The Allied Media Conference had its second keynote on Friday evening. (We had the keynote address that morning, so having two keynote is a little weird, but, okay...) The theme was “From Truth to Power: because being right is not enough.” The panelists, author Jeff Chang, Radio Rootz founder Deepa Fernandes and cinematographer Jackie Salloum focused on indie media's role is organizing for social justice.
Solloum spoke about her film, Sling Shot: Hip-Hop, a documentary about her trip to Gaza to meet the first Hip-Hop MCs in the region. Twenty minutes away, in Palestine, the Palestinean MCs were unaware their counterparts. Her film chronicles the lives of the Palestinean performers as they go to their first show – they look extremely American in numbered sports jerseys and shorts – and the context in which they live, in a country divided by a separation wall, stopped by Israeli soldiers demanding ID.
“Who controls our news, how powerful that is in the very fight for our lives,” Fernandes says. “We need to build a social movement with that at the center...How do we go beyond just speaking to ourselves? How do we get out there?”
She remarks that there is a revolutionary, ground-level media movement spreading in Venezuala. She says there is media-centered organizing going on in Venezuala's poorest neighborhoods.
She continues, speaking about the coup that temporarily deposed Hugo Chavez, saying that during the coup in the 1990s, the state television showed cooking shows and other light fare. This reminded me of how Cincinnati's local mainstream media betrayed the city by running regular programming during the riots. It disgusted me to see sit-coms running as conflict raced through the streets.
She says that the poor worked to get the street level news out by using cell phones, pirate radio and text messaging.
“People realized that controlling the media was at the center of winning a greater battle,” Fernandes says.
Chang says that many people he meets across the country are angered at the way Hip-Hop is portrayed by mainstream media.
“People feel very disempowered...isolated,” he says.
As a kid growing up in Hawaii he heard Rapper's Delight and describes the experience as empowering and as a revela tion. It connected him to the lives of inner city black kids he'd never seen. That's part of Hip-Hop's transactional cultural exchange.
Chang says, just as Hip-Hop's roots have grown and empowered listeners, its commercial branches have become twisted and gnarled.
“We have people like 50 Cent selling his get rich or die philosophy...he's the McDonalds of Hip-Hop...people (have been) turned into consumers...if you're down with 50 you wear a certain type of clothes.”
Chang says media like that has caused the people of the United States have become culturally isolated and to have lost their imagination.
“What does it look like if we win,” he asks. He says that, through Hip-Hop, we won – a marginalized art form became mainstream, but, almost overnight, it was also lost, and mainstreamed, co-opted.
Chang says that media activists need to consider what it will look like if we win and how we can keep a win from being co-opted.
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
AMC 2006: Reaching Kids
Cincinnati's Gavin Leonard was part of the panel discussion, Reaching Kids: Youth-Driven Programming. Leonard is the director of Elementz, a hip-hop youth arts center in the West End.
Leonard operated the Copwatch program from 2001-2003, which recruited members of the public to monitor and record malfeasance by local police. Copwatch transformed into Elementz, which opened in 2005, Leonard says, as a way to build trust and relationships with area youth.
“Our goal is to work with young people who either live in or come to Downtown,” Leonard says.
Hip-hop dance class, DJ classes and graffiti art are some of the classes that are available at Elementz.
Leonard says Elementz budget is tripling and is proud that the organization has crossed over from talking about what young people might need, to actually meeting them as peers.
A lot of people want to address the issues of kids, he says, but, “most of these people aren't really connected to what young people are doing."
“The thing you have to assume is that young people probably don't trust you and don't trust your programs,” Leonard says. “Respect is the concept we work from. Respect yourself, respect others and respect the space.”
Leonard says that surveying the youth in the Downtown basin was important to developing the program. His team would walk the community, speak to kids at local schools and even ride the bus and solicit opinions on what the program might look like. The idea was to be responsive to the needs of local youth, he says.
Continuing that line of feedback communication is critically important to the program's success. Elementz also has young people on its advisory board, he says.
“You've really got to work from where people are at, not where you're at,” Leonard says.
That could mean going, geographically to where young people are, he says, giving, obversely, the example of groups trying to address the problem of high school drop outs at high schools, instead of on the streets, where you're more likely to find drop-outs. Working from the perspective of the people that you're serving is another example, he says, using their music, culture and lingo, not your own.
Leonard, who is white, works with kids who are almost entirely African-American. He says it's important to address a certain level of racism, classism and sexism. Also, part of Elementz organizational plan is his exit strategy as executive director.
One man in the audience mentioned that the race issue – white or privledged black program coordinators working with young people of color - is often the elephant in the room that no one talks about. He said that black kids he's worked with have often resented taking direction from whites and have felt a cultural disconnect.
Leonard operated the Copwatch program from 2001-2003, which recruited members of the public to monitor and record malfeasance by local police. Copwatch transformed into Elementz, which opened in 2005, Leonard says, as a way to build trust and relationships with area youth.
“Our goal is to work with young people who either live in or come to Downtown,” Leonard says.
