March 2003 - Air-L - lists.aoir.org

RE: [Air-l] So Much For Embedding
by Randolph Kluver (Assoc Prof) 26 Mar '03

26 Mar '03

I disagree with much of what Maximilian Forte says, based on my observations of the embedded journalists both within BBC and CNN, as well as the print journalists. To my thinking, the embedded journalists haven't been much help to the US at all, as they have only highlighted delays and difficulties that wouldn't signal much concern if they weren't there. When a reporter comes under fire, he/she says "the strategy is falling apart! We're gonna die!" Two telling examples, the Sunday afternoon (Singapore time) skirmish in Umm Qasr, which was portrayed on both networks as a major battle, along the lines of battle of the bulge. The nature of this coverage prompted the Iraqi information minister, who just a couple of hours earlier had said that all the footage from Umm Qasr was actually shot in Kuwait, as the coalition forces "weren't even in Iraq," to go on air to prove how effectively Iraq was repelling the troops, who were, in fact, in Iraq after all, and were getting a drubbing. The response of Iraqi TV illustrates, I think, that the embedded reporters are not really helping the US forces much. A second example is the initial helicopter attacks in Medina, in which reporters as much as said that the hand guns fired at helicopters would prevent any effective air attack. Probes are a normal part of military strategy, and thus heavy resistance in one place is just more data, not to be confused with a true threat. Certainly the military units involved paid attention to these, but only as part of a much larger battle field. The following briefing by Tommy Franks was interesting, in that it showed that what military analysts and strategies took as a normal occurrence, the journalists interpreted ominously. One final issue is the Jerusalem Post embedded reporter, Caroline Glick, who "broke" the story on the supposed chemical factory. Clearly, the pentagon said that news was "premature," as if it turned out to not manufacture weapons, the credibility of the US would suffer. It seems at this point that it is an arms cache, not a chemical plant. This illustrates my point, though, that the embedded reporters, although they are under orders to not reveal certain kinds of information, are something of a liability to the US forces. I guess I am curious as to how the military would be able to embed journalists among the Iraqi civilians, since there seems to be a desire to do that. Remember, there are at least as many "independent" or "unilateral" journalists in Iraq as there are embedded. In fact, It seems that there are probably more independent journalists in Iraq, since as Forte has noted, out of 500 or so embedded journalists, a number of them are bored to tears, watching missiles fly out of warships, or sitting at military bases. I would be curious to know how many embedded jorunalists are actually in forward combat units. At least two, but most likely four, have already lost their lives, so the message coming from the Pentagon is just as likely a friendly warning as it is a threat. Thus, the embedded journalists are more likely to undermine popular support for the battle, than to serve as cheerleaders, precisely because they have, in Forte's words, "very little in the way of critical analysis or concrete information". In fact, now that every columnist in every newspaper, including Maureen Dowd, is giving war advice, it seems much more accurate to say that the embedded reporters are not much help to the military and/or political strategies fo the administration. I would not argue that the program is to be suspended, as I think it is a valuable way of getting at least some perspective on the war. Tommy Franks says he is a "fan" of the embedded reporters, but my sense is that he likes them primarily because they serve primarily to present the "view from the field," and thus are a check against false allegations. If this post is too "off topic" for this listserve, perhaps Dr. Forte could email me his responses privately. A. Randolph Kluver School of Communication and Information Nanyang Technological University 31 Nanyang Link Singapore, 637718 (65) 6790-5770 Fax (65) 6792-4329

2 1

Re: [Air-l] Re: peace
by Ildiko Kaposi 26 Mar '03

26 Mar '03

To Steve's question, another possible and wholly speculative answer could be that perhaps people avoid discussing the war also because they honestly do not see/feel it as having an impact on their lives? Nancy and others have pointed the finger at the news media for presenting the war in a video game fashion. That could be true (I don't have access to US network news in Hungary), and it would account for making the war an unreal spectacle. But the persistent fact remains that the war is somewhere far away, and there is no fighting on American soil. There is no geographic immediacy associated with the events, nor is there much doubt about the outcome (has anyone seen articles discussing what happens once Iraq wins?). That is a pessimistic explanation. The optimistic one would go for the potentially explosive and divisive nature of the events, not something people could bring up in ordinary social conversations for fear of generating political conflict. In this case, the implication would be that people care and are interested. Anyroad, I can already picture the academic books that'll be published about this war and the media, incl. (or especially) the internet. It's hard to stay a lily in this affair. Ildiko

