Edulink Assignment - New Media vrs Traditional Media

The new media that generates the social media makes ordinary citizen's journalists. However, and inspite of its advantages and potentials, the new media can and does compliment the traditional media in various ways. The new media development has been said to be a graduation or a further development on the traditional media of communication. For instance, the telephone was a dramatic improvement on telegraphy and telegram. Both worked together in tandem. In the same way mobile phones are an upgraded version of traditional phones. Both are still relevant and still work together to enhance human communication.
For journalists, this is a blessing. When both traditional and new media work are available working tools, they enable the journalist work efficiently, effectively and competently, thereby giving the journalist satisfactory work output.
The new media however can pose a slight threat to the workings of journalism. The threat is minimal because the new media enables the ordinary citizen to collect, collate, process and disseminate information easily. However, the professional work needs to be done by trained personnel who appreciate the ethics involved in journalism and information dissemination. The threat posed by the current new media is the same that was generated when the telephone and telegrams were invented. It was argued that they would pose a threat to journalism and news dissemination.

Ghana has been praised as the pillar of hope and freedom on the African continent. And the former President of Ghana, President J. A. Kuffour has been highly praised and acknowledged at instrumental in maintaining the freedoms of expression and democracy in that country. The Head of Journalism of the Rhodes University in South Africa, Guy Berger, heaped these praises on Ghana and the former President at the opening of the World Journalism Education Congress and the Highway Africa Conference in South Africa today.
Mr. Kuffour was present to receive this praise to overwhelming applause. The former President, a virtual globetrotter to conferences and congresses has been recognised world wide has a leader in the maintainance and sustenance of peace and democracy in Ghana. He was elected to office in 2000 and re-elected by a large majority of Ghanaian for further 4 years. He has led Ghana for years maintaining a liberal democratic environment, a vibrant freedom of speech that enable the media landscape in Ghana to grow. Presently, Ghana enjoys one of the largest and vibrant media market especially in radio and television. There are over 120 radio stations and television cable stations.
The WJEC and Highway Africa is one of the largest grouping of journalism educationists in the world.

Edulink Assignment - New Media vrs Traditional Media

The new media that generates the social media makes ordinary citizen's journalists. However, and inspite of its advantages and potentials, the new media can and does compliment the traditional media in various ways. The new media development has been said to be a graduation or a further development on the traditional media of communication. For instance, the telephone was a dramatic improvement on telegraphy and telegram. Both worked together in tandem. In the same way mobile phones are an upgraded version of traditional phones. Both are still relevant and still work together to enhance human communication.
For journalists, this is a blessing. When both traditional and new media work are available working tools, they enable the journalist work efficiently, effectively and competently, thereby giving the journalist satisfactory work output.
The new media however can pose a slight threat to the workings of journalism. The threat is minimal because the new media enables the ordinary citizen to collect, collate, process and disseminate information easily. However, the professional work needs to be done by trained personnel who appreciate the ethics involved in journalism and information dissemination. The threat posed by the current new media is the same that was generated when the telephone and telegrams were invented. It was argued that they would pose a threat to journalism and news dissemination.

Drowning In Excessive Information

Things are getting crazy. When I say 'things' am referring specifically to the extent of information that bombards our senses these days. My laptop has lost space. Space to accommodate the flood of information that comes from all directions in a given minute. For consistent observers, our present world enabled by fast developments in Information and technology has engendered a situation where in a given minute, one can receive a variety of messages and information on various communication gadgets. In communication, the term banded around was 'access' to information, however, I argue that these days the receiver is no longer making effort to access information in the old fashion sense; information is 'pushed' to him from various points.
To prove my point, I carried an unscientific experiment. I have on my computer desktop a flock social browser. Within a period of 30 minutes, most conversations between my friends on facebook appeared in my sidebar. I was notified every second when a friend updated his or her status or commented on an issue raised by another friend. Then flock gives me access to the video and pictures they upload and update. In addition, am constantly notified about activities of my contacts on flickr, while gmail notifies me every 3o minutes about updates to my email. As for Twitter the least said about it the better. I get know where all my friends are or maybe every day and night.
To elaborate further, any comment left on my blog is sent to me. I have not mentioned the constant notification of shyte, hi5 orkut and others about my friends birth dates. While at it left me point to the fact that with the arrival of 3G technology my mobile phone is now a platform for receiving all these notifications. This is in addition to the persistent ads pushed to me by MTN, Zain and others to participate in one competition or the other.
The scenario I have painted here is to do with just ordinary every day information with social friends. What happens to students studying in various courses? How can these basket full of information be a deterrence to knowledge? The answer to this can lie firmly in seeing how distractive excess information can be to learning and acquisition of information.
For awhile, information overload has not be considered as noise, especially if noise is defined narrowly in its audible form. However, if noise is perceived in a broad perception as any tangible or intangible stimulus that serve to distract, disturb or hinder effective transmission, interpretation and reception of a message or an idea than the argument that too much information can be a dangerous disincentive to learning is valid.
The average student in his or her research has to contend with a range of search sources like wikipedia, blogs, yahoo, google and other meta-search engines. The situtation is aggravated by the spoil for choices. The provision of alternatives can be viewed as epitomizing democracy however the student may become lost and confused in the proverbial midst of plenty. The act of choosing from numerous and varied alternatives has its inherent dangers. A non-discerning student may become exhausted, irritated and may even give up due to the amount of mental effort needed in the analysis of so much array of information.
Let me bring this discussion to the political level. In the prelude to the 2008 elections the NPP carried primaries that pointed to how undemocratic and annoying too much choices and information can be. The over 17 candidates presented for the consideration of the public lead to mental exhaustion and switching off. It has been referred to by many political commentators as the beginning of the lose of the elections by the NPP.
Too much information can be dangerous, anti-democratic, a noise, a disincentive to learning and psychologically annoying.
I am contributing to the phenomenon of information overload by writing this post. I need to end it.

