Enter World: exploring mediated cultures

Friday, June 09, 2006

Clinton’s Guide to Media

There is something excessive in the wording of this: MEDIA SAFETY A Guide for Parents from Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.

While the effects of media have been studied for years, using the term safety makes it all seem more of a scare tactic than a genuine attempt to help people become literate. Granted, violence and fear are hot topics. Why not play on them for the purpose of promoting all things while it’s trendy? If that’s what you’re after ... 

Tuesday, June 06, 2006

TANGENT issue 6.6.6

issue_005_web.pdf

We finished rubber cementing the stickers on the covers of issue 6.6.6 just in time (last night) to distribute on 6.6.6. Here’s the web-readable version. You can download an imposed print-ready PDF at the TANGENT site.

Topics in this issue include:

• how to file for office
• Upton Sinclair & Sinclair Lewis
• media rants
• an essay on love
• One night in the singularity (fiction)
• Amazing women: George Sand
• lizard remnants
• animal cruelty

Thursday, June 01, 2006

Attention-Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder and the Media

JWF_Media_ADHD.pdf

The following paper focuses on issues of ADHD and the media through analysis of the motion pictures Thumbsucker (Mills, 2005) and Pushing Tin (Newell, 1999). Topics addressed include the controversy about diagnostic methods, criticism of stimulant prescriptions for children, increasing attention surrounding adult ADHD, and the relationship between media and ADHD.

Thursday, May 18, 2006

Altruism & Media

JLW_Altruism_Media.pdf

While violence and the mass media is a topic aggressively delved into by researchers in many fields, altruism has been less covered both in general in recent years as well as in relation to the study of mass media. This paper provides an overview of altruism and establishes three topics of interest to media psychology and future research: media as a tool of altruism, media representation of altruism, and media as altruism.

Synaesthesia, Multiple Literacies, And Communication Media

JLW_Syn_Literacies.pdf

The author draws upon both historical and modern studies of synaesthesia as well as her own experiences as a synaesthete to explain what this mingling of the senses is, what it is not, and how it ties to media psychology. From the possibility of synaesthesia having led to humans forming sounds, words, and language we are led to an exploration of multiple literacies. Literacy has been historically limited in definition, but found a resurgence of exploration in the 1980s and 1990s as people attempted to broaden it to fit specific technologies. The various aspects of literacy are investigated as well as literacy’s ties to synaesthesia and importance to media psychology.

Sunday, March 05, 2006

outrageous slackers

I hear a lot of complaints about how the Bush administration jumped from illegal wiretapping to uncovering the leak simply to cover its own precarious placement ... The underlying, and more important, problem here is the pacification of the mass media.

In an imitation of the administration, the media launched a campaign against Cheney and the White House following Cheney shooting his hunting buddy because the administration had not told them.

The Bush administration had not called the media to alert them to a faux pas. And this is surprising...why?

Since when is it expected for politicians to alert the media to their wrong-doings? And since when has anyone believed they could expect such an act from an administration that seals presidential archives, restricts Freedom of Information act requests, and hides anything it can (from meeting notes to prisoners) from the public?

The ruckus about Cheney not issuing a press release is either a way for the press to mask the fact that there is no longer any sort of investigative journalism present at the major news corporations or a glaring admission of exactly that.

When the media relies on press releases to uncover the news, is there really anything newsworthy about what is being reported?

My respect goes out to the local reporter at the Corpus Christi Caller-Times in Texas who followed a tip to uncover the story. That’s reporting. 

Sunday, February 19, 2006

Oh you meant “Hot Topic” punk? I thought you meant real punk.

Media Sustainability Index 2005

My first reaction to the Media Sustainability Index that I received in the mail from Fielding was eagerness to delve into it and excitement that such a thing existed. Reading through the executive summary had me wishing to be a part of the project in some way, but I also began to question some points. For example, while the study centers on indendent media, I could not locate a working definition of independent and/or independent media. The closest I came to unearthing such a definition is in the final sentence of the exectuvie summary:

… a robust media system that promotes governmental transparency and accountability and brings citizens the information they need and deserve.

Still, my questions were minimal compared to the excitement at apparent growing independent media sustainability in eastern europe and the evidence to follow in country-specific chapters. Until I read the methodology.

When I envision independent media, I think of indymedia.org, grassroots groups, blogs, ‘zines, and in-depth reporting overlooked and under-funded by mainstream, corporate media. These groups are revolutionizing the U.S. media.

Unfortunately, the objectives and indicators included in this study seem to base healthy journalism on steroetypical and out-dated U.S. paradigms. Systems that are being challenged by academics and the masses. Systems that are leading to new definitions of journalism and experimentation by major universities in attempts discover how to research, present and distribute information in this age where trust (of journalists) is waning and information is always available.

Why hold emerging media to flawed visions when they have the potential to show us new opportunities?

My main complaint about the criteria used in the study are the Business Management Indicators. These require that media be profit-generating businesses, use advertising, and use market research to “enhance advertising revenue"… What about media supported by audiences? Media that refuse to play by the rules of advertisers as well as government? This is an especially important question when taking into account the concern by MSI panelists in various countries about “commercialization.”