Hip-hop dance class, DJ classes and graffiti art are some of the classes that are available at Elementz.
Leonard says Elementz budget is tripling and is proud that the organization has crossed over from talking about what young people might need, to actually meeting them as peers.
A lot of people want to address the issues of kids, he says, but, “most of these people aren't really connected to what young people are doing."
“The thing you have to assume is that young people probably don't trust you and don't trust your programs,” Leonard says. “Respect is the concept we work from. Respect yourself, respect others and respect the space.”
Leonard says that surveying the youth in the Downtown basin was important to developing the program. His team would walk the community, speak to kids at local schools and even ride the bus and solicit opinions on what the program might look like. The idea was to be responsive to the needs of local youth, he says.
Continuing that line of feedback communication is critically important to the program's success. Elementz also has young people on its advisory board, he says.
“You've really got to work from where people are at, not where you're at,” Leonard says.
That could mean going, geographically to where young people are, he says, giving, obversely, the example of groups trying to address the problem of high school drop outs at high schools, instead of on the streets, where you're more likely to find drop-outs. Working from the perspective of the people that you're serving is another example, he says, using their music, culture and lingo, not your own.
Leonard, who is white, works with kids who are almost entirely African-American. He says it's important to address a certain level of racism, classism and sexism. Also, part of Elementz organizational plan is his exit strategy as executive director.
One man in the audience mentioned that the race issue – white or privledged black program coordinators working with young people of color - is often the elephant in the room that no one talks about. He said that black kids he's worked with have often resented taking direction from whites and have felt a cultural disconnect.
AMC 2006: DIY Publishing
Coverage from sessions at the 2006 Allied Media Conference
Representatives from the newspapers Critical Moment, out of Detroit and the NYC Indypendent presented a session on the basics of publishing a newspaper.
Arun Gupta of the Indypendent describes five areas of focus when starting a publication: target audience, content and design, financing, distribution, and structure.
I've been developing a Wiki book on DIY publishing since last year. You can read and contribute to the book here.
“Is it for the general public or is it for activists,” Gupta asks. It could have a niche focus, such as queer or environmental issues. He says, insofar as content, the Indy is reader driven, not writer driven – this means that, “...you're always asking...what is the audience looking for?”
“Design cannot be emphasized enough,” Gupta says. He says that four-color process helps the paper be visually appealing and that clear images and words help the reader – or potential reader – know what's inside, quickly.
Gupta says he prefers photos for the cover rather than graphics. A clean, clear image helps, he says.
Gupta mentions that the Indypendent has recently launched a new publication, IndyKids. He says you have to decide if you're going to have a newsy publication or cultural, with a first person point of view (POV) or a more traditional style.
Gupta says that you should publish articles that have a shelf life that is 1.5 times as long as your distribution cycle. (eg: A monthly paper should run articles that are good for six weeks.)
Donations were discussed as a major revenue stream for small, upstart papers. Gupta suggests that people wanting to use this sort of revenue stream should study direct mail solicitations. He says 1-2 percent is considered an excellent return on a direct mail solicitation, though, once when the Indypendent had Naomi Klein write an appeal letter for them, they had a 12 percent return – more than $10,000 from 3,000 solicitations sent.
Posters – a US map of our domestic weapons of mass destruction – and t-shirts have also been major revenue streams. 5,000 posters sold delivered $30,000 in revenue, Gupta says.
Free versus paid subscriptions: Both have their advantages, he says. Free distribution means the Indypendent reaches a wide audience. “We didn't want to be gettoized,” Gupta says.
On structure of the organization, Gupta says you must have clearly defined roles.
Max Sussman says that his publication is two-and-a-half years old. They publish every two months and Critical Moment is free.
Sussman says his project has an open submissions policy. He describes the process of collecting content as a kind of mixed bag – some is assigned by the collectives – they have two, one in Detroit and another in Ann Arbor – and other content comes in unsolicited.
“One of the things we've started to do more recently is to put on more events,” Sussman says. “We think that really increases our visibility.”
Sussman says they've hosted speaking engagements with featured writers. Music show fundraisers are also helpful, he says. “We do dance parties,” Gupta adds.
Sussman says they raise money through ads, primarily, but are developing plans for donor streams. The paper carries an ongoing, 20 percent debt, he says, that's shouldered by cash infusions from members of the collective.
“Our ads go through our editorial policy,” Sussman says. If an ad is outside of their values or if ads are blatently offensive, without a purpose, they ask the advertiser to redesign the ad. He gives as an example an ad that read something like, “Fuck the War – Shop at my store,” saying that the Critical Moment collective objected on the basis that 1) shopping at this proprietor's store clearly would not end the war and 2) that the large word “FUCK” was used without a real purpose – just for shock value.
Gupta says the Indypendent does not use a union print shop because of the costs involved. He says that his team has threatened to drop their printer to negotiate a better deal.
Ad sales is a major hurdle for Critical Moment. Sussman says the paper has no paid ad reps at this time and garnering advertising is a difficult task. Gupta says that they try and focus their ad sales on indie culture producers in New York such as poetry and music events. One member of the audience suggested publishers focus on wealthy non-profits towards the end of their fiscal season.
