Representation in France

I don't know if anyone else saw this article on Thursday, but apparently representation (or a lack of representation) on television can have far reaching consequences. The article claims that the homogeneous face France tries to present to the world contributed to the unrest which has been going on in immigrant neighborhoods for the past several weeks. To quote from the article:

"The disparity between the country's monochromatic image of itself and the multicolored reality frustrates young citizens from non-European immigrant backgrounds and has added to their sense of alienation, which was expressed most graphically in the arson attacks that have swept the country this month."

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/16/international/europe/16france.html?oref=login

comics to the rescue

a recent article on bbcnews: CDs and comics offer digital aid

discusses two interesting and, what they describe as, "low-tech projectswhich focus on the distribution and use of open-source stood out at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS)." (part of the UN summit in Tunisia)

also raises some interesting questions about implementation and accessibility to technologies. one quote that stood out to me: "Knowledge is seen as the font of power..."

cnn is obsessed with tv

their latest article on the ubiquity of tv can be found here

given the latest trends and shifts in format, medium, content, and production positionality, is tv still "tv"? this takes me back to some of the early conversation we had here with respect to the changing definitions of what it meant to 'watch' tv.

given the new, increased, ubiquitous availability of television, i wonder: what are the new questions we need to be asking when we think about the impact of tv on youth; about the ways that youth engage with tv; about what learning from and with tv looks like...

kaiser surveys

the kaiser family foundation just released a report titled, "Sex on TV 4" in which they discuss the frequency of sex scenes on television, how sex portrayed, sex messages (e.g., "safer sex"), etc.

also on the site: Generation M: Media in the Lives of 8-18 Year-olds

if you check out the latter, goto the full report and then open up the methodology appendix. their methods of acquiring info about media use in the lives of kids/teens are interesting. they also beg the question: what are other ways to get at this issue? are there are other questions we should be asking?

simultaneous shrinking/expansion of tv

reprint of ny times article from 10.30.05:

Television: The Extra-Large, Ultra-Small Medium

AIDS contest

Allecia's contest:

www.hearmeproject.org

Followup to Wednesday Night: Hollywood and Public Health

Hi everyone,
This article refers to the program I was trying to remember where Harvard worked with major broadcasting stations to disseminate public health messages. The article is specifically about designated drivers.
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/chc/alcohol.html

Also, here's a site about a CDC / Porter Novelli study about TV viewing habits and how they can be used to promote public health (Porter Novelli is a social marketing firm):
http://www.cdc.gov/communication/healthsoap.htm

Mathu

tv critics unleashed

two recent opinions on current tv:

BOYS IN THE HOOD
“My Name Is Earl” and “Everybody Hates Chris.”
by NANCY FRANKLIN

Laguna biatch
How a real-life mean girl has become TV's most improbable teen role model.
By Suzy Hansen