What is Flip the Media?
Posted by Adriana
We have been having an intense email discussion on what constitutes media and what is Flip the Media as a concept. It all started with a Common Craft video about what is Twitter and whether or not it fits in the scope of this blog.
What do you think Flip the Media means?
(1) using the Flip camera
(2) turning media upside down
(3) Giving the “bird” to traditional media (i.e. ‘flipping them off’).
(4) Other
Hanson thinks anything that upends media is related to the topic of Flip the Media. “Media” may be traditionally associated with journalism, but in his view of it is much broader. “It has to be, as we’re in a digital “media” program in a communications department. Besides, traditional journalism, as we know it, is dying quickly, primarily from a digital media broadstroke — whatever its resurrected self may be, it will be greater in scope as well and we can help shape that.”
Carie doesn’t see the Twitter common craft video as ‘up-ending’ the media since traditional media doesn’t produce how-to content – unless book publishers are included. “Maybe we have different definitions of “the media,” but when I hear the term, I think of traditional journalism [...] I’d assume the blog was about traditional and “new” journalism and, if I was aware of the product, possibly the Flip camera. I wouldn’t assume it had a general Web 2.0 focus, so I probably wouldn’t take a look”
However, Hanson says that Twitter is relevant to the blog because it’s part of the upending of media as we have known it. See this article. See especially: “News often breaks on Twitter before it hits blogs. And companies are paying attention to what comes over the transom.”
Mark thinks we can get pretty loose with the term ‘media’ and he thinks it is worthy of some thought and discussion. “There are multiple media involved in sending this note to you. My monitor is a medium as I type the words and interact with the software (also a medium). The wires that carry the bits to you when I hit send are a medium. And if you chose to print this onto paper, that would be another medium. We deal with media in layers upon layers. The whole idea of what a medium is and what we mean when we use the word is changing. We have many new media to consider. How will the old interact with the new? The ways that we communicate are changing radically. And so, the media is being flipped.”
Mark thinks Twitter is another example of people using these media to communicate in new ways. So, I think it fits perfectly on flipthemedia.
Hanson has put a heavy emphasis on user generated content (UGC), social media, and the amateur in all three courses he’s taught this year — all of which take a close look at the upheaval of “media” in the broadest sense. The MCDM’s three core strengths (rather than our focus) are now: social media, storytelling, and digital media in communications & business. “I think flipthemedia is a nice parallel brand to nurture for the program.”
Share YOUR thoughts on what media is, what do you think fits in with flip the media….
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8 Comments, Comment or Ping
Carie
Ok, first, let’s do a little math. Hanson’s the Director, I’m a student. Hmmmm…. wonder who other students are most likely to agree with?
For me, the bottom line here is an issue of term definition. I think most people will think of traditional journalism when they see or hear the phrase “the media.” While our blog contributors, as MCDM students and faculty, may think of digital media and traditional media when we hear the term, due to our discussions and classes. Sure, Mark’s right in his definition about media as well, but my point is really about eyeballs on the blog and how they will define the term and, most importantly, how this will impact their likelihood of following our blog.
The original discussion started because I wasn’t clear on the scope of our blog: “Is it about Independent America? Is it about the Flip? Is it about the impact of digital media on “media”? What do WE mean by “media?” Is it about Web 2.0 and digital media? Sounds like the answer to all of these questions is “yes,” but I don’t think someone new to the blog will glean this from the blog (right now).”
If I, as a student and contributor, don’t know what is “on-topic” content, then maybe I’m not alone and how could our potential readers know? While some individual bloggers write about whatever strikes their interest that day, it takes longer to build a following this way. So, I think it’s important to clearly define our blog’s scope to better attract readers. After our email discussion, it sounds like that scope should be “digital media,” but I’m not convinced someone outside the MCDM program would gather that’s the scope of our blog from its title and current posts and organization. I’m not saying the blog title and url has to change. I’m just saying things are unclear right now.
Refining the About section and re-organizing the content will help, but I think we need further discussion ***on the blog*** about scope and how to organize and promote our blog. That’s all I’m sayin’.
What do YOU think?
~Carie
Apr 9th, 2008
gilminer
Viva la anarchy, no pulling ranks in a blog discussion!
