New Media In Terrible TimesOur new way of understanding.Wednesday, September 11, 13Filters for Tragedy•New Companions•Always there at catastrophe•Always has had a role•Shaped our understanding•Of event•Of technology•Of ourselves•Look at new media and disastersWednesday, September 11, 13•Titanic•Hindenburg Explosion•JFK Assassination•Challenger Explosion•Rodney King•9/11/03•Your ExamplesWednesday, September 11, 13Titanic•April 14th, 1912•Maiden voyage•1517 people lost•No media there•But a new media played a partWednesday, September 11, 13David Sarnoff•Worked for the Marconi company•Manufactured wireless•Ship communication only use for radio•Stayed at the key for 72 straight hours•Marconi promoted him•RCAWednesday, September 11, 13Confusion•Titanic•Confusion reigned•All saved/ All lost•Had to wait for Carpathian to arrive•No regulation of airwaves•So much confusion Taft silenced it•Led to the Radio Act of 1912•Last time tragedy would be silentWednesday, September 11, 13Hindenburg•Zeppelin•Germany/America in 2 days•Luxury•Originally used helium•But US didn’t like Nazis•Priced helium too high•Germans filled with hydrogenWednesday, September 11, 13Live•May 6th 1937•Lakehurst NJ•36 died but 61 survived•Herbert Morrison•Radio broadcaster•Gave us our first taste ofWednesday, September 11, 13Live•May 6th 1937•Lakehurst NJ•36 died but 61 survived•Herbert Morrison•Radio broadcaster•Gave us our first taste ofWednesday, September 11, 13John F. Kennedy•November 22, 1963•Motorcade in Dallas Texas•6th floor of Book Repository•Dealey Plaza•Shot by Lee Harvey OswaldWednesday, September 11, 13Abe Zapruder•Dallas Dressmaker•8mm film•Grassy rise in Dealey•26 second film•Second by second death•Truth in the pictures?•http://bit.ly/cLQH3t•Wednesday, September 11, 13Jack Ruby•JFK Assassination•Oswald Assassination•November 24th•Dallas PD•ABC, CBS film crew•NBC covers live•1st see it as it happens•http://bit.ly/bbQpydWednesday, September 11, 13Challenger Explosion•January 28, 1986•Pressure to launch•First civilian passenger•Teacher•74 sec into flightWednesday, September 11, 13Christa McAuliffe•Watched her parents live•Media struggled for answers•http://bit.ly/9kmWWs•Parents reaction•http://bit.ly/bpAPWO•2:19Wednesday, September 11, 13Rodney King• 3/3/91- 2 X tasers- 56 blows with nightsticks- 24 police officers• Videotaped- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SW1ZDIXiuS4- From hotel across street• 3 officers accused- 4/29 Simi Valley Jury (10 whites) acquitted• Nationwide Riots- Property damage and dozens killed• Sousveillance- to watch from below Wednesday, September 11, 139/11•Maybe it is too soon•Where were you?•http://bit.ly/ctcdwYWednesday, September 11, 13Visceral Images•Can’t look at•Can’t look away from•http://bit.ly/caeZVt•Wednesday, September 11, 13Visceral Images•Can’t look at•Can’t look away from•http://bit.ly/caeZVt•Wednesday, September 11, 13Alternative Communication•Cell Phones•Flight 93•Todd Beamer – Let’s roll•Shanksville, PA•In NY•Land lines down•Cells only way•Cells busyWednesday, September 11, 13Email•Only way people could communicate•Sending out emails from WTC•Only word out of NYWednesday, September 11, 13Internet•Broke down•CNN & MSNBC•Totally overloaded•Shifted to low bandwidth modeWednesday, September 11, 13Amateur Video•Zapruder-esqueWednesday, September 11, 13Saddam Hussein Execution• Secrets don’t work• December 30, 2006• Cellphone VideoWednesday, September 11, 13Virginia Tech• April 16th, 2007• 32 people died• 17 wounded• Cellphone video• Who is journalist?Wednesday, September 11, 13Arab Spring• Khaled Said• Egyptian Student• “We are Khaled Said” Facbook• New Way of Organizing• UncontrollableWednesday, September 11, 13Other Examples• Katrina- Chernoff phone call• Haiti- Google Maps called in• Deep Water Horizon- underwater videoWednesday, September 11, 13New Power of Presentation•Seeing•Hearing•Feeling•Connecting•Affect us in a new way•Mediated first hand•Impossible before we had these mediaWednesday, September 11, 13New Intimacy•Coping on the fly•Learning together•No time to process•There to deal with now•All segments of society at same time•No privileged groups any more•Can’t miss itWednesday, September 11, 13Collective Consciousness!•Don’t see it differently•Share the perspective•Burned in with the same view•Icons that will never go away•Mean something to us as a culture.Wednesday, September 11, 13Media Context•Fantasy medium•Telling us the truth•Is it real?•Can it be real?•Close to it but still distant.•New type of reality•Mediated realityWednesday, September 11, 13Is Seeing Knowing?•We believe these images contain the truth•Watch over and over•We will figure it out•The answer is there•The spectacle of death.Wednesday, September 11,