Both newspapers operate as collectives – this means there's a lot of work that is shared and members wear many hats.
Sussman says they judge their success as a publication by how many copies are left at newsstands at the end of a cycle. Gupta also discusses a story that they ran on an Iraq War vet who became homeless. The Indypendent broke the story and it was later picked up by major dailies and CBS.
“They're never going to credit you,” NYC says. “But they use the same sources...”
Representatives from the newspapers Critical Moment, out of Detroit and the NYC Indypendent presented a session on the basics of publishing a newspaper.
Arun Gupta of the Indypendent describes five areas of focus when starting a publication: target audience, content and design, financing, distribution, and structure.
I've been developing a Wiki book on DIY publishing since last year. You can read and contribute to the book here.
“Is it for the general public or is it for activists,” Gupta asks. It could have a niche focus, such as queer or environmental issues. He says, insofar as content, the Indy is reader driven, not writer driven – this means that, “...you're always asking...what is the audience looking for?”
“Design cannot be emphasized enough,” Gupta says. He says that four-color process helps the paper be visually appealing and that clear images and words help the reader – or potential reader – know what's inside, quickly.
Gupta says he prefers photos for the cover rather than graphics. A clean, clear image helps, he says.
Gupta mentions that the Indypendent has recently launched a new publication, IndyKids. He says you have to decide if you're going to have a newsy publication or cultural, with a first person point of view (POV) or a more traditional style.
Gupta says that you should publish articles that have a shelf life that is 1.5 times as long as your distribution cycle. (eg: A monthly paper should run articles that are good for six weeks.)
Donations were discussed as a major revenue stream for small, upstart papers. Gupta suggests that people wanting to use this sort of revenue stream should study direct mail solicitations. He says 1-2 percent is considered an excellent return on a direct mail solicitation, though, once when the Indypendent had Naomi Klein write an appeal letter for them, they had a 12 percent return – more than $10,000 from 3,000 solicitations sent.
Posters – a US map of our domestic weapons of mass destruction – and t-shirts have also been major revenue streams. 5,000 posters sold delivered $30,000 in revenue, Gupta says.
Free versus paid subscriptions: Both have their advantages, he says. Free distribution means the Indypendent reaches a wide audience. “We didn't want to be gettoized,” Gupta says.
On structure of the organization, Gupta says you must have clearly defined roles.
Max Sussman says that his publication is two-and-a-half years old. They publish every two months and Critical Moment is free.
Sussman says his project has an open submissions policy. He describes the process of collecting content as a kind of mixed bag – some is assigned by the collectives – they have two, one in Detroit and another in Ann Arbor – and other content comes in unsolicited.
“One of the things we've started to do more recently is to put on more events,” Sussman says. “We think that really increases our visibility.”
Sussman says they've hosted speaking engagements with featured writers. Music show fundraisers are also helpful, he says. “We do dance parties,” Gupta adds.
Sussman says they raise money through ads, primarily, but are developing plans for donor streams. The paper carries an ongoing, 20 percent debt, he says, that's shouldered by cash infusions from members of the collective.
“Our ads go through our editorial policy,” Sussman says. If an ad is outside of their values or if ads are blatently offensive, without a purpose, they ask the advertiser to redesign the ad. He gives as an example an ad that read something like, “Fuck the War – Shop at my store,” saying that the Critical Moment collective objected on the basis that 1) shopping at this proprietor's store clearly would not end the war and 2) that the large word “FUCK” was used without a real purpose – just for shock value.
Gupta says the Indypendent does not use a union print shop because of the costs involved. He says that his team has threatened to drop their printer to negotiate a better deal.
Ad sales is a major hurdle for Critical Moment. Sussman says the paper has no paid ad reps at this time and garnering advertising is a difficult task. Gupta says that they try and focus their ad sales on indie culture producers in New York such as poetry and music events. One member of the audience suggested publishers focus on wealthy non-profits towards the end of their fiscal season.
Both newspapers operate as collectives – this means there's a lot of work that is shared and members wear many hats.
Sussman says they judge their success as a publication by how many copies are left at newsstands at the end of a cycle. Gupta also discusses a story that they ran on an Iraq War vet who became homeless. The Indypendent broke the story and it was later picked up by major dailies and CBS.
“They're never going to credit you,” NYC says. “But they use the same sources...”
Saturday, June 24, 2006
Blogging suspended til I get home
Damn. Damn. Damn.
I dropped my shiny new three pound vaio laptop right on the wifi. and the wifi is out. Sucks. Though I suppose it's a blessing that I lost no data (my story is on it and I can continue writing. But no more live blogging for a bit.
Steve
I dropped my shiny new three pound vaio laptop right on the wifi. and the wifi is out. Sucks. Though I suppose it's a blessing that I lost no data (my story is on it and I can continue writing. But no more live blogging for a bit.
Steve
Friday, June 23, 2006
AMC 2006: Marketing, minors and the military
Coverage from sessions at the 2006 Allied Media Conference
I caught just the tail end of this fascinating session.
