Sunday, September 27, 2009

Constructed Personal Identity Narrative 2

INTRODUCTION
The newspapers are known for their job of selectively publishing and disseminating ‘information about recent events that are of interest to a sufficient large group, or that may affect the lives of a sufficiently large group’. These information are otherwise called news stories. In other words, they are an ‘account of imaginary or past events, narrative tale’ etc. In essence, news stories can be called narratives, in that “a narrative is a recognizable story” (Loseke 2007:2).
The point, however, is that narratives are written and or told by someone or people for the consumption of some specific people or audience. Whereas, more often than not, stories written and or told are always about a person or some people. This means that these people may have been constructed, for, according to Loseke (2007), “stories are constructed”. In essence, a character in a newspaper story may have been constructed, and if so, for the mere fact that “narratives construct identity” (Loseke, 2007:2), then the character’s identity in that context has been constructed.
According to Loseke (2007: 2), “narratives create identity at all levels of human social life”. She explains that at the macro-level, stories told produce cultural identities (“the imagined characteristics of disembodied types of people that simplify a complex world and construct symbolic boundaries around types of social actors”); at the meso-level, stories told produce both institutional identities (“the imagined characteristics of the targets of policy or law which justify policy decisions and therefore legitimize institutional arrangements promoting freedom or constraint”) and organizational identities (“produced by increasingly common organizations and groups explicitly in the business of structuring and reconfiguring personal identity”); at the micro-level, stories told produce personal identities (the self-understandings of unique, embodied selves about their selves”). In other words, “narratives of identity therefore are produced at cultural, institutional, organizational, and individual levels of social life” (Loseke, 2007:2).
In essence therefore, this essay aims to analyse the narrative, that is, the story in the New York Times (see appendix). It will do this using just one of the four narrative identities (personal) as a framework. The objective is explore personal narrative identity; indicate categories of personal identities constructed in the newspaper; and give a sense of how the media may have mediated in constructing those personal identities.

