Category Archives: Media

It’s Not That Simple

Media, Media Literacy, thinking out loud, ,

My book group discussed Mad Honey on Tuesday. Jodi Picoult is the master of nuance and boundary bending, refusing to let us get comfortable with our own prejudices. In Mad Honey, she lays bare the complexities of transsexuality. At one point, when an older trans woman is approached for advice, she comments that once you’ve met one trans person, you’ve met one trans person. The book is powerful and highly reccommended.

The line stuck with me as the group discussion unfolded. A new member of the group made an impassioned statement about how “we” are wasting our lives looking at screens. “We” could be visiting shut ins or doing other things. I couldn’t help but wondering if she included herself in that “we” but used that pronoun to make it seem less judgmental? I cannot say and do not wish to judge myself.

Here’s the more important thing for me: I don’t include myself in that “we”. Yes, I spend lots of time on screens and some of it includes surfing cat and dog videos as a break from the chaos. But I don’t worry so much. When I was younger, screen time was all about television, and there were efforts to curb viewing time. Somehow, my supposedly television-addicted peers and I grew up to become mostly productive citizens.

I did a quick inventory of what I do on my screens, primarily my phone but also my laptop, which I prefer when drafting blog posts, commenting on LibraryThing and accessing Canvas. I categorized the activities:

Digital Replaces Analog:

Digital access, especially through my library, has expanded the selection of materials available to me with the potential of connecting with a variety of perspectives.

  • Books, magazines and newspapers
  • Media
  • Games: I am learning to play MahJongg
  • Teaching: this is the BIG one for me and for many of my students, being able to teach and learn from home

Digital Supports Real Life:

  • Recipes: I often have my phone propped up on my cookbook stand.
  • Patterns and Tutorials: This is a big one for me as I crochet. Access to a wide variety of patterns along with video tutorials for complicated stitches has helped me hone my skills.
  • Art Ideas and Tutorials: From bookbinding to collage to gel printing and more, I have made art of all kinds a priority in my life. Most of my scrolling and viewing involves watching tutorials and browsing examples.
  • Communications: Being able to communicate with my family and friends via text has been wonderful. No more scheduling phone calls or worrying about long distance. If some of those texts include links to the German shopping cart return championships, so be it.

I am not trying to minimize issues related to phone addiction. There are always extremes. But when we assume that every person staring at the phone is wasting their time, we miss the nuance of the positive things digital devices can bring to our lives.

Many years ago, I was in charge of Turn Off the TV Week at my middle school, a movement that encouraged everyone to take a week off from watching what was often called the “boob tube.” The goal was to have families do things together besides just watch TV. My mother was not impressed. She felt like it was taking too much of an extreme approach. Depending on your choices, TV programs could be educational and discussion starters around potentially difficult topics. TV could be entertaining with a family laughing together on the couch. And, for those with limited mobility or community, TV could be their connection to the world. She saw the nuance.

Perhaps rather than suggesting that all screen time is wasted time, we can become more discerning about our use of time. Teach people both young and old how to use their screen time data to tease out how much is productive in some way versus how much is mindless scrolling. Instagram is my social media drug of choice, and I finally turned on the timer so I get 30 minutes a day. I occasionally extend the time as Instagram is also where many of my patterns and art ideas originate. In addition, announcements about upcoming events or challenges are posted there. I post some of my artwork with the community.

Again, there is nuance in how I use the tool. I recently read a draft AI policy for K-12 students that mentions developing the skill of discernment. I think this is the first time I have seen it used as a standard but it goes hand in hand with nuance. Maybe this IS simple: your device offers a wide varieties of experiences, and it is up to you to discern how to use it enrich rather than diminish your life. Everyone’s answer is going to be different. To paraphrase Jodi Picoult, when you’ve seen one person scrolling, you’ve seen one person scrolling.

Grumpy Old Lady, Part 2

Making, Media, Television, thinking out loud,

I have been binge watching Maine Cabin Masters. I love the series with its fun ideas for refurbishing old camps and captivating panoramas of Maine along with glimpses of loons and beavers. There are great family stories, too, that come along with the camps, many of which are at least a hundred years old.

But, the main sponsor is a new series called Home Sweet Rome. The series features a young woman, pre-teenish?, whose father marries an Italian woman and moves her to Rome with him. Turns out Francesca is a pop star. In the promo, the narrator is excited and says, “Maybe someday I can be a pop star!”

Obviously, women can be anything they want, including a pop star. I support her dreams. But, my grumpy old lady voice is commenting in the background every time I hear the advertisement. Why couldn’t Francesca be a brain surgeon? Or a human rights attorney (think Amal Clooney)?

I am not so old that I cannot remember being her age, but I have also been a lifelong nerd. My dream job in 6th grade was to be President. Oh! Maybe the father could marry an Italian politician! Turns out there a few women moving into leadership in the country.

I am also not so obtuse to understand that I am clearly NOT the primary audience for this show. It is a bit odd, in this day and age of algorithms, that it is being pushed during a home improvement series.

