Week 6 Blog Post

TOPIC 1: "TOPIC 1: FIRST AMENDMENT, COPYRIGHT AND FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION --

An example of freedom of speech that went too far was on May 10, 2016 when rapper Azalea Banks sent out a series of acclaimed racist, sexist and homophobic tweets towards former "One Direction" singer and songwriter Zayn Malik.

The controversy started when Banks accused Malik of copying ideas from her "Yung Rapunxel" music video. Malik responded to Banks with "No lies... I see you reaching but I don't care," which Banks responded to with more angry tweets.

The drama not only trended on twitter, but resulted in the suspension of Banks' twitter account, and Rinse FM's decision to drop Banks from the Born & Bred Festival, followed by this statement:

“We have decided to cancel Azealia Banks' headline appearance at Rinse Born & Bred. Rinse Born & Bred is a celebration of rave culture and has been created for EVERYONE. We celebrate inclusivity and equality.”

Banks is definitely known for and has received a lot of backlash in the past for her twitter beef with other well known celebrities. I remember seeing the things Banks wrote about Malik and feeling extremely disappointed, because her remarks were so hateful.

Aside from what I felt towards Banks' decision to say these things, I was also upset that twitter had deleted her account. In no way am I saying the things she wrote was okay, but I have seen so many accounts on twitter, including celebrities (like Tila Tequila) that have tweeted extremely hateful and evil things, yet their accounts remain active. It definitely showed how twitter is not equal when selecting which accounts are deleted for inappropriate or hateful tweets. Which is unfortunate.

RIP: A Remix Manifesto

Photo from http://evadurall.com

"Corporations are completely taking over our culture and telling us that we can only consume it, and we're saying: 'No, we want to actually create with it, respond to it, take it, mutilate it, cut it up.'"

A Remixer's Manifesto:

1. Culture always builds on the past 
2. The past always tries to control the future 
3. Our future is becoming less free 
4. To build free societies you must limit the control of the past

"These are communities that are being created by the opportunity this technology makes available, and these communities engage in a kind of conversation, each one taking what the other had done and adding to it, mixing it and changing it, and engaging in a creative act."

The documentary "RiP! A Remix Manifesto" explained how remixing is a universal language that gives people a way to collaborate and share, and say things differently. While I do understand people want to be in control of their work and ideas, I definitely do see how we benefit more form participating in sharing these ideas, by recreating these cultural conversations with each other.

"Copyright was originally designed to encourage people to create, not stop them."

A part of the creative process for artists, musicians, and even writers involves putting their own twist onto something that has previously been done -- to make it new. This is why it's extremely surprising to me to see how careful one actually has to be during this process, to not get sued.

I can definitely see how intellectual property holds back knowledge and slows down progress towards building a new democracy. Also, I found it extremely alarming when people were consistently getting sued for downloading music from Napster, especially since this was a breakthrough in time for pioneering new ways to exchange and create music.

Photo from www.nyu.edu

The Supermarket and intellectual property: The Copyright (The Past) and the Copyleft (The Future)

"The creative process became more important than the product, because consumers were now creators-- making the folk art of the future, but the people representing the culture that we remixed represented the past -- and they declared war."

The concept of a group of people leaning towards ideals of the past, and the other aimed towards trying to pioneer new ways for the future - applies not only to remixing, but also to important discussions around the world involving: politics, religion, and lifestyle decisions. When applying this to the art of remixing, as discussed in the documentary: sampling is seen as an instrument that takes something from what is was, and transforms it -- making it something it wasn't.

Fair use -- copyright law that allows free speech -- using small amounts of copyright material to make an argument.

I think it's important for us to realize that when creating things with the intention to put them out into the open, the initial idea is to share with others. In order to continue discovering new ways of doing things, revealing new ways of thinking, exploring new technology, and finding new ways to communicate, it starts from studying what was done in the past and using that as a sort of outline to add onto. Stressing the importance of individual control/power over an idea or product, focuses on pure revenue and large corporate gain, which is toxic to a society that is supposed to be for the people.

Important points:

• Importance is the that the technique has been democratized 
• Remix gives people the power to say things differently 
• Writing in the 21st century 
• Literacy for a new generation 
• Building a different democracy 
• Building a different culture where people participate in the creation, and the recreation of the culture around this 
• Culture built on the past - updating and making relevant for our age 
• Continuing the conversation of a culture 
• Beneficial to share ideas 
• Intellectual property holds back knowledge exchange 
• Everything comes from something else, it's a chain reaction 
• Collaborating and sharing 

TOPIC 2: MEDIA ETHICS --

Korryn Gaines was a 23-year-old African American woman who was killed in her apartment in Randallstown, Maryland on August 1, 2016 by Baltimore County police, after a six-hour standoff. Gaines' 5-year-old son who was with her during the standoff survived, but was shot in the leg by police.

"Gaines was being served with a warrant for failing to appear in court after a traffic stop in March. According to a police report obtained by WBALTV, she was pulled over for having a piece of cardboard in place of a license plate, and the situation escalated when she refused to comply with the officer's request for her driver's license and registration," wrote Kimberly Lawson, in the Vice article "Korryn Gaines' Death and the History of Police Violence Against Black Women."

Media coverage continuously demonized Gaines, shifting the focus onto acclaimed theories that Gaines had lead poisoning, and suffered from depression and anxiety. Articles portrayed Gaines as an unfit mother who used her son as a human shield during the stand off, rather than focusing on the fact that Gaines' 5-year-old was also shot by police.

"We see hundreds of videos where these people are taken into custody without harm. What was so different in this situation? If they truly felt like something was wrong with her, then address her accordingly," said Gaines' aunt Dawn McGee, in "Korryn Gaines' family questions use of lethal force" on WBALTV11.

It was extremely upsetting reading news coverage during the time of Gaines' death. By failing to report counter narratives and challenge information from public officials, this tragedy demonstrated how in certain situations, personal bias and lack of thorough research contribute to the media's inability to serve as watchdogs for the people at all times.