Online activism....do we know what we're doing?

I was bombarded by an influx of videos on my Facebook page entitled "Kony 2012", accompanied by people;s personal messages such as "Kony must be stopped" or "spread this video", the headlines did captivare me, and i did partake in viewing the entire video, my perception of the content of the video however is quite contrary to what everyone else is suggesting.

Kony 2012 is a campaign put together by Invisible Children, a social activism organization that seeks to bring peace and stability to Uganda. They released a film in 2004 and just recently began this new campaign designed to destroy one of the worst criminals in the world. Wikipedia offers some useful background.

After the film, Invisible Children Inc initiated a successful campaign, petitioning the United States Government for support. Invisible Children Inc in 2012 started a social media campaign to garner support and awareness of the LRA and Joseph Kony. The campaign focuses on the website that features a roughly 30-minute video and sharing tools, and a plan for encouraging activism and bringing public awareness for the end goal of capturing Kony in 2012. The 30-minute video was uploaded to YouTube on March 5, 2012 and went viral immediately. After three days, the video received over 38 million hits on YouTube. As part of the campaign, 20 celebrity “culturemakers” and 12 "policymakers" were targeted as individuals to pressure to publicize the campaign. Among those targeted were Mark Zuckerberg, Lady GaGa, Bill Gates, Bill Clinton, and Harry Reid. The singer Rihanna has tweeted about the issue.

This is a campaign designed to take advantage of the power of social media. What’s more, it is working to perfection, at least when it comes to the way it is spreading. There are several terms related to this campaign that are trending on Twitter and the YouTube video has almost 53 million views so far, quickly making it one of their most popular videos of all time. It is all over Facebook and now all over the mainstream media as well.

Social media campaigns tend to be dependent on one thing more than any other: speed. Do not think about it, just do it! Don’t get the facts, don’t wait a few days to consider it, don’t ask someone who knows more — just click Tweet or Share or Post or whatever else it is that will spread the word. We’re all in this together, we need your vote, we need it now! Go! Go! Go!

I think as a population consuming social media, we need to be responsible for what we allow ourselves to filter in and how we analyze these messages both denotatively and conotatively.

The expense of truth in Trinidad and Tobago

Instances of journalists being raided and investigated by authorities and media houses being under constant threat from officers are very contrasting images in which Trinidad and Tobago's freedom of press reputation is being questioned. As citizens, we attribute a degree of trust and faith in the media to broadcast and highlight the democracy our nation, however it is unfortunate to witness the extent to which media entities are being bullied by police officers and those in authority. The manner in which journalist are treated is not only unfortunate but also appalling,  the intimidation used by the police to media entities and representatives is very disrespectful.

With respect to a search exercise for a tape from a crime watch show and the incident with the journalist and their involvement in the integrity commission, we can observe a pattern in which the police seem to demonstrate such aggressive force towards situations which does not render them to do so. The phenomenon in which journalist are mistreated seem to be not only a local occurrence but an international one too, currently Libyan militia has detained two British Journalists accused of spying. It is also reported that the men entered the country illegally and were carrying incriminating evidence. is there a problem with citizen acquiring the truth and knowledge we are entitled too? Are we still under some form of subjugation in which freedom of press has become " freedom of press to an extent", the attitude of the authorities towards journalist leave only suspicion on their part since we are always left wonder what is it they are trying to withhold and prevent the public from knowing.

Maybe if as citizens we were to ask the question "why" more often rather than sit nonchalantly  by while we are "under a state of emergency" or having media houses raided for "tapes of a show" we may be able to lobby for better responses, not only do i think that the laws and constitution are there to protect journalist, but as citizens we can do our part to provide support and sanctuary for the presenters of democracy in our country!

Lock down on Press Freedom

On Thursday, police officers raided the Newsday newspaper offices, however, according to the public information officer of the Police service, the officers actions were in accordance with proper procedure and protocol. Do we as citizens have rights to freedom of press? Is it necessary for officers to storm into a press office and search reporters as well as seizing information and documents?