I know, I know, before I judge, I should watch an episode or two. Maybe the pop star, giggly tone is masking a stronger social message? Kind of like Teen Vogue? Or a couple of recent Instagram posts where a woman starts talking about arranging flowers or making bouillabaisse, then after a moment says, “Ok, now that the men are gone, we need to talk about bringing down the patriarchy.”

I can certainly recommend the cabin masters series as easy watching but also fascinating from a maker perspective. The team works through design and implementation in unpredictable building and natural settings, often using repurposed materials and drawing on local Maine builders and artisans. They must, of course, consider functionality and safety but also focus on creating beautiful, customized living spaces.

Local News

Artificial Intelligence, journalism, Media, technology, thinking out loud, ,

One of my graduate students was a sport writer focusing specifically on high school sports in a small town. So, I had to share the news about Gannett Newspapers pulling back from their use of AI to write their news stories. Gannett, of course, is not loved by small newspapers and local journalists as they take over and big layoff usually follow. What suffers when that happens is the local news, and it is local news that led to the pull back.

The Columbus Dispatch‘s story about a local soccer match opened with this grabber of a lede:

The Worthington Christian [[WINNING_TEAM_MASCOT]] defeated the Westerville North [[LOSING_TEAM_MASCOT]] 2-1 in an Ohio boys soccer game on Saturday.

Opinion: High schoolers can do what ai can’t, Scott simon, npr

It was, not surprisingly, written by AI.

Scott Simon, who penned the NPR editorial, suggests that the news organization could hire high school students to cover what is, and my grad student backed him up on this, a crucial part of small town life. As I wrote recently, local communities are an essential part in many people’s lives and AI has not yet, at least, found it niche.

On a side note, I introduced my students to the Internet Archive and its Wayback Machine last week. The offending news story from The Columbus Dispatch had been taken down but CNN was able to link to the archived version. At least, Gannett had given credit to LedeAI, the bot that wrote what is on its way to being a classic of sports writing.

Tracking Death

history, human rights, Media,

The Washington Post has created a gruesome but necessary database that tracks those shot and killed by police. The database was begun in 2015 after the murder of Michael Brown by Ferguson, Missouri, police officers led to the discovery that many police killings were never recorded in the FBI database.

The data is clear: young, black men are killed more often than others.

Unfortunately, the database focuses on shootings so this morning’s news about the cousin of a Black Lives Matter co-founder who was killed by police with a taser may not be included. The young man from Washington, D.C. was visiting family in Los Angeles for the holidays. The video, released at the request of the family, shows his fear, driven by his sense that he was probably going to die like so many others. It will stay with me, alongside George Floyd calling for his mother. I won’t post it but encourage you to watch it. I think about Emmett Till’s mother who insisted the casket stay open so people were forced to confront the truth.

Back Online With Boundaries

Media, music, Nature, Video, YouTube

I spent December binge watching media while making cards, crocheting gifts and baking. When I wasn’t making, I was reading, finishing the year with 134 books. I also completed the Kindle challenge with a perfect month in December. I traveled a bit, too, to see family and friends. All excuses for not blogging, I suppose, but being offline in general helped me consider how and where I wanted to spend my in 2023.

Happy New Year 2023

I have not made a resolution to post every day but figured I could at least check in to wish everyone a happy new year. I spent yesterday setting up my LibraryThing thread in the 75 books a year group, my 9th year sharing life and reading with a few people. I intend to spend more time there than on social media, developing deeper relationships in this protected environment. I created a new year’s greeting just for them as several of them are bird nerds like me.

I would like to take more photos so I signed on for Fat Mum Slim’s Photo a Day challenge. Today’s theme was hello and here was my submission.

Hello

Major is loving the nice weather and we usually get out twice each day for a ramble around the farm. We have had regular sitings of a bald eagle and a hawk along with meadowlarks and white-throated sparrows.

I’ll write more this year about the importance of nature in my life.

January 1, 2023 Dog Walk

I also include a selfie I grabbed on the walk. This is me at 60-1/2, unfiltered. I cringe a little at posting, but I have earned those lines and wrinkles. If I have any wisdom to share, it is to be aware in the present as much as possible. Bad or good, it’s what you have. It is the essential lesson of meditation. It doesn’t mean you can’t change your life and your circumstances if need be, but acceptance of the present can help with that process as well.

For some reason, I thought of Bruce Springsteen as I wrote that advice. His album, Wrecking Ball, is filled with stories of struggle and oppression; yet, there seems to be a sense of hope as well that hard times and rocky ground have moments of contentment and joy as well, even if it is in the listening of a song. I leave you on this first day of the new year with two songs from Springsteen. The first is his live rendition of a Stephen Foster song called “Hard Times (Come Again No More)” and the second the video for “Rocky Ground” from the Wrecking Ball album, which references the Foster song. Many of the songs on Springsteen’s album have connections to old American songs and spirituals.