By Casey Rae
Before the Internet, few outside of research or technical vocations had much concern with data. Now, as users and producers in an increasingly Internet-centric economy, we’re all swept up in the dataflood. All of this activity, individually and in the aggregate, contributes to the massive volume of data generated every day. Contextualizing all of this information and translating it for human comprehension is one of the key challenges of our time.
By Conor Risch
Like oxygen to fire, new generations of soldiers feed longstanding conflicts. It’s unlikely that young people who take up arms in places like Israel and Gaza, El Salvador, Afghanistan and the Congo actively choose to deny the humanity of their enemies. The cultures that raise them, and the history of the conflicts into which they step, cast enemies as “the other,” as people without decency or compassion or hopes and dreams, and it can be easy to avoid digging for alternate views.
By Bill Simmon
The NAMAC Creative Leadership Lab at the Sundance Resort not only helped to recharge my creative batteries and to connect with some amazing change agents in the media and arts worlds, it also allowed me to articulate some pretty fundamental ideas about what we in the field of community media are really doing.
By Rose Kaplan
It's been a quiet month for Net Neutrality. The Hill's David McCabe reports on the climate around the FCC and the telecom world as the new rules have gone into effect, noting that only one complaint has so far been filed—by San Diego-based Commercial Network Services, against Time Warner Cable.
By Wendy Levy
I loved the Ms. magazine No Comment section, where they curated some of the most heinous sexist advertisements currently in circulation—and said nothing about them. Just put them out there. Since the 1970s, these dramatic micro-stories illuminated systemic violence and discrimination against women in every aspect of our American lives.
I wish I was good at No Comment. When I am confronted with media that perpetuates injustice, I tend to comment. I’m writing about a video The New York Times published today, "A Walk On the Wild (Edibles) Side".
By Just Vision
It’s 1987 and the Israeli army is in hot pursuit of eighteen dairy cows in the town of Beit Sahour, in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The cows are declared a threat to Israel’s national security after a group of Palestinians begin producing milk for the town’s residents. The Israeli soldiers find themselves in a game of cat-and-mouse as residents of the town work together to shuttle the cows from barn to barn. The fugitive cows of Beit Sahour become legendary and the “intifada milk,” often distributed under cover of night, is a statement of self-reliance that provides their community with alternatives to replace Israeli goods.
By Tracie Holder
Recently, Indiewire released an article, “Sorry, Ladies: Study on Women in Film and Television Confirms The Worst,” in which they reported the following:
Only 12% of all clearly identifiable protagonists were female in 2014. This represents a decrease of 3% from 2013 which is a decrease of 4% since 2002.
74% of all female characters were White, 11% were Black, 4% were Latina, 4% were Asian, 3% were otherworldly, and 4% were other. Moviegoers were almost as likely to see a woman portray an alien as they were to see a Latina or Asian female character.
By Wendy Levy
Heather Dockray’s recent article on BrooklynBased.com ("Why Celebrate Brooklyn’s Paris Is Burning Screening Sparked a Fire on Facebook") brings to light the controversy about an upcoming screening of documentary classic "Paris Is Burning," by Jennie Livingston.
By Greg Marinovich
A couple years ago, just as I was starting my Nieman year, the “War/Photography: Images of Armed Conflict and Its Aftermath” exhibit curated by Anne Wilkes Tucker of the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston was traveling across the U.S.
Having just seen it in Los Angeles, my friend Jonathan Diamond called me. Why, he asked, when photojournalists shoot so many images on an assignment, are we limited to seeing just one or two in a newspaper or magazine? Why not showcase 10 or 20? There was, I said, no reason, other than the limitations of print.
And so The Stand started as a digital photojournalism magazine, one that would draw photographers from around the world, transcend borders by relying on images rather than text, and treat photojournalists and their work with respect.
By Casey Rae
As an artist and artist advocate, I often find myself conflicted. I am concerned about how our society chooses to treat creators, but I am also supportive of technological progress.
By Sam Thielman
Not long ago, it would have been unthinkable for a coalition of discontented citizens to challenge the business decisions of multinational company with a market cap of nearly $150bn and a boss who plays golf with the president. Last week it happened, and the grassroots guys won. Again.