In my opinion this is an example of an undermining of rights, on what valid claims do these police officers have to treat journalists and reporters with such hostility and disrespect? The search conducted by the officers were in connection to a row between Integrity Commission Ken Gordon and deputy chairman Glayds Gafoor. Apart from seizing documents at the Newsday Newspapers office, reporter Andre Bagoo also had his computer from his home taken.


I find it very appalling to know that the police has the audacity to raid journalists and reporters homes and place of work on the premise that he or she may have information that has eluded them, i believe that the press and members representing the press should be provided with certain legal protection from the abuse of power by those in authority!!! 

Social media deprived.......an addict's tale

Greetings one and all, Today i embarked on a very interesting journey where i attempted to do a 12 hour social media fast, by this mean total abstinence from my cell phone, the internet, television, radio and any form through which communication is made. Before i continue, i must assert that this was the most frustrating thing i ever attempted and I challenge any one of you to test your ability and discipline to stay away from any form of media for at least 5 hours, I'm sure many of you wont make 5 minutes.


I made a 12hour noting of my life without any means of social media, it is as follows :


I awoke at 8 : 34 am, i remembered  the time distinctly since it would be the last encounter i had with my phone. i was so uneasy and irritable since i could not check my Facebook account, my g mail or just browse through the internet aimlessly like I do regularly. As the minutes passed by extremely slowly, i felt as though i was a drug addict in desperate need of getting "high". I asked my roommate if he could call my mother to inform her of my situation so that she won't go insane trying to contact me. By 11 :30 i was on the verge of picking up my cell phone to check my messages and my call log, i mustered the strength to resist. This exercise made me aware as to how long time seems to go by without any form of distractions from cell phones, or Facebook, i think i will try and adopt a more serious approach to this for exams.
At 2:17 i was becoming desperate, i was craving to know what was going on with people around me, i wanted to know who emailed me, who wrote on my wall, which person messaged my phone, what was going on in news, my mind was bombarded with a wanting to know what was going on, i took baths, i read, i worked out, i did all sorts of things to pass the time but still, nothing really worked. I arrived in school at 4 :38 pm since i had class for 5, being on campus did not help my plight since i saw people on their cell phones and laptops, the pressure to whip out my phone and burry my head in the screen was immense. In class, it was a great relief to see Roger, the Computer technician, since i knew he would be delivering a discourse and i would be exposed to a glimpse of the internet for a temporary period. He discussed the concepts of blogging and showed the class some tips and ideas, i was literally counting down the time at this point. By 8 : 30 I whopped out my phone and began going through my call logs and messages, i called my girlfriend and and excitedly told her about my experiment, i was so happy to reach in the apartment to check my email and Facebook, i was ecstatic to be reunited with my laptop and cell phone. It felt good being able to keep abreast with news and being in the loop with the happenings in society once more.


This exercise made me aware on my dependence to social media, it was interesting to note that i had an opportunity to focus my attention on other things but i kept wondering what was going on with people around me. I admit, i am a social media addict! 

My journey towards becoming media literate.......

My legal communication course introduced me to the idea of blogging as a form of bridging typical classroom learning with limitless options that the internet offers. Its an interesting combination and is very new to me, of course i was completely clueless as to what was desired from me by the lecturer, however, with some explanation and a no less than entertaining presentation from our computer technician ( who seemed more excited than a child on Christmas morning ) i began to understand the concept of blogging and what was required of me.

To become media literate it is only fitting to understand exactly what media literacy is. Through reading some online articles and doing a bit of research, i came to the understanding that media literacy refers to our ability to examine and analyze the messages that inform and entertain us on a daily basis. It encourages a probing approach into the world of media, the main important questions being asked are :" who" and "why" . Media literacy" is the expected outcome from work in either media education or media study. The more you learn about or through the media, the more media literacy you have. Media literacy is the skill of experiencing, interpreting/analyzing and making media products.

My first approach to becoming media literate is to consume as much information from a variety of sources to build an understanding of the concept. My readings shall continue and i shall share my journey with my classmates and whoever maybe interested. Bye for now!




The larger the island of knowledge, the longer the shoreline of wonder.  ~Ralph W. Sockman