Week 9: Essay Plan

Habermas' concept of the public sphere and its relationship with citizen journalism

The required readings several weeks earlier relating to citizen journalism and produsage were of considerable interest to me, and prompted me to choose the practice of citizen journalism as the main topic of the essay.

I was unsure how to frame the question though, and when Stephen's lecture yesterday touched on Habermas and the notion of the public sphere, this sparked a great interest in me.

I have since come across many resources that look at concepts on citizen or public journalism, as well as the public sphere. Haas and Steiner (2001) look at how criticism of Habermas' 'public sphere' affects the advent of public journalism, and this paper among others will provide for me an apt springboard for understanding the relationship between Habermas' public sphere and citizen journalism, a practice of journalism that empowers democracy and is seeing tremendous growth.

I aim to frame the topic even more closely, and to try and use existing literature and criticism on the topic to make a meaningful connection or observation. I aim to, however, more fully grasp both the concept of the public sphere and citizen journalism, and current theoretical approaches, before I make a plan for my essay as to what I will analyse.

I will do some research over the next few days and hopefully this will guide me in a direction for my essay, and something I can effectively write about in such a small word count. 

This does not mean that I do not already have a position on the topic, however. I am fully supportive of citizen journalism, and it is a great tool for communication in a democratic society. My tutor suggested I explore Dan Gillmor's 'We The Media' as well, which looks at grassroots journalism 'by the people'.

It should be an interesting research area! I'm looking forward to diving into the research this week.

Resources

Compton, J 2000, 'Communicative Politics and Public Journalism', Journalism Studies, vol. 1, no. 3, pp. 449-467

Gillmour, D 2004, We The Media, O'Reilly Publishing

Haas, T & Steiner, L 2001, 'Public Journalism as a journalism of publics: Implications of the Habermas-Fraser debate for online journalism', Journalism, vol. 2, pp. 123- 147

PUBLIC SAFETY ANNOUNCEMENT: STEAM IRONS

This is the final version of my film for the visual storytelling assessment.

Week Nine - Online Political Participation

I have had a fun afternoon participation in political activity online:

• I signed an e-petition on People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) against the torture of animals in Nestle's Nestea testing process. This e-petition is a vow to drink 'cruelty-free tea'
• I added a comment to a news story on the Daily Telegraph about the ABC's use of the Australian flag in the sub-par comedy 'At Home With Julie', agreeing with the writer about the notion that the flag "is not a cheap prop for a half-funny TV show. It is a revered symbol of the nation's sovereignty."      (http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/opinion/aussie-flag-not-just-a-piece-of-cloth/story-e6frezz0-1226142956082)
• THE CLEAN FEED: The Australian Government plans to heavily censor the internet to restrict access to inappropriate content and webpages advocating controversial agendas. The problem, however is that the material that will be banned will be much more than merely child sexual abuse material. It will ban websites about euthanasia and other controversial issues, and will ban movies and games aimed audiences over 16 years of age.
• Local Representative: Col Murray - State Representative: Kevin Anderson - Federal Representative: Tony Windsor

Thoughts on Habermas' ideas on the Public Sphere

An interesting idea I came across when I undertook further reading on Jurgen Habermas and his idea of the Public Sphere, is his three "institutional criteria" as necessities for the existence of the public sphere:

• Disregard for social class and status
• Domain of common concern 
• Inclusivity

The third criterion is of particular interest to me- issues discussed in the public sphere are accessible, and open to participation. How new communication technologies have embraced and enhanced this could be a topic for an essay, or I could integrate it into my current essay idea about citizen journalism.

Production Musings

I have finished production and editing of the film. I mostly stuck to my original vision; the location, sequence of events and editing technique are the same as how I had planned.

An interesting thing that occurred was that my very talented lead actor, Markos, is also a budding filmmaker and hence has an eye for what might work in a film. He gave suggestions in terms of extra shots and movements, and he brought a whole new dynamic into the role.