I agree that the scope of the blog is changing and its a little confusing. Agree with Carie that current posts don’t reflect a bigger topic, but we’re getting there. (See the recent updates to About us and Videos).
We started with just using this blog for class to document the process of making our short using the Flip. But as we have continued with our activities the scope started to expand.
This ‘general topic’ for me it’s not all digital media — but how accessible (cheap and easy to use technology is impacting the traditional way media (news, information, advertising and entertainment) is produced, distributed and experienced by the public.
However, I believe that the scope is shaped by the posts –I don’t want to discourage people from posting. Also, I think people can feel free to promote the blog as much as they want and share their insights (e.g. Christina decided to collect all the videos and send them to her contacts and suggested we put them together in a page).
Apr 9th, 2008
John
The changes are exactly what I was looking for, great job. I, like Carrie, was concerned about confusing new viewers to this blog.
As for the word – Media. The word is just too broad in it’s meaning. Even if you left out all the varying forms of digital media, the word doesn’t fit. Lumping television, newspapers and radio into the same category has never fit. They are just too different in the way they handle their business. That being said I see “flip the media” as a new way of thinking. I cringe at using the cliché of “democratizing the media” but it seems as if that is the whole idea. The ability of the common person to share the news without the gatekeeper seems to be at the very heart of what we are doing. I don’t think we should be hung up on certain technology but rather the phenomenon that each and every person has access to news from everywhere and is able to contribute to the conversation. Technology is just a tool, the idea that is becoming affordable to all is the revolution.
From a journalism background this was my own eye opening epiphany when I understood that the fundamental change between the old way of reporting news and our current time is that we must engage in a conversation rather than a one-way communication.
Apr 9th, 2008
Hanson
Nice comments all. Now I’m beginning to wonder if Carie isn’t the dogmatic curmudgeon and John (my original MCDM crusty soul), the born-again believer!
Essentially, I like the “organic” nature of this blog, and of the MCDM program for that matter. Very much like the way I like to make films: let the story tell itself. As long as we continue to feed this site, I’m hoping it will develop in the direction it was meant to follow all along. The “Flip” focus at the outset was a nice, narrow ignition point. Now we can really push it as we all become more confident in our thinking, and in what this program is supposed to be all about.
Maybe the MCDM needs a mascot — a dog named “Flip?”
Apr 9th, 2008
crackerbelly
I think the mascot should be one of these…just sayin’.
Apr 10th, 2008
Kevin
I had a big chuckle reading all this now that I’m post MCDM and who knows, maybe ‘post’ media?
I have always been a big fan of double entendre, the clever use of words and the turn of a phrase – Hanson seems to have a lot of that down with spaces like “The Bitter End” and “Flip The Media.” In fact, just consider what ‘Independent America’ evokes. . .
So – to your points – the Flip video cam actually extends the whole notion of the media being turned upside down. It’s just the latest in a series of technologies and applications that ‘disintermediate’ by taking information flows that were previously more fixed, cumbersome, less interactive, etc. and bringing new voices into the conversation, analysis, observation – you name it.
In all senses here, this little camera reflects that citizen journalists like Tracy Record and the West Seattle Blog are creating new media outposts that, in effect, are flipping off the big guys who can’t cover it down to the Google Street View level, as well as enabling people to turn the whole notion of mass media upside down/inside out.
So Flip The Media (Adri may have come up with this name rather than Hanson – I don’t remember) is apropos of what is happening in media and certainly the camera of the same name is a tool in creating the chaos of defining and refining what media is – or should be!
Apr 11th, 2008
hrhmedia
Kevin, I hope you’ll continue to sound off, even as an MCDM alum. I like your summarizing thought — the chaos of defining and refining what media is — or should be. And perhaps even broader…how we communicate with each other.
As for who came up with flipthemedia….I think it was a joint creative effort in the heat of battle during class (spurred on by some verbal sparring between Adriana and I).
Apr 11th, 2008
gilminer
I think it was more of a group effort! There was a heated debate, but that seemed to happen in every class at the beginning… I remember Kirk, Mark, Doug and even quiet Brian yelling or flipping something.
Adri
Apr 11th, 2008
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