Throughout this whole experience, I have managed to learn:
how to apply the theories to the current issue.
how to design a good document in combination of words and images
how the whole blogging phenomenon works
about the classification of blogs which leave me amazed as there are so many different types of blogs out there!
the power of new media surprised me by how it can change the mindset of people today.
Other than that, I've learnt that:
when a designer and editor choose their cover, they have to be aware of the cultural and ethics issue in order not to offend the public.
the power of the photography left me astounded as I never knew it can be used to serve as a propaganda and political tool.
the benefits of the arising webisodes allow me to view television programme on not just television but on the website as well.
the interesting origin of emoticons and the email etiquette helps me in enhancing my relationship across the net.
As a blogger, I have to be responsible with what I posted and make sure is accurate, accountable, neutral, ethical and be sensitive to culture so that I will not offend anyone. Besides, the design of my blog should be user-friendly so that the readers will have an easier time to browse through and also be attracted to read.
Overall, I have learnt the basic of Blogging 101 and also have a better understanding in issues in publishing and designing! :-)
You are the typical busy city people leading a hectic life who don't have much time for T.V. Or instead, don't even own one because laptop is sufficient enough. How do you catch up with your favorite shows such as The Office or Scrubs? With websidodes, you can now view your shows on the internet.
Image Source: Google.com
Webisodes
So what exactly is webisodes? According to Carlson (2008), webisode is a minidrama produced in relation to an existing television series which is presented on the network's website. Mostly, it focuses on lesser known or unknown characters and plotlines from the main series.
Webisodes Format & Style
Corbett (ABC, 2007) stated that normally the webisodes lasted 5 minutes as audiences tend to have short attention span when reading or viewing online compared to television. Besides, webisodes allows people the freedom of shift time as you can choose to watch whenever you like it unlike tv which has a fixed time. Also, webisodes is a great platform for advertising.
For example, 'I can believe is not butter' is a butter substitute for cooking and the parody was featured in the websidoes 'Spray of Her Life' which mainly targets at women. After it was aired, the butter was instantly popular and the company earned big bucks from it. (Graham, 2005)
Image Source: Google.com
The Product
Image Source: Google.com
Featured in the 'Spray of Her Life' soap-drama parody.
Webisodes Narration
Baker (2002) will share his 7 top tips in writing websiodes series:
Short and Sweet - short attention span as you have less than 10 seconds to hook the attention
Style and Look - without it, people will not be bothered to watch.
Your audience knows your protagonists (the good guys) and antagonists (bad guys) by the time your first webisode wraps.
You need a compelling cliffhanger - suspend at the end of each episode
Find interesting and creative idea for your story.
Keep it visual. Keep the dialogue to minimum.
Write it 30-35 slots per story which translated to about 4 or 5 pages with each lasted around one minute only.
Appeal to Audience
Corbett from ABC (2007) stated that kids nowadays 'watch' their computer more than their television. Therefore, the targeted audiences are young adults and therefore the producers ought to relate the interesting issue such as sex, drugs, dramas to attract the attention. Besides, engage viewers online with extra content, forums, messenger, and advertising and get them to participate in the show by allowing them to vote at the end of the show.
Image Source: doublexposure.com
In Malaysia, the show "Double Exposure" is Malaysia's first reality show on the web and it allows audience participation by letting audiences guess who will be voted out and he or she who guess correctly will win prizes like Sony Camera. (Sony Double Exposure, 2008)
Conclusion
Webisodes is the current trend among the younger generation today and it brings benefits which could be maximized for better usage. Television is no longer the only medium we can watch our dramas from.
These are the pictures taken from the 'War Photo Limited' which showcase the war pictures between Israel and Palestine. Judging from the pictures above, it clearly indicates that the emotions pictures can bring outweight the words. For example, look at the first picture whereas the man is standing amidst the after-bombed building, looking devastated. The second picture with the woman hugging the picture of her loved ones at the grave looking heartbroken and the third picture shows kids looking scared with fear written all over their eyes and covering their ears which could be the sounds of bombings or people screaming from pain.
Goddard (ABC, 2007) stated that the photograph was the one who should be trusted as the photojournalist is the one at the frontline experiencing that very moment and he captured it with his camera comparing to those news editors who just sit in their office writing the story with their political orideological views.