7 6

Aljazeera website
by robert m. tynes 26 Mar '03

26 Mar '03

Here's the url: http://english.aljazeera.net/ NBC reported this morning that Aljazeera reporters were banned from the NYSE trading floor for "security reasons." Hmmm... -robert

4 5

Fwd: [isoc-members-discuss] Impact of Internet Info
by jeremy hunsinger 26 Mar '03

26 Mar '03

ideas? cc stefan Begin forwarded message: > From: Stefan Probst <stefan.probst(a)opticom.v-nam.net> > Date: Tue Mar 25, 2003 10:44:34 PM US/Eastern > To: ISOC Members discuss <isoc-members-discuss(a)isoc.org> > Subject: [isoc-members-discuss] Impact of Internet Info > > Dear All, > > several reports say, that those US TV channels, which have the highest > viewing rates, are very much pro-US based in this war. > > My own observation confirms this, kind of. > A few on CNN's website e.g. gives a very different selection of > reports, even if compared with something like > http://news.yahoo.com/iraq/ (which I think is quite good for a > mainstream channel). > > Does anybody know of a study on how Bush's rating and the opinion > about the war in the US population depends on the main information > source of the asked persons? > > Means: Can it be said, that people who get their infos from the > Internet have a different opinion than those who rely on TV? Are there > differences on the amount of infos (only TV, vs. TV and Internet, vs. > only Internet)? > > Best Regards, > Stefan > > +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ > + Meet me in my grave-yard http://www.stefan.probst.cx/iraq/ + > +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ > > _______________________________________________ > ISOC-members-discuss mailing list > ISOC-members-discuss(a)isoc.org > http://www.isoc.org/mailman/listinfo/isoc-members-discuss > > Jeremy Hunsinger Center for Digital Discourse and Culture

1 0

Fwd: [eliterature] Call for Abstracts - INST Conference Vienna
by jeremy hunsinger 26 Mar '03

26 Mar '03

Begin forwarded message: > From: Gerald Ganglbauer <gerald(a)gangan.com> > Date: Tue Mar 18, 2003 8:57:59 PM US/Eastern > To: eliterature <eliterature(a)yahoogroups.com> > Subject: [eliterature] Call for Abstracts - INST Conference Vienna > > Dear Colleagues > > The goal of the Conference "The Unifying Aspects of Cultures" is to > analyse and present the importance of culture in contemporary processes > in a new way. In particular, the unifying (transnational) aspects of > cultural processes will be examined. > > Dates: 7 to 9 November 2003 > Venue: Austria Center in Vienna > Organised by: INST (Research Institute for Austrian and International > Literature and Cultural Studies) > > Abstracts for my section "Cyberspace - The Closeness out of Difference" > are invited. > Deadline for Titles and Abstracts: 31 May 2003 > > Information about my section: > http://www.inst.at/kulturen/2003/04transnationales/ > sektion_ganglbauer_e.htm > > > More information about the conference itself: > http://www.inst.at/kulturen/index_e.htm > > Kind regards > Gerald Ganglbauer > > > Three doors to art and literature. > Drei Tueren zu Kunst und Literatur. > www.gangan.com | www.gangart.com | www.gangway.net > PO Box 522, Strawberry Hills NSW 2012, Australia > Ph.: +61 2 9280 2120 - Mobile: 0411 156 309 > Fax: +61 2 9280 2130 - E-Mail: gerald(a)gangart.com > > > The Electronic Literature Organization is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit > organization with a mission to promote and facilitate the writing, > reading, and publishing of electronic literature. > > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to > http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ > > > Jeremy Hunsinger Center for Digital Discourse and Culture

