Christina Mennella's Blog

THE DEATH OF JOURNALISM

2010-01-14T13:51:00.000-08:00

John Nichols and Robert McChesney report in article in the Nation, "The implications are clear: if our policy-makers do nothing, if "business as usual" prevails, we face a future where there will be relatively few paid journalists working in competing newsrooms with editors, fact-checkers, travel budgets and institutional support. Vast areas of public life and government activity will take place in the dark--as is already the case in many statehouses across the country. Independent and insightful coverage of the basic workings of local, state and federal government, and of our many interventions and occupations abroad, is disappearing as rapidly as the rainforests. The political implications are dire. Just as a brown planet cannot renew itself, so an uninformed electorate cannot renew democracy. Popular rule doesn't work without an informed citizenry, and an informed citizenry cannot exist without credible journalism"

WELL WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO ABOUT IT? WE NEED A PROTEST ON CAPITOL HILL? WE NEED TO GET MEDIA ATTENTION THAT CANT BE IGNORED? IS IT POSSIBLE?

Journalism vs Capitalism Without Restraints

2010-01-14T10:35:00.001-08:00

Robert McChesney and John Nichols, reported in an article for Nation, "Two centuries after Madison wrote those words, American news media are being steered off the cliff by investors and corporate managers who soured on their "properties" when the economic downturn dried up what was left of their advertising bonanza. They are taking journalism with them. Newsrooms are shrinking and disappearing altogether, along with statehouse, Washington and foreign bureaus. And with them goes the circulation of news and ideas that is indispensable to liberty. This is a dire moment for democracy, and it requires a renewal of one of America's oldest understandings: that a free people can govern themselves only if they have access to independent information about the issues of the day and the excesses of the powerful, and that it is the duty of government to guarantee both the promise and the reality of a free press"

Settling for probaganda as news is sickening, and sitting at work I cant even get to the websites that report the news I want to read. Robert Greenwalds link is blocked--Bill O'Reilly's works just fine. Hmm! Censorship I think so. And, Im angry. Something has got to be done about this. The Fairness Doctrine is gone and Corporate America gets to pick and choose what their employees can access online. Wow! And this isnt fascism? Then what is it, because it isnt democracy.

OpenCourseWare

2008-04-10T07:49:00.000-07:00

Current copyright law is the hot topic of the day. And Professer Scrooges of American Society are stepping up and demanding that no one gets a taste of a free education or help with coursework that Scrooges themselves didnt provide!

Science Netlinks reports, "Throughout human history, most people live and die in the social class into which they were born. If they were born poor, chances are they will die poor. One way societies can help people rise in social class is to initiate new enterprises, like improved educational opportunities or technological advancements. When this happens, the need for workers in higher-class jobs motivates and enables people to move up in social class, which can help them to escape poverty"

A large open education movement already exists primarily supported by The Hewlett Foundation supports an open source education, as well as well as Wikipedia's co founder James Sanger.

I await longingly to see a future where American Society thrive to see students self-actualize without rules! Are poor kids ever going to get a chance to escape the chains that bind them? Or is selling drugs, going to jail, and living on welfare a better option? I'd love to see a economically "poor" students sit down in front of a computer and through OpenCourseWare rise above socioeconomical barriers that bind them!

We will call University of Florida professor Michael Moulton the Scrooge of the week! According to Ryan Singal, with the Wired Blog Network, "Moulton and his e-textbook publisher are suing Thomas Bean, who runs a company that repackages and sells student notes, arguing that the business is illegal since notes taken during college lectures violate the professor's copyright
But if a professor's lectures are copyrighted, aren't students already infringing just by taking the notes in the first place?

Yes, Sullivan answers, student notes do infringe, but they are protected infringement.
"That's absolutely fair use," Sullivan said."Hmm! Wow Scrooge gets to provide fair use! I guess he may be scared someone will self-actualize faster than he can on his theories and ideas!

