Reflection.

Through constant research and analysis of online and offline sources, I have discovered that there’s more to the words and images we see in books, documents, brochures, and advertisements (among others), as every detail involved in the placement of such text and visuals has its connotation and effect.

Apart from understanding the usage of imagery and text as an important means of communicating a message, I have also understood that the application of both these elements differ according to the society in which one occupies (Kress and Van Leeuwen, 1995, p. 35). Different social structures and cultural upbringing may bring about different meanings and contexts in which documents function.

Even as I translated the information I gained into a more suitable format for blogs, I learned new things, as it taught me that different genres of information necessitate different approaches. In doing so, I have also learned about the conventions regulating each genre, such as the Bloggers’ Code of Ethics dictating appropriate conduct within the blogosphere.

Conclusively, my efforts in updating this blog have certainly paid off in that I have now become more aware and informed of the current media and publishing industry, and the issues that circulate within.

Before I sign out, I wish to express my gratitude to you, dear reader, and to Ms. Jenny, my COMM1043 lecturer who has helped me greatly throughout the course. 

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References:

Kress, G. & Van Leeuwen, T. 1995, Reading Images: The Grammar of Visual Design, Routledge, New York, accessed via UniSA online library, viewed 13 June 2011, < http://p8080-130.220.236.155.ezlibproxy3.unisa.edu.au/fedora/get/changeme:555408/CONTENT>.

Baran, S. J. 2008, ‘The Online News Association and the Bloggers’ Code of Ethics’, in Introduction to Mass Communication, sixth edition, McGraw-Hill, New York, pp. 278 - 279.

New media: New gameplan for revolution.

When new media technologies and the universal desire to live free from any repressive rule combine, revolutions happen. And it is thanks to these aforementioned technologies that such changes can take place in a relatively short period of time, as compared to the more traditional conventions of organized collective rebellion.

The article ‘Social media, cellphone video fuel Arab protests’ (Independent, 27 February 2011) focuses on technologies such as YouTube, Facebook, and cellphone cameras assisting the Middle Eastern populace in their fight for democracy.

YouTube has assisted the Arabs in their struggle for freedom by showcasing to the world the gritty reality, through amateur recordings of the raw and sometimes harsh action that takes place on the streets, while social networking sites become a tool for uniting people who share the same cause in propagating the word against oppression. The internet, when used in this manner, provides a medium for a large radius of communication which consequently gives an opportunity for every voice to be heard (Edgerly et. al, n.d, p. 3).

New media are seen as the freer alternative compared to old media (such as newspapers) which at times may restrict free speech.

(Source: www.worldpolicy.org)

New media has been highly instrumental in assisting the Arab youths in their cause, so much so that this wave of young defiant individuals has been called the Facebook Generation (Ghosh, 2011, p. 22). This is in part due to major constituents of new media (namely the internet) being interactive, multimodal, and non-territorial among other traits (Min, 2010, p. 25). These traits then allow the internet to reinforce the pursuit of a certain cause, and facilitate public expression and free speech without any restriction and discrimination.

Therefore, while new media enable a more flexible context for the discourse of democracy, a degree of awareness and literacy on the users’ part must be practiced so that the full potential of new media may become realized. 

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References:

Edgerly, S. et. al, n.d, Youtube as a Public Sphere: The Proposition 8 Debate, presented at the Association of Internet Researchers conference, viewed 12 June 2011, < https://www.msu.edu/~jmonberg/415/Schedule_files/Edgerly_et_al_YouTube_Public_Sphere.pdf>.

Ghosh, B. 2011, ‘Rage, rap and revolution’, Time, 28 February, pp. 20 – 25.

Min, S. J. 2010, ‘From the digital divide to the democratic divide: Internet skills, political interest, and the second-level digital divide in political internet use’, Journal of Information Technology & Politics, no.7, pp. 22-35, viewed 27 April 2011, <http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.taylors.edu.my/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=75d6bbb0-a96a-4287-a311-8d97cf3b379d%40sessionmgr15&vid=1&hid=7>.  

Now everyone's a gamer in their own way.

Mobile gaming is seeing a massive increase in popularity, as games such as Rovio’s Angry Birds are yanking in hundreds of millions of downloads. The article ‘Angry Birds: 200m downloads are the tip of the mobile gaming iceberg’ (19 May 2011) by Stuart Dredge of Guardian (online) illustrate how this game in particular is enjoying an impressive streak of success, seeing a likely expansion of the franchise into motion picture territory, and other forms of promotion (Lacy, 2011).