The editing process was an equally enjoyable one, and I used iMovie which enabled me to make great use of continuity. Then came the soundtrack. I knew that I had to adhere to copyright laws and am well aware of creative commons media, however I thought it would be extra enjoyable to get creative with the soundtrack.

Since the conception of the film I had intended on making my own soundtrack, and I learned a new tool on Garageband while making the soundtrack for this film. It enables me to watch the film play through and I can play the music onto an audio track and sync it all together. I then used the laptop microphone for a few voiceovers to give it an extra weird touch.

Overall, I am thoroughly satisfied with the finished film, and really enjoyed being able to tell a story that is rarely told...that of the affairs of pedestal fans and steam irons. All the content in the film is mine and the story, soundtrack and characters are 100% original.

The importance of free software
Free software is crucial to the freedom of expression of media users; free software means that anyone can use a certain set of communication tools to make their own creations, without being bound to any constraints. At least this is what it should mean.


Karanovic (2008, p.125) points out the difference in what 'software freedom' can mean to different people.
"Unlike the English term 'free' which ambiguously refers to an economic quality (cost-free) or a moral one (liberty), the French name of free software is logiciel libre, which points unambiguously to the idea of liberty."

There is a big difference between being able to make a creation without contraints, and not being able to create media due to legal, financial and physical constraints. This is why it is important that a clear definition be set as to what 'software freedom' is. People have the right to develop media at their own will.

Open source software is good for democracy

My experience of open source software has been favourable; things like Audacity, Blender and programs that have come free with my operating system such as Garageband, Windows Movie Maker and iMovie have been integral to my creative expression. This software means that amateurs can produce media, and this will lead to a more interactive, expressive society.

An example of where open source software has been beneficial for individuals is two friends of mine who recently took part in a filmmaking competition, however they had no prior experience in film production and film editing. This did not act as a barrier, however, thanks to open source software such as trakAx and Audacity, and they managed to make the film they set out to make, without worrying about lack of funds. Additionally, with many forms of open source software the user-interface is very accesible and intuitive, and hence lack of experience is less a hindrance.

References

Karanovic, J 2008, 'Sharing Publics: Democracy, cooperation, and free software advocacy in France', thesis, pp. 125-7, accessed via ProQuest database 15 September 2011

Week 7: ALWAYS CARRY A STEAM IRON

In the spirit of my 'Death by pedestal fan' video, I am considering making a public service announcement video about the importance of carrying steam irons.

In my recent experience with filmmaking I have found myself making movies that have ended up too complex to be coherent, so I will make this film straight-forward and to the point- I will let the cinematography and performance do the talking.

THE SCENARIO
University students walking home, laughing and chatting. They go their own ways, and the camera follows one person in particular, until they find themselves in a horrifying situation.


There is a pedestal fan standing on the path ahead, staring. Staring menacingly. 


The protagonist is flooded with fear, and turns back the other way only to find there is an even bigger fan in the direction the protagonist just came from. He is cornered. He reaches for his backpack and pulls out a steam iron. He is now safe from the fans. The fans cannot harm him in any way for now.
ALWAYS CARRY A STEAM IRON.


SCENARIO #2
The steam iron does not have its effect. The fans are still there, beaming threateningly on the protagonist. He reaches into his backpack for a second steam iron. He is safe once again. For now.
ALWAYS CARRY TWO STEAM IRONS. ONE WILL NO LONGER SUFFICE.

I aim to rely on the visual to tell the story; I am setting myself the challenge that no dialogue be used. Long shots will be juxtaposed with close ups, and will have similar framing and editing to the stand-offs in many of Sergio Leone's films.

The music will be a mix of the general ambience of the area, which I will mix and design through Audacity or Garageband, as well as a synth score developed in Garageband. An eerie, gloomy pad would complement the vision well.

Citizen journalism and produsage

"Think of cultural products, or art works, or the people who even use them, as being unfinished. Permanently unfinished."
Brian Eno


This idea of news and information being 'permanently unfinished' amazes me. Citizen journalism means a wider base of knowledge and experience, encouraging a diverse population to participate in an ongoing process of news production. It can be forever unfinished; new information can be added and old information can be edited.