With domestic and foreign investors seeking solid returns on their capital, many criticize media for seeking the lowest common denominator as they peddle scandal, entertainment, and gossip at the expense of news and public affairs.

Objective 1 covers free speech. In light of the concentration on corporate/for-profit media, a new concern arises. The summary for this section is that “legal and social norms protect and promote free speech and access to public information.” While this in and of itself is a positive objective, leaving out the possibility of corporate control of speech when business has such a prominent place in the objectives and indicators leaves a large gap in judgement. For an example of this, look to Fox News’ suffocation of the bovine growth hormone newscast in Florida (due to an advertiser complaint) that led to the termination of employment for the two reporters involved as well as suppression of the information.

Simply having multiple, non-state media outlets does not guarantee free speech nor variety of content.

Sunday, January 01, 2006

resume

JENNY WHITTEMORE FREMLIN
email: contact page

CURRENT EMPLOYMENT
>> MetaPaint Communications Design
Juneau, Alaska / Portland, Oregon 2002-Present
Partner - Creator - Designer


PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES
Publications
>> Fremlin, Jenny Whittemore. (Jan 2008). Understanding Media Psychology. APS Observer 21(1). 

Presentations
>> Fremlin, Jenny Whittemore. (2008). Comparing Independent and Corporate Media Agendas. Presented at New Communications Forum 2008, Santa Rosa, CA.

>> Fremlin, Jenny Whittemore. (2007). Independent v. Corporate Media Agendas. Presented at Fielding Graduate University Psychology Summer Session, Kansas City, MO.

>> Fremlin, Jenny Whittemore. (2005). Media Literacy: Blogging. Presented to University of Alaska Southeast media literacy and digital storytelling classes, Juneau, AK.

Research
>> Erik Gregory, PhD; Jonathan Cabiria, MS, MA; Jerri Lynn Hogg, MA; Pamela Rutledge, MBA, MA; Timothy D. Wells, MBA, MS; Jenny Whittemore Fremlin, MA. (2007). Media Psychology Awareness Project, Phase I.

>> KTOO; McDowell Group; Jenny Whittemore Fremlin. (2006). K3: Juneau Public Radio Needs.

>> Clive S. Thomas, PhD; Jenny Whittemore Fremlin. (2005). The Politics of Higher Education Representation: A Fifty State Study.

Other Professional Activities

>> Association for Psychological Science Student Grant Competition Reviewer, 2008.

>> The Amplifier Associate Editor, 2007

>> Alaska Professional Communicators Webmaster, 2004-2007

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
>> Alaska Litho, Juneau, AK, 2004-2007
Prepress

>> McPhee Publications, Juneau, AK 2001-2003
Creative Director

>> The Banyan Group, West Palm Beach, FL 1994-2002
Designer

>> Florida Association of Insurance Agents, Tallahassee, FL 1999-2001
Designer/Production Coordinator

>> Naylor Publications, Gainesville, FL 1996-1997
Editorial Assistant

WORKING PROJECT
>> TANGENT zine
TANGENT is a side project for me, creating a ‘zine and offering a voice to others is a chance to do something I love that’s not for hire.

EDUCATION
- Pursuing a PhD in Media Psychology with Fielding University
- MA Media Psychology, February 2007, Fielding University
- BS Journalism and Communication, December 1998, University of Florida
Concentration in magazine creation, management and design; Minor in German Studies
National Merit Scholar, Rotary Scholar

SKILLS
Publishing: Management, Design, Typography, Color Theory, Printing Process and Procedures, Proofreading and Editing (AP, Chicago Manual of Style, and APA); Software: Trueflow, Flight Check, Mass Transit
Graphic Design: Publication Set Up and Production, Individual Pieces, Art Manipulation and Creation, Variable Data Printing: conception, design, and integration; Software: InDesign, QuarkXPress, PageMaker, Photoshop, Illustrator, Acrobat, Streamline, PrintShop Mail
Web Publishing: Preparing Print Pieces for the Web, Site Architecture, Web Writing, Image Creation and Modification
Database Creation & Management: SQL, MySQL; Software: Access, PhPMyAdmin, Excel
Operating Systems: Windows, OS X
Photography: Digital Creation, Digital Manipulation, Developing & Print of 35mm, Studio & Lighting Experience
Languages: Fluent in English, comfortable (but rusty) in German, can speak and read some French and Spanish, dangerous with Polish

ADDITIONAL SKILLS
Ability to manage jobs from conception through completion.
Ability to manage several tasks at once and to organize tasks to meet deadlines.
Comfortably function in the foreground or background.
Plays well with others.
Eager to learn.

INVOLVEMENT
Alaska Professional Communicators/National Federation of Press Women
Association for Psychological Sciences
American Psychological Association (APA): Division 46 Media Psychology
APA: Division 27 Society for Community Research and Action
APA: Division 35 Society for the Psychology of Women
IJPC Associate
Project Gutenberg

INTERESTS/HOBBIES
language(s), media psychology, self publishing, independent media, participatory media, culinary experimentation, acoustic guitar, exploring, photography