Via Flickr User Crethi Plethi

My latest column for Partisans explores the use of graphic or violent imagery in journalism, especially in the wake of Muammar Gaddafi’s death.

Are there cases when it is not advisable to publish pictures of death and suffering? Where is the line between education and sensationalism?

I believe that good journalism challenges our preconceived notions and stirs us out of complacency. Often, that means using graphic images to shed light on the brutal reality of war, natural disasters, or human suffering. However, these images must be put into context and not just peddled for shock value.

What do you think?

One thing I noticed, whenever the camera panned out over the crowd, was that Sheryl seemed to be speaking to an audience composed mostly (though not entirely) of middle-aged White women. To me, this represents one major deficit in the proliferation of conversations surrounding women in leadership. The discussions often feel like they are dominated by one particular segment of women, when in reality the problem goes much deeper than gender.

When I look around at my peers and feel isolated, it’s not just because I am a woman: it is also because I am Black, and mixed-race. While there is certainly a dearth of women in leadership positions (and in technology), there are even fewer women of color. For people like me, a conversation that’s focused solely on gender is missing out on a huge part of the equation.

Via Wikimedia Commons

I have a column up on Partisans about the pitfalls of the mainstream human trafficking narrative. I argue that  in order to effectively combat human trafficking, we must move beyond the simplistic portrayals common in the media and popular discourse.

Currently, the dominant discourse is skewed by a semi-voyeuristic preoccupation with sex trafficking that ignores the complexities of this multifaceted, international problem. The problem is not that awareness of human trafficking is low; quite the contrary. The problem is that human trafficking is presented to the public in a superficial way, often based on flawed or questionable statistics. There are extremely negative consequences to this framing, from ineffective policies to laws that actually harm the vulnerable groups they are intended to protect.

Jim Clancy, a CNN International correspondent and anchor, had some very thoughtful comments about this issue. Check out the comments section on my article to see the conversation unfold.

Via Powerhouse Museum Collection

Many years ago, I had an idea for a sitcom about a roving band of conference crashers: kids who sneak into corporate events for the free snacks and SWAG. I thought the script was lost to the ages, but I just managed to dig it up.

I will probably never be invited to speak at another conference after posting it, but here goes!

===

Setting: A carpeted hotel lobby. A prominent banner displays the name “Benchmarking Strategic Change for the Future: Networking Conference 2010.” A few event organizers look off into the distance aimlessly, waiting for the last of the conference stragglers to arrive. Some suited conference-goers powerwalk out of the lobby in order to make their sessions in time.

The protagonists enter the lobby. They’re dressed in business attire but look visibly uncomfortable and awkward in their clothes.

Conference Crasher 1: S***! We’re late. I TOLD you not to stop at the Halloween shop for that fake mustache.

Conference Crasher 2: I thought it would make me look more… professional. I want to be taken seriously, you know, blend in with the crowd. Anyway, we’re here now.

CC 1: Well, you don’t look professional and no one’s gonna take you seriously, but hey: I’m sure you’ll blend right in with this group. Come on, let’s check in.

CC 2: (to event organizer) Hi, we’re John (mumbles a last name incoherently) and Patty (mumbles again).

Event Organizer: Sorry, I didn’t get that. Here, check the roster—your name should be on here.

CC 2: Hm… I don’t see our names there. We registered on the last day—perhaps there was some kind of error with the online system? Geez, you people need to get your stuff together. I’d expect better from the 2009 Benchmaking Strategic Change conference.

Event Organizer: I’m so sorry. There was clearly some kind of mistake. Just write your name on this paper, and grab a nametag.

CC 2 scribbles in illegible cursive on the roster.

CC 1: Thanks. Hey, do you have, like, pens or something we can grab? Coffee mugs?

CC 2 nudges CC 1 forcefully and whispers angrily: Hey! TRY to be subtle?

Event Organizer: Oh, of course. Down on that table you can grab pens, mugs, even a complimentary tote bag!

CC 1: Oh, a tote bag! Environmentally friendly. Wonderful, just wonderful.