The Pittsburgh Organizing Group (POG) presented information on how the US Military hooks new recruits.
I found out about JAMRS, (Joint Advertising Marketing and Research Studies) the Department of Defense marketing database used to collect information on potential recruits.The Army has also released a free, high quality video game – it cost the US $16 million to produce – that glorifies combat and ignores the costs of war.
“There's no reality here,” POG member Bridget Colvin says.
She also presented information on myfuture.com which offers a free career aptitude test to students and then, after the test there is an inducement for students to take the ASVAB, Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery. This tests only a student's current proficiencies, not what they're interested in exploring or what they might be good at with training.
Colvin also presented several other examples of pseudo-news stories that ended with requests for personal information, for information on friends and promoted the fitness, opportunities for travel and adventure and college money that can be gained through the military.
There were also reports among the audience of military marketing at movie theaters, offering free itunes songs and DVDs for kids willing to watch military promotional films.
I reported on the Intercommunity Justice and Peace Center's Counter-Recruitment drives in Cincinnati earlier this year. Similar
“There is no job worse than the military,” Jeremy Shenk member says. “The pay sucks, you're on call 24-hours a day, they can shoot you – technically – if you try and quit.”
“We're anti-militarism,” Colvin says. “How voluntary is an army where you don't have all the information before you join.”
One of the POG members mentioned, after the session, the the Justice Department has bee spying on them as POG is considered a threat to national security.
I caught just the tail end of this fascinating session.
The Pittsburgh Organizing Group (POG) presented information on how the US Military hooks new recruits.
I found out about JAMRS, (Joint Advertising Marketing and Research Studies) the Department of Defense marketing database used to collect information on potential recruits.The Army has also released a free, high quality video game – it cost the US $16 million to produce – that glorifies combat and ignores the costs of war.
“There's no reality here,” POG member Bridget Colvin says.
She also presented information on myfuture.com which offers a free career aptitude test to students and then, after the test there is an inducement for students to take the ASVAB, Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery. This tests only a student's current proficiencies, not what they're interested in exploring or what they might be good at with training.
Colvin also presented several other examples of pseudo-news stories that ended with requests for personal information, for information on friends and promoted the fitness, opportunities for travel and adventure and college money that can be gained through the military.
There were also reports among the audience of military marketing at movie theaters, offering free itunes songs and DVDs for kids willing to watch military promotional films.
I reported on the Intercommunity Justice and Peace Center's Counter-Recruitment drives in Cincinnati earlier this year. Similar
“There is no job worse than the military,” Jeremy Shenk member says. “The pay sucks, you're on call 24-hours a day, they can shoot you – technically – if you try and quit.”
“We're anti-militarism,” Colvin says. “How voluntary is an army where you don't have all the information before you join.”
One of the POG members mentioned, after the session, the the Justice Department has bee spying on them as POG is considered a threat to national security.
AMC 2006: Unplug Clear Channel
Ongoing coverage of the 2006 Allied Media Conference
Clear Channel was the subject of the lunchtime keynote. The conference was starting to fill in at this point – I'd guess that there are about 350 people here now. The attendance typically crests at 800. I know this because this is the fourth time I've been to this Con. This is also the 8th year for the event, which always been here in Bowling Green. It's moving to Detroit next year, which makes me a little sad – I'm saying goodbye to this sleepy little town, but also very excited at getting to know the Motor City, Patti Smith's Dead City.
Taishi Duchicela of Oakland's Youth Media Council presented her arguments that Clear Channel has wrecked local Hip Hop radio stations in the Bay Area, by holding pro-war rallies (as they have in Cincinnati and elsewhere), dropping almost all local musician, and promoting ultra-right politics.
“All they talk about is war and immigration and they are very, very vulgar,” she says, adding that the make money off of Hip-Hop to pay for their racist, sexist agenda.
“That, to us is not right,” Duchicela says.
She plays audio clips from Clear Channel broadcasts, including one broadcaster suggesting that aborting black babies would help ease crime in the U.S.
The YMC's response has been to develop an organizing campaign, Unplug Clear Channel. They have protested in front Bay Area radio stations and have challenged broadcast licenses.
“We own the airwaves...we also have a say in what kind of programming goes out over those airwaves,” she says.
Clear Channel, she says, has been very reluctant to speak with the YMC. She says her organization is developing a list of standards that they believe radio stations and steering document describing what they believe a model station should look like.
Part of the struggle is getting people to care about media policy and to communicate, especially to young people, why it's important.
Pop Culture, Hip-Hop and Media Literacy
Bowling Green State University Professor Awad Ibrahim played a Jennifer Lopez video and asked the audience in this session to dissect the messages the music and images conveyed. He said, as a teacher, his job was to try and speak with his students about pop culture and their music – even if he finds it repugnant.
The song and the video presented was “Love Don't Cost a Thing,” a piece filled with contributions – the vocal about her “love” was punctuated with close ups of her body. The vocals also regarded female empowerment which, apparently, JLO gets by taking off her clothes. It's a song that says that money doesn't matter while showing Lopez driving a sports car, living in a mansion, etc.
