Category Archives: Homework

“The Author as Producer” by Walter Benjamin

Posted on 2011/04/06 by Darren Thompson

              Walter Benjamin’s “The Author as Producer” addresses questions of content and form, and the reality and responsibility of the writer in radical culture. The article really makes me reflect on my position as a writer in society, a … Continue reading →

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“A Little Birdie Told Me” via The Toronto Star

Posted on 2011/04/06 by Darren Thompson

The article, “A little birdie told me,” in the Toronto Star discusses the growing digital divide, by commenting on the two different types of interpretations available to the public during the G20 – that of the mainstream news and that … Continue reading →

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Indymedia.org by Dorothy Kidd

Posted on 2011/04/06 by Darren Thompson

Dorothy Kidd talks about the website, indymedia.org, and the Independent Media Centre as a “new communications commons,” and essentially putting the media back in the hands of the people, free of the standardized practices of professional mainstream media – practices … Continue reading →

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“News Quality Differences in Online Newspaper and Citizen Journalism Sites” by Serena Carpenter

Posted on 2011/04/06 by Darren Thompson

Serena Carpenter looks to compare the “quality of news” as presented by online newspaper sites – mainstream journalists – and citizen journalism sites. The article hits some great points, noting that mainstream journalists use more sources, citizen journalists are more … Continue reading →

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Panopticism as explained by Michel Foucault

Posted on 2011/04/06 by Darren Thompson

Michel Foucault’s concept of panopticism is used to explain the power relations of society. According to Foucault it’s the act of surveillance that roots power systems in society, internalizes these systems, and ultimately conditions citizens to behave in a certain way.             The … Continue reading →

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G2: Life Through a Lens” via The Guardian

Posted on 2011/04/06 by Darren Thompson

Are we slaves to our cell phones? Or are these instruments of liberation? Stuart Jeffries contemplated this in a Guardian article, and after reading it I’ve thought about it as well.             Jeffries reflection comes as he’s trying to take … Continue reading →

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Photos of Gang Rape go Viral” via the Globe and Mail

Posted on 2011/04/06 by Darren Thompson

We live in a strange new age. An article published in the Globe and Mail in 2010, titled “Photos of gang rape go viral” proves this point. A 16-year-old girl attended a rave, and according to police may have been … Continue reading →

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The Crisis of Journalism and the Internet

Posted on 2011/03/20 by Darren Thompson

Reflecting on Robert W. McChesney’s “The Crisis of Journalism and the Internet”… In an earlier post I said there are those suggesting that we’re in the early stages of a new social reform, one that will include drastic changes to … Continue reading →

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In Praise of Scribes

Posted on 2011/03/19 by Darren Thompson

“OUR SOCIAL TOOLS REMOVE OLDER OBSTACLES TO PUBLIC EXPRESSION, AND THUS REMOVE THE BOTTLENECKS THAT CHARACTERIZED MASS MEDIA. THE RESULT IS THE MASS AMATEURIZATION OF EFFORTS PREVIOUSLY RESERVED FOR MEDIA PROFESSIONALS.” Recently I read Chapter 3 of Clay Shirky’s 2008 … Continue reading →

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Social Media and Social Change

Posted on 2011/03/16 by Darren Thompson

Reflecting on Malcolm Gladwell’s “Small Change: Why the revolution will not be tweeted” We saw it in Moldova in the spring of 2009, and later that summer in Tehran Square, Iran. A “Twitter Revolution” is what they called it. The … Continue reading →

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