Blogger’s Ethics

My search for a Code of Ethics for webloggers turned out to be much simpler than I thought it would be.  I expected to have to search around and maybe find some guys thoughts on ethics, which i did find plenty of, but instead I found several articles and blogs dealing with a stated and common Code of Ethics.

1) Be Honest and Fair, 2) Minimize Harm, and to 3) Be Accountable.

Further information regarding these rules can be found at http://www.cyberjournalist.net/news/000215.php

The one problem I have with this code is the fact that since there is no way to police webloggers what does it matter if there is an ethical way to blog.  Sure, its nice when everybody follows the rules, but with no possible repercussions other than having your post deleted by the site what is out there to stop webloggers  from saying whatever they want.   This is not a problem inherent  only to blogs but to anything created on the internet from blogs to facebook profiles to wikipedia entries and any website .  The only way to solve the problem of unethical webloggers is not by enforcing a Code of Ethics but by not reading or subscribing to those known to be dishonest, unfair, harmful, or unaccountable.  These rules should be for subscribers to decide what they want to read not to constrain the speech of others.

Not many computer programs have moved so fast into and out of favor with fans of music like file sharing has in the past few years.  When Napster first came on the scene it was wildly popular with students from universities to middle schools and as more and more alternate file sharing sites popped up, more and more people were getting their favorite music on their computers for free. Everyone loved getting free music, but as the record industry began to feel the sting of dropping sales they began to run on the people sharing theses files for free.  Since the crackdown on file sharing has begun most true fans of music have reverted back to buying cds or converting to iTunes or another pay site.  I feel that though file sharing might be “stealing” everyone should have access to the song or album just as the works of a poet can be found by anyone in a library.  Whether we allow people to keep their computers downlaoding the newest albums all night or add music to our libraries, everyone should have some form of access to all types of music.

I was sitting down talking with some of my friends this weekend and our conversation ranged in topic from what we did the night before to our thoughts on the Civil War and inevitably current politics came up.  I was shocked to hear that one of the fellows that I was talking to did not like Barack Obama because he “was probably Muslim” due to his middle name being Hussein and that he did not attend a Christian church until he had political ambitions.  I was floored at this.  Here was a good friend of mine that had been led astray by the complete bullshit that media members are allowed to spew out during election coverage.  This problem does not affect only my friend but nearly 12% of Americans will not vote for Obama because he is a Muslim.  This kind of ignorance does not come from being uninformed, it comes from being misinformed by the news outlets that are responsible for educating the masses on public matters.  If 12% of our population thinks that a half white American, half Black Kenyan is Muslim due to the fact that his name is Hussein because Bill O’Reilly said so then we have a problem with how the media is allowed to portray certain individuals that may have an opposing view on some topics.

Chapter 4 of Henry Jenkins Convergence Culture really shows how everyone can be a producer in this new media culture.  Whether its through recreating Star Wars on a home computer, building new levels to a favorite video game, or playing MMORPGs like Second Life or World of Warcraft, everyone has a chance to play some part in the media that we consume on a daily basis.  This gives us a new form of media, one that is originates in Hollywood, New York, etc. but is given new life by its consumers who want to tell the story a bit different.  Individuals who may be just as much of a visionary as George Lucas or Stanly Kubrick , but who do not have the financial backing or popular support needed to make their version for the big screen.  However, not everyone participates in this newly converged media culture, because many people do not have the necessary tools or skills to reedit their favorite movies on their computer or build new levels to favorite games.

So I’ve been reading about transmedia storytelling in Convergence Culture.  It seems to be a great way to beef up the back story of a movie such as promoters did with The Matrix; however, in order for it to work people have to have a desire to find out more about the story.  The chapter as a section about The Blair Witch Project, which used transmedia story telling to bring to life a “true” witch culture in and round the town of Burkittsville.  With planted websites, tv documentaries, and graphic novels, the producers of TBWP were able to fool many movie goers into thinking they were watching a real story unfold; however, this form of storytelling only works when the audience finds all parts of the story.  I never heard anything about TBWP except that it was “the scariest movie of all time” so I wanted to check it out.  With out knowing any of this background information was available, I was the movie, and is was garbage.  I was unable to immerse myself in the world created by transmedia storytelling because I was unaware of the background information that was out there.  If transmedia storytelling is going to work then the audience must know to go search for it.

