These readings (King and Chapman chapters 4 & 6) addressed two social forces that have helped shape journalism as we know it. One was the use of journalism as a means of addressing a particular social inequality, and the other explores how technology has shaped and defined journalism as we know it.
Arguably, these two readings are linked by issues of power. The black press served as the voice of African-Americans who wanted to contribute to the war effort while seeking equality at home, whereas the development of the Internet has given a good deal of communication power back to citizens by allowing them to be more interactive with their media.
For this blog, find an example of a social movement that has gone viral—that is, an example of how these two powers (activism in the press and technology) come together—and explore how your example reflects these two movements.
In Chapters 4 and 6 of “Key Readings in Journalism,” King and Chapman separately explain the significance of social inequality portrayed in journalism and then broadly look at how modern technology contours the journalism of today. When these respective ideas fuse together, the notions of using outlets of technology for a specific cause or social issue comes to fruition. With the abundance and variety of today’s social world, it does not take long for important social movements to infiltrate social media, fluctuate on the Internet or receive special coverage in any other area of journalism.
ReplyDeleteOne recent example of a particular social movement that has gone viral is the global campaign strike known as “One Billion Rising.” This movement, which took place on Valentine’s Day of 2013, campaigned against the everyday violence of women. Not long before this event was held, advertisements and speculation surrounding this cause began to appear on social media cites such as Facebook and Twitter. Similarly, “One Billion Rising” also gained more views on their website, where a complete explanation of this social movement is outlined. This is a specific example of how King and Chapman’s ideas of social inequality can be expressed via today’s technology. At Ursinus College, women students were invited to an event on Facebook which asked those who could to meet together on campus at a specific time and hold one of many “One Billion Rising” proceedings. According to onebillionrising.org, this event was an invitation to “one billion women and those who love them to walk out, dance, rise up, and demand an end to women violence” (About “One Billion Rising” onebillionrising.org). “One Billion Rising” exemplifies how a powerful social movement can rapidly gain more attention through the media and journalistic purposes. This “invitation to dance” quickly grabbed attention after its advertisement on social media and allowed any who wished, to get involved in the cause, thanks in large part to our numerous ways of spreading the word through technology.
I think there's an interesting connection between the "One Billion Rising" movement and the Occupy Movement in relation to each initiative's approach to online media. Both have intriguing names/slogans/mottoes that draw audiences in and make for concise, easy-to-share messages. While social media can easily fuel social movements, I think these two cases as well as the African American newspaper case make it clear that it takes some marketing smarts to use media to its full extent. The Double V campaign had a huge marketing campaign that involved carefully packaging a radical message to appeal to almost anyone. Increasingly with online media, smart marketing is "click bait," elusive, brief slogans tied to something much larger. While slogans/mottoes have always been used by protesters to create a sense of unity (the 99 percent motto is both an online marketing campaign and a rally cry at physical Occupy camps), they seem to do a different kind of unifying work online by drawing people in and, since the slogan is short and concise, by being easy to share.
DeleteAfter reading this blog post and the few chapters in King and Chapman I noticed a huge similarity between what Marina chose and what I Chose as the Occupy movement. Both of these organizations needed social media to go viral and now everyone has heard about both of these movements. I think it is very interesting how both of these topics have became so well known to people by going viral and everyone has a better understanding. After reading all these different blog post and the two chapters in the book I can't help but think about how journalism use to be before it went viral and everyone could access it. I think that it is definitely a good thing that journalism has gone viral and addressed different social inequalities and it has made more people more aware of what is going on.
