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Archive for the ‘Media Literacy’ Category

Lesson 228 Leadership and “Presence”

Posted in International, Leadership, Lessons Learned, Media Literacy, Strategic Communication on August 1, 2014| Leave a Comment »

When must a leader be present to lead?  And what actually constitutes “presence” in this age of digital technology?

President Obama has been criticized for appearing at so many fund-raising events around the country when there are multiple crises that need to be addressed. His defenders explain that with the technology on his airplane, and his advisors around him, he is on top of world events no matter where he goes.

But even in this age of imagery does “take charge” leadership really work that way?  I suggest that in many circumstances it does not.

My experience over the years would argue that there are many crisis situations where it is essential for a leader to be physically “seen” as present, engaged and performing as the leader. Technology can maintain connections very efficiently between critical meetings, but nothing substitutes for “showing up and taking charge.” In the case of presidential leadership, it might also mean that when he is not attending a critical meeting he should be seen as physically present in his established command post directing operations.

Exceptions would be largely ceremonial events where a representative clearly is an adequate symbol of a country’s or institution’s presence. Or when the top person has a clearly more important event that conflicts with this one.  Or when an adversary has orchestrated a “photo-op” style event designed to put this leader on the defensive  Even in this situation, however, it might be possible to still show up and strategically take charge, or to create another similar event where taking charge is designed into the situation. For example, when the Texas governor tried to get the president to go to the U.S. Mexico border with him, the president might have declined based on schedule, but then travel there later with his own “take charge” agenda.

Attending fund-raisers and playing golf in times of crisis makes too much potentially negative news, no matter the justification. Incessant daily questions and criticisms begin to sound credible, and repeated explanations appear defensive. They make leaders of both countries and organizations sound and look weak… and even out of touch.

Even in these times of instant digital technology, actually showing up and visibly taking charge is essential when institutions and worlds seem to be coming apart.

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Lesson 225 It’s Equally About the Content

Posted in Higher Education, Lessons Learned, Media Literacy, Strategic Communication on July 11, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Much of my recent work has been around the theme: “How media revolutions change everything!” I have been revisiting Marshall McLuhan’s assertion that “the medium is the message,” the idea that the appearance of a new dominant medium changes how everything functions in significant ways.

The implication here is that this ability of a dominant medium to force dramatic psychic and social changes is a more powerful message than its’ content. My experience suggests that this is initially true. But I also think that eventually the status of that medium’s content can also become a real matter of concern.

In today’s digital world the issue now is how to deal with an overwhelming hourly stream of fragmented information which produces clutter and confusion with little or no context for understanding.

For example, in my industry of higher education, a major transition is underway driven by government cut-backs and complicated by the economic forces of globalization. 24/7 media report “breaking news”headlines of student loan problems, rapidly increasing tuition and fees, sexual misconduct, executive salaries, and much more. But there is little or no context for understanding the complexity of the problems and the efforts being made to solve them.

The truth is… finding ways to provide context in today’s digital world will have to fall to those in strategic communication and institutional marketing. While these professionals use the same digital media tools, they can use a variety of them simultaneously… including more content-friendly publications and magazines, executive speeches, and face-to-face meetings and events. Media campaigns can be developed that identify priority issues, and then use broader briefing points and  multiple media platforms. The reality is that if strategic communicators don’t make this happen, who will?

The Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) is holding its’ Annual Summit for Leaders in Advancement in New York.  CASE is the largest institution-based education association in the world. The basic purpose of the Summit is to focus on the content issues that all professionals advancing institutions should be addressing with their constituents.

The bottom line is that media revolutions do change people and institutions. As for education, the coming sea-change is a game-changer, and everyone in advancement must take responsibility to make sure their institution is prepared. Now is the time to add context and content.

 

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Lesson 223 Teaching in a New Media World

Posted in Lessons Learned, Media Literacy on June 26, 2014| Leave a Comment »

For many years I explained that the reason I lectured about the psychic and social effects of media was that I put the subject matter together differently than anyone else.  I could not find a text or a collection of writings that explained the subject in a manner that I found satisfactory. Marshall McLuhan came the closest, but even he seemed a bit obscure from time to time. I found myself saying ” if McLuhan didn’t mean it this way, he should have.” It may sound pretentious now, but I really meant it as a compliment. He inspired much of my thinking over my entire career.

