FIVE-MINUTE PRESENTATION Lee Quarrie AME 598 Spring 2011

The Story of a Russell Pearce, Arizona State Senate President

Narrative Structure How will I, as the storyteller, approach this story? What medium will be effective in communicating the story? What lens is the storyteller looking through? What is the structure of my medium?

What’s My Story Angle? Documentarian – No claims of neutrality –Present multiple sides and layers to story –Reveal is slanted towards the ill-informed constituent –Lead viewer to questions, likely slanted towards negative opinion of Pearce

Medium Website –Interactive maps that explore data from elections voter registration voter demographics –Documentary style video clips of Russell Pearce

Lens Who am I and what is my lens? Angry voter who is learning to no longer consider simply voting my part in the representative democratic process

How to See Through a Lens Understand personal biases related to the story being told If you underscore something, know why the storyteller is emphasizing that particular point Vice versa, de-emphasize? Know why. Be able to answer that question. Someone WILL ask you - your answer will lend credence to your story if you can tell them why.

Structure of Medium the user becomes the protagonist in the narrative interaction between the platform and the materials. Strategy: build a platform that lends itself to the protagonist’s knowledge goals. Scope: incorporate features that build on this strategy. Structure: flow of site must reveal the story in a clear manner, each interaction adding value Skeleton: utilize components that will seem natural, logical to the protagonist Surface: looks are everything…appealing, intuitive, easy to follow.

The Story of Russell Pearce What is the story? –A controversial politician is re-elected and leads the current headlines with racially biased legislation and possible abuse of power Story arc –election to recall attempt

What are the elements of this story? –A controversial figure, polarizing rhetoric, uninformed citizens, racial biases Who is the protagonist? –Website user Who is the antagonist? –Russell Pearce (key figure and his own worst enemy from the perspective of the user)

What is the climax of the story? –Recent legislative votes blocked due to letter from Chamber of Commerce denouncing the anti immigration legislation Are we in a denouement? –No, unlike fiction, real life stories do not end, the narration, the focus, the players may all change, but the story never ends.

What are the tools of the revolution? –Facebook, peaceful protests, elections, websites, patriotism (rhetoric) What part did social media/media play? –Facebook notifies the network of protestors of events, protests, problems. –Blogs shared details that news reports left out of experiences of protestors, arrests, etc. –Russell Pearce ’ s homepage – rhetoric –Reporters/media revealed limited detail