News Wars

The Frontline piece that we watched in class Monday addressed the topic of News Wars and the competition between news outlets to have the first story and the most news and how this is such a departure from the old ways of journalism.  The problem stems from the fact that our news outlets have become more about titillation that information.   Gone are the days of Edward R. Murrow and journalist finding the news to report to us, or the days or Woodward and Bernstein breaking news about the shady actions of our country’s leaders.  Today we are bombarded with 24 hour news channels looking for some way to fill all 24 hours with something exciting to keep the viewers around.  Its all about flashy sets, catchy graphics, attractive anchors, and whatever the hot topic of the day is, whether that be Barack Obama’s race John McCain’s temper, Britney Spears public meltdown, or some starlet’s trip to rehab.  It is a shame what our news media has become in only a few years.

In case you haven’t heard yet, last night CNN broke the news that four American soldiers  were killed when their vehicle exploded due to an improvised explosive device (i.e.d.).  What made this story breaking news was the fact that these four brought the American death toll in Iraq to 4,000.   U.S. troops are attacked everyday and it is quite frequent that military vehicles find these i.e.d. in the wrong way; however these go unreported or become a blurb on a news ticker because the loss of a few soldiers isn’t news.  It took 4,000 soldiers to die for CNN to interrupt normal programing to release this information and I believe this is a travesty.  The media should not wait for milestones to report on the deaths of our troops throught the world, every death is important because every death is a sacrifice made for the betterment of our country.  Whether you support the War in Iraq or the War on Terror and think that these men are fighting the wrong fight or not, every U.S. citizen that looses his or her life as a service to our country should be newsworthy enough to merit a headline or two.

I’ve been reading over some of the blogs from the class and one stuck out to me.  The title alone caught my eye, and it wasn’t too long, so I read it.  Lindsey’s blog about the usage (or lack there of) of the word “vigina” was well put but I think that men are more comfortable talking about their penis’s because: 1) it has become very popular to use in crude humor which is more accepted by younger males than anyone else, so guys grow up with a comfort in using the penis as a base for many jokes and, therefore, have no problem with using the word in other contexts, 2) the word “penis” is hilarious.  And on that same note I believe that “vagina” is not used often because it is not a easy word, I doubt that had it not been used a an anatomical term it would even exist today.  Plus there are so many more colorful ways to address the vagina, like “va-jay-jay”.

Studs, Tools, and Family Jewels was a terrible book.  I don’t think that the author did the proper research for a project of this nature.  To me the book seemed as if the author came to his conclusions before looking at his data.  It addressed males as if they are only sexual beings, everything always related back to sex, even when it has nothing or little to do with sex.  Phrases like “What’s the bottom-line?” are not always about sex and its usage does not turn a relationship into a business transaction for the male to complete as quickly as possible.  If this class is to be taught again, I would suggest looking for another book to explain the male mind.

Grandpa’s Advice

For some reason, probably because its so damn funny, I have been thinking a lot about the advice that the Grandfather gives Dwayne in the van on the way to the pageant in Little Miss Sunshine.  “Fuck a lot of women, not one woman.  A lot of women.”  This is advice that generally can only be shared from one man to another.  I doubt that there are many grandmothers that would sit their grand-daughter down and tell her to have sex with as many guys as possible, except maybe the grandmother from Beerfest (she was a German whore).  Society allows for men to be more promiscuous than women without as much reproach  or condemnation for their actions.  It is as if men are expected to be more sexual creatures than their counter-parts, but I do not think that this double standard has as wide of a gap than people think.  Even though it may be socially acceptable for male to have more sexual partners than females, anyone, male or female, that has a large number of different partners is looked down upon in one way or another.  Whores are whores regardless of their sex.