Ethics Matter.

Ethical Reporting “He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction from himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me” –Thomas Jefferson

Brian Carroll’s book, Writing and Editing for Digital Media, explores writing effectively and ethically in digital spaces.

Malpractice in journalism: defamation and libel

Libel has 3 ingredients: the questionable material must be printed or published (written) erroneous or false, and defamatory.

Libel law: reputation has been damaged and that it can be repaired through monetary damages. Carroll, 281)

3 types of defamation

libel per se, occurs with accusations that are obviously defamatory.

Libel by interpretation: concerns something published that is or could be libelous depending upon at least one of a number if competing interpretation.

Libel per quod: concerns something that has been published that becomes defamatory when readers add something commonly known that does not appear in the story.

Get a copyright

•                   Copyright owners have a right to granting, limiting, or prohibiting:
•                   Reproductions
•                   Derivative works (like video game version or website, or online encyclopedia)
•                   Public distribution
•                   Public performance
•                   Public display
•                   Public digital performance of a sound recording

And in case you were wondering what it does not cover:

•                   Trivial materials
•                   Ideas (remember, it protects only their expression)
•                   Utilitarian goods (like a toilet or more specifically, how the toilet works)
•                   Book or movie titles and names;
•                   Lists of ingredients’
•                   Standard calendars and rules;
•                   Method, systems, procedures, math principles, formulae, equations, and the periodic chart of elements
•                   Anything that does not offer its origin to the author (non-original works).

Brian Carrol describes in detail the ramifications of libel, the logistics of copyrighting and the basic intellectual property law as it relates to digital content.

Social Media and Advocacy

Healthy alternatives are all around us.

You just have to find them. There is always an alternative to comparing your physical features to someone on the internet. Social media is a never ending forum where people around the world can  interact and exchange information and ideas. The book, Cyberprotest: New Media, Citizens and Social Movements, sums it up nicely by stating, “we see how the internet helps promote what are called alternative or counter-public spheres that can offer a new, empowering sense of what it means to be a citizen.”

The internet has the power to begin movements and sway the hearts and minds of many. Let’s embrace it.

Lose yourself in advocacy.

Social media movements have created a forum for activism, especially in the youth. These movements grabbed the attention of people with empathy and a will to help. Movements like:

• Black Lives Matter,:  the viral social movement that is, “working for a world where Black lives are no longer systematically and intentionally targeted for demise”
• #BringBackOurGirls, a campaign that began after 476 schoolgirls were kidnapped from Government Secondary School, Chibok by Boko Haram terrorists in Nigeria. 57 escaped but 219 are still missing.
• #YesAllWomen a twitter hashtag and social media campaign in which users share examples or stories of misogyny and violence against women.
• #ALSIceBucketChallenge: a social media movement that involved  dumping a bucket of ice water on someone’s head to promote awareness of the disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and encourage donations to research.
• These
  movements went viral. And they moved people to get up, get out, and advocate.

So engage, add value, be authentic. Use the beauty of technology and cyber interaction to rock the world.

 

 

Don’t forget about perspective.

Different Perspective

Framing is a process in which a reality is perceived  in such a way that certain aspects of the reality are stressed, while others are de-emphasized, leading to a particular definition of understanding of the social world.

This has been coined by experts as framing theory. Social media is all about framing. It is the snippet of a reality that can be viewed, retweeted, liked and printed. These “frames” are what we see and analyze and make our judgments.

This smiling woman at something. We don’t know what or who

But with the rest of picture, this woman is smiling with a loved one. This picture displays a new story.

 

 

The photos above demonstrate two different shots of a photo. Social media can work in similar ways. The full photo is not always fully exposed. Details of reality can never completely shown online.

Is framing the Good, the Bad, or the Ugly of Social Media?

Amanda Swartz, a licensed psychologist at the TCU Counseling Center stated “social media has done a lot in our culture, as far as affecting access to visual stimuli. People are on Facebook or Instagram and they’re constantly comparing themselves to other people.” But social media has its upsides, procon.org states that  “social media can help improve life satisfaction, stroke recovery, memory retention, and overall well-being by providing users with a large social group.”

So what?

If we know that framing theory is an actual phenomenon, then we know that the aspects of reality portrayed in the frame are NOT the full picture. With this in mind, it adds perspective and how social media users analyze what we view, how we use it, and how it affects us.

