Posts Tagged "media"

Mrs Alex just forwarded me this great cartoon illustrating how off-kilter our media’s focus is. Why do they think we care so much about celebrities’ private lives? Why can’t the media focus more on the important things in the world like international affairs, social change and the like. Tiger Woods’ private life should be his own.

His statement had an interesting quote on this:
“Personal sins should not require press releases and problems within a family shouldn’t have to mean public confessions.”
I wholeheartedly agree.

I remember once watching an episode of Sliders (a sci-fi show which explores “what-if” situations by having the protagonists visit parallel universes). In the episode Eggheads they visit a parallel Earth where scientists, classical pianists and philosophers are the celebrities of the day. Where intelligence is cool and wisdom is revered.

(Update: Check out this video clip in my follow on post)

Sometimes I wish our world could be more like that. Is it really so crazy that medical breakthroughs should be more important than last-minute penalty shootouts or that technological innovations should be more interesting than celebrities’ personal lives?

</wild-speculation>

Almost every piece of TV, movie, news or documentary footage you see has been edited to try and make a particular point. This video illustrates quite convincingly the power of editing and why you should hesitate to form judgements unless you’re watching live unedited footage.

Here is a video of how technology that many people have in their home can be used in ways not intended by the manufacturer. This is interesting, but even more interesting is the wider trend this represents, as Johnny Lee describes – how the Internet and new media formats such as YouTube for video distribution can quickly spread ideas to thousands of people. Not just for persuasive purposes, but to do real good, allowing any teacher or parent to create their own interactive whiteboard using a Wii remote and some cheap hardware. Scientists are already starting to talk about how they can rethink the way research is done for this information-rich, hyper-connected age we live in. It’s really exciting that scientists might finally have a way to directly explain their work to the public without having to go through journalists who don’t always understand the science, or who are encouraged to take the most sensational angle.

Exciting times are ahead, I’m sure …

A great visualization of global media scare stories over time – Swine Flu is measurably bigger than previous hyped stories.