“The visual aspect hits the boys more than the girls,” Ibrahim says. “It's really interesting when you enter the space of gender. The boys do not see anything except her butt.”
He asks the audience to listen to the music separately from listening to the video to show the divide between one message and the other.
This session continues the day's theme of scholarly deconstruction. Ibrahim stresses that it's important not to judge the students' taste.
Clear Channel was the subject of the lunchtime keynote. The conference was starting to fill in at this point – I'd guess that there are about 350 people here now. The attendance typically crests at 800. I know this because this is the fourth time I've been to this Con. This is also the 8th year for the event, which always been here in Bowling Green. It's moving to Detroit next year, which makes me a little sad – I'm saying goodbye to this sleepy little town, but also very excited at getting to know the Motor City, Patti Smith's Dead City.
Taishi Duchicela of Oakland's Youth Media Council presented her arguments that Clear Channel has wrecked local Hip Hop radio stations in the Bay Area, by holding pro-war rallies (as they have in Cincinnati and elsewhere), dropping almost all local musician, and promoting ultra-right politics.
“All they talk about is war and immigration and they are very, very vulgar,” she says, adding that the make money off of Hip-Hop to pay for their racist, sexist agenda.
“That, to us is not right,” Duchicela says.
She plays audio clips from Clear Channel broadcasts, including one broadcaster suggesting that aborting black babies would help ease crime in the U.S.
The YMC's response has been to develop an organizing campaign, Unplug Clear Channel. They have protested in front Bay Area radio stations and have challenged broadcast licenses.
“We own the airwaves...we also have a say in what kind of programming goes out over those airwaves,” she says.
Clear Channel, she says, has been very reluctant to speak with the YMC. She says her organization is developing a list of standards that they believe radio stations and steering document describing what they believe a model station should look like.
Part of the struggle is getting people to care about media policy and to communicate, especially to young people, why it's important.
Pop Culture, Hip-Hop and Media Literacy
Bowling Green State University Professor Awad Ibrahim played a Jennifer Lopez video and asked the audience in this session to dissect the messages the music and images conveyed. He said, as a teacher, his job was to try and speak with his students about pop culture and their music – even if he finds it repugnant.
The song and the video presented was “Love Don't Cost a Thing,” a piece filled with contributions – the vocal about her “love” was punctuated with close ups of her body. The vocals also regarded female empowerment which, apparently, JLO gets by taking off her clothes. It's a song that says that money doesn't matter while showing Lopez driving a sports car, living in a mansion, etc.
“The visual aspect hits the boys more than the girls,” Ibrahim says. “It's really interesting when you enter the space of gender. The boys do not see anything except her butt.”
He asks the audience to listen to the music separately from listening to the video to show the divide between one message and the other.
This session continues the day's theme of scholarly deconstruction. Ibrahim stresses that it's important not to judge the students' taste.
Allied Media Conference: Preach to the choir, not the kids
It's the first full day of sessions at the Allied Media Conference and there are 3-5 different sessions going on at any given time. There's a lot to choose from.
ACME's (Action Coalition for Media Education)Bob McCannon discussed media literacy and education in his session, “Process is more important than content.” McCannon says that the fastest way to alienate students, or the public for that matter, is to tell them how much their media sucks – that it's sexually exploitative, materialistic, crass, fluff-rich and content-poor. He said that makes his students feel guilty at best, angry at worst. Either way, it's a turn-off.
McCannon, who teaches college courses on media,says introducing critical thinking exercises is key to getting people to become educated about what they're being sold. And by, “sold,” I mean the concrete, as in the material goods that are being marketed in their media and metaphorically, as in, “the bill of goods they're trying to sell,” as in the brand identities that they're selling.
In this session, McCannon shows a film clip from a Sean Connery movie in which he plays a Vietnam vet who is a drunk, has post-traumatic stress syndrome and is redeemed by a scholarly, inner-city black kid. He says these elements – all visible in a 14 second clip – are counter to most of the images that are conveyed by the pop-media-industrial complex. 14 seconds, he says, is far longer than the attention span that's ingrained by MTV's .5 second scenes.
Several marketing examples were presented for discussion:
Seventeen Magazine – One cover advertised ways to boost sex appeal and asked, “Does your personality SUCK?” - covering the bases of both depression and obsession with body image. The magaine's covers are decided by formula, he says, as is the content – stories are decided on the basis of who is advertising. More clothing ads equals more stories on clothing.
President Bush on stage with a Bush impersonator – McCannon says this was an engineered by the administration to make Bush look softer and more like a regular guy.
“We never say the media are mad and we never say the media are good...the media are always good and bad,” McCannon says.
ACME's (Action Coalition for Media Education)Bob McCannon discussed media literacy and education in his session, “Process is more important than content.” McCannon says that the fastest way to alienate students, or the public for that matter, is to tell them how much their media sucks – that it's sexually exploitative, materialistic, crass, fluff-rich and content-poor. He said that makes his students feel guilty at best, angry at worst. Either way, it's a turn-off.