I believe that media and communication subject matter should be assembled and organized from tested theoretical thinking and consistent research findings. And all of this should be confirmed through practical professional application. Therefore, I was always rethinking past ideas in light of new information, and never taught a class the same way twice.

What is most exciting about teaching in the digital media world is that it’s now possible to ask students to find basic information on their own before the class ever meets. This can be accomplished simply by searching this vastly expanded  “big data” world via the Internet. Class sessions can then focus primarily on clarifying and expanding on what students have already discovered. Teaching, then, is mostly facilitation and providing the most relevant lessons you learned from a lifetime of study and experience.

Teaching today is mostly inspiring others to search for answers to questions and solutions to problems. A love of learning therefore has actually become a love of the Internet search!

 

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Lesson 222 Teaching Media Literacy

Posted in Higher Education, Lessons Learned, Media Literacy on June 19, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Should we be teaching media literacy to everyone?  And if so, how should we go about it? Once again these questions come to mind as I consider a request to offer still another course about the consequences of media for undergraduate honors college students. The issues certainly are endless:

*So much news today is virtually unedited, and facts go unchecked.

*Too many people select their news sources to reinforce their biases.

*When politicians and extremists repeat lies over and over again they begin to sound true.

*Words such as “democracy,” and phrases such as “breaking news,” lose their meaning when so many manipulative people misuse them every day.

*One-way communication always breaks down, and the result is constant rumor and misunderstanding.

*More communication is not necessarily better in an already information saturated world.

*Television news images look real, but they too often mislead.

*Social media effectively mobilizes action, but rarely provides real substance.

*Many young people may be losing human intimacy capabilities through excessive texting and social media.

And the list goes on. Most of these issues are not new to us. Even so, we go about our daily lives thinking very little about the psychic and social consequences of our media obsessed world. So, should we be teaching media literacy? And if so, where and how do we go about it?

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Lesson 220 Why the Digital World Can Make You Crazy

Posted in Lessons Learned, Media Literacy, Strategic Communication on June 5, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Every day we face frustration trying make sense out of the confusing clutter of this information saturated world. At first, trying to understand a complex problem can seem hopeless. Then, when we search the internet we can think we are moving toward understanding. And as the “water-glass” of information fills we begin to feel satisfied. But then, the glass suddenly spills over and confusion comes back again. So in this digital technology dominated world, searches for resolutions to complex problems can become never-ending.

A similar experience is likely to be had consuming daily 24/7 cable news. I first realized this trying to understand the Vietnam war. As I watched the news I began to think I knew what was going on.  And then, the very next day new events, followed by a deluge of more information, overwhelmed me. And so eventually I would have to conclude that I really had no idea what was going on in Vietnam. Suddenly I had to accept that more information wasn’t necessarily better. It all was turning to confusing clutter!

We live in a time when fleeting “ah ha” moments seem to be all we can hope for. And sometimes we must act on them. We can think we understand today, and then find out tomorrow we don’t. This is the reality of a digital world. And it certainly can make us crazy.

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Lesson 219 Pope “Communicator” Francis

Posted in International, Leadership, Lessons Learned, Media Literacy, Strategic Communication on May 30, 2014| 1 Comment »

Many people have found this Pope refreshing. As a communicator he seems to possess a special instinct for relationship building and reconciliation. Here is my thinking about why he is so effective:

1. He first travels to the location of conflict or misunderstanding.

2. He focuses on “looking” comfortable and breaking down barriers. He thereby takes stress and tension out of the air.

3. Eventually he makes observations carefully worded to avoid direct confrontation and enable the possibility of fresh thinking.

4. He then invites key players to come to “his house” at a later time for conversation and prayer, where he will begin by clarifying common interests. Doing this at a later time in a neutral and private location is important.

5. He thus establishes common ground, and a “safe” place for candor and fresh thinking.

6. Finally, he also demonstrates how different religions’ history and beliefs need not divide, but rather can establish mutual respect and accommodation.