David Kravets with the Wired Blog Network reports, "And we know that that Big Media is going to jump on the band wagon to prevent anything that may stifle their probanganda pumping priniciples! "Disney, CBS, Microsoft, Fox, NBC, Viacom, Dailymotion, MySpace and Veoh Networks announced so-called User Generated Content Principles that appear aimed at stifling fair use. The announcement calls for the "implementation of state of the art filtering technology with the goal to eliminate infringing content on (user-generated content services), including blocking infringing uploads before they are made available to the public."

Thank God for Utube and if Fair Use Supporters are getting ready to be taken down I will be at every protest possible! This is a country founded on the power of the people not corporations!

2008-03-27T09:15:00.000-07:00

I am working with Whitney Rhodes on my project. We havent agreed on a topic, but Im hoping in involves the Center for American Progress Action Fund. I want to be able to upload my pictures of Robert Greenswald, and promote the efforts for the Center for American Progress Action Fund.

2008-03-14T12:52:00.000-07:00

The Web seemed to the peoples tool to fight Media Consolidation and its attack on Americandemocracy, but conglomerates have gotten ahold of the Web and our freedom of speech is once again under attack! Stand up Fight! Revise the Telecommunications Act of 1996!

My exploration in finding Narrative

2008-03-12T09:23:00.000-07:00

I had a rough time reading the sample chapter from Cybertext: Perspectives on Ergodic Literature--because it wasnt Ergodic. The text was to small there werent any links--understandably since it was written in 1997--and hypertext writing was at the beginning of its evolution, but Ergodic it wasnt, and that is what I expect when I read online.
When I read online I want to take on an active role as a reader, I want to be a user who constructs the reading. All this text required me to do is scroll down and strain my eyes. Give me the book! I expect this in a book, but to promote great ideas in the hypertext world give readers what they expect! But, I must give credit where credit is due: Aarseth bridges the divide between paper texts and electronic texts, and examines literary theories of narrative to discover the implications of applying these theories in the hypertext realm for which they were not intended. Can computer games be great literature I think so--and so does Aarseth--well we are on the same path!

What is Narrative? Well, a Poynteronline discussion offers a great roundtable on defining narrative.
Simply put narrative is telling a story, but in my opinion the audience has to be considered for the medium you use to tell your story, and as the storyteller give your audience what they expect from that medium.

Mark Kramer Founding Director, Nieman Program on Narrative Journalism puts the rules of a narrative quite simply: "At a minimum, narrative denotes writing with (A) set scenes, (B) characters, (C) action that unfolds over time, (D) the interpretable voice of a teller — a narrator with a somewhat discernable personality — and (E) some sense of relationship to the reader, viewer or listener, which, all arrayed, (F) lead the audience toward a point, realization or destination."

Well, Twelve Blue gives me the narrative I expect as an online reader and so does Breakdown Happens Reading Joyce's "Twelve Blue" I am a user in control of where I go; I am clicking away on a path to discover the narrative; I am constructing what I read--and seemingly almost by accident I stay there longer for I am eagerly involved. I get angry at times while reading Twelve Blue: I get to an ending where I am not satisfied with the outcome, I try to start over and end up in a different story rather than one I expected, or a link takes me to a picture rather than a plot. But, overall I am getting what I expect from an online narrative, and Im satisfied with the experience. I'd love to replicate the format of Twelve Bluewith non-fiction and avoid big fluffy words--I'd love just to edit right out of Twelve Blue!

Remix the Remix Project

2008-03-05T17:10:00.000-08:00

I want to focus on Media Consolidation for my project, but I'm not sure I may use it as a tool to learn to use a new digital tool. I want to eventually build a website that is dedicated to Media Consolidation: How it evolved, what are the dangers media consolidation brings to a democracy. How can the United States fix it. What does the abolishment of Fairness Doctrine add to Media Consolidation that causes more problems.