DeleteThe Occupy Movement is a major social movement in recent history that gained most of its momentum and attention by going viral online. The Occupy Movement itself is a very visible protest of the unequal distribution of wealth in American society; protestors choose city landmarks representative of the government or of corporate extravagance and “occupy” it by setting up camp around it without permits or permission. The first Occupy protest to receive wide coverage was Occupy Wall Street in New York City’s Zuccotti Park in September 2011. What most people may not realize, however, is that the movement began online a month earlier, when a New York-based activist going by the name of “Chris” started a Tumblr blog called wearethe99percent.tumblr.com. Chris made the wise move of creating an internet “meme” out of Occupy’s now famous slogan, “We are the 99 percent” on a website (Tumblr) that was built for sharing; re-blogging on Tumblr is one of the most efficient ways online media becomes viral. Chris created images, infographics, and videos of protestors, all stamped with the 99 percent logo. Viewers could re-blog this media on YouTube or, as many did, share 99 percent images on Facebook. The genius of Chris became the saving grace of the Occupy Movement. Not only did the media on the Tumblr unify an incredibly huge number of people (thereby making the totality of the slogan literal) and inspire others to create their own 99 percent activist media, but the foundation of the movement online enabled activists to remain connected, even as they were evicted from their camps. Since the movement was web-based from the beginning, it also enabled various Occupy camps to communicate their goals and progress with one another and even share organizational tactics, such as the hand signals for communication in group assemblies shown here: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b1/OccupyHandSignals.pdf/page1-424px-OccupyHandSignals.pdf.jpg - which is an example of the easily shareable graphics originally created on the Tumblr page. The movement’s foundation online, aside from gaining the attention of the masses, enabled it to communicate with the world outside the camps to announce major assemblies and actions so that anyone, even non-occupiers, could participate in the events. Further, the internet allowed the camps to reach non-occupiers who had no intention of or were unable to physically participate in the camps’ actions, thereby enabling the movement to raise awareness regardless of their audience’s geographic location. According to its Wikipedia page, by October 2011, Occupy protests had taken place or were ongoing in more than 95 cities across 82 countries, and more than 600 communities in the United States alone. The movement undoubtedly owes a huge portion of its success and popularity to the online beginnings of the motto that drives it. Given all this, Occupy, as a movement for social equality that began on the web, exemplifies the idea of online media merging with activism.
ReplyDeleteChapter 4 discusses how during World War II, African Americans utilized newspapers and the black press to promote the Double V campaign. This campaign served to advocate victory overseas as well as victory against oppression in the United States. In this case, journalism provided an effective means of fighting a social inequality. Chapter 6 discusses how the advent of the Internet changed the face of journalism. The rise of this technology has put a tremendous pressure on print newspapers as more people get their news from the Internet. In addition, the Internet has allowed for ordinary people to be more interactive with their news, including posting their own news. Therefore, it is obvious to see the potential for technology to be an effective way in organizing and promoting a specific social movement.
ReplyDeleteWhen I read the blog topic for this week, I immediately thought that the Arab Spring was a perfect example of an instance in which a social and political movement went viral. The Arab Spring was a series of protests and uprisings that occurred at the very end of 2010 and at the beginning of 2011. It occurred in Arab countries in both Northern Africa and the Middle East. The movement in many ways was similar to that of the black press during World War II. While African Americans spoke out against social inequality in the United States, protesters in the Arab Spring spoke out against oppression at the hands of their governments, many of them dictatorships. Many of the citizens of these countries faced harsh censorship at the hands of the government; however, protesters utilized social media including Facebook and Twitter to organize protests and spread the movement to other countries.
In chapter 4, King and Chapman (2012) discusses how the Internet enables ordinary citizens to become journalists. The Arab Spring provides a powerful example of this as well. By utilizing Twitter and Facebook, protesters were able to provide up to date information regarding the protests to the entire world, without being censored. Social media was also pivotal in informing others about specific protests and spreading the movement throughout different countries of the Arab World.
I think that the Arab Spring is a perfect example of how activism and technology combined to form a powerful multination social movement. The Arab Spring movement arguably would not be nearly as long lasting and widespread without the use of technology, particularly social media. In many ways, the movement was the perfect combination of a kind of social injustice seen in chapter 4 of King and Chapman (2012) and the advent of online journalism seen in chapter 6.
The internet is definitely a source in which all people can have a voice and be heard. In addition to Facebook and Twitter as being way to communicate ideas and thoughts, YouTube has also been a way for people to communicate their message. Thinking about bullying and the effects caused by bullying, many people have come out to express their opposition against bullying. In comparison, bullying has also allowed many YouTubers to communicate their support for the victims of bullying. Therefore, yes, the internet does become a powerful source to communicate your message and as well becomes a tool to action that can make a difference
DeleteThe Arab Spring is a great example in response to the blog question. It combines both the virality of social media and the activism of the press and of technology. Steven is right in saying The Arab Spring is similar to the Double V campaign of World War II. Both campaigns fought for social rights of a people against their society, be it issues of inequality or oppression by dictatorship. The events of Arab Spring speak to the importance of the internet as a means of advocacy, and its unique qualities in regards to other mediums. While a newspaper could have been blocked, censored, had its funding cut, etc, like-minded citizens were able to organize and communicate through social media such as Facebook or Twitter without fears of censorship. Steven is right; "Arab Spring is a perfect example of how activism and technology combined to form a powerful multi-national social movement."
