1 Lecture 11: David’s Slingshot: Professor Victoria Meng Do digital media help the underdog?

2 Review: Flew Technology (Media) = object + activity + context = tool + skill + infrastructure Example: PowerPoint presentation + Making and using the presentation + Factories, utilities, schools, etc.

3 Unit I: Imagination and Practice (activities and skills) Unit II: Forms and Styles (objects and tools) Unit III: Identity and Community (context and infrastructure) Course Design

4 Unit IUnit II “Forest”“Trees” Media in generalMedia specificity

5 Course Design I: “Forest” (activities) II: “Trees” (objects) III: “Biomes” (contexts)

6 Why Politics Matter Political Activism, broadly defined. Typical reactions to the word “politics”: it’s “boring,” “dirty,” and “too much trouble.”

7 Why Politics Matter Politics is an important context for understanding media technology.

8 Why Politics Matter Can digital media be a “slingshot” that changes traditional power relationships? David and Goliath

9 Lecture Outline “The Promise and the Peril of Social Action in Cyberspace” (Gurak, 1999) “Photoshop for Democracy” (Jenkins, 2006) An Inconvenient Truth (Guggenheim, 2006) MoveOn.org; Haystack

10 Reading: Gurak The Internet during the 1990s: a different digital experience.

11 Reading: Gurak The Internet during the 1990s: a different digital experience. Starting to become a “democratic” medium Hardware and software were expensive, difficult to use, and slow Relatively few users who had a lot in common: “Net Community”

12 Reading: Gurak Case Studies: Lotus MarketPlace, 1990; Clipper chip, 1994.

13 Reading: Gurak Case Studies: Lotus MarketPlace, 1990; Clipper chip, Method: Collecting Internet communications, tracking sources and dates, and performing rhetorical analysis.

14 Reading: Gurak Case Studies: Lotus MarketPlace, 1990; Clipper chip, Method: Collecting Internet communications, tracking sources and dates, and performing rhetorical analysis. Conclusion: the Internet changed how information was delivered and the nature of social action.

15 Reading: Gurak Promise: “…the speed and reach of online delivery along with a powerful community ethos made the issues clear and immediately accessible…” (248)

16 Reading: Gurak Promise: “…the speed and reach of online delivery along with a powerful community ethos made the issues clear and immediately accessible…” (248) Peril: “…in cyberspace, certain voices/texts can easily become dominant, whatever their level of accuracy.” (259)

17 Gurak: Characteristics of Internet Delivery Internet v. mail, telephone, face-to-face

18 Gurak: Characteristics of Internet Delivery FasterMore reckless

19 Gurak: Characteristics of Internet Delivery FasterMore reckless CheaperMore careless

20 Gurak: Characteristics of Internet Delivery FasterMore reckless CheaperMore careless Far-reachingHard to assess

21 Gurak: Characteristics of Internet Delivery FasterMore reckless CheaperMore careless Far-reachingHard to assess Compressed“TMI”

22 Gurak: Characteristics of Internet Delivery FasterMore reckless CheaperMore careless Far-reachingHard to assess Compressed“TMI” Hierarchy- flattening Less formal tone

23 Gurak: Characteristics of Internet Delivery FasterMore reckless CheaperMore careless Far-reachingHard to assess Compressed“TMI” Hierarchy- flattening Less formal tone Community ethosIsolationism

24 Reading: Jenkins Convergence Culture by Henry Jenkins

25 Reading: Jenkins “The current diversification of communication channels is politically important because it expands the range of voices that can be heard: though some voices command greater prominence than others, no one voice speaks with unquestioned authority.” (208)

26 Reading: Jenkins “The new media operate with different principles…: access, participation, reciprocity, and peer-to-peer rather than one-to-many communication. Given such principles, we should anticipate that digital democracy will be de-centralized, unevenly dispersed, profoundly contradictory, and slow to emerge.” ( )

27 Reading: Jenkins “The new political culture – just like the new popular culture – reflects the pull and tug of these two media systems: one broadcast and commercial, the other narrowcast and grassroots.” (211)

28 Reading: Jenkins “…crystallizing one’s political perspectives into a photomontage that is intended for broader circulation is no less an act of citizenship than writing a letter to the editor of a local newspaper that may or my not actually print it.” (222)

29 Reading: Jenkins Red v. Blue ( )

30 Community v. Isolation An Inconvenient Truth (Guggenheim, 2006)

31 Community v. Isolation An Inconvenient Truth (Guggenheim, 2006)

32 Community v. Isolation An Inconvenient Truth (Guggenheim, 2006)

33 Review: Friedman

End of Lecture 11 Next Lecture: “Spending” Time: Is there balance between mass production and customization? 34