Lincensing Terms

2008-03-05T15:20:00.000-08:00

Under a Creative Commons license holdeers grant others permission to use their content in their own work. The Creative Commons licenses allow copyright holders to grant some or all of their rights to the public through licensing and contracts. including dedication to the public domain or open content licensing terms. The innovators of Creative Commons Licenses are dedicated to helping the public avoid the problems associated with current copyright law and the open sharing of information.

This is a Photo in Public Domain that I obtained from Flickr.como

This is a clip from Internet Archives. I am free to to to copy, distribute and transmit the work, as well as adapt the work and I may not use this work for commercial purposes. However Attribution is required: bloomjenifer@yahoo.co.uk. This item is part of the collection: bliptv
Public Domain

Open Source Book Hmm! Can the internet change book publishing? Open Source Books are available in the Public Domain and are free over the internet, and discusses what they have to tell us about whether the open-source software model can change book publishing?

Videos on U-Tube

THE GOAL OF MY REMIX PROJECT

2008-03-05T13:44:00.000-08:00

You will also need to write a short (3-4 paragraph) explanation of your remix: sources, techniques, purpose.
The grade on this assignment will be based mainly on the presentation and organization of the material.

I compiled my Remix Project with the aid of Internet Archive which builds a digital library of Internet sites and other cultural artifacts in digital form-- free access to researchers, historians, scholars, and the general public. My remix project can be found on my website under the link intitled Public Domain

I used the Internet Archive to find pictures of the casualties, and dead civilians in Iraq. I pulled these pictures into Final Cut Pro to create a slide show, after obtaining a YouTube account in order to use their server space not mine. I also uploaded an NPR newscast that would play in the background; This newscast discusses the total chaos that is alive and well in Iraq.

The purpose: I want people to get out of their tiny bubbles that they call life; a self centered spiral that involves not getting involved in being an American Citizen. "Hey, let the government do their job. I dont have to pay attention. I'm going to the bar tonite. Who cares if we are in a war our govt. will fix it! I'm angry at the American People for settling for Probaganda as news, and stifled copyright laws that doesnt allow us to take action and build upon good ideas to create great ideas. I want to see the American people get off their lazy ass's and wake up! Nazi Germany didnt happen over night; it happened because people allowed themselves to be blinded through probaganda.

Electronic Literature...What I SEE

2008-01-28T09:04:00.000-08:00

Electronic Literature...What I SEE

Although the work is a commendable artistic literary expression, the reader or user may find it hard to appreciate. Why? Well..their just not used to it. it's unfamiliar territory. An anthology is usually a collection of short stories or poems by mulitiple authors in print form; Electronic Literature however is an abstract work the user must explore. Digital Literature is just beginning to evolve, and users dont seem to know what to think of it, but if users dive in and give it a try they are destined to find the experiencing rewarding and if not they can at least take away a deep appreciation of the different authors and their unique visions.
Electronic Literature's page is very busy; sixty works organized artistically side by side with the user navigating where they start and where they finish. The works are very different some satire, others games,creative nonfiction, Electronic Literature contains multimedia elements such as flash, shockwave, etc. The only similiarity seems to be the works are all in Electronic form, but the means of expression and digital tools the authors use to express their ideas are very different. Electronic Literature has the potential to keep the user busy for hours. Some may find it best to start at the work located on the top left hand side and end at the bottom right to simplify their journey through this unique anthology. But, do not expect to finish just expect the journey.

In Nio by Jim Andews the first work on the top left hand side the user finds himself searching for patterns to build a song to the sound of his making--interactive, busy,challenging! In the middle searching, devouring, exploring seconds, minutes, hours turn into days. Some of the works are scary; others pleasing to the heart. Some easilly understoond others require a journey to understand. Some interactive requiring the user to play along, others the user doesnt play only watchs the author express their messege. Finishing the work; hmm! Not like the last page of a book! No. Electronic Literature doesnt end!