 

 

Heart, Mind, and Audio

Aim for the heart and mind.

“Audio works when it touches our hearts, tickles our imagination, and intrigues our minds.”

The laughter of a child, the heavy breathing of frightened man, the echo of thunder, or the sound of screeching car tires add dimension to any narrative. Audio has a foundational value in a storytelling. It can add emotion, familiarity, humor and drama. The story becomes more than just a still photo, or a written account. The essay, “Story of Sound” accentuates the important role audio has in storytelling and interviews.

Audio is intimate.

“Story of Sound” describes audio as an intimate exploration. You must get close. Get close to those you interview, get close to the surrounding noises and everything that makes up your environment.

It’s not enough to tell, audio must express. Watch the video below and analyze the various audio that creates the tone of the dramatic scene.

Although there is an absence of music the scene has a heavy tone that is authentic, intimately personal.

Express your own and other’s stories with a personal tone. Make the most mundane actions a story. Transform: “I walked into the mall. I had to get a dress for formal immediately,” to “I haphazardly dashed into the mall entrance in a desperate attempt to find a dress for my sorority formal.”

Audio and interview

“Story of Sound” provide advice for good audio journalism

Tips:

• Listen carefully to your subject.
• Get to the heart of what you want to talk about.
• Paint picture with sounds and words.
• Observe with all senses.
• Allow silence to be reflection.
• Allow ambient noise to sculpt the atmosphere of the interview.
•  Authenticity is key.

 

Social media is NOT real

            “Social media creates an environment where disordered thoughts and behaviours really thrive.” -Claire Mysko

My previous blog detailed my struggle with comparing myself to others, especially through social media. But this blog entry concentrates on other young women who have a similar struggle and the poor effects comparative thinking has had on them.

Essena O’Neill’s Story

“If you find yourself looking at “Instagram girls” and wishing your life was theirs, you need to realise you only see what they want.” – Essena O’Neill

Essena O’ Neill caught the media’s eye, but not from her notorious good looks as an Australian model, but for her public announcement to “quit Instagram”. O’Neill exposes the false notion of beauty that social media has crafted. In an MTV article, she admits her unhealthy habits to maintain an “inspiring body”. O’Neill would “set extremely unhealthy goals for herself — all because of the fitness models on Instagram and elsewhere that she aspired to look like.”

Her Instagram is now completely different than it used to be. Her page barely has any pictures of herself, but of scenic photos and inspirational quotes. The pictures of herself that seem just like the “typical” Instagram model pics have captions that display the fakeness of it all.

O’Neill’s photo on Instagram with a caption that exposes the falseness of the photo.

O’Niell’s caption taking from Instagram (To the left): “Nothing is candid about this…I felt the strong desire to pose with my thighs just apart #thighgap boobs pushed up #vsdoublepaddingtop and face away because obviously my body is my most likeable asset.”

 

A recent study conducted by Florida State University found that a group of women, who were asked to browse Facebook for 20 minutes, experienced greater body dissatisfaction than those who spent 20 minutes researching rainforest cats online.

 

Women like us

This phenomenon isn’t just for those in the public eye; it applies to young women like me. I conducted a survey to study other women’s experiences. I asked three of my close friends to pass out at least 3 surveys to 3 of their friends who also attend Furman University. These women are between the ages of 18-21.

Each woman said that Instagram was one of their main social media outlets and more than half listed Snapchat as one of their main outlets. When I asked if they follow celebrities all said yes. Common celebrities where Kardashians sisters, Selena Gomez, and famous models. More than half said they followed them out of admiration and admitted that each account had some sort of social influence on them.

Striving for physical perfection only leads to dissatisfaction and despair

Then the survey changed gears to ask about stalking other women they know. All admitted to stalking another women’s Instagram accounts with the intention of seeing their lifestyles and how it compares to their own.

This shows that it is common, it is depressing, and it should stop.

Essensa O’Neill’s new Instagram account is dedicated to express the message: SOCIAL MEDIA IS NOT REAL.

Collage Credits:

• Beyonce photo
• Blake Lively photo
• Rihanna photo 
• Kendall photo
• Kylie Jenner
• Alexis Ren
• Essena O’ Neill