Exploring Personal Narrative Identity
The identity of the self is that which is usually consciously constructed. And there is always “the sense of a need for a coherent identity by social actors”(Loseke 2007:10), that is, a constructed good personal identity is always wanted to remain the same forever. However, the question therefore is “how a sense of identity consistency can be constructed within a world that can be nonsuportive, or even antagonistic to, such coherence” (Loseke 2007:10)? This implies that , in a narrative, writers or storytellers, whether consciously or subconsciously, usually construct varying personal identities of the same character.
In a newspaper narrative, for example, authors produce narratives which are claimed to be subjective, that is, they present stories exactly the way they were collected from the source. However, “stories that seem too different from culturally sanctioned narratives might be evaluated as untrue, [thus], people must use socially circulating stories as a members’ resource in crafting their own narratives of personal identity” (Loseke 2007:11). This socially circulating stories, as preferred by Loseke (2007:4), are called ‘formula stories’.
According to Loseke (2007:4), formula stories refer to “narratives of typical actors engaging in typical behaviours within typical plots leading to expectable moral evaluations”. She further explains that “socially circulated formula stories are continually created, modified, challenged, and discarded”. D’ Andrade (1995, cited in Loseke 2007:4), argues that “there is considerable evidence that broadly circulating formula stories function in the background of thinking, provide hypotheses, and sometimes filter perceptions in daily life”. In other words, formula stories are evaluative stories.
Further more, given that formula stories are continually created, modified, challenged, and discarded, “social actors cannot simply appropriate them”. (Loseke 2007:14) This is because it is not a clear-cut affair figuring out “what types of stories and what types of identities are socially valued”.(Loseke 2007:14). In other words, personal identities that may have been created and or constructed in a prior formula story may not be valued as compared to before. For example, “the ‘gay as deviant’ story competes with the ‘glad to be a gay’ story (Plummer 1995, cited in Loseke 200:14). Hence, social actors must consider the context of their publication before producing narratives.
Finally, formula stories are of course different from narratives of personal identities. While formula stories build from cultural identity narratives, personal identity narratives do not. However, they are both integrative and effective. A social actor, though may not appropriate a formula story for a personal identity narrative, may modified it for example, thus integrating it to fit for a personal identity narrative. More so, “effective formula stories achieve their clarity by bracketing indeterminacy and complexity, while effective narratives of personal identity are those integrating the disparate roles and values in an individual life.
ANALYSIS
To Start with, the prior formula story incorporated into the newspaper to be analysed can be called “the spicy personal life of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi”, as presented in paragraph one. This is because it is stated that, for months, the story about Berlusconi’s personal life has been the major story in the Avvenire newspaper. Moreover, Berlusconi’s personal identity is here constructed as ‘interesting’, in that the word ‘spicy’ suggests that he is hot, attractive etc.
Moreover, paragraph two gives a sense of change in the formula story. Here, another character, Dino Boffo, is introduced. Boffo is constructed as being ‘decisive’. This is suggested by the phrase he “began to weigh in”, a phrase which implies Boffo wrote something offensive to some one. Although, what was written against Berlusconi is not told; paragraph three, however, implies that Boffo wrote something against him. Hence, Boffo’s identity in paragraph four is constructed as the ‘offender’, as it is stated that he is “out of a job”, meaning that Boffo lost his job.
More so, in paragraph five, another identity seems to have been constructed of Boffo. He is constructed as a ‘homosexual’. Although this may not be true, the concurrent identity constructed here of Berlusconi is ‘the aggrieved’, who is using his brother’s newspapers to batter the image of is enemy. In essence, by consequence, Boffo’s identity is constructed as ‘the enemy’.
This is confirmed in paragraph six, where it is written: “The lesson: No one can mess with Silvio Berlusconi, not even the church.” Apart from the fact the enemy identity is being constructed for Boffo, one can notice that the same is being constructed for the church: “not even the church”. Berlusconi is here therefore constructed as the ‘warrior’ whom cannot be messed with, who will fight his enemies at all cost.
However, in paragraph seven, Berlusconi’s identity is constructed as ‘negligent’. He is said to have neglected his public duty for “efforts to clear his name”. Moreover, this identity only but implies two contrastive identities : ‘innocent’ and ‘not innocent’. One is led to evaluate Berlusconi’s action, asking questions as to why he is bothering himself so much on the issue if he is innocent of the allegation; and whether he is only trying so hard to clear his name because he is not innocent.
More so, the underlying implication of the negligent identity is an identity bound for ‘revenge’, constructing Berlusconi as a character seriously making a plan for revenge against his enemy. In paragraphs eight and nine however, the identity constructed by implication ( ‘revenge’) is refuted. Thus, Berlusconi’s identity is modified as ‘meek’. He is basically a humble person who, though “has an ego, has no plan to revenge”. Hence, he rather jokes over the matter (“i am not a saint”), for, though he has appeared to be trying very hard to clear his name, he regards it has trivial, however.
In paragraph ten, Berlusconi’s identity is constructed as being ‘defensive’. One is actually made to get the sense that he defends himself at all cost, even to the extent of filing a “defamation law suit of one million dollars against several publication that have been critical of him”. Again this raises questions as to whether he is innocent or not innocent. The fact that he filed the suit may suggest that he is very defensive of the criticism that may have been levied against him. Therefore, the implicit identity constructed of him in this paragraph is ‘not innocent.’
In paragraph eleven, Berlusconi’s identity is constructed as being ‘insubordinate’. He appears insubordinate to the church, and this could harm him politically. Given that “ the Catholic Church remains the essential institution, Italians care which candidates have its implicit support.” Therefore, if Berlusconi continues to demonstrate the insubordination, his hope of being re-elected will be crushed.
In paragraph twelve, the ‘enemy’ identity is constructed for both Berlusconi and the church. They are constructed as being enemies to each other. The implication of these is that Berlusconi’s identity, here, is then implicitly constructed as a ‘loser’. Here, referring to him losing at the next elections, given that he would have lost the support of the church.
While Berlusconi is constructed in paragraph thirteen as the ‘defendant’, Boffo is constructed as the ‘accuser’. Thus, one gets the sense that the allegation against Berlusconi is just a mere allegation, it is not true until proven otherwise. Moreover, Boffo’s identity is also in this paragraph reiterated as ‘gay’, however, this identity is constructed in way that it can be contested. The gay identity is also an allegation, and it is not true until proven otherwise.
In paragraph fourteen, Berlusconi is constructed as being ‘famous’, due to the incessant publication cum allegation about his sex life. Implicitly, the identity implied of him here is again ‘innocent’. In paragraph fifteen however, Boffo’s identity is constructed as ‘calm’. He appears as someone who is not quick to anger, or does not see a reason to trade words as a means to defend himself. Hence, the implicit identity here is that Boffo is constructed as ‘not defensive’.
In paragraph sixteen, Boffo is constructed as a ‘harasser’. It is somewhat made a fact that he is indeed a ‘harasser’, given that a judge attested to it. However, according to the newspaper, “Boffo denies that he has made a harassing phone calls. One can observe that the word allegation, which would have suggested that what the judge said might not be true, is omitted. Thus, the fact that Boffo denies the supposed truth, implicitly constructs him as a ‘liar’. The constructed identity of him as a liar in paragraph sixteen, i suppose, affects paragraphs seventeen, eighteen and nineteen. Although Boffo is constructed as being the ‘defendant’ in those paragraphs. His statements of pity, however, appear as lies- paragraphs twenty and twenty-one also reflect the same construction him.
Finally, in paragraph twenty-two, what surfaces again is the constructed ‘enemy’ identity of both Berlusconi and the church. While paragraphs twenty-three and four again surfaces the constructed negligent identity of Berlusconi. However, as opposed to resurfacing constructed identity, the identity constructed of Berlusconi is different in the last paragraph. He is constructed as being ‘in denial’.
CONCLUSION
The analysis above, i suppose, show the emergent formula story. This formula stories can be called the ‘church-state tension’, with Boffo representing the church and Berlusconi representing the state. In essence, the prior formula story, ‘the spicy life of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’, is not discarded but modified. Moreover, constructed personal identities are not coherent. For example, at one point, Berlusconi is constructed as innocent, at the other, not innocent. Perhaps one can say that , in a narrative, the construction of a personal identity is done in order to fit the intended formula story. This is because all the constructed personal identities of both Berlusconi and Boffo reflect the tension between the church and state. Moreover, some personal identities were explicitly constructed while, some, implicitly constructed. Readers may want to believe the character whose personal identity is consistently nourished. In my opinion, Berlusconi’s personal identity was consistently nourished. This gives one the sense that the media may have mediated by selecting and constructing consistent good personal identity of Berlusconi.

