Jtm-pnw-session-news-perf
From IVP Wiki
Contents
What is the potential for news as performance?
Participants
- Maurreen Skowran
- Cameron Hall
(Also got some thoughts from others nearby.)
Types & Examples
- Play and movie -- "Laramie Project" -- theatrical journalism
- Movie and Web site -- "Yes Men" -- (alternate reality)
- http://theyesmen.org/
- Set up parody Web site looking at how a number of corporations could be more socially responsible. The guys behind it got invited to speak at conferences, etc. Many people didn't realize it was a spoof.
- Music --
- Probably throughout history, mankind has used music to tell community stories and communicate about issues and values.
- In the modern West, these topics are probably national and multinational issues, in comparison to local issues.
- Issues music in the past 50 years tends to be more on the left, but it's better when it's a debate, a conversation.
- Music has "hooks," can get in your head more.
- News plays -- "Living Newspaper"
- Wikipedia article focused on living newspapers funded by the U.S. WPA in the 1930s: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Living_Newspaper#Notes
- From Wikipedia: "Living Newspaper is a term for a theatrical form presenting factual information on current events to a popular audience. Historically, Living Newspapers have also urged social action (both implicitly and explicitly) and reacted against naturalistic and realistic theatrical conventions in favor of the more direct, experimental techniques of agitprop theatre, including the extensive use of multimedia."
- Info from the Humanities Institute at U of Texas: http://www.humanitiesinstitute.utexas.edu/programs/living/
- Clips from the UK: http://www.livingnewspaper.net/
- Miss Porter's School in Connecticut also has a class in which students produce a living newspaper.
- Oral literature
- Middle Ages troubadors
- Lowercase scouts, original marathon
- Current -- "Youth Speaks" on YouTube -- Spoken-word compositions, have an affinity with rap -- http://www.youtube.com/user/YOUTHSPEAKS
- TV, film, video
- Comedians
- "Meet the Press" and other news talk shows
- Michael Moore and other documentaries
Miscellaneous
- Cameron said he was attracted to this session because of Maurreen's minor performance (holding a sign, maybe moving it around and smiling).
- Not (just) dumbing down news, but can elevate entertainment.
- The more that different methods are used to convey information, the more opportunity there is for that information to make connections. This is in general (using different brain cells) and also because people have different learning styles.