CC 1 and CC 2 walk to the SWAG table and give each other a discreet high five. In unison: “Jackpot!” They grab fistfulls of conference pens, notepads, and coffee mugs and shove them into bulging canvas totes emblazoned with generic corporate logos.

CC 1: Ok, so, which session to you want to go to first? They walk over to a schedule displayed on the far end of the lobby. We can make the last 30 minutes of “Managing Outcomes with Dynamic Evaluation Processes.”

CC 2: How about (pauses) … “Dashboard Metrics for Retooling Assessment Programs…” (groans). Eh, let’s just see if there’s any complimentary breakfast leftover from the networking breakfast.

CC 1: Sounds good to me. I hope they have croissants like they did at the International Strategic Innovation Conference last summer.

CC 2: Don’t count on it, buddy. It’s probably just watered down coffee and day-old muffins.

They exit the lobby, laughing. End scene.

Via Essam Sharaf (Flickr)

I just began writing for Partisans, an online journal of political and social commentary. My first piece, published yesterday, is about the intersection of online privacy debates and an increasingly international social media user base.

As social media takes off around the world (and U.S. companies like Facebook and Twitter gradually overtake their regional equivalents), the market is shifting along with the unique needs of its users. Security concerns, for instance, vary wildly from market to market. When tech companies circumscribe their security policies to reflect one narrowly defined type of user, they risk ignoring the rest of the world. In some places, for example, governments use social media sites to track down dissidents. An entire class of users who employ social media to organize protests and advocate for change is left vulnerable.

Do major tech companies favor certain types of netizens in their security policies? You can decide for yourself here.

As I’m writing, the sun is shining and the heavens are an inviting shade of cerulean. In true pagan style, I decided to celebrate the return of the sun with a special meal. Something healthy, cool, and refreshing. I came across this promising recipe for a lentil salad with grapefruit, but since I didn’t have all of the necessary ingredients I had to do a significant amount of improvisation. I’m quite pleased with the way it turned out, so I thought I’d share my version. It makes a great light lunch on a warm day, and I could also imagine it working as a picnic dish.

What You’ll Need:

Lentils (I used a mix of brown and yellow)

Smoked salmon (lox, gravlax, or anything else similar)

Chia seeds

Grapefruit

Olive oil

Salt

Red pepper flakes

Powdered cumin

Fresh jalapeno pepper

Grapefruit juice

Do it up!

Boil the lentils in water for 15-20 minutes until they are softened but chewy, retaining their shape. Drain and refrigerate.

Mix olive oil, salt, red pepper, and cumin for the dressing. Finely dice a jalapeno pepper and add it to the mix.

Peel the grapefruit, remove the pith, and cut the fruit into wedged sections. Squeeze a few of the sections into the dressing, and put the rest aside.

Remove the cooled lentils from the fridge, and mix in a bowl with the chia seeds. Shred some smoked salmon and mix it in with the lentils and chia.

Spoon your dressing over the lentils. Arrange the remaining grapefruit sections around the sides of the salad.

For Your Ears

Cooking is more fun when good tunes are blaring in the background. For your enjoyment, I submit this remix of La Roux’s Bulletproof, by Fears of Tigers. It’s bright and citrusy electro-pop song that is perfect for a sunny day. (You can download it here.)

Via Wikimedia Commons

I’ve been reading Catch-22, and came across a passage that rings especially true right now. American politicians are fiercely debating strategies to reduce the national debt, and the concept of raising taxes on the wealthy is dismissed by many as socialism and class warfare. In this passage, Heller is meditating on the accident of birth– the arbitrary, Rawlsian assignment of wealth and poverty. It’s a refreshing take on the absurdity of income distribution.

“I’ve got somebody else’s three hundred thousand dollars,” the dashing young fighter captain with the golden moustache admitted. “I’ve been goofing off since the day I was born. I cheated my way through prep school and college, and just about all I’ve been doing ever since is shacking up with pretty girls who think I’d make a good husband. I’ve got no ambition at all. The only thing I want to do after the war is to marry some girl who’s got more money than I have and shack up with lots more pretty girls. The three hundred thousand bucks was left to me before I was born by a grandfather who made a fortune selling hogwash on an international scale. I know I don’t deserve it, but I’ll be damned if I give it back. I wonder who it really belongs to.”