DeleteA great example of a movement that really gained steam through the use of the internet is President Obama's campaign for the Presidency of the United States of America in '08. The way his campaign was ran in '08 was viewed as a grass-roots style, that served a pivotal role in electing the President in 2008. Campaigns like the Presidents are becoming increasingly popular due to the roles they serve in getting younger voters to vote, or pay attention to political movements they they may have never participated in otherwise. These type of movements are so popular in amongst younger generations due to the use of social networking websites and other tools that are made available to campaign's like Obama's, or even the Tea Party Movement. While the Tea Party movement did very little to sway voters once the 2012 Presidential Election came around, it was still effective in the 2010 midterm elections, where right wing enthusiasm amongst college-aged students was seen as being higher than it had been in years, and many would correlate the results of that election with the Tea Party Movement's ability to tap into social media (and other networking landscapes that hadn't been used much before '08)to engage younger generations in the political process and win over the youth's vote.
DeleteWhen I read this prompt and the two chapters in King and Chapman, I immediately thought of a social movement that we have here on campus. To Write Love on Her Arms (TWLOHA) is an interfaith, American non-profit organization which aims to give hope to people struggling with addiction, depression, self injury, and thoughts of suicide while also investing directly into treatment and recovery. The organization is based in Melbourne, Florida, but has grown into a huge NPO that is now spread throughout the country.
ReplyDeleteThe goal of TWLOHA is to connect people who need help to treatment centers, websites, books, support groups, and other resources.The group's main exposure comes from musicians and bands who wear the organization's distinctive T-shirts in photographs and performances, however it has recently gained more and more public exposure through merchandise and public community websites such as Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and Tumblr. As for the activism in press aspect, on September 12, 2008, To Write Love on Her Arms was featured on the NBC Nightly News segment "Making a Difference". Another instance that TWLOHA was in the press was in October 2010, TWLOHA was part of a piece on CBS Morning News about preventing The Youngest Suicides. These news shows help spread the message to people who may not have seen the social media.
This program has made a difference in the lives of many because of the use of media and news spreading. Although it may not apply to as wide a groups as the African American newspaper mentioned in Pat Washburn's chapter, it certainly does reach to those who need it. This program wouldn't have been possible without the invention of social media. As Dr. H said in the prompt: "the development of the Internet has given a good deal of communication power back to citizens by allowing them to be more interactive with their media."
The two powers of activism in the press and technology have helped to create many social movements. I look forward to reading about the other ones that my classmates choose to explain and talking about them in class on Monday.
Although I would not call To Write Love On Her Arms or TWLOHA a social movement per se, Caroline’s example does however fit the description of the assignment rather well. I am hesitant to say that TWLOHA is a “viral” movement simply because I do not think it has grabbed the attention of a large audience such as other “viral” movements like KONY 2012 (although proven to be a hoax…it still was a viral movement). Caroline understands that perhaps the organization To Write Love On Her Arms does not reach the same audience as the African American newspaper mentioned in the reading, however as described in chapter 4, through the use of social media via the internet an individual can easily become their own version of a journalist. People can now access a larger audience. Today, as I have previously discussed in class, can now alter what they read meaning, those interested in the organization or the issues/topics the organization represents can now access information about said organization and only read about them if they so choose. I think Caroline’s mention of the fact that Ursinus has their own TWLOHA chapter is a great example of how organizations have now expanded their audience through new media means but also through contacting their audience directly.
DeleteThe Games For Change Movement appears to demonstrate a good example of activism in the media and shaping that medium of what it is today. Games For Change's focus is to use digital games for the use of social change and to address social issues. Part of their activism includes in providing or rather supporting digital games that are educating to the public (edugaming). So one might find the support of the organization for games such as The Oregon Trail or School House Rock (PC Games) which addresses historical facts and common knowledge. The organization's activism includes funding for games that address global social issues and provide educative material.
ReplyDeleteAlthough edugaming hasn't really taken off on a large scale, it did provide insight to edugaming's audience and gaming in general. Edugames don't appear too popular for an older audience, but edugames appear to be more affective for a younger audience. Because video games and the motivation to learn are so fascinating to young kids, edugaming has really taken an approach towards that specific audience. I argue that is why there are many digital handhelds and consoles designed for kids such as Leapster to educate them. The movement has provided an insight to when edugames are most effective for people in their life.
