Lacey's Blog

Memes have been a part of our digital culture for at least a decade or more. Many of us know them as the photos or gifs with text that typically make us laugh and are there for our entertainment. But, memes can actually be another tool for advocacy.  Whether it be learning of a toxic man trait or spreading alt-right agendas, memes can be a powerful and influential tool.  Memes are a part of our culture now and they can be used to share to the masses and shed light on certain behaviors or actions. They have the opportunity to allow readers to rethink things in a more positive way. They can be used to reset cultural norms and expectations.  Memes can be an effective tool for teaching readers about the importance of certain social issues. Take China for example , in a country where information is censored, regular citizens helped shape the way the Chinese government looked at pollution. Collective postings of air quality in China and pressure from Western countries forced C...

       After watching The Stanley Parable , I definitely have a better appreciation and understanding of interactive video games. Overall, I actually enjoyed watching the game and seeing it play out based on the player's choices, that I even watched the second video because I was so into it.  Image Source     I thought that The Stanley Parable contained the basic structures of a narrative. It had a backstory, Stanley who works in an office. The character of Stanley. The setting of Stanley's office. Then the general storyline of Stanley and the choices "he" makes around his office.      The game has the screen displayed so it looks like the player is actually Stanley. You see what Stanley looks like in the intro, and then it pans so that the player has Stanley's point of view. I think that's a helpful way of allowing the player to feel immersed in the game. You are making the choices Stanley is making. Therefore the player is Stanley and ...

      Documentaries can be described as using real people and a real situation to tell a story. Regular films contain actors to tell a story. Because of this nature, documentaries are much more authentic. Documentaries tell the story of real lives, and those people are typically involved in the documentary, telling their story and thoughts.       It's hard for a film writer or director to capture the authenticity in a film just because they don't have the connection that someone who would be featured in a documentary would. Actors can only use the information that is given to them, and sometimes the whole story cannot be told. Even through gathering interviews for the accuracy of a story film, not every detail can and will be captured.       In an interview with Jon Else , he even talked about how there can be some creative freedom in a documentary. Focusing more on historical documentaries, series of events don't necessarily need t...

     I thought that The Fallen of World War II  was very effective and well done to explain the numbers involved in the War. Data storytelling can be defined as a structured way of communicating data insights that include the data, visuals, and a narrative. The video covered all of that.      The video used human-shaped figures to represent the human numbers of civilian and military deaths in the form of bar graphs to show the comparison of numbers. It showed the data as visual numbers to help the viewer understand how big of a number there was. The speaker added additional information, like what specific battle or event caused what number of deaths.      I thought that each element was important in telling the whole story. The speaker's narrative helped fully explain what was going on rather than just giving out the data. The data is important because that's what viewers are looking for and wanting to know. The visuals...

Over time, the idea of journalism has changed. From traditional straight-forward newspapers, to radio and TV, and now the Internet. As Sue Robinson said in Chapter 4 , journalists have been able to successfully adapt to the new technologies that come about to produce interesting content.  With the rise of citizen journalism, regular citizens are encouraged to actively participate with spreading information and sometimes being able to spread first-person accounts. Journalists have actually embraced this and use citizen content for their own professional work. Along with the increased interest of citizens participating, journalists were still looking for a new way that audiences can participate in the news.   Image Source Participatory journalism can be defined as the required interaction of readers to control a graphic, submit content, or produce their own news . Many readers want to have that interactive experience with news now. With the information they receiv...

    I thought that "Money Tree" was a great story. The details of Axton Betz-Hamilton's story was absolutely wild, I did not suspect her mother to have stole her and her father's identity. I think choosing a podcast to tell this story was perfect. It's important to hear the person actually getting to tell their side of the story and describe their emotions and thoughts.        I think, for listeners, podcasts are slightly different in radio plays because the podcast is more conversational. They are telling a story, but the listener doesn't necessarily need to visualize anything like they do in radio storytelling. The conversation flowed very well in the interview format where the only sense needed is hearing. I was able to multitask, much like I did with the radio play, without having to stop and focus to visualize any aspects.      For the creators,  radio storytelling is a bit more intricate because it is live. The video we saw in cla...