SFG

Contributing writer for The Artifice.

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    Latest Topics

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    Web-Videos
    Terrorism media
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    The spectacle of terrorism is the ultimate click bait. How should we respond?

    Terrorism is a tactic that relies on a small number of antagonists, performing a localised atrocity, but streaming their message to a mass audience. More and more, the media incorporates web-videos taken by citizen witnesses into their news reporting of these terrorist events, and millions of viewers watch the spectacles of horror. Are we unintentionally playing into the hands of terrorists by providing them with platforms for their vile PR? How can the media, and citizen journalists, change their reporting tactics to disrupt the modis operandi of terrorist operatives?

    • Smart idea. The rhetoric that we don't allow terror to change our lives seems problematic, and yet it's what I continue to hear after every attack and event. And yet tragedy porn seems to be a part of human nature. There was a "Black Mirror" episode related about the British PM, suggesting (I found) that humanity is too interested in sensationalism and tragedy and the perverse and simple. That terrorist groups use social media is unsurprising; school bullies and human rights groups and fast food franchises do. That news programs in a competitive market fill their time with terror and fear is also unsurprising. The question seems much more about, say, click bait and human nature. Or, the much more purposeful question might be how we can use social media not to bolster and distribute vitriol, garbage, and hatred, but to foster empathy, compassion, and understanding. – Paul A. Crutcher 8 years ago
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    • Thanks for your thoughtful comment Paul - and for reminding me of that great Black Mirror episode.There's no simple solution, and probably no way of coordinating one since people generally view their own use of social media as empwering. We presently seem locked in repetitive loop of response, as you say. – SFG 8 years ago
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    Latest Comments

    Jun 15, 2017
    SFG

    The better CGI becomes, the more realistic the result. Films are becoming closer and closer to the impossible stuff of our dreams – and nightmares. I agree with the comments above though that vote for story over special effects. If CGI is used for its spectacular effects, over and above the dramatic potential of the narrative, I’d rather read a book.

    		 Does CGI Benefit Special Effects or Detract From Them?
    Jun 15, 2017
    SFG

    This is a rich and fascinating article, comparing the social, philosophical and theological contexts of the classical source stories and the early modern and postmodern ‘adaptations’. The argument that “science almost becomes its own diety” is painstakingly established. Yes, reimagining is the perfect term to describe what happens to Prometheus and Pygmalion in the texts of the scientific age. Thanks for the article.

    		 Ex Machina, Frankenstein and Modern Deities
    Jun 15, 2017
    SFG

    Agree 100%. Atwood’s prescience is based on her thoroughly researched, intelligent and imaginative understanding of contemporary technologies, politics, social systems and human foibles.

    		 Oryx and Crake: Why Atwood Matters