This is an interesting take on finding a social movement that has been advertised and spread by the technology of today. I don't necessarily think i would call using these educational games a social movement because it has been done for years and educates children typically in subject matters that they have to learn in school. I think a social movement is more like an issue that needs recognition and uses technology to spread the word, such as some of the of the previously mentioned ones in other blog posts, like One Billion Rising. They use technology to invite people to join together and create a statement about an issue. Educational games are not used to create such a statement. Still, it is an interesting way to think about that the use of technology in educating the public
DeleteAfter reading King and Chapman’s, chapters four and six of “Key Readings in Journalism,” the authors look at social inequality and how technology has shaped journalism and brought us to where we are today. When these two beliefs are intertwined together we can see that technology will bring us everything we need for an event that is happening or any social issue that is going on in the world. When looking at current day issues it really isn’t too hard to see how technology can spread stories so quickly and the coverage of journalism is so broad now.
ReplyDeleteOne example of a social movement that has gone viral recently has been Occupy Wall Street, or OWS. This is a social movement that was organized on Wall Street because of social and economic inequality, greed, and the corruption of the government. They refer to themselves as the 99% because this represents the income inequality and wealth distribution between the 1% of wealthy people and the rest of the population. To accomplish their goals of evening out this percentage, protestors will act on consensus based decisions. This was followed through the government’s joint terrorism task force despite labeling this group as a peaceful movement.
Basically about a year ago a few people started to try to make a change about the income inequality by walking up and down Wall Street and protesting in front of the major corporations. When more and more people started to notice what was going on more and more followers started to join. Then as this actually became a larger group people put this on the internet and it literally went viral to everyone. Everyone was able to see what was happening here and there was a wide spread knowledge about Wall Street now.
Clearly from this example one can see that there was definitely a social inequality being addressed by the citizens of America and technology made it available for everyone even if you lived half way across the world. This can clearly relate to the blog post and even the readings from Chapman and King as they explain to us how our society has grown and developed over time to where it is today.
1999 anti-WTO (World Trade Organization) Ministerial Conference protest in Seattle, is the protest that I chose do blog about. This protest against the “Millennium Round” which was a new trade negotiation that the poor companies and third world nations did not agree or want to corporate with the major western worlds. The protesters were known groups like international NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations) religious groups, student groups and more they made plans for press events, ways to take action. The internet was used to connect, contact and execute street protests. They gathered huge numbers of people, lowest estimates puts the number of people in the crowd to be over 40,000, to protest in major intersections and streets that led to the Washington State Convention and Trade Center where the conference was going to be held. They also had people who used the internet to shut down and control the traffic lights in these intersections and streets. At that time it was the largest anti-globalization in the United States. This protest made the news from the west coast to the east coast’s New York Times, which reported false information about the protesters being violent and had to reprint that the protesters were actually peaceful. The protest was also referred to as the battle in Seattle was also covered by the Financial Times which stated that it was to “help counter the negative effects of globalization on the poorest nations”, and by the Wall Street Journal and the London Independent newspaper. The protests beat the WTO.
ReplyDeleteinformation found on wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1999_Seattle_WTO_protests
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ReplyDeleteTechnology is a tool that allows the world’s population to connect in a more widespread, efficient way than ever. The internet allows groups large and small to easily connect, plan, and create change. Like the Black newspapers during the WWII era, it is a forum of free speech and can bring up topics that need to be addressed, supported, and recognized. The internet is a very resourceful way for inequities in society to be addressed
When contemplating an example of a social movement that has gone viral, I had trouble identifying one at first besides Occupy Wall street which has already been addressed. However, I was reminded of a video my roommate found on Facebook. It is called “Pork Chop” and is a poem, video about his experiences with bullying. (http://www.upworthy.com/bullies-called-him-pork-chop-he-took-that-pain-with-him-and-then-cooked-it-into). In this example, one person, Shane Koyczan, was able to bring attention to an issue that he was facing and an issue that many other teenagers face. While the video may not be considered “viral” it was still able to reach a large audience because of technology. This person decided that he would be proactive about this issue, and created this video. It not journalism in the traditional sense, but because it was publised on the internet, others were able to comment on the issue and continue to bring awareness and support to each other. The video was published on a Facebook group called “Upworthy” which posts inspirational stories and allows individuals to begin their own social movements and gain support from others. The video was published on this page on Facebook, but can be emailed, tweeted, and shared. Technology allows this issue to spread along with others.