According to Walsh (2006, p.29), one have to break the visual code in order to understand an image. For example, a reader will understand the image above if he or she knows about the background of the pictures which is the war between Israel and Palestine and war brings grief.
Photo Manipulation & Photojournalism
Even though a picture has a huge impact. It is undeniable that photo manipulation are used for propaganda purposes especially political purposes. “Wars fought somewhere else really only become ‘our wars’ because the media creates what is in fact an illusion of participation in them.” The mental images of war conjured by the public as a result of media reporting are in fact illusions. We the civilians who stay at home depend on objective yet complete reports to create their interpretation of the situation, which will be used in determining their support or opposition to the conflict. (Gast, 2004)
For example, during the Israel and Lebanon war in 2006, the reporter, Adnan Haji, who worked for Reuters, manipulated some of the war photos.
Image Source: Google.com
The original picture (left) showed the smoke after bombing at the buildings in Beirut, Lebanon and it was distorted (right) to exaggerate the effects of the smoke and bombing which can be insulting for the families who had their loved ones died in that incident. (Lapin, 2006)
Why photo manipulation? According to Whiteman (2007), the photojournalist might have the "lust to create a more sensational looking image" and also because the life of a war journalist is not one can imagined therefore when the editor rushed them for deadlines the war jounalist don't really emphasize on the accountability due to the time-pressure.
Conclusion
A photograph reflects the subjective approach and interpretation of the photographer and sometimes, certain pictures are being manipulated for their personal or propaganda purpose. Therefore, as a reader, we should not just read the image as it is but read more deeply and photojournalist ought to follow their ethics by not creating sensational photographs and editors ought to stop deciding what to publish based on their political view.
Emoticons It happened 25 years ago when Professor Fahlman, from the Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, told his friends that they should put a smiley face when they made a joke online which could be made by typing a colon, hyphen and parenthesis. (ABC, 2007)
Professor Fahlman and his emoticon.
Image Source: Google.com
Ever since, the emoticons has developed to the yellow graphic smileys which no longer restricted to just a smile or frown but many others and animated as well. The yellow smileys are everywhere ranging from emails to chats to posts on forums.
The emoticons today.
Image Source: Google.com
So what exactly is an emoticon and what causes it to be such a big thing in the online community today? Rezabek and Cochenour defined emoticon as “visual cues formed from ordinary typographical symbols that when read sideways represent feelings or emotions.” while Thompson and Foulger defined 'pictographs' as “to express emotion or as surrogates for nonverbal communication.” (Yigit, 2005)
This indicates that people use the emoticons to express the non verbal cues which can't be seen literally through the net. But, one have to be careful in choosing emoticons as it can misinterpret the whole meaning.
For example,
"You're an idiot!" ;-)
-seen as joking manner with the winking smiley face
"You're an idiot!"
-seen as rude and be taken seriously
Rose (2009) stating the emoticons which have universal meaning such as the smiley can help save time in typing and convey the meaning more effectively to enhance the relationship between people across cultures. Remember to use the emoticons sparingly as it can get annoying if it shows at every line.
E-mail Etiquette
Image Source: Google.com
This is the reality in most of our e-mail accounts. Being buried with tons of spams, so how many people out there exactly practice email etiquette?
Schwalbe stated that e-mail is the symbol of the way we treat each other, if we're annoying, vague and demanding on the e-mail, we are that way too in real-life and not just e-mail. (ABC, 2007)
Therefore, it is important to practice the e-mail etiquette and below are the top 5 tips by Egan (2004, p. 27)
Be concise and to the point - won't be discourage to read.
Use proper spelling, grammar and punctuation - give a bad impression and cause misinterpretations.
Answer all questions and pre-ampt further questions - save time and frustration and the other party will thought of you as thoughtful and efficient.
Take care of abbreviations and emoticons - not appropriate to use 'LOL' in business emails.
Use a meaningful subject - tells the content of the email
Conclusion
Use the emoticons in moderate and practice the simple e-mail etiquette can help enhance your online relationship and create less misunderstandings as images (emoticons) and words need to co-exist to produce a meaningful and good document to be read. (Schriver, 1997)
Reference
Egan, M 2004, E-mail Etiquette, Cool Publications, U.S.A.
On July 21st, 2008, The New Yorker's cover featured Barrack Obama dressed in a robe and turban and his wife, Michelle Obama dressed in military attire, standing in the White House's Oval table with an American flag burning in the fire place with a portrait of the Al-Qaeda's leader, Osama Bin Laden above.
