Categories
Digital Media & Press Media - Text

[PRESS] YouTube Kids in @Childrenswork

A short article written for Childrenswork Magazine, on the topic of Children and YouTube, as YouTube launched a children’s version.

childrenswork-article

Categories
History

Who is the enemy? #propaganda

Chapter 5: ‘Careless Talk Costs Lives’: Fighting the ‘Enemy Within’

Careless Talk Costs Lives 1 - propaganda poster by Fougasse for the MOI, 1940The dangers of carelessness were a constant theme throughout wartime posters: throwing away lit cigarettes; thoughtless fuel consumption; and wastage of scarce goods – with the biggest campaign against that of rumour and ‘careless talk’. Although a phrase largely associated with the Cold War and thereafter applied to more recent events, particularly terrorist campaigns, this chapter focuses on the idea of the ‘enemy within’. The concept is clearly evident in government anti-rumour campaigns, with strong fears of a ‘Fifth Column’ to be fought by a ‘Silent Column’. The chapter considers the history of the spy and the growth of intelligence services in the UK as concerns about ‘the spy’ (largely linked to improved communications) grew in the early years of the twentieth century. It chiefly focuses on careless talk campaigns which ran throughout the war, considering how spies were identified, class and gender were represented, the range of artistic styles used, and whether humour was a suitable medium for the subject. This chapter identifies the range of thinking which underlay the ‘careless talk’ posters, including: carelessness, ‘the other’, ‘the enemy’, (in)visibility, education, citizenship, family, nation, protectionism, friendship, personal responsibility, and death and humour.

The above is an outline of one of my book chapters in the book I’m working on to turn my PhD into a publication for sale, so I was fascinated to be sent the video below … that is some strong propaganda, and amazing to see American wariness about “the enemy”:

Categories
Life(style)

Photoshopping: Be careful what you wish for.

I love this video, which shows people who have had a makeover ‘like the models in the magazines’ – and feel that all their uniqueness has been taken away:

Categories
Life(style)

#AdventBookClub: Day 3: Joining the Story

So, here we are, Tuesday night, and tomorrow I shall finally remember to pick up Maggi’s book from my desk – so meantime I’ve picked a couple of phrases I’ve seen from others in #adventbookclub:

Pam: “Luke is telling us a story, a true account, not so that we can be interested or entertained, but so that we can engage with Jesus, God Among Us, and do something about it.  This is not a story to be heard dispassionately, but entered in to and responded to.”

Claire: Reading Luke’s Gospel… “that if he were around today, Luke would be a great user of social media. …we each read, we each bring our own experience, and we share a little of what we learn.”

Richard: “Maggi reminds of this – far more eloquently than I can – and that this intensely human story is exactly the sort of ‘human interest’ story that sells newspapers and magazines.”

… and this video that’s been echoing in my head all day!

And don’t forget the wonders of Dave Walker’s advent cartoons!

Meanwhile, Brian Draper calls for us to focus upon the mundane … that Jesus was not all about the ‘grand achievement’, but the way he got to it:

“Can you imagine Jesus the frustrated carpenter, planing a piece of wood clumsily, hurriedly, while muttering under his breath, “This – is – not – what – I – was – put – on – Earth – to – do …”?- ”

Nope – so neither should we!

Categories
Digital

[INFOGRAPHIC] The Shift to Visual Social Media

Over the last year or so, the visual has really taken off online (with increasing access via mobile phones, apps that allow filtering and sharing, and increasing data bundles meaning less worry about uploads/downloads). An interesting related infographic:

The Visual Online