The Soft Cage In A Digital Age- Who Watches The Watcher?
This is a topic that I have found interesting for many years and studied in various categories from racial profiling, criminal surveillance, to consumer marketing. The article “Who Watches the Watcher?” by Eric Stoddart takes a theological approach on the subject that I have never read before. I thought this was a excellent article since he wrote about the “suspicion and lack of trust” that humans have for each other that is normal when dealing with safety and preconditioned information about a culture or ethnic group. In the book The Soft Cage by Christian Parenti he explains how surveillance in America started from slavery to Chinese railroad workers to cowboys creating the first credit report system and now a major weapon in the war on terror. In Stoddart’s article he gives a few examples of how the Bible tells stories and fables to show the divine and higher power that God has over the world and people. Christians believe that any untruthful speech will be punished or judge by the Creator and not forgotten. Surveillance from a spiritual force is needed to become a believer in the Gospels of the Bible and fundamental beliefs in Christianity. Read the rest of this entry »
Digital Democracy Reflections
Early this year I started to see a trend in the 2008 Presidential election and noticed that more and more people were tuning into politics like never before. Younger people began to mobilize in voter registration efforts and really identifying what issues they wanted addressed from any of the candidates. This was truly a moment in American history that defined what America prides itself after: democracy. The meaning of democracy according to wikipedia is a “form of government in which power is held by people in a free electoral voting system”.
When I first applied for the Digital Media program at the University of Washington I noticed that Digital Democracy was a class offered due to the election timing and surge of digital media applications. It didn’t take long for my political science background to start looking for ways to join the class and learn more. So I dived in and still very grateful that I did so.
Digital Democracy is a fitting title for this course because it provides a greater understanding of what has been improved and reaffirmed from previous elections whether on the local, state or Federal level. This course presented a open discussion of what was happening during this election and Kathy Gill was the moderator and informer. A skilled writer and advocate of digital media and its usage she informed her students on what has changed since the last election and what to possibly expect in upcoming ones as well. We discussed topics such as digital electioneering, digital advocacy and e-government practices that provided solid blueprints of how many campaigns have utilized the Internet to mobilize voters and supporters. Our reading came from two well written books that were also fitting for the current events taking place. Joe Trippi’s “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” provided many inside stories of what a campaign manager was able to do with little resources but a huge following and guerilla tactics. In “New Media Campaigns and the Managed Citizen” Philip Howard wrote about how local political elections and lobbying are carried out with the development of sophisticated organizations that are maintained with the usage of the Internet. Howard wrote how the nature of political consultancy is more than just polling and media relations, if requires strategical thinking on all levels. The voters have to be informed and each candidate wants to be able to control their message so that their target voters are not mislead about key issues. With each political campaign their is a strategy to raise money in order for the organization to survive and compete with their opponents. We witnessed with the 2008 election the Obama campaign raising over $600 million dollars in fund-raising with a large portion of it from online donations.
My short reflection of this class will be expanded with further examples in a actual essay that I will be posting very soon.
sources: Howard, Philip. New Media Campaigns and the Managed Citizen. 2006.
Trippi, Joe. The Revolution Will Not Be Televised. Updated edition 2008
FCC Transition Team Wants More Diversity in Media
The President-elect Barack Obama is starting to assign a list of cabinet positions to fill, along with his transition team advisors to make sure the most qualified people are selected. As a current student of Digital Media and reading a post about Obama nicknamed the first “social media President” I was curious to find out who will be selected the next chairman or woman for the Federal Communications Commission. Spearheading this task at a defining time in communications is Henry Rivera who was the first Hispanic FCC commissioner and now chair of the Committee on Diversity for Communications in the Digital Age has proposed his recommendations.
Considered to be an advocate for local telecoms, wireless companies and cable TV providers Riverahas proposed a short list of candidates that include two African American women. One is Julia Johnson, who is currently the chair of Video Access Alliance, which is an advocacy group for minority networks and Internet content providers. The other is the daughter of South Carolina Congressman Jim Clyburn who worked as a newspaper editor and publisher of the local Coastal Times. Rivera recently sent a letter to the Federal Communications Commission recommending three ways to enhance “the ability of minorities and women to participate in telecommunications and related industries.” The challenge that many regulators have met with this proposal to make it easier for women and minorities to own more telecom businesses is how to create programs that don’t clash with judicial hostility towards diversity plans. One of the reforms that various groups have been lobbying for is a “socially and economically disadvantaged businesses” (SDB) classification, in which minority-led “eligible entities” would receive various preferences and breaks during media sales among other transactions.
The selection for the next person to head the FCC may not be on the top priority when compared to the new Treasury Secretary but the shift of power in the ongoing battles with telecommunication cable companies and Internet giants like Google and Microsoft is a job that will determine who should pay for high-bandwidth usage. As the first social media President-elect Barack Obama is in a position to appoint the next commissioner who will over see the many new forms of communications we are currently learning throughout the MCDM program.
UN Cuts Food Aid To Zimbabwe
The United Nations World Food Programme warned that it will be cut providing food relief to over 4 million people in Zimbabwe who have been suffering recently due to unfortunate harvesting. There is currently no food in the distribution pipeline in January and February when the crisis is going to reach its peak. In October, the WFP was able to provide food to 2 million people across the southern African country in rural and urban areas.
To read further: UN Cuts Food Aid to Millions
Historic Week for MCDM Student
3 airplanes, 5 taxis, 2 trains and a new President I have finally arrived in Seattle safely. What a historic week this was and so much to share that this post is not enough. I arrived in New York City at 11 pm on November 4th and just as I caught a taxi to the hotel we listened to both candidates speech on a CBS radio station. Hearing a speech rather than seeing it on TV gives it a sense of true attention especially with the skyline of Manhattan in the background. As we arrived in Times Square the atmosphere was like New Years Eve again. Crowds were cheering and dancing while cars honked their horns and huge bright TV screens showed Obama walking on the stage with his family and Joe Biden. I took photos and caught some video footage while walking around but that was not why I was in town. As an African American I must admit that this was a moment that I will never forget. I am currently working on the first full length documentary onLead Belly and we had a scheduled interview with Mr. Harry Belafonte and the legendary Odetta the day after the election. Belafonte spoke about how Lead Belly influenced him as a singer and an actor whenever he performed around the world. As an activist he spoke about how Barack Obama’s victory was a opportunity for people to really get involved politically and “make him do the work he has promised”. In case you still wondering who Belafonte is then maybe this song would turn the light bulb on. The journey had just begun.
Election Night from a NYC Taxi
Election Night
Alvin Singh
**This was written on paper on November 4th since I was not able to get to a computer**
Midway into my flight from Seattle to New York City I stopped in Chicago for a layover. While sitting at a terminal pub I watched Fox News at 7-7:30 pm midwest time and the results showed John McCain with 39 electoral votes and Senator Obama with 103. Senator McCain won my home state of Tennessee according to Fox with 63% and Obama with 33% and I was not surprised. Neighboring state Kentucky was also colored on the screen as red signaling that McCain won 57% to Obama’s 41% electoral votes. Before I caught the next flight they showed both campaign’s victory parties and it was interesting to see that McCain’s campaign had rented a hotel conference room that was not filled yet at 5:00 pm western time. On the other hand they showed a crowd of thousands of people in downtown Chicago waiting for the Obama campaign to set up. Now I have to catch my flight…… stay tuned.