Although this example is not as widespread as the Double V movement discussed in chapter 4, it does have similar elements. Washburn writes, “Part of the reason for this success was timing” (53). The Double V campaign was launched during a time of war and crisis for African Americans, which was helpful in its ability to spread in the community. The timing for this video is helpful also, considering many recent school shootings. The population it is effecting is less defined though. With the Double V Campaign, African Americans were the clear target audience. Kids who are bullied, however, are harder to identify. This video hasn’t exactly gone viral, but I think it is a good representation of how technology gives the ability to start or join a social movement.
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DeleteWhile the video "Pork Chop" may not be considered viral as of yet. It has a great potential to reach that status. I saw the video for the first time a few days ago, shared on Facebook by one of my old high school teachers. Since then, I've seen it spreading rapidly. More and more people I know have been posting it on different social media websites and it's popularity is growing rapidly.
DeleteI definitely agree that the timing is an element that plays a role in its popularity at the time. Of course, if this video had been seen by more people closer to the Newtown shooting, it would have spread like wildfire, but even now, people are still very aware of the existence of bullying in schools and the terrible effects that it can have on people. This is something that affects just about everyone. I'm sure if we took a random sample of people and asked each of them if they had been made fun of at any point in their lives, chances are, the majority, if not all, would say yes.
I'm curious to see where "Pork Chop" will go. Right now, it seems to be building an audience at a steady rate, but many things could impact its view count. If it were to be featured in a news segment, or if a speech is made about bullying in the near future, I'm sure the count would rise a great deal. On the other hand, if something else happens in the media, such as a scandal involving money or something else that doesn't relate to bullying, the video could fall behind. People might forget all about its existence. It'll be interesting to watch and see where it goes.
After reading these Chapters one social movement that has gone viral recently was the 'Cut for Bieber'/#CutForBieber. This example is shows the negative side to social movements and technology. This movement began on Twitter and encouraged Justin Bieber fans to self-harm in light of his alleged pot smoking incident. The purpose of the self-harming was to convince the teen singer to stop his drug use. Fans all over the world joined together and posted pictures of their cut wrists and other self-harm images all over twitter and other social networking sites with the hashtag. The movement was not only spread by those in support of it, but those against it as well. More and more people wrote blogs, online articles, tweet, made YouTube videos, etc. some speaking against and some speaking for it. None the less spreading the word.
ReplyDeleteIf it was not for the technologies we have today this self-harm movement would have neither spread, nor began. Technology made it possible for people from all over to ban together for a "cause", as well as spread the word.
Even though this was not a positive social movement that went viral, I still believe it is a perfect example of how activism in the press and technology have joined together.
This example really speaks to something that King said at the end of Chapter 6: "online computer users have the ability to form communities among themselves" (86). This is something that arguably one person or a couple of people came up with that a great number of others picked up once it went "viral." While this example did not immediately strike me as an example of activism, it loosely falls under the Merriam Webster definition of activism: “a doctrine or practice that emphasizes direct vigorous action especially in support of or opposition to one side of a controversial issue.”
DeleteUnder this definition, Bieber’s drug use would be the “controversial issue” and the “vigorous action” would be fans harming themselves in opposition of his choices. How “direct” this “vigorous action” was, is questionable seeing as it is unclear whether Bieber was aware of this (for lack of a better term) movement and if their actions even influenced Bieber’s actions. Unfortunately, this use of online sources to support a movement almost trivializes the impact that the internet has for legitimate forms of activism. Bringing Bieber’s drug use to light does not directly harm anyone but himself and therefore is seemingly unimportant in the big picture of things. That information does not provide citizens with information they need in order to function in society.
Ideally, online activism would take the form of righting a wrong that has universal consequences. I often see Facebook statuses including links to a petition on change.org for people to sign. One very successful case for change.org was the petition of Bank of America’s attempt to charge a $5 monthly fee for debit card users. Here is a great article about Change.org and their successes (http://www.npr.org/2012/03/16/148556371/petitions-are-going-viral-sometimes-to-great-success). I’ll admit, I have even signed a few petitions here and there on Change.org because they are an easy and convenient method to get your voice heard with the potential for real change.