Appeal of a Narrative

What gives a global narrative its appeal is not the topic, but the means and methods in which it arrives to our attention. A narrative can be brought to our attention through a text, but what makes that text stand out is in the way it starts. In order for a text to snatch attention, the first three determining phrases, must captivate the global audience. Other factors that make a global narrative more appealing are the medias in which it was communicated through. For example, first hand audio clips, videos, pictures or recited encounters can make a deeper impact. It's never the body that makes a narrative good, it's how it starts, how it gives you reason to invest time in what you're reading, and how the ending makes you satisfied with the time that you did invest.

Favorite Blog

My favorite blog is accessible.de (http://www.accessible.de/) I randomly stumbled upon this photoblog about a year or so ago. Uwe, the author of the photoblog, mainly does landscape photography around where she lives. She lives around Frankfurt, Germany. What I really love about her blog is the simplicty and the techniques she uses to add a dreamy element to her photos. I also love her composition and the variety of her photos. I have always been a photography-enthusiast but it wasn't until my junior year of highschool that I took a history of photography and darkroom photography course. It made me appreciate the humble beginning of photography and how it has come a long way.

Research Question/Topic

Feminicidios in Juarez, Mexico

My research looks at the global narrative of the feminicidios occurring in Juarez, Mexico and how the feminicidios and the “Big G”, globalization, are interdependent.

appeal of narrative and citizen sharing

Narratives were throughout history were published in various forms, through books, newspapers, magazines, and now the worldwide web. Narratives provide readers with a perspective that allows for many other perspectives and the creation of other narrations. With all that information that is now provided to publishers it is now up to them to pick and choose what is going to be available for the public eye. At times these organizations do not pick the correct information to share and the wrong information is distributed

One of the most important aspects of narratives is the editor. The editor takes the information that the writer established and edits it is passed down to citizens the correct way.

With the evolution of the internet it has become much easier for people to find information out and spread it as well. Now people use facebook and twitter as well as other social networks. These social networks do not work well because wrong information can be passed down and that is not the correct way to go about it.

Research Question

Cyber Narratives of China: the Invisible Hand of the Government
A Discussion on the Chinese Government’s Internet Censorship and its Effect in Fostering the Cyber Nationalism

Research Topic

The voice within television and print news compared to the voice of internet news

Citizen Journalism and Global Awareness

Citizen journalism has the freedom to go places regulated news never will. Many people now have camera phones, giving them the power to record whatever they wish to. Coupled with easy to use and widely known sites such as youtube, spreading them to a mass audience is now as simple as taking the video was. This offers a degree of protection never known to people before. A camera is a way to defend yourself against anyone breaking a law or acting against you. There have been many cases of events such as police brutality caught by a bystander which would have otherwise gone unpunished. If something major happens and there are people around, it is almost guaranteed that it will be captured on some sort of device. The death of Neda would not have made such an impact globally had it not been filmed by different people. There is a huge difference between hearing of a tragic death and actually witnessing it. When the situation is placed before you, it becomes solid and real. There is no denying that it happened, and it becomes much harder to ignore. While traditional news would simply state the facts, the footage ensures you actually feel something about it instead of letting it pass by like all the other tragedies reported.

The Appeal of Global Narratives

Global narratives are appealing, because they are directed towards something which speaks to the majority of people it reaches. It does not have to appeal to the viewer in a positive sense, it only has to affect them enough in order to be of interest. It can be anything from a hugely popular sport such as soccer, to a tragic event such as the murder of Neda. The way in which it is distributed is important. If a narrative does not receive enough initial attention, it will fade away. However, if it reaches enough people quickly enough, and is of enough basic interest, it will catch on and spread. The growth of the internet has made global narratives much more common and likely to occur. Now people in other countries can watch the U.S presidential elections, and people all over the world watch events such as the Olympics. Along with the growth of media, the definition of what is appealing has been strangely skewed. While large events such as Darfur and Hurricane Katrina still make the news, they are often placed alongside other articles describing the latest celebrity breakup. People are attracted to news of very small significance as often as those which effected many more people.

Cited:

Fischer, Annemarie. Class Discussion. “Global Media Narratives,” Binghamton University.

Research Question

Is the democratic process of featured news and headline selection based on click-through rates driving narratives towards stupidity and sensationalism?

The Appeal of Narrative and Citizen Sharing

Before narratives are born, they are conceived as newswire messages, investigative reports, scientific reports, and now tweets. Historically, these messages were transformed into popular narratives by the editors of the oligarchy of media organizations who chose the stories that they deemed the most important or the most entertaining. Some abused their power and chose stories based on their personal biases, but in a competitive marketplace that values truth, the most honest news media organizations would win out. The bottom line depended on the selling of newspapers which depended on the featured headlines on the front page. What has always largely determined the appeal of a narrative is how well it sells.

The difference today is that people can spread the news themselves by posting status updates and sharing news by the article instead of the paper. Appealing narratives can be derived from what is worth sharing instead of what will be sold. The editors no longer have to judge if a particular story is interesting to the public, as a significant sample size of the public can share it by itself and the editors can then highlight that story for the rest of the public. The pre-digital editors job was to tap into the pulse of the public by measuring sales, but now they can tap directly into the blood stream by monitoring click-through rates and the sharing of articles.

