AIR 2: FINDING SOCIAL ISSUES IN MULTIMEDIA (300+)

 The next phase of your AIR unit focuses on two things:

• Continuing to educate yourself on your chosen social issue
• Finding and analyzing multimedia and its social objectives (what it aims to achieve regarding your social issue)         

First off, “What is ‘multimedia’?”

Multimedia is the field concerned with the computer-controlled integration of text, graphics, drawings, photographs and moving images (video), animation, audio, and any other media where every type of information can be represented, stored, [communicated] and processed digitally (D. Marshall, 2001).

This is a very specific denotation – and one that is fiercely protected in the field of multimedia. For our purposes, however, we will be including any print-controlled media as well (i.e. print magazine, newspaper, etc.) that offers a visual representation of your social issue. The awesome thing about multimedia today is that pretty much every sense (and yes, even smell and touch I am sure) is represented online somewhere. For this AIR assignment, go out and find your social issue wherever it exists in multimedia…and don’t stop until you find it!

Task: Complete the following steps and post your findings on your blog.

1. Find examples of your social issue in no fewer than three of the following multimedia forms:
   • Literature (prose/poetry)
   • Movies/Television shows
   • Music
   • Paintings, Photographs, Sculpture, Design, Crafts, Video, Architecture
   • PSAs (public service announcements)
   • Ad campaign

Suggestions: YouTube, or any other video-sharing site, will have an abundance of movie and television clips, as well as PSAs if properly searched. For Ad campaigns, google your social issue with “Ad campaign” and search “Images”. Cartoons (political, editorial) can be employed here as well. Also, take a look at the “Social Issues” category on Freedtopia (you will find some interesting examples of social issues in multimedia).

2. Embed your findings into a new blog post entitled “Finding Social Issues in Multimedia” and then answer the below prompts:

• For each example, explain the connection between your finding and your chosen social issue.
• Communicate what you feel the objective of the multimedia example is?
  • What do you feel it wants you to understand, or ultimately do?
  • And how it is it conveying that objective?
• Do you feel the presence of this social issue is successful? (i.e. Do you feel it brings sufficient awareness or meaning to it?) If so, be specific concerning what you feel “works”. If not, share what you might’ve done differently.

* The words count for this blog post is 300 words, but that is divided between 3 multimedia examples (100 words each)