“Maybe it belongs to my father,” Dunbar conjectured. “He spent a lifetime at hardwork and could never make enough money to send my sister and me through college. He’s dead now, so you might as well keep it.”

This week marked the first-ever gay pride festival in Prague. This city was the last capital in the European Union to have a gay pride celebration. The event caused a vicious war of words between politicians in the Czech Republic (for more on the controversy, check out my Storyful article), with one right-wing politician calling gay Czechs “deviants.” President Vaclav Klaus went so far as to say homosexuality “does not necessarily deserve to be celebrated.” The Czech Republic, like many other Eastern European countries, has a sore history when it comes to dealing with gay pride celebrations. During the country’s first gay pride event (Brno, 2008) extremists threw tear gas at the marchers.

Prague Pride turned out to be a great success, however. The turnout was huge, in part bolstered by the uproar over the homophobic remarks of certain Czech politicians. (Many marchers carried posters mocking Klaus and his deputy Hajek.) Prague Pride organizers estimate that at least 5,000 people participated in the march. There were counter-demonstrators, as was expected, but for the most part they were peaceful and did not harass the marchers. There was one exception: an extremist group that was held back from the parade by police in riot gear. It was truly exciting to be a part of history by marching in Prague’s first pride parade. The positive energy in the air was infectious; it was a a truly joyful day.

Via Flickr Commons

• David Cameron wants the government to be able to disrupt social networking services.

Alarmed by reports that the London rioters used instant communication services like Twitter and Blackberry messenger to organize themselves, Cameron has called for a “social media clampdown” during emergencies. But how can Western governments call for Internet freedom in places like China and Iran if they are flirting with government surveillance and control of websites? Mike Conradi, a lawyer and telecoms specialist in London, made this argument in the Guardian on Thursday. “It would certainly put the UK in a difficult position in terms of talking to authoritarian regimes and trying to convince them not to turn off their networks,” he said.

The irony was not lost on Xinhua, the Chinese news agency.

The British government, once an ardent advocate of absolute Internet freedom, has thus made a U-turn over its stance towards web-monitoring…We may wonder why western leaders, on the one hand, tend to indiscriminately accuse other nations of monitoring, but on the other take for granted their steps to monitor and control the Internet.

Ouch. This is also why a so-called “Internet kill switch” for the United States would be such a terrible, counterproductive idea.

• Police are using crowdsourcing to identify rioters. 

The Metropolitan Police are uploading images from the riots to Flickr and asking the public to help identify looters and other suspects. (There also seem to be a lot of independently-managed sites cropping up for the same purpose). The Iranian government used a similar strategy to crowdsource the identity of protesters during the 2009 post-election protests in Iran. The Revolutionary Guard posted images of demonstrators online, circling in red people who had not yet been identified. They then invited the public to contact them if they knew any of the people in the photos.

I’m not implying that what is going on in London is the same as what happened in Iran. In fact, I’m not sure I’m going with this comparison. But I do find it interesting that both governments decided to use crowdsourcing in this way.

*** Update (14 August)

The digital journalism blog 10,000 Words has an excellent article about the dangers of banning social media in in the UK. Elena Zak notes that social media has also been used for good, as residents continue to organize neighborhood cleanups on Twitter and other sites.

If you had to recommend three thought-provoking articles/videos/etc about the future of new media and journalism, what would they be?

11 August 2011 2:30 pm via HootSuiteReplyRetweetFavorite

@camillahawth

Camilla Hawthorne

 
Here is what we came up with:

1. Jay Rosen on civic journalism
TEDxNYED, March 2010
[video]

2. Jeff Jarvis, “Digital First: What is Means for Journalism”
The Guardian, June 2011
[article]

3. Ethan Zuckerman, “Listening to Global Voices”
TED Global, July 2010
[video] [article]

4. Clay Shirky, “How Social Media Can Make History”
TED@State, June 2009
[video]

5. Clay Shirky, “Newspapers and Thinking the Unthinkable”
shirky.com, March 2009
[article]

Happy reading!

-c