REFERENCE
Loseke, Donileen R. 2007. The Study of Identity as Cultural, Institutional, Organizational, and Personal Narratives: Theoretical and Empirical Integrations. The Sociological Quarterly 48:661-688.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

WHY ATTEND A JOURNALISM SCHOOL

Students who have interests in becoming Journalists may think J-schools will do the magic. Well, this may not be the case. The trend has changed. Practically every phone owner is a Journalist these days. This is seemingly a fact which incites the Blogger, Patrick Thornton, to exclaim that J-schools are not important anymore. In his Blog titled ‘Lets be honest about J-schools’, he talks at length about J-schools: the prospects in J-schools, the shortcomings in J-schools, and the new trends in the field of Journalism. Of course readers did not let his blog go ‘scot free’. Reader’s comments are as most insightful as the blog itself.

While Thornton maintains that J-schools are a waste of time for those who think that connections and writing skills will been gained, most commenters do not bother on the former. Commenters like king Kaufman, Dave Cullen and Librarienne comment that writing skills are essential in journalism. Their comments, more like objections, erupted following Thornton’s argument that reporting is the heart of Journalism; writing skills are not. The commenters argue that writing forms the basis for good news stories.

However, Thornton maintains that going to J-schools being a graduate will not improve one’s writing skills. He explains that rather than go to a J-school which is very expensive, writing consistently will improve one’s writing skills. While a commenter, Pierce Presley concurs that Journalism schools are expensive, Cullen argues against consistent writing. He argues that people who do not have the necessary writing skills will not improve by writing consistently.