1 0

RE: [Air-l] Aljazeera website
by Andrew Herman 26 Mar '03

26 Mar '03

Dosn't work for me either. What gives? Andrew Herman, Ph. D. Visiting Associate Professor of Sociology College of the Holy Cross Worcester, MA 01610 (508) 793-2531 >>> hgildezuniga(a)wisc.edu 03/25/03 19:29 PM >>> It is really bizard... I opened the site this morning and it did work. But when I tried from a computer on campus I couldn't open the web page. It might not mean anything at all or perhaps it does... I'll try to do it later again. Let's see... Homero University of Wisconsin-Madison www.homero.educations.net -----Original Message----- From: air-l-admin(a)aoir.org [mailto:air-l-admin@aoir.org] On Behalf Of robert m. tynes Sent: Tuesday, March 25, 2003 4:45 PM To: air-l(a)aoir.org Subject: Re: [Air-l] Aljazeera website that's weird. i was just on the site before and after i sent the post. -robert On Tue, 25 Mar 2003, Frank Thomas wrote: > the connection was refused -what does that mean ? > > robert m. tynes wrote: > > >Here's the url: > > > >http://english.aljazeera.net/ > > > >NBC reported this morning that Aljazeera reporters were banned from the > >NYSE trading floor for "security reasons." Hmmm... > > > >-robert > > > > > >_______________________________________________ > >Air-l mailing list > >Air-l(a)aoir.org > >http://www.aoir.org/mailman/listinfo/air-l > > > > > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Air-l mailing list > Air-l(a)aoir.org > http://www.aoir.org/mailman/listinfo/air-l > _______________________________________________ Air-l mailing list Air-l(a)aoir.org http://www.aoir.org/mailman/listinfo/air-l _______________________________________________ Air-l mailing list Air-l(a)aoir.org http://www.aoir.org/mailman/listinfo/air-l

2 1

RE: [Air-l] Re: peace
by Nicole Ellison 25 Mar '03

25 Mar '03

To this point: I wonder how the video of the American POWs (available online but which the networks made a self-congratulatory vow not to show) will affect students' (and others) notion of the immediacy (or lack thereof) of the war? That is, would hearing and seeing these young men and women in captivity change the sense some may have about the war being so far away and unrelated to one's "real life." As others have noted, the media coverage does de-emphasize the human cost of war (especially in regards to the Iraqi people). I discussed this in an intro to mass media course here yesterday and brought up the ted koppel's argument that "we have an obligation to remind people in a graphic way that war is a dreadful thing" (quoted in LAT, 3/24). While I don't think it's appropriate to show the video in class, I did set up a online discussion forum for students to discuss media coverage of the war and provided a link to it for those interested. I don't know yet how useful this will be to the students. Nicole PS the video if you are interested is available here: http://www.rtl.nl/actueel/rtlnieuws/ Click on "Video: Krijgsgevangenen" at the bottom of the pg Probably other places as well, by now. -----Original Message----- From: radhika gajjala [mailto:radhika@cyberdiva.org] Sent: Tuesday, March 25, 2003 5:02 AM To: air-l(a)aoir.org Subject: Re: [Air-l] Re: peace The war is not far away for my students who have relatives, friends, parents, siblings, boyfriends/girlfriends - just plain friends - either already out there or have the possibility of being sent there. r At 12:41 PM 3/25/2003 +0100, you wrote: >But the persistent fact remains that the war is somewhere far away, and >there is no fighting on American soil. There is no geographic immediacy >associated with the events, nor is there much doubt about the outcome (has >anyone seen articles discussing what happens once Iraq wins?). _______________________________________________ Air-l mailing list Air-l(a)aoir.org http://www.aoir.org/mailman/listinfo/air-l

2 1

touchgraph google browser
by jeremy hunsinger 25 Mar '03

25 Mar '03

http://www.touchgraph.com/TGGoogleBrowser.html this lets you see the sites that your site points to and that point to your site in a very interesting way Jeremy Hunsinger Center for Digital Discourse and Culture