McCannon, who teaches college courses on media,says introducing critical thinking exercises is key to getting people to become educated about what they're being sold. And by, “sold,” I mean the concrete, as in the material goods that are being marketed in their media and metaphorically, as in, “the bill of goods they're trying to sell,” as in the brand identities that they're selling.
In this session, McCannon shows a film clip from a Sean Connery movie in which he plays a Vietnam vet who is a drunk, has post-traumatic stress syndrome and is redeemed by a scholarly, inner-city black kid. He says these elements – all visible in a 14 second clip – are counter to most of the images that are conveyed by the pop-media-industrial complex. 14 seconds, he says, is far longer than the attention span that's ingrained by MTV's .5 second scenes.
Several marketing examples were presented for discussion:
Seventeen Magazine – One cover advertised ways to boost sex appeal and asked, “Does your personality SUCK?” - covering the bases of both depression and obsession with body image. The magaine's covers are decided by formula, he says, as is the content – stories are decided on the basis of who is advertising. More clothing ads equals more stories on clothing.
President Bush on stage with a Bush impersonator – McCannon says this was an engineered by the administration to make Bush look softer and more like a regular guy.
“We never say the media are mad and we never say the media are good...the media are always good and bad,” McCannon says.
Thursday, June 22, 2006
Allied Media Conference Trip: Evening, day one
Well, we made it to the conference after a harrowing journey; the winds drove the rain in sheets, making it almost impossible to see at times. We also passed three tractor trailers in a row that were blown over by the force. It was incredible and kind of scary.
Anyway, we made it and I got a shower at the Unitarian Church and am leeching wifi at Panera in downtown Bowling Green.
- Steve
Anyway, we made it and I got a shower at the Unitarian Church and am leeching wifi at Panera in downtown Bowling Green.
- Steve
Allied Media Conference Trip: Noon, day one
Still in Columbus and I'll be departing for Bowling Green at around 3p.m.
Aaron MacCaughey, of the Columbus based band Sheldon Marsh drove by, saw me and picked me up. No, he whttp://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=8072549asn't looking for the city's ugliest streetwalker, we knew each other already. Aaron is part of the Landing Place community in Columbus.
Landing Place or "LP" is a small, Christian (I'm starting to prefer Xtian as shorthand) community where about 40 people get together weekly for small house churching. A smaller set of LP folks live communally. My wife, Becky, and I are members of the Vineyard Central community in Cincinnati, which is a similar kind of church.
Aaron and I met up with Jason Gilliland, the band's drummer. They were discussing how much they hate the band lingo that's so prevalent today - "BGV" for Backgrounnd Vocalist or "VOX." Aaron is the band's VOX, "and BGVs, too," Jason says.
Aaron MacCaughey, of the Columbus based band Sheldon Marsh drove by, saw me and picked me up. No, he whttp://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=8072549asn't looking for the city's ugliest streetwalker, we knew each other already. Aaron is part of the Landing Place community in Columbus.
Landing Place or "LP" is a small, Christian (I'm starting to prefer Xtian as shorthand) community where about 40 people get together weekly for small house churching. A smaller set of LP folks live communally. My wife, Becky, and I are members of the Vineyard Central community in Cincinnati, which is a similar kind of church.
Aaron and I met up with Jason Gilliland, the band's drummer. They were discussing how much they hate the band lingo that's so prevalent today - "BGV" for Backgrounnd Vocalist or "VOX." Aaron is the band's VOX, "and BGVs, too," Jason says.
Allied Media Conference Trip: Morning, day one
It's a steamy Columbus morniing and I'm here, on a friend's porch, blogging during my 5-hour layover. I didn't fly, but hitched a ride with Media Bridges Educational Coordinator Sara Mahle.
While here, I've been learning to use Skype's free telephone service and have been dialing up friends using my laptop. Pretty cool - I can sniff out open wifi and phone home, all without a lot of hassle. The service is surprisingly good - better than my last cellphone, which I threw into the river in 2001. All calls are free through December, 2006 and it's a mighty good hook, I must say.
The Allied Media Conference kicks off tonight and I'll be blogging from the field.
While here, I've been learning to use Skype's free telephone service and have been dialing up friends using my laptop. Pretty cool - I can sniff out open wifi and phone home, all without a lot of hassle. The service is surprisingly good - better than my last cellphone, which I threw into the river in 2001. All calls are free through December, 2006 and it's a mighty good hook, I must say.
The Allied Media Conference kicks off tonight and I'll be blogging from the field.
Monday, June 12, 2006
Media: First, kill all the adverbs
This 2001 snippit from Fresh Air's linguist Geoff Nunberg hammers home the manipulative toungue twists in our media.
As he says in his report, "Don't romance me, just pour the drink."
As he says in his report, "Don't romance me, just pour the drink."
Saturday, June 10, 2006
Gay rights: Modern day slavery
This is the civil rights issue of our day.