Thornton agrees with Cullen’s argument. He states that of course bad writing is not good for journalism. A good J-school should therefore teach good writing skills. This, he states, bearing in mind that J-schools have Professors who are not aware or updated about the new trends in journalism.He argues that Professors matter. A professor should teach about the new trend: Blogging, Twitter etc. The teaching of the curriculum introduced two decades ago is out-dated, argues Thornton. Mindy McAdam, a commenter, supports Thornton’s argument. She explains that Journalism students should ensure that courses they are taking make sense.

In conclusion, it is a reality; it is a fact. The trend has changed. Technology has compromised the media. Everyone can be a reporter; perhaps not everyone a writer. Writing skills are as essential as reporting skills. Kaufman and Lainey allude that reporting can be instinctive, the art of writing, however, need to be taught. J-schools are nevertheless a plus, for they can nurture one’s writing ability and reporting instinct.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

ASSIGNMENT 3

QUESTION 1

http://www.thoughtleader.co.za/: This site is owned by Mail & Guardian Newspaper (South Africa). There are eight Blogs in this site, each owned and written by these following Bloggers: Sarah Britten (What makes accountants so special anyway?), Bilal Randeree ('When you strike a woman, you strike a rock'), Coenraad Bezuidenhout (Mbeki's legacy -- what legacy?), Bernard Allen (What if Hillary was the bomb?), Robin Booth (Creating successful families III (after the vision)), Sentletse Diankanyo (Blade's out for those opposed to national health scheme), Coenraad Bezuidenhout (My John Hlophe -- small comfort for Pius Langa), and Liewellyn Kriel (Is this SA's silence of the lambs?).

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/health/Swine_flu/article6737507.ece: This site is owned by Times Newspaper (United Kingdom).It contains a Blog only. The Blogger is Times Newspaper. The writer is Anjana Ahuja (Who is making a profit from swine flu?).

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog: This site is owned by Guardian Newspaper (United Kingdom). There are twelve Blogs in this site, each owned and written by these following Bloggers:Lawrence Donegan (Golf for the Olympics? Why not?), Marcela Moray Araujo (Argentina power struggle leaves Diego Maradona to reflect on the chaos), Dileep Premachandra (Indian cricket not playing a straight bat with Wada), Guardian Newspaper (Uk)( County cricket - as it happened), Andy Wilson (Wizards of Oz offer Wembley feast in flipside to the Greg Inglis affair), Malcom Heyhoe (Talking Horses), Barry Glendenning & Greg Roughley (Today in sport - as it happened), Paul Doyle (Premier League preview No15: Stoke City), Kevin MacCarra (It may only be a friendly but these games are key to Fabio Capello), David Hytner (Premier League preview No14: Portsmouth), Malcom Heyhoe (Talking Horses), and Guardian Newspaper (uk) (County cricket – as it happened).

http://southafrica.worldcupblog.org/:This site is owned by South Africa World Cup Blog. There are nine Blogs in this site, each owned and written by these following Bloggers: Football 365 (2010: Are we really ready?), Football 365 (How I learned to stop worrying and love the World Cup), Football 365 (Goodbye Carlos, hello Santana), Football 365 (Are SAFA behind Parreira’s decision?), Naeem (South African Sentiment), Andreas (Point Gained! Point Made!), Naeem (Reaction to the Game), and Adreas(South Africa v Angola).

http://blogs.indiewire.com/anthony/: This site is owned by Indie Wire blog Network. It contains a Blog only. The writer and Blogger is Anthony Kaufman (The Real Internet Movie Database: SpeedCine).

http://indiefilmbloggersmovie.blogspot.com/: This site is owned by Blogspot. It contains a Blog only. The writer and Blogger is Sujewa Ekanayake(Indie Film Blogger Road Trip).



QUESTION 2
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/health/Swine_flu/article6737507.ece: As has been indicated above, the only Blog in this site is presented by this Blogger: Times Newspaper-a Newspaper proudly described as a medium through which “the latest World and UK news, breaking current events, video and photo news, exclusive expert analysis and opinion on top headline stories” can be read. This implies that the writer, Anjana Ahuja, is a professional writer, and her Blog (Who is making a profit from swine flu?) must have undergone appropriate editing before it’s was published. Therefore, plus the fact she has a PHD, Anjana Ahuja is a qualified Blog writer.

