I just found out today that the Associated Press will be carrying blogger’s coverage of the Lewis “Scooter” Libby trial! Here are key excerpts from the press releaser

[The Associated Press] partners with Media Bloggers Association to put bloggers’ coverage of high-profile trial of former Cheney aide on more than 600 newspapers’ websites…. The U.S. District Court in Washington D.C. has provided the MBA with credentials for two media seats at the Libby trial, which started Jan. 16 with jury selection. With jury selection now completed, the trial began in earnest with opening arguments today. …The MBA, which has about 1,000 members, is covering the trial from the overflow Media Center, which is equipped with video, allowing viewing of the trial, and Wi-Fi (wireless internet access), allowing the MBA to wirelessly syndicate a real-time feed of blogger coverage of the Libby trial.

This is huge news on multiple counts, both in terms of citizen journalism and my own research.

I had been aware of the Media Bloggers Association for a little while, but they had dropped off my radar.  Especially since I wasn’t quite sure where to start in terms of my broader cj research. This group seems to provide a wonderful jumping off point.

In answer to the question “why all this musing on campaign videos?”, if all goes as planned, I start my PhD studies in the fall. Provided I go the anthro route, I’ll be looking at citizen journalism and American politics. Internet video broadly, and YouTube specifically, play an important role in that mix.

Honestly, the more I begin to explore YouTube, the more complicated things get. It’s a mish mash. And the threads that are emerging from it are so varied I’m not quite sure where to start. All of it complicates this question of what exactly a citizen journalist is. There’s a lot of citizen commentators and folks who post clips from news networks. And activists.

I’m just not quite sure about “journalists.”

Just a quickie… I tried out the Kodak Easyshare V705’s panorama tool. Man, my former employer really nailed this one. I’ve been very impressed with the camera - both in terms of lens technology and the user interface itself. It’s great to see Kodak continuing to live up to its boo-yah, non grab-ass vision outlined earlier this year:

[youtube]Sz6XjXu-oT8[/youtube]

That’s about it. I’m currently closing a karma circle and writing a letter of recommendation for an excellent student who is hoping to get a summer internship at the NY Metropolitan Museum of Art.

RIT isn’t the first school that springs to mind when someone says “beautiful campus.” In fact, I’ve heard it described as “neo-grotesque” and the person who said that wasn’t being tongue-in-cheek. Yet, in the wake of the storm, a glistening layer of ice provided a new perspective on our “brick city.”

This was the view from my office window earlier today as snows continued to fall. That’s the Liberal Arts building in the background.

RITchie, the school’s mascot, covered in snow and ice.

Near the College of Imaging Arts and Sciences, there is a little garden. It’s always been a favorite spot of mine on campus. If you visit my flickr account you can see this little house from a number of angles.

To wax philosophic for a moment, seeing the campus this way made me think about my task as a teacher. It’s to get students to see the mundane - in this case media that they’ve been immersed in from day 1 - from a new perspective, in order to gain a new appreciation for it and develop a critical eye. I still am trying to get a handle on ways to accomplish this.

Things are moving along. The application to Cornell is in. NYU and Columbia go in tomorrow. Rock and roll.

It’s Friday. I need to get my Cornell application in tomorrow. And currently I’m stuck. I’m trying to wrap it up and still feel like I don’t have everything together. This entire PhD chase is f’ing strange. It really seems like you need to prove exactly why you don’t need a PhD in order to get one.

I know that the research area of Citizen Journalism is a fruitful one. And I think it’s definitely worthy of anthropological study. I just am having a dickens of a time trying the articulate why. Or at least do so in a way that I think will get me into the program of my choice.

oy.

Quickie — I’m currently blitzed with classes and applications to PhD programs (Cornell, NYU, and Columbia). I have a redesign for this site in the works, but that’s going to happen over my Christmas break.

I will say that its interesting to see the reaction to “social computing” as Time’s person of the year. I personally think it’s a bit of a ridiculous choice — I don’t think it’s had an effect that is yet socially significant enough. That said, let me present to you what will hopefully be the next viral YouTube video. Here’s the Assistant Dean of my College and a laser pointer:

[youtube]DGNPcF11pFg[/youtube]

One of the great things about RIT is that there has been a concerted effort to bring in training resources for teachers. Over the last two months I’ve attended a number of wonderful sessions that have really gotten me to think about teaching methodologies.

The, well, problem is that once that door is opened, it’s not too easy to close. And right now I’m now I’m taking a hard look at my classes and trying to course correct for the final weeks. And I’m not always sure where to start. But I know that I really do need to make some changes — both in this quarter and in future ones. It’s exciting and scary at the same time.

Things are slowing here. Some of our creators have given in to sleep (I think our collection is going to have a number of Eastman Variations). We attribute it to this hunk of kryptonite we discovered in Vicky’s soda.

BTW, make sure to check out the offical blog/archive of 24 Hour Comic Day located here.

So, as usual, I’ve been blitzed. This is part of the reason: 24 Hour Comics Day. This was a idea dreamed up by Scott McCloud — create a 24 page comic in 24 hours. October 7th is the official 24 Hour Comic Day. RIT’s the only site in New York state and I’m one of the organizers. So that means I’ll be here at our library for 24 hours. That said, I’m not doing a comic :(. Instead I’m opting to document the event. The following is an entry I just uploaded to the 24 Hour Comic Blog.

We’re almost 10 hours in and going strong. The group has decreased to 14 artists, but the work is amazing! And the fun everyone is having is even better!

Here’s a breakdown of the work that’s going on:

The newly formed "Team Awesome" is cranking on the following:

• Michael – Applesauce.
• James – The chronicle of how drum major Dan became the drum major for Satan’s marching band.
• Lindsey – Whether true love exists and the things that draw people together.
• Alfie – BANG (the end of KILL)

Our other team, Vicky & Laela, are working on "A story that has nothing to do with anything but is really funny — Four characters meet their creators."

As for everyone else, we have:

• Dan – Nightclaw: the beginning
• Benjamin – Man on a Mission: One man’s quest to repair to the ozone layer aka hold on you 2 your layers aka deeper still, Ben’s not crazy.
• Eric – A fantasy action story in search of a title.
• Kurt – Deaf Buddha: the meaning of life.
• Dorothy – An autobiographical comic.
• Chuanshi – X-painters

Here are some random shots from the event. You can see the Flickr page for the event here.:

Pizza, soda (pop), and drawing supplies — all we need for a 24hr Comic Day!

Team Awsome hard at work! Last heard around those parts:
Lindsey: This page, that is only one drawing, is taking a whole long amount of time.
Alfie: Can you be any more emo?
James: Please keep your amazing art over there for a few moments while the rest of us weep.

Some of Lindsey’s work.

Dorothy’s autobiographical work that starts out in Marrakesh.

Dan and a page from Nightclaw

Benjamin’s work on one man’s quest to save the ozone layer.

Kurt hard at work on Deaf Buddha.

Not only are Vikki and Laela a creative team, but they also serve as each other’s models. Laela uses Vikki as a model for a panel.