The craze surrounding this game was mostly initiated by the iPhone and iPad, and from there on in things could not have been more stellar than how they are now for the developers.

This phenomenon demonstrates just how the current discourse of the gaming world is changing, as the gaming industry takes on more innovative ways and seeks to incorporate the social spheres into the gaming world (Innovatrs.com, 2011). Other games such as Farmville and World of Warcraft are similarly successful due to the social factor infused in the gameplay, dismissing the traditional stereotype that gamers are loners lurking in the confines of their rooms.

I for one admit to be rather excluded from the social and mobile gaming loop, regardless of having played a few games in the past. Nevertheless, I acknowledge that new trends in gaming such as these are currently becoming more and more prominent, as the gaming sphere changes and adapts to the times.

The social factor included into current games are becoming increasingly vital in the current gaming landscape, so much so that social games are forecasted to have an amount up to 68.7 million players by 2012 (Schreier, 2011).

Another phenomenon that helps propel such games to spread among a large base of internet and mobile phone users is the ‘viral’ factor, brought about by word-of-mouth and the passing on of information from one user to another (Wilson, 2005). Therefore, when one person plays a certain mobile game, depending on how he or she likes it, he or she will then talk about the game to friends and acquaintances, thus spreading more potential players which ultimately brings about the initiation of a streak of success.

Conclusively, as much as a game can be modern, intricate, and sophisticated, it still relies on good old word of mouth and the social interaction between individuals to truly push it to accomplish big feats. 

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References:

Innovatrs.com, 2011, ‘Social and mobile gaming heralds innovation’, Innovatrs, viewed 12 June 2011, < http://www.innovatrs.com/blog/social-and-mobile-gaming-heralds-innovation/>.

Lacy, S. 2011, ‘Angry Birds tops 200 million downloads; more than double its “crazy” forecast (TCTV)’, Tech Crunch, viewed 12 June 2011, < http://techcrunch.com/2011/05/18/angry-birds-tops-200-million-downloads-more-than-double-its-crazy-forecast-tctv/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Techcrunch+%28TechCrunch%29>.  

Schreier, J. 2011, ‘5 top social games and why they’re so successful’, Mashable.com, viewed 12 June 2011, < http://mashable.com/2011/02/15/top-social-games/>.

Wilson, R. 2005, ‘The six simple principles of viral marketing’, Web Marketing Today, viewed 12 June 2011, < http://www.wilsonweb.com/wmt5/viral-principles.htm>. 

Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V, Ctrl+S, and done: The plague of plagiarism.

Plagiarism is a misconduct that is gaining notoriety and is becoming an increasingly worrying problem in the fields of academia and publishing. The article ‘Plagiarism: The Ctrl + C, Ctrl + V boom’ featured in BBC Magazine (2 March 2011) details how this breach of integrity is quickly spreading, most commonly among students and occasionally involving high-profile individuals such as German Defence Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg and Colonel Gaddafi’s son, Saif al-Islam.

The growing accounts of plagiarism nowadays are in part due to the ease of access and the vast information made available on the internet. A plagiarist in more traditional times may have had to read extensively through an array of books to source for information to replicate; but in this modern day it is just a matter of simply browsing through search engines, a few clicks here and there, copying, and finally pasting into the deceitful document.  

Technology has certainly made life easier - imagine having to manually go through all of that for a few pieces of information! Unfortunately, cheating has also been made easier with technology.

(Source: www.readkutubkids.wordpress.com)

In my opinion, while the internet has certainly proved to be highly instrumental in providing a massive source of information for academic purposes, we can’t take such convenience for granted without putting in our own effort in order to make our work worthwhile.

Nevertheless, the fact still remains that the internet has only created better, more well-equipped cheaters which ultimately raises the level of difficulty in catching such perpetrators (Kennedy, 2006). However, while the internet gives more for plagiarists to source from, it has also granted a degree of ease for authorities to weed out any culprits, through web-based plagiarism detection technologies. Despite the increasing prominence of such technologies, tutors and lecturers still find their gut instincts serving them best, as it takes a degree of scepticism on their part to initiate any further investigation into a document’s integrity (Miller, 2007).