Global Inequalities & Globalization

 

  

 

Kwantlen Polytechnic University & Ghana Institute of Journalism

 

Global Inequalities & Globalization

 

QUESTION: WHAT HAS ICE CREAM GOT TO DO WITH WATER?

 

ANSWER: Europeans spend $11 billion a year on ice cream—$2 billion more than the estimated annual total needed to provide clean water and safe sewers for the world's population.

                                        

FALL 2009

This partially online course links students and faculty at two international locations—Ghana and Canada. The course, through integrative information and educational technologies aims to break the boundaries of time, space and distance thereby facilitating the sharing of knowledge between students. It will create a networked collaborative learning environment for students and instructors at the Ghana Institute of Journalism and Kwantlen Polytechnic University.

 

Contact Information in Ghana Institute of Journalism: kodwoboateng@gmail.com/papano@hotmail.com

Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Dept of Sociology http://www.kwantlen.ca/socialsciences/sociology.html    

 

REGISTRATION ENDS: Tuesday, 6^TH OCTOBER, 2009

Reflections on Teaching Speciality

My teaching specialization is in the fields of Mass Communication, Media and Society and in New Information Communication Technology. I study the changing trends in communication between sources and the masses; how the media and society inter-relate and the impact of new information technology on communication flow and exchange. From this studies I lead my students to understand and appreciate these dynamics in communication.

These are broad and challenging areas of communication. This is so since these areas are currently undergoing constant and rapid innovations and developments in telecommunication and technology. Invariably, the nature of mass communication is now facing challenges from technologies that empower individuals to create dedicated networks that cater for their communication needs, information interest and political aspirations. For instance, in the field of mass communication and journalism there is no longer the need to teach students the old fashioned linear, vertical flow of communication. The new forms of mediation and dissemination make information flow so diverse and sometimes messy such that make it is difficult to grasp the source of information.

Interestingly, this constantly shifting area gives the teacher an advantage of constantly upgrade my knowledge. Rapid changes in information technology, developments in Internet and the open nature of the net is exciting. I am constantly stumbling on new ideas, ways of thinking and doing things from the net. Some how it enriches my experiences and broadens my horizon.

For me the future of mass communication and media use by people promises to be interesting. Now and for the first time in the history of global information and communication flow, the individual has personal power to see, hear and watch what he desires. There are alternatives that enable personal choices. Digitalization provides people with numerous media forms to choose from. For the first time the individual can also create, and manipulate what he or she needs to know to keep him or her informed. The challenge therefore is on media lecturers to begin to recognize this changes and enable our students engage this future.

Propaganda & Public Deception

Propaganda loosely defined here as using various communication techniques to influence public opinion and perspection is at its best form in Ghana at the moment. The government and its party machinery is currently and vigourously overusing its mandate and state funds to publicise the achievements of the NPP ruling party. The Ministry of Information and National Orientation believes it is breaking no rules and laws by using the country's scarce financial resources to propagate the NPP gov't's achievements over the past 8 years. Evidence- see STC buses and huge billboards in the city under the slogan 'Then and Now'. On TV this propaganda and misuse of state funds is brazen. Unfortunately, and surprisingly, the opposition, media experts, Media Commission and other civil societies are either blind to this or boldly silent on this.
Is propaganda more effective if the learned and responsible society fail to counter the messages?