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

THE LIMITS IN FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND CENSORSHIP

LIMITS IN FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND CENSORSHIP

An individual could log on to the internet and express his self through Blogging, Twitter, Facebook etc.-these forms of media are very effective in speedy distribution of messages, receiving feedbacks and limiting restrictions or censorship. However, recent event in Iran proved that they can be censored (cf.http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8173731.stm).

Following the presidential election in Iran, opposition supporters staged rallies, one of which caused the death of eight people. As a result, the state authorities decided to limit the damage to the country’s image, by laying restrictions on all the media forms e.g. television, radio and internet.It appears the Iranian authorities regarded messages from the opposition supporters as “offensive to public morals” (cf. Coetzee 1996:185). On what grounds? Is it on the grounds of an assumed ‘damaging to the country’s image'? Which is similar to the claim by Horizon Group Management, that Amanda Bonnen “damaged its good name” through Twitting (cf. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8173731.stm).

The restrictions further provoke more questions: Where do the citizens take part in the power play? If Iran is governed in the interest of the citizens, are the citizens involved in the decision making? According to Van Rooyen, it is expected that a censor will, as his criteria, ask whether “the likely reader of X finds X offensive” (Coetzee 1996:190.)If the Iranian government had considered the messages from the opposition supporters as offensive to the citizens, it had done so to protect its own personal interest. The fact remains that the opposition supporters are part of the citizens that make Iran; to ignore their plight, deprive them of their right to freedom of speech, is to take away their birthright.

Of course, this is not to forget that freedom of speech as a basic right is a limited right. Public speeches which contain “incitement to crime or racial or religious hatred, defamation, or insult (injure) can result to a criminal penalty, according to the Press Law from 1881” (cf. Barendt 2005:68); a premise which begs the following questions: Did the Iranian authorities restrict the media based on the fact that the press reported messages violating the Press Law? It is obvious that if the media had violated the Press Law, the Iranian authorities would have filed a law suit.

Nonetheless, as much as freedom of speech is a limited right, censorship is as limited in capabilities. For example, the Iranian authorities were able to restrict- through Blogging,You Tube, and Facebook-information and media coverage for the opposition supporters, but were not capable of ensuring that their restrictions were not overrode. A 25 year old IT director in San Francisco, Austin Heap, was able to create proxies with which Iranian citizens were able to bypass the Iranian government’s restrictions. And again, Iranian citizens were having their voices heard, their faces seen and their story gets told around the world without filtering” (cf. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8173731.stm), through these new important form of media: You Tube, Blogging, Facebook, and Twitting.

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Blooging as a new important form of media

I think that the advent of blogging brought about agency and voice, especially to those who have been unable to express themselves in their very private way. Blogging, i think, is a medium that could be addictive, especially when one has gotten to know its full potential. At this point in time, i am still learning to use this wonderful and amazing form of media. However, i have the feeling that i would not regret ever making an attempt to learn in depth about it. The reason i think blogging is the an important new form of media is that, apart from the fact that one can express oneself in your own way, one can also get immediate feedback, unlike other forms of media such as the television, radio etc. The fact that blogging is unmediated is also an improvement in the world of media, especially when democracy is taken into consideration. By mentioning democracy, the aim is to bring to mind the fact that in a democratic state, the citizens are expected to know about their rights of freedom of speech, freedom to express their opinions in whatever way deem fit- the internet and blogging as a new form of media supersede the barrier to those freedoms other media are characterized by. While the television, through an editor, will fail to report an undiluted private opinion of an individual about the president of a country, the only editor in blogging is the individual and he/she can 'chop and patch' as they want. Another importance or advantage blogging has is that it is a very fast form of media. A message can get to an intended recipient as soon as the message is sent; in a minute at most, without the exception of bad network, the recipient is definitely reading the message. Finally, the fact that blogging is also accessible for education adds to its qualities. It is obvious that one can be receiving a lecture from a lecturer, who is a few thousand miles away, through blogging. This is new, amazing, and prospective. I am looking forward to experiencing the excitement from blogging, receiving lectures, receiving assignments, submitting assignments, and receiving results.

Blogging is an important new form of media