Therefore, while authorities may do their best in catching up with plagiarists before they grow anymore rampant, it remains as a case of prevention being better than the cure. Instead of constantly bombarding students and would-be cheaters with threats of strict repercussions, the powers-that-be should educate them about plagiarism and how to best avoid it (Nagel, 2010). This will deter the initial urge to plagiarize and hopefully avoid such activity from surging in popularity.


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References:

Kennedy, R. 2006, ‘Digital plagiarism: The role of society and technology’, Orange: A Student Journal of Technical Communication, viewed 11 June 2011, < http://orange.eserver.org/issues/5-1/kennedy.html>.

Miller, K. 2007, ‘Professors take search for plagiarism to web’, Palm Beach Post, 17  June, viewed 11 June 2011, < http://proquest.umi.com.ezlibproxy.unisa.edu.au/pqdweb?index=0&did=1291271971&SrchMode=1&sid=2&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1307947881&clientId=14273>.

Nagel, D. 2010, ‘Plagiarism deterred through information, not threats’, Campus Technology, viewed 11 June 2011, < http://campustechnology.com/articles/2010/02/02/plagiarism-deterred-through-information-not-threats.aspx>. 

That's not funny: When cartoons go bad.

The article ‘Berita Harian issues public apology over tsunami cartoon’ by Wong Pek Mei in the Star (14^th March 2011) reports the backlash faced by local newspaper Berita Harian after having published a cartoon by Zohri Sukimi (or better known as Zoy) depicting Ultraman, an iconic Japanese superhero, fleeing from a tidal wave.

(Source: www.allvoices.com)

This cartoon prompted swift condemnation by many, seeing as it was made public while Japan was still assessing the extensive damage incurred from the devastating earthquake and tsunami that swept through the country a few days prior. 

The disaster had dealt a massive blow to Japan, resulting in the deaths of up to 15,413 people and costing the country billions of dollars in damages.

Berita Harian took due notice and apologized for their lack of proper judgement, after being criticized by various parties from both ends of the political spectrum, as well as the public.

Instances such as this demonstrate the importance of censorship despite pursuing the freedom of speech and expression, namely through the medium of cartoons. Apart from inspiring creativity, drawings and images also contribute to more effective ways of conveying  messages, especially if added with elements of humour, as Ginman and Ungern-Sternberg (2003, p. 76) suggest. 

However, when put into the context of a broader medium such as the newspaper, cartoons take on more serious roles in society – ranging from being an impetus for the forming of public opinion, to becoming a simplified representation of certain situations and aspects of life, to accommodate better understanding (Abraham, 2009, p. 119) – and crank a few laughs along the way.

Despite having liberty in expression, an artist must practice caution when it involves sensitive subject matter. Unfortunately, such caution was not evident in the case of the ‘tsunami’ cartoon, as all were clear and unanimous in deeming the cartoon offensive. The editors were to shoulder the blame equally, as they should have exercised self-censorship and simply practiced more awareness.

Every section printed within the published medium depicts the stance of the writers and the overall rationale of the editors (Jenkins, Sunday Times, 5 February 2006). Therefore, if such an offensive piece were to be printed without restriction, what would that imply about the mentality of the professionals in the local newspaper industry?

Conclusively, stricter regulation must be enforced in order to prevent such blunders from reoccurring, and ultimately save the reputation and credibility of our printing press. 

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References:

Abraham, L. 2009, ‘Effectiveness of cartoons as a uniquely visual medium for orienting social issues’, Journalism and Communication Monographs, vol. 11, no. 2, pp. 117 – 165, viewed 10 May 2011, <http://proquest.umi.com.ezlibproxy.unisa.edu.au/pqdweb?index=0&did=1847708961&SrchMode=1&sid=1&Fmt=6&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1307904181&clientId=14273>.

Ginman, M. & Ungern-Sternberg, S. 2003, ‘Cartoons as information’, Journal of Information Science, vol. 29, no. 1, pp. 69 – 77, viewed 10 June 2011, <http://jis.sagepub.com.ezlibproxy.unisa.edu.au/content/29/1/69.full.pdf+html>.

Jenkins, S. 2006, ‘These cartoons don’t defend free speech, they threaten it’, Sunday Times (online), viewed 10 June 2011, <http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article727080.ece>.