This Pope’s communication strategy is not one of how to win an argument. Rather, it is one of demonstrating how to side step confrontation and choose what unites over dwelling on what divides.

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Lesson 218 Media Adventures in London II

Posted in Higher Education, International, Lessons Learned, Media Literacy on May 22, 2014| Leave a Comment »

TCU honors students and I have wrapped-up our explorations of “How Media Revolutions Change Everything”  with a second week of site visits in London.  This week it was the BBC, the British Film Institute (BFI), and the CBS London Bureau.

The visit to the BBC produced a surprise adventure into the world of archives.  We were asked to consider the challenge faced by those charged with archiving a new media world where far more information is generated than can be captured and stored.  Current BBC thinking is that while the “story” or lesson of a great work scholarship, literature, or other media might be digitized for posterity, the details of all these great achievements cannot. This contradictory idea of a significant loss of history in a “big data” world was shocking.

At the BFI we explored how media revolutions, politics and declining resources can combine to change the culture, identity, and founding mission of a unique and historic institution. The BFI was originally charged with the preservation of a distinctly British film industry, but somehow also became a custodian of a national British identity. But recent budget cuts and political influence, as well as the new media revolution, have caused many insiders to fear it is losing its’ uniqueness, and thereby its’ national prominence. Again, we were surprised by discovering still another way media revolutions can change everything… including the stature of long established institutions.

The CBS London bureau functions as a hub from which foreign correspondents travel to cover the world. Digital technology and social media have change every aspect of news reporting, with smaller cameras, instant satellite transmission, GPS mapping, mobile phone connections, and even citizen-produced i-phone contributed photos. Here too, however, budget cuts have closed bureaus, eliminated staff, and reduced the number of events that can be reported. Reporters therefore tend to “herd” to the same stories. Our take-a-way was that while CBS correspondents are the best in the business, it’s also important for the consumer to know what stories go unreported. And what is even more compelling is the number of people who are now getting all their news from alternative, mostly unedited, and often inaccurate, new and social media sources.

The students and I have had an exciting adventure in media ideas over the last 10 weeks. We began by “Skype-ing”  in experts to our classroom on campus in Texas, and concluded by meeting face-to-face with experts in London. We ended where we began: Media revolutions indeed do change everything. And what’s more, even if we wanted to there is very little we can do about it!

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Lesson 217 Media Adventures in London

Posted in Higher Education, International, Lessons Learned, Media Literacy on May 17, 2014| Leave a Comment »

The question today is: How has the new media revolution changed what you do?

This week I have been in London with my TCU honors college students, and a college administrator. We have visited the American Embassy, an organization that publishes a web-based newsletter about higher education in the Middle East, and the Executive Editor of the Economist.  In addition, I visited with a Pro-Vice-Master in the University of London system. The consistency of their responses has been a bit surprising.

All emphatically made the point that social media is here to stay. But they all also remain uncertain about longterm effects, and they all see new media usage patterns going through almost daily changes.

U.S. Embassy diplomats admitted they are not using social media yet to maximum capacity, and point out that their most effective work remains face-to-face dialogues in some of London’s most difficult and volatile neighborhoods. Social media they see as a tool to mobilize participation in events, but don’t yet see it as solving international relationship problems.

The Middle East higher education newsletter uses social media to drive people to its’ website, and sees Twitter as more effective for that purpose than Facebook. They emphasize that success is still all about content. Stories must be more concise these days, but it is content that determines readership. Significant numbers of Middle East populations are illiterate, and so while social media reaches the educated people, mass responses are still face-to-face generated in the streets. The people we talked with were very anxious to make the point that in Cairo, for example, life as a whole goes on rather normally, and thousands are enrolled in and still attend universities.

The Economist remains primarily a weekly print publication, but it also features a substantial website that carries fast breaking stories, an e-newsletter , several Apps, an audio version, and many associated live events and seminars. The executive editor confessed that it challenges them to determine how and when daily new media use changes require adjustments in what they are doing.  So far, however, they remain one of the most important news publications in the world.