Have we seen a complete overhaul in what narratives become popular? Largely no. It is the same reporting on "things that are shocking" like international war that we have seen before, but now the focus can be shifted to the places that might have been overlooked in the past. When there were protests in Iran in June 2009, the New York Times and CNN, didn't cover the start of the protests. Only after reports of the protests took the Internet by storm, major news organizations started to cover the events. The audience now has more control than ever as to what gets covered and becomes a narrative, but the appeal is the same. There is no true definition of what is newsworthy, but it usually comes down to a few things; the shocking, the inspirational, and the relevant to ones' life. And ultimately, what would you want a friend to know?

What is a Narrative

A narrative is a way of expressing something to someone else. We use it everyday in order to communicate to others. Abbott says that the "gift of narrative is so pervasive and universal that there are those who strongly suggest that narrative is a deep structure, a human capacity genetically hard-wired into our minds in the same way as our capacity for grammar (according to some linguists) is something we are born with" (Abbott 3). It is how we comprehend what goes on around us and attempt to explain it to others. A narrative does not have to be a story, as a story will have a linear plot. A narrative can simply be a feeling someone expresses through a phrase or a poem. Herman believes that the loosely defined narrative is a way to escape from using solid terms. He describes using "the contemporary use of the term narrative as a hedging device, a way to avoid strong positions. (Herman 1). Discourse is the ability to mold the story you are trying to express into any shape you wish, and still have it mean the same thing. It doesn't matter in which order you express the events, so long as your mind is able to sort them out chronologically within the story.

Works Cited

Abbott, H. Porter. The Cambridge Introduction to Narrative. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2008. Print.

Herman, David. The Cambridge Companion to Narrative. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2007. Print.

What is Globalization?

Globalization is the interconnection of places around the world through communication. The growth of the internet has led to a huge increase in availability of information about other regions. This is ideal for understanding places we may never have been to, and theoretically would lead to a greater tolerance of other cultures and people. However, the problem lies in equal and fair distribution of resources such as the internet. As Norris puts it, "There is considerable concern worldwide that the explosion of the internet may leave many nations far behind, producing growing disparities between advanced industrialized and developing societies" (Norris 1). Information poverty is a lack of resources allowing access to knowledge most other countries have access to. If someone is attempting to educate themselves in Africa and don't have a computer, they can only rely on their neighbors. If someone wanted to learn something and had internet access, they can find everything they need. This leads to a gap between those with access and without. I believe access to the internet is now a human right, but it would be incredibly hard to pull off. If we can't even supply everyone with water, it's not likely everyone will be able to have a computer.

Works Cited

Norris, Pippa. "Information Poverty and the Wired World." The Harvard International Journal of Press/Politics. Vol. 5, No. 3, (2003)

The "Aura" and "Media Industry" in Cyberspace

The aura of something is the feeling you get when you are confronted by it in person. When you see something such as a famous work of art, or original draft of a book, you are hit by it's presence. That work was created by someone and came into existence at a specific point in time, as a way for it's maker to send a message through it. Benjamin says no reproduction of something can live up to the original, because it lacks "its presence in time and space, its unique existence at the place where it happens to be" (Benjamin 200). The constant reproduction of these unique works only serves to degrade the original. Many of the artists who created these works never intended, or even thought possible, that their creation be duplicated. They meant for the pieces to be seen in specific places and times, to serve as a message of their creativity. It is impossible to get the same experience of being in the Sistine Chapel by looking at images of it on google. However, technology makes it easy to be satisfied with a reproduction instead of the original.
Adorno describes the industry of culture as "infecting everything with sameness" (Adorno 1). He is arguing that through the growth of media such as television and radio, more people are receiving the same message. At first glance this would appear to be a culture, but on closer inspection it is revealed as a business. If everyone likes the same thing, whoever is selling that thing will be making a lot of money. Therefore, the media industry revolves around selling items to mass groups of people. When the masses are large enough, the product begins to define them. At the same time, they feel as if they are making the choice between all the products placed in front of them. However, they are still confined in the same media bubble, being forced to align with one group or another.

Works Cited

Benjamin, Walter. Illuminations. New York: Schoken Books, 1968.

Horkeimer, Max and Adorno, Theodor. Dialectic of Enlightenment. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2002.

Favorite Blog

My favorite blog is also the only one I read. Bikesnobnyc.com was introduced to me by a friend and co-worker, and it is still as interesting and hilarious as it was to me a year ago. While people who don't understand or care about biking won't find it as funny, I work in a bike shop where I see people buying the most ridiculous items in attempts to keep up with the "cool" cycling culture. The author makes hilarious obervations about everything from the new fixed gear wave to the resurgence of "vintage" bikes. I see these people everyday during the summer, and it makes me glad to know other people find the ideas they hold absurd. I'm all for the increased use of bicycles, but not when they're used mainly as a fashion accessory. It frustrates me to no end when I'm approached at my job by people asking for items as silly as carbon fiber bar ends. It shouldn't be my business whether they want to spend 60 dollars in order to save three grams of weight, but somehow I can't help being annoyed.

Research Question

How has the evolution of technology and communication had an effect on society's morals?

Research Question and Topic Title

Research Question:
How news and media can mislead and misinform people on financial fact and investment ideas, and how this can potentially lead to a deterioration of financial education found in Colleges and Universities?

Research Topic:
Media Misinterpretation: Reason amidst Financial Madness