Axel Bruns' thesis 'From Reader to Writer: Citizen Journalism as News Produsage' states the four fundamental characteristics of news produsage to be: open participation, fluid heterarchy, unfinished artefacts, and the idea of common property.


It seems as though this indeed is an alternative to traditional journalism; with news produsage and citizen journalism, the content is pre-tested by a larger range of consumers, that is, it "relies on the collective insights of a broad userbase rather than a small number of professional editors for quality assurance." (Bruns, p.7)


This places under question the role of the journalist in a world where news can be produced by the everyday observer. This will definitely mean a wider scope of the news being presented, and a more diverse agenda and opinion; everyone can participate in the production of news, feeling a sense of inclusiveness. But what does this mean for mainstream media in the future? It will be interesting to see.


References


Bruns, A 2010, 'From Reader to Writer: Citizen Journalism as News Produsage'

Exploring cheap AV production tools

I currently do not possess a digital still camera, which I initially thought would be a problem. I will, however, use my Macbook camera and use iMovie for editing. An alternative to this is waiting until late September when I do have a proper still camera.

In terms of subject matter, I was thinking of telling a story that might seen trivial and silly on the surface, but when combined with music and editing techniques for dramatic effect. I could use garageband to create a haunting, effective soundscape, and perhaps even voice!

I looked back on a very short film I made earlier in the year, where a killer pedestal fan is on the loose, which prompts a public service announcement to stay away from the dangerous appliance.

This is my video about the killer pedestal fan.

I might make another surreal, absurd story but in the form of a photo story. Perhaps a stand-off between two household appliances or the story of a lonely leafblower guy. These are just random ideas at this point, I'll be back here when my ideas have further developed.

Week 6- Task 1: Hollywood and the Internet

"People saw E.T. one year and were still talking about it one year later. Today, the equation has flipped: First, we talk about movies for a full year in advance; then, we finally see the movie, and the conversation essentially stops." (Franich, D)

This is at the heart of the conflict between the Internet and Hollywood. Cinema has been continually shaped by the new technologies that have been introduced, and most have ultimately benefited the film industry. The rise of the internet, however, prompts one to question just how beneficial for the film industry the new technology is.

Online movie leaks, illegal downloading, and an endless ocean of amateur video are symptoms of internet's plague upon the film industry. The example Darren Franich explores in his article 'The Dark Knight Rises' vs. the Internet', is Christopher Nolan's sequel to the Dark Knight which has been highly anticipated all year.
Everyone's raving about it, and leaks have been released about characters and production, but will the conversation and interest still be stirring once the film is actually released? This is a prominent issue in the debate about internet's attack on Hollywood.

An additional issue the film industry finds itself with is the modern absence of 'quality control' in the field of screen production. Before internet, video production equipment was less available to everyday people; in this sense, viewers of video were more confident that they would be watching a quality piece of filmmaking. Now with the widespread popularity of Youtube, and the affordability of fillmaking, one cannot guarantee they will be watching well-produced videos- everyone is considered a 'filmmaker' today when uploading video to Youtube.

Indeed, Youtube encourages free speech, and everyone can express themselves. There's even the argument that many independent film talents have been discovered via the internet phenomenon. We now, however, see more unintelligible, incoherent videos reach the internet which might effectively tarnish the credibility of the notion of the 'filmmaker'. Furthermore, due to the uploading of Hollywood movies and the downloading of cinematic releases, it is much harder for films to make profit.

How is Hollywood going to combat this issue? How can we keep audiences engaged with the cinema? How can the film industry motivate moviegoers yet also use the internet to its economic advantage? And how can we give the credit back to the real 'filmmakers'?


I'm anxious to know.


References:
Franich, D 2011, 'The Dark Knight Rises' vs. the Internet: How has a culture of leaks changed the moviegoing experience', viewed 1 September 2011,
http://popwatch.ew.com/2011/08/09/dark-knight-rises-leaks/