On Transliteracy

When I pinged Eric Rice for feedback about the podcast portion of this class, he turned me onto a new term: transliteracy.

I've long been interested in multiple media literacy, but this term frames my thinking in a new way. It should be useful for this week's session.

Who Said That?

Last night, we briefly touched on the benefits and dangers of anonymity. Today, this article crossed my transom. Any comments?

Pop Culture References to Blogs

When I got home from class tonight, I turned on the TV, and on Comedy Central, they were airing a rerun of the South Park episode "The Snuke." The best parts of the episode touch on one of tonight's topics -- the tracks and paths we leave online by participating in blogging and other user-generated media activities.

I've embedded a YouTube video of portions of the episode below. True to form, portions of this South Park episode are of questionable taste. If you are easily offended by references to racial stereotypes, female anatomy, flatulence, and other themes, don't watch the whole thing. But if you fast forward to about 3:20, you can get a sense of what I'm talking about. The next segment most worthy of your attention begins around 5:03.



This post is also an exercise of another topic from tonight's class: copyright infringement. While I did not edit nor upload the YouTube segment, and while I do not in general condone copyright infringement, I believe that this falls under fair use. I am including the segment here for teaching purposes, as well as research, scholarship, criticism, and comment. The use is also important for the discussions in class, and I've highlighted a specific, small amount to meet that educational purpose.

Writing for the Web

USC Annenberg's Online Journalism Review offers some good guidelines for writing blog entries and other online items. You might find them useful as you begin your individual blogs.

Political Party Lines

There's an interesting article in yesterday's Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune that compares how the Web is used by the Democratic and Republican parties. We'll spend more time on political blogs later in the course, and this might be some useful early food for thought.

Are Bloggers Journalists?

A writer and editor for a political Web site in Hawaii is embroiled in a lawsuit involving reportage about the failure of a dam, which led to seven deaths. The prosecuting attorney has asked that the reporter, Malia Zimmerman, divulge her sources. Hawaii has no journalist shield law.

What might be more interesting, however, is that one of the issues the judge needs to determine is whether the writer is a "real journalist." The publishers of the Web site don't consider it a blog, and the writer in question worked as a consultant for ABC's program "20/20."

"It seems to me that if a blogger is a journalist, everyone can produce a blog and never be subject to a subpoena," McCorriston said. "Are all bloggers journalists? It's a question that's never been answered anywhere."

Are all bloggers journalists? No. Are all journalists bloggers? No. Are some bloggers journalists -- and vice versa? Of course. It'll be interesting to see how this shapes up.

Ruin of the MilBlogs?

Class hasn't started yet, but here's a quick thought exercise:

Two articles make an interesting parallel read this week. In Slate, Phillip Carter considers whether the American military should restrict blogs published and written by soldiers. His verdict? No. The military branches have the right to do so, but not doing so helps bridge the gap between people in the military -- and civilians.

Besides, if the U.S. Army and other organizations did censor soldiers' blogs, our government would be one step closer to that of Fiji. Since the coup late last year, the military might be taking steps to shut down several blogs critical of the regime.

What concerns need to be taken into account when looking at blog coverage of the military? Should soldier bloggers be treated differently than civilian bloggers? Do soldiers give up their right to free speech when they join the military?

Update: The Department of Defense has announced that soldiers serving overseas will not be able to access sites such as YouTube and MySpace. The reason: Increased traffic slows performance of network performance. Possible solutions: Use your own computer and network.

URLs for Writer's Block

Margaret mentions a lot of different Web sites and blogs in her book. Here's a list. Each link might give you some ideas of what you could do with your own blog.

• 43 Folders
  
• J. Geoffrey Badner
  
• Blogjam
  
• Michael Buffington
  
• Burritoeater
  
• Childs Play x2
  
• Cockeyed
  
• Anil Dash
  
• Defective Yeti
  
• Die Old
  
• Dooce
  
• Electrolicious
  
• Fussy
  
• Phil! Gregory
  
• The Grocery List Collection
  
• Jenville
  
• Kottke.org
  
• Leahpeah
  
• Lifehacker
  
• Metafilter
  
• Mighty Goods
  
• The Morning News
  
• PostSecret
  
• Que Sera Sera
  
• San Francisco Stories
  
• Sparkwood & 21
  
• Suburban Bliss
  
• Superhero Journal
  
• Take Me to the Volcano
  
• Textism
  
• Jeffrey Veen
  
• A Whole Lotta Nothing
  

Exercise: Pick three blogs or sites from the above list. Read them daily for several days. Write a brief essay about what you like and dislike about the blogs, as well as how they and their writers' work. Compare and contrast.

A Cure-All for Writer's Block

Parts of this course will be similar to a media studies class. Other parts might seem like a creative writing or journalism class. In her new book, No One Cares What You Had for Lunch: 100 Ideas for Your Blog, long-time blogger Margaret Mason, writes, "In the end, blogging is just writing."

But if you're new to blogging, what about? As the class progresses, students will develop and maintain their own blog. If you're not sure what to write about in the beginning, this book might offer some helpful ideas -- especially if your blog concept is more personally oriented. Some of my favorites: "Examine your paperwork," "Get nostalgic," "Give us your scraps," "Give a tour," and "Take inventory."