-Code Pink POV that would be appropriate for your project--I know you mentioned that you wanted to cover some of the opposition towards their group.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ID_8syE4Pc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AQN6FCOJXI&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ed4t8yC6uR0&feature=related

Socially conscious games...from the white house

Hey all, here is the link to one of the websites taking about how the Obama administration wants to commission microsoft to develop a game of some sort to educate/inform about the us budget. I apologize for the lack of length in the article, Im still on the hunt for any source that has more information.

Click here for article

Please post here if you find anymore information on this.

That's Why I Chose Yale

Hey Guys,

Above is a link to the Yale Independent Video I was talking about in class last week.

I decided to go in a different direction for my final project but I figured it would still be good to post this, if anything just for a good laugh.

Ali

Technology, social networking transforms giving.

Technology, social networking transforms giving.
Click here for article


This article details the text-messaging fund raising techniques utilized by the red cross during the Haiti earthquake crisis. The author does a good job of covering the pros and cons of being able to raise millions of dollars in a short period of time, but challenging and potentially redefining the way activists and non-profits raise money.

The questions that arose to me while reading this are:

1) the article argues that the immediacy of mobile donations is absolutely essential to success. I ask that if immediacy is directly related to raising funds, does texting then define those who partake as activists? If yes, then how does that change the definition of activism?
2) how does being able to contribute via mobile devices impact democracy in America?
3) where,if at all, does a line exist between social media and activist media?
4) do you feel that the campaign for text donations plays off of accessibility/immediacy, or guilt?

This is just food for thought, but i would love to know what you think.

Final Project Ideas - Ruben Figueroa

The organization I am looking at currently is Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting (aka FAIR), a group who has been "Challenging Media Censorship and Bias Since 1986." Founded by Jeff Cohen in 1986, the group has been guided by him as executive director, then board member until 2002, when Cohen stepped down to take a position at MSNBC. FAIR works with not only with activist, but journalists as well, to provide "constructive critiques when called for" with regards to reporting news. Additionally, they encourage and work to enable the public to "become media activists rather than passive consumers of news." Among their efforts, FAIR publishes the magazine Extra!, produces the weekly radio program CounterSpin, and distributes Action Alerts to their international network of activists.

As for the media project, I currently am debating between doing fliers/posters focusing on headline misdirection, to fit alongside their multimedia approach which already includes the internet, radio, and magazine realms; my other option would be a brief video element to highlight the realm that they haven't as much foothold in, working to make a brief advertisement-type of promotion for questioning headline reports.

RESOURCES
Their website may be found at: http://www.fair.org/index.php

http://www.nytimes.com/1990/06/17/arts/tv-view-let-s-be-frank-about-fairness-and-accuracy.html

http://dlib.nyu.edu/findingaids/html/tamwag/fair.html

http://smearcasting.com/

http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Media_Reform/HowDetect_BiasNewsMedia.html

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Fairness_%26_Accuracy_In_Reporting

http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/groupProfile.asp?grpid=7092

Also of note:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Fairness-Accuracy-In-Reporting/12641323331

This is What Democracy Looks Like

Hey everyone,

I thought I'd post a link to download This is What Democracy Looks Like (the documentary about the WTO protests I presented last week).

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=8N1M8A2M

Enjoy!

-Pete

Jon Stewart on Crossfire

Here is a link to Jon Steward on Crossfire - it might make you watch a 30sec ad before the video, but it looks like good quality!

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x10ehm_jon-stewart-gets-crossfire-canceled_fun

ENJOY!

-Danielle

TEDxDU

TEDxDU is coming to campus May 13th!

We talked a little in class today about TEDxDU, but to get the full effect you should visit both the TED web site and the TEDxDU web site. At the TEDxDU site you can see a list of confirmed speakers and get a little more of the flavor of what's going on, and at the TED web site you can see a few videos.

LINKS
www.TED.com
www.TEDxDU.com

Here's one of the videos rated Jaw-Dropping from TED - go to the web site to see even more!

Enjoy!

-Danielle