In the picture, the couple also give each other a fist bump which is a common greeting they normally gave each other in the public but a Fox News television presenter once called a "terrorist fist jab." (AFP, New York)
New Yorkers' Defense Despite the stir among the public, the illustrator remained to defend his cover by stating that "I think the idea that the Obamas are branded as unpatriotic (let alone as terrorists) in certain sectors is preposterous," Blitt told the Huffington Post website.
"It seemed to me that depicting the concept would show it as the fear-mongering ridiculousness that it is," he said.
"Our cover 'The Politics of Fear' combines a number of fantastical images about the Obamas and shows them for the obvious distortions they are," said New Yorker editor David Remnick.
"The burning flag, the nationalist-radical and Islamic outfits, the fist-bump, the portrait on the wall -- all of them echo one attack or another," he said.
"Satire is part of what we do, and it is meant to bring things out into the open, to hold up a mirror to prejudice, the hateful, and the absurd. And that's the spirit of this cover." (AFP, New York)
Ethics in Publishing & Context
According to Michelle Powers (2007), ethical communication is promoting communication that requires caring and mutual understanding that respects the unique needs and characteristics of the individual. Besides, KVL (p.19, 2006) stated that inappropriate visuals can lead to misinterpretation and can lead to 'serious potential threat' to society and diverse culture. The New Yorker failed to do so as they did not access a situation with respect to an audience's social, cultural or emotional sensitivity especially the Muslim community and causes a stir among the publics.
Cultural Context
Schirato and Yell (2000) stated that cultural which acts as the external influence to text which collectively shared by society and situational contexts which consists of the parts necessary to the text are combined to produce any discourse whether is text-speech or written or both. Therefore, it is important that the editors and writers take notice on their readers and the cultural and situational background they are in.
Obama spokesman Bill Burton said. "Most readers will see it as tasteless and offensive. And we agree," he said in a statement.
Conclusion
I don't think the cover is appropriate due to its sensitivity in cultural context and it might causes displeasure among the public espcially the Muslim community.
Reference
Kress, G. & van Leeuwen, T. 2006, Reading Images: Visual Communication, p.19.
In Malaysia, the media is restrained by laws such as the Printing Press Act (PPPA), Internal Security Act (ISA) and Seditious Act. If any reports were found 'sensitive' to the government, the media company will be either sued or have the license revoked.
Opposition party are not given enough 'spaces' in the mainstream media to voice out and the one-sided story among the mainstream media frustrated the readers as the censorship is overpowering, thus they turn to the alternative media - Web 2.0, such as blogs and youtubes to listen to a more neutral point of views. (Kaslan, 2008, p.83)
New Media
By using the new media, one can post his or her thoughts freely without much restrictions and also share the information.
The other is the opposition political party, DAP hold their meeting before the March 8 election and attracted around 7,000 people and managed to received donations of RM 30,000. By uploading the video on youtube, the message by DAP will send across to more and more people.
The contents of the above three videos are not allowed to be published in any forms of mainstream media due to its sensitivity, therefore, by opting YouTube, the politicians have a platform to voice out their opinions.
Other than YouTube, the opposition party also make use of blogs, such as the famous ScreenShots which allows jeff oi to win a seat in Penang and also social networking sites such as Anwar Ibrahim on Facebook.
Yeoh (2008, p.25) stated that the new media is making its way towards the people as these new media reached its targeted audience well (young adults & adults) through the usage of the internet. Besides KVL (2001) stated that the usage of multimodality is to create multiple sensory among the viewers therefore the new media incorporate multile modes to acheive better impact.
Conclusion
Participatory democracy in Malaysia might not be in full swing but we are the change we can see. With more and more voices screaming for freedom of speech and people starting taking action, full participatory democracy might not be a dream after all.
Reference:
Kress & Van Leeuwen 2001, 'Multimodal Discourse: The Modes and Media of Contemporary Communication", Arnold, London.
Raslan, K 2008, ‘Wither The Mainstream Media?’, Tipping Points: Viewpoints On The Reason For And Impact of The March 8 Election Earthquake, The Edge Communications, Selangor, pp. 83-85
Yeoh, O 2008, ‘What Role Did New Media Play in GE 08?’ , The Edge Financial Daily, 12th March, p. 25.
