What is media activism and how is it changing in the era of mobile and digital tools and networks? Do traditional sites of power and authority have more leverage in this new environment or are there more opportunities for resistance? These questions are all over the news and scholarly literature these days as the world erupts in protest over various forms of injustice. Check out this time-lapse visualization of protests since 1979. It gets especially amazing around the 2000s when the map gets super crowded. And here is the explanation of how the data was collected.
Recently there have been demonstrations erupting in the US around the election and policies of Trump, climate justice, police violence against African Americans among other things. The protests are represented in various ways.
Report from Fox.
Focus on phones from the Daily Mail.
Images from CBS.
Tim Pool coverage from Ferguson.
Jon Stewart on complaints against protestors.
CBS on The Women's March.
One of the benefits of activist media is it can represent diverse perspectives. Here Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie talks about how to confront what she calls "the danger of the single story." What does this have to do with activist media?
Media activism today is also goes beyond representation to changing the media structures, forms, and practices. Jeff Chang hints at this in this video about his book. You can signup to hear him at the as upcoming Harper Distinguished Speaker lecture on April 13 (5:30 reception, 7:00 speech).
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