2 1

CFP: Visions of Humanity in Cyberculture
by meravka＠post.tau.ac.il 25 Mar '03

25 Mar '03

1st Global Conference Visions of Humanity in Cyberculture, Cyberpunk and Science Fiction 11 to 13 August 2003, Prague, Czech Republic Call for Papers (Please cross post where appropriate) Marking the launch of a new annual conference, research and publication series, this inter-disciplinary and multi-disciplinary project aims to explore what it is to be human and the nature of human community in cyberculture, cyberspace and science fiction. In particular, the project will explore the possibilities offered by these contexts for creative thinking about persons and the challenges posed to the nature and future of national, international, and global communities. Papers, short papers, and workshops are invited on issues related to any of the following themes: * the relationship between cyberculture, cyberspace and science fiction * science fiction and cyberpunk as a medium for exploring the nature of persons * humans and cyborgs; the synergy of humans and technology; changing views of the body * human and post-human politics; cyborg citizenship and rights; influence of political technologies * bodies in cyberculture; from apes to androids - electronic evolution; biotechnical advances and the impact of life, death, and social existence; the impact on individuality * gender and cyberspace: new feminisms, new masculinities * electronic persons, community and identity; cyberspace, cybercommunities, virtual worlds, and home worlds * nature, enhancing nature, and artificial intelligence; artificial life, life and information systems, networked living * Cyberpolitics, cyberdemocracy, cyberterror; old conflicts, new spaces: elections, protest and war in cyberspace; nationality and nationalism in cyberculture; the state and cyberspace: repression vs. resistance * cybercultures: the transnational and the local * boundaries, frontiers and taboos in cyberculture * cyberculture and orientalism * religion and spirituality in cyberculture, science fiction and cyberpunk * old messages, new medium: cyberspace and mass communication * cyberculture, cyberpunk and the near future: utopias vs. dystopias * technology vs. the natural? cyberculture and the green movement Papers will be considered on any related theme. 300 word abstracts should be submitted to the Joint Organising Chairs by Friday 9th May 2003. Full draft papers should be submitted by Friday 11th July 2003. Send proposals to: Christopher Macallister, University of Kent at Canterbury <cjm23(a)ukc.ac.uk> and Rob Fisher, Inter-Disciplinary.net <rf(a)inter-disciplinary.net> Papers should be sent as an email attachment in Word, WordPerfect or RTF; abstracts can also be submitted in the body of the email text rather than as an attachment. All papers accepted for and presented at the conference will be published in an ISBN e-Book. Selected papers will be developed and published in a themed hard copy book(s). Further details and information about the Cyberworlds, Virtual Reality series of projects can be found at http://www.inter-disciplinary.net/cwvr.htm For specific information about the conference, please go to: http://www.inter-disciplinary.net/vhccsf03cfp.htm Graduate Program for History & Philosophy of Science Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel

1 0

People's voices online and off (fwd)
by Jay Hauben 25 Mar '03

25 Mar '03

Hi, Ronda and I were among the over 250,000 New Yorkers who marched on Saturday against the bombing and invasion of Iraq. The march resembled the Internet. There were 1000's of home made signs voicing a large spectrum of opinion and understanding of the tragedy of this war. I also saw two signs in support of this war. There was not much media coverage but the people saw each other and expressed a kinship with those opposed to the war everywhere. A short article on this march appears on Telepolis with an interesting set of comments in German. Here is the url: http://www.heise.de/tp/english/inhalt/co/14450/1.html The article is titled: Giant Protest March in New York City Condemns the U.S. government Attack on Iraq and begins: "Our grief is not a cry for war", one sign proclaimed. "New York City is not for war", another protester explained. These were but two of the sea of homemade signs and people that filled the streets of New York City on Saturday, March 22, 2003. Protesters stretched at least two miles across Broadway, marching from 42nd Street to Washington Square Park." A longer version of the article if anyone is interested is at: http://www.columbia.edu/~rh120/other/march22protest.txt The Internet and connections with people around the world are helping many people in the USA to know we are not alone in our fight against the reactionary policies and practices of the Bush regime. It would make a fascinating study to gather the 1000's of slogans and see what the patterns and understandings behind them are. It will come as no surprise to those on this list how important the Internet has been to the organization and coordination of such marches and the informing of the marchers. My heart goes out to the Iraqi people and the military personnel and their families whose lives are being shattered by this war. The turn out in NYC lifted my spirit because it gave me an idea of the number of people who will not rest until this madness is stopped. It will come as no surprise to those on this list how important the Internet has been to Take care. Jay

2 1