1. Chapter 16
Multimedia Arguments

2. The Good, The Bad, The Ugly Old Media Vs New Media
Books
Photographs
Journals
Movies
Newspapers
TV news
Fliers
Radio shows
E-reader books
Films & movie websites
Online magazines
Blog posts
Online newspapers
Facebook status
Twitter hashtag
databases

3. The Good, The Bad, The Ugly Old Media Vs New Media
Couldn’t be shared or distributed
Clumsy, hard to locate, hard to distribute, hard to search, hard to archive analog objects
Handy for sequential reading, but not so great moving back and forth or browsing (e-books)
Can be found instantly online, complete with updates and corrections, links that help establish their context, but they usually have lots and lots of inane, offensive, and bitter comments. (online magazines & newspapers)
Relies on wifi or cell phone signal, which isn’t always available.
Faster, more accurate, & efficient
How much can one really say in 140 characters?

4. DataBases
Don’t fight it
Learn how to use them

5. Analyzing Multimedia Arguments
See pages for questions to help you analyze multimedia arguments.
Pay attention to:
Creators & distributors
Medium it uses
Viewers and readers it hopes to reach
Content and purpose
Design

6. Assignment
Find a multimedia argument & analyze it by answering the questions on pages
Hint: Look at social media sites for a political or social issue being debated

7. Making A multimedia argument: website
Pay careful attention to:
Purpose of your site
Intended audience
Overall impression you want to make

8. Making A multimedia argument: website
Principles for web-based presentations
Contrast- use of color, icons, boldface, etc
Helps guide readers through the site
Proximity- calls on you to keep together the parts of a page that are closely related
For the ease of reading
Repetition- using consistent design throughout the site for the elements (such as headings and links)
Helps readers move smoothly through the environment
Overall Impression or Mood- colors and visuals on the pages should help to create that impression rather than challenge or undermine it.

9. Making A multimedia argument: Videos
Easier than ever to produce
Use to:
Document public events
Show how to do practical things

10. Making A multimedia argument: Wikis
What are they?
Web-based sites that enable writers to collaborate in the creation of a single project or database.
Unreliable because no one really knows who the writers are.

11. Making A multimedia argument: Blogs
Unreliable because they haven’t been critically reviewed in the way that traditional print sources edit their stories.
If you blog yourself, or comment on others’ postings, remember to follow common sense good manners:
Be respectful
Think carefully about what you are saying and about the impression you want to leave with those who read you.

12. Making A multimedia argument: Social Media
Consider how these media may be influencing your political and cultural views
Pay attention to how arguments there are made, supported, and connected
Social media is faster than newspapers & even TV News Stations. Is this the future of news?