I urge you to read Citybeat Editor John Fox's condemnation of gay discrimination, my piece, called Josh's Two Moms and this compelling story of a gay man learning to accept himself as he is.
Also, I believe that, if you take an honest inventory of yourself and the gays and lesbians you know, you'll recognize that the bile conservatives hold for them does not bear the weight of experience. They were born this way, just as you were born heterosexual. You didn't make a choice to be fascinated with the opposite sex or to fall for your spouse, you just were, are and did.
That gays are destroying straight marriage is a cheshire cat, a straw man, born to fall. It's not the truth.
Moreover, they should be welcomed into the body of Christ. We, as a church, should invite gays and lesbians, letting them know that they're welcome for communion, too, and that Vineyard will be a place of non-discrimination. Different ideas? That's great, argue them - in a polite way - but recognize that Jesus loves gays just as much as he does you.
And, if after all this, you still believe what they're doing is wrong, that's okay - if it is a sin, it's no different from any other sin, and you tolerate and love all those other sinners, right? That's all they want - to be let alone to live without a hassle. (I'll step off my soap box now)
This is gay pride month. The Pride parade, which is family friendly, is on Sunday, June 11th. The Rally and Parade begin in Clifton's Burnet Woods at 11am. The Rally preceeds the Parade which steps off promptly at 1pm and finishes at Hoffner Park - that's on Hamilton Avenue in Northside, just south of Chase.
Take your spouse and your kids. It's a great, free festival and you dont have to be gay to attend.
I urge you to read Citybeat Editor John Fox's condemnation of gay discrimination, my piece, called Josh's Two Moms and this compelling story of a gay man learning to accept himself as he is.
Also, I believe that, if you take an honest inventory of yourself and the gays and lesbians you know, you'll recognize that the bile conservatives hold for them does not bear the weight of experience. They were born this way, just as you were born heterosexual. You didn't make a choice to be fascinated with the opposite sex or to fall for your spouse, you just were, are and did.
That gays are destroying straight marriage is a cheshire cat, a straw man, born to fall. It's not the truth.
Moreover, they should be welcomed into the body of Christ. We, as a church, should invite gays and lesbians, letting them know that they're welcome for communion, too, and that Vineyard will be a place of non-discrimination. Different ideas? That's great, argue them - in a polite way - but recognize that Jesus loves gays just as much as he does you.
And, if after all this, you still believe what they're doing is wrong, that's okay - if it is a sin, it's no different from any other sin, and you tolerate and love all those other sinners, right? That's all they want - to be let alone to live without a hassle. (I'll step off my soap box now)
This is gay pride month. The Pride parade, which is family friendly, is on Sunday, June 11th. The Rally and Parade begin in Clifton's Burnet Woods at 11am. The Rally preceeds the Parade which steps off promptly at 1pm and finishes at Hoffner Park - that's on Hamilton Avenue in Northside, just south of Chase.
Take your spouse and your kids. It's a great, free festival and you dont have to be gay to attend.
Thursday, June 08, 2006
May the night call down peace
That's a line from our closing prayer at housechurch. It's taken on new significance these days for me and Becky. The days and the work are long, though the rewards and opportunities are plentiful. I long for the night as I haven't before and welcome the silence and the dark.
As a kid, it was different; At that time I'd sleep with the radio on to drown out the thoughts I didn't want to think. I did that for a long time - til I was maybe twenty, I think.
As I sorted out my issues and healed, there was less and less to drown out. I'm glad for that.
An aquaintance of mine, Joan, died this week, I just found out from Jason. She may have been murdered. It's under investigation, Jason tells me. She wasn't very old, maybe 30.
Jason is coming in for the funeral. Good to see him, but so sad is the circumstance.
As a kid, it was different; At that time I'd sleep with the radio on to drown out the thoughts I didn't want to think. I did that for a long time - til I was maybe twenty, I think.
As I sorted out my issues and healed, there was less and less to drown out. I'm glad for that.
An aquaintance of mine, Joan, died this week, I just found out from Jason. She may have been murdered. It's under investigation, Jason tells me. She wasn't very old, maybe 30.
Jason is coming in for the funeral. Good to see him, but so sad is the circumstance.
Saturday, June 03, 2006
On being an anarchist
Below is my line by line refutation of some annoying comments sent to me in a chain letter.
I'm a stranger, I am no American.
I recognize that my feelings are something outside of myself that I'll never truly understand.
I will not own a firearm. It's good for nothing but killing and I'll have nothing to do with it.
Minorities are traditionally victimized in this world and their rights must be defended or no one has any.
I believe the world is one of plurality, not some immaculate monoculture. Speak to me in whatever toungue you have and we'll learn from each other.
God is personal and it's important not to foist our beliefs on others or idoloze our beliefs in thinking that they are perfect and the only way. It's when we do this that we are the most wrong.
I'm trying to give up on the idea of heroes and look for the good in all.
I recognize that the rich are so at the expense of the poor.
There is no America. Only a collective delusion. No nations, no borders, no flags.. I refute their legitimacy, their necessity and their existance. One world, one people.