The University of London Pro-Vice Master’s big concern is that in her world of professional university advancement she sees young people coming into the work so focused on tactics and social media that they are not paying enough attention to strategic thinking, planning, face-to-face events, and content. Social media have permanent roles to play, she agrees, but all of the other media tools are still in the mix, and actual onsite experiences are what truly define an institution.

This has truly been an enlightening experience. Next week it’s the BBC, the British Film Institute, and the CBS London Bureau.  Stay tuned, there will be more to come.   

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Lesson 216 Nothing Like Being There!

Posted in Lessons Learned, Media Literacy, Strategic Communication on May 8, 2014| 1 Comment »

Here is a digital world question: Can experiencing a new place on-line be just as good as being there in person?

I remember reading film criticism in the 1960’s that asked the question: Why does film seem so real, when it isn’t?  The point was that film and TV news look real because you see real people doing real things. But in film and television there is someone pointing the camera, editing the scenes, and often adding sound and visual special effects. There is no way to know what is beyond what the camera is showing you. You are directed to the important action as defined by the director. And camera movements, angles, and other special effects are manipulating your emotions. In this way, film and television create their own reality.

If you were actually in that location you would be scanning the entire landscape, focusing your own attention, and selecting the objects and happenings you want to observe. You could breathe the air, smell the smells, and fully feel the moment. Searching the internet may come close, but it is just not the same..

For example, I am convinced that you cannot really know a city without actually being there. A documentary or internet search will provide an adequate orientation. They can give an overview, review the issues you might encounter, and give good advice about what to see and what to avoid.

But the digital world simply cannot substitute for the feelings you have wandering city streets, strolling through immigrant neighborhoods, cautiously tasting food from push carts, noticing textures and colors, and imagining life in this place in earlier times. When you are there you shape your own wide-shots and close-ups. And even when you have a guide pointing out things of special interest, you still determine your own “cut-a-ways,” “flashbacks,” and “fast forwards.” You write your own drama, and you are the lead actor.

The internet is great for making initial connections, and enlarging our perspectives. But knowing only a virtual world is not nearly the same as fully experiencing the real one. It’s not even close. In fact, everyone should study abroad!  It’s life changing, and there is no substitute for it.

 

 

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Lesson 212 Changing Minds

Posted in International, Lessons Learned, Media Literacy, Strategic Communication on April 11, 2014| Leave a Comment »

If you try to change a Democrat’s mind with a strong Republican presentation you are likely to produce a more determined Democrat. Direct persuasive messages, no matter how carefully crafted, usually cause the other side to dig in even deeper. In fact, this is also true in communicating anything, but most especially foreign policy.

Changing minds requires finding facts and situations that make adversaries uncomfortable with their position. Eventually this unsettled state can lead them to seek a new point of view. But even in this state, people must hear potential mind-changing new ideas from people around them they trust. And what’s more, they must also have sufficient time to work those ideas into their personal thinking on their own.

Interestingly enough  I learned the power of “third-party advocates” from fund-raisers. They learn early on that they usually are not the best person to ask a donor for money. Rather the best person is someone close to the donor who has better credibility, and their trust. This same dynamic applies to changing people’s minds.

The credibility of the source of new ideas is absolutely essential. In the case of foreign policy, the US government will never have that credibility with adversaries. So opening people up to considering new ideas must be the first step in changing their minds. Then, engaging the guidance and help of sympathetic local third-parties with credibility is the best way to proceed.

Joseph Nye, Harvard Professor and Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Trustee, is credited with coining the term “soft power.”  His thinking is spelled out in his 2004 book, Soft Power: The Means to Success in World Politics. “Hard power” uses force and money to influence.  Soft power uses all the communication tools in the toolbox, along with cultural exchanges, economic development assistance, town halls, and other indirect initiatives using third parties. The concept is to “demonstrate’ the idea of America in foreign settings, rather than argue it.

New media tools are especially suited to soft power strategies. With sufficient numbers of skilled experts in target countries, website chat rooms can be monitored, Twitter can promote gatherings, Facebook  can serve as a hub of ideas and comments, and on-going dialogues can be facilitated. So when priority audiences are targeted, their preferred media platforms utilized, and all of Nye’s other initiatives employed, some success might be possible over time. And that just might be the best we can do.

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