I think you should worry about your own house, not Jackson's.
I think the cops have no right to shoot anyone. Which part of "thou shalt not kill" is misunderstood?
I believe we should all give up our cars. Then there will be no more traffic stops. And I'll be damned if some Nazi is going to demand my papers when I'm on foot.
I want to be recognized through my relationships, not a picture. God has nothing to do with money and the voting process is flawed, not the voters.
Illegal is a matter of perception. Flags are symbols of a society I don't recognize. I won't worship cloth.
I guess that makes me an anarchist. Maybe you're one, too.
I'm a stranger, I am no American.
I recognize that my feelings are something outside of myself that I'll never truly understand.
I will not own a firearm. It's good for nothing but killing and I'll have nothing to do with it.
Minorities are traditionally victimized in this world and their rights must be defended or no one has any.
I believe the world is one of plurality, not some immaculate monoculture. Speak to me in whatever toungue you have and we'll learn from each other.
God is personal and it's important not to foist our beliefs on others or idoloze our beliefs in thinking that they are perfect and the only way. It's when we do this that we are the most wrong.
I'm trying to give up on the idea of heroes and look for the good in all.
I recognize that the rich are so at the expense of the poor.
There is no America. Only a collective delusion. No nations, no borders, no flags.. I refute their legitimacy, their necessity and their existance. One world, one people.
I think you should worry about your own house, not Jackson's.
I think the cops have no right to shoot anyone. Which part of "thou shalt not kill" is misunderstood?
I believe we should all give up our cars. Then there will be no more traffic stops. And I'll be damned if some Nazi is going to demand my papers when I'm on foot.
I want to be recognized through my relationships, not a picture. God has nothing to do with money and the voting process is flawed, not the voters.
Illegal is a matter of perception. Flags are symbols of a society I don't recognize. I won't worship cloth.
I guess that makes me an anarchist. Maybe you're one, too.
Abu Ghraib images
Here is, in case we've forgotten, some images of our atrocities in Iraq.
Journalist Russ Kick hosts these and many other examples of suppressed and hard-to-find data at his site, The Memory Hole.
Journalist Russ Kick hosts these and many other examples of suppressed and hard-to-find data at his site, The Memory Hole.
Is the US Military targeting civilians?
Have you read about this?
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060603/NEWS07/606030335/1009
If they are, there really is no difference between what we're doing and 911.
I'm really troubled by two things in particular:
Where is this video of the slain children?
Why is there not more independent investigation?
I'll echo what Hannah over at the Citybeat blog has to say on the matter:
I happened to catch a piece of morning deejay commentary on my way to work. Granted, it was 97.3 - not exactly high-brow political discussion, but I literally trembled at their dangerously one-sided take on this issue. They thought it in poor taste to so much as investigate soldiers' misuse of power in wartime (I personally don't want dust-settled mentality to rob offenders of the punishment they deserve - I say what better time than the present?). The radio personalities are also afraid that "these types of witch hunts" cause soldiers to hesitate before they shoot. Imagine that - a given choice to kill or not to kill. That's a luxury not afforded to unarmed civilians. I'm at a loss.
2:22 PM
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060603/NEWS07/606030335/1009
If they are, there really is no difference between what we're doing and 911.
I'm really troubled by two things in particular:
Where is this video of the slain children?
Why is there not more independent investigation?
I'll echo what Hannah over at the Citybeat blog has to say on the matter:
I happened to catch a piece of morning deejay commentary on my way to work. Granted, it was 97.3 - not exactly high-brow political discussion, but I literally trembled at their dangerously one-sided take on this issue. They thought it in poor taste to so much as investigate soldiers' misuse of power in wartime (I personally don't want dust-settled mentality to rob offenders of the punishment they deserve - I say what better time than the present?). The radio personalities are also afraid that "these types of witch hunts" cause soldiers to hesitate before they shoot. Imagine that - a given choice to kill or not to kill. That's a luxury not afforded to unarmed civilians. I'm at a loss.
2:22 PM
Friday, June 02, 2006
Another story in the can; new laptop
So I just finished my story on gay families - or non-traditional families or families with same-sex couples at head of household.
Whatever you call them, they - the lesbian couple I interviewed - they're parents to a little boy named Josh a just want to be moms and, god bless them, to be left alone.
I'll link to it when it's up at Citybeat.
Also I've got a new computer (new to me, anyway)
It's a Sony Vaio sub notebook that I picked up on Craigslist It's only 3 lbs and has a 600mhz Celeron and a 10gig hard drive on board. Perfect for on the go Net and word processing and it was only $150! awesome!
Steve
Whatever you call them, they - the lesbian couple I interviewed - they're parents to a little boy named Josh a just want to be moms and, god bless them, to be left alone.
I'll link to it when it's up at Citybeat.
Also I've got a new computer (new to me, anyway)
It's a Sony Vaio sub notebook that I picked up on Craigslist It's only 3 lbs and has a 600mhz Celeron and a 10gig hard drive on board. Perfect for on the go Net and word processing and it was only $150! awesome!
Steve
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