The first is the opportunity to recruit current UWS students as social media student champions to work alongside academics and support staff to deliver social media surgeries during the UWS Interactive Festival that I am curating in May.

Details of this are available on the UWS Interactive website. The deadline is this friday (24th Feb)

The second is part of a bigger project called #citizenrelay, that is part of #media2012, the citizen news wire for the London 2012 Olympic Games, that Dr David McGillivray is leading on. I developed the website, the host platform for citizen media content and the accompanying literature around #citizenrelay (including the branding) so for me, it is exciting to promote opportunities to recruit eight interns across the entirety of Scotland, in collaboration with colleges and HEIs, to work alongside both of us (and the wider #media2012 network) to cover the alternative stories of the torch.

There will be a second call for #citizenrelay reporters in the coming months, who will be supported by the interns, to follow the torch for two days in their designated area. It is hoped that through the relay process, we will be able to gather a more in-depth picture of Scotland during 2012 than the accredited media outlets, and who knows, be able to break a story or two!

For details of the intern role and the citizen relay in general click here. There will be a #citizenrelay launch event during UWS Interactive Festival on the 6th of March, all welcome.

Introduction

On Thursday and Friday of last week (16th and 17th of February) David McGillivray and I were invited to Bournemouth University, School of Tourism to deliver a full day workshop around social media and higher education for their staff and students in the department.

The day was split between a two hour workshop designed to demystify some of the risks and opportunities of social media in the university environment through a (short) presentation of some conceptual ideas about online identity and talking through some examples of projects and websites that we have recently used at UWSCreative.

This was quite an honest experience, as it hasn’t always been a smooth ride in terms of being ‘allowed’ to manage our own presence as a school, but I think by reflecting and tracking of the process of where we have came from and what we have achieved in terms of negotiation with corporate communications and wider spread uniformed strategies of the university, was useful for both us and for our Bournemouth colleagues to see.

WordPress, oh lovely WordPress.

For example, we have had to rely on external WordPress websites (either on WordPress.com or on staff’s own servers) to host project websites that need a more dynamic, realtime online environment that the corporate website. This is because there is not currently a server within the institution that can handle multiple WordPress installs (so I’m told) and there are a number of restrictions on the current website that allows for full integration with social media platforms (beyond share buttons and embedded content.)

Bournemouth, like DMU and Lincoln, already have a WordPress ‘blog’ system at play, so we spent much of the workshop explaining the language of the system and how to ask for things that you want from the people who are charged with looking after the system. Through speaking to staff individually, we learned how they came about getting the wordpress system installed and how it is referenced to within the university (important for arguing the case for it at UWS) and they learned how to utilise it a bit better in terms of what a school might want from having access to individual, module, subject area websites and how powerful it can be when you have access (as a tool and as a learning experience.)

Social Media Surgeries revisited.

Again, like the work we did in the South of Scotland before Christmas, the 1-2-1 social media surgeries that we held in the afternoon were a good opportunity to focus specifically on each attendee, rather than simply rely on a 1-2-many workshop for disseminating information. They allow for interested participants to ask questions in an informal space, perhaps about things that they may not feel comfortable asking in a larger group.

Never a dumb question…

Interestingly, the ‘dumb’ questions that people think they are throwing at you, actually vary so much that it is impossible to say that there is a particular level of social media expertise that people need to work towards. In fact, it is more down to curiosity and willingness to learn than it is to ticking a box to say you are now an competence in social media.

One person’s idea of a ‘dumb’ question is another person’s aspiration and you can see that very clearly when you exposure yourself to them in the same space. Ideally, groups of people who work under the banner of an institution need a support network, rather an individual technical person, for it to work as a long term movement. As always, I’m happy to try and fix things for people, but I’m even happier if I can empower people to try things out themselves.

Hell, I need to ask around to solve most problems online, social media as a departmental tool relies on individuals to work together and seek out the best practice in their area. Twitter (and other platforms) allow you to monitor it, but the best solution can sometimes always be sitting down and having a coffee (other drinks are available) and a chat with a person. Social media can encourage that, which often leads to better, more open work environments through the act of communicating better and more often with others in your area.

Conclusions

Overall, it was useful for me to try out the ‘workshop/surgery’ model in a university, my home territories, as I’ve been struggling with the pedagogy teaching such a subject area and managing the expectations of those who have signed up to come along. There is something interesting in teaching social media in itself, as it isn’t just about tools and practices. The closeness to a person’s identity to the subject area can play a huge part in the usefulness, and I don’t like objectifying it away, you, the person is as important as the tools that you select. The personal is political and will dominate the fact you prefer LinkedIn to Facebook for instance, and dominate the predijuces you may have against how other people chose to use it.

I always say to people that you have to give yourself permission to use the web in a way that you feel most comfortable. I’m not going to say you ‘have’ to do certain things, but it is always worth noting that it isn’t going to go away *at the moment*, if there is a way that you can use it to make your workplace, your social life, your interests a happier place to be, then the benefits will emerge on their own.

I was invited by the Oxford University Careers Service to give a presentation on a panel about portfolio careers and academia. I was asked because of the work I have been doing during my PhD and how I have been managing the process as an early careers researcher.

The slides are below, but I’ve also included some of the notes I used during the presentation.

I’ve tend to write quite personally and publicly about my experiences in the past but not so much now as I use my blog for professional context, but I was going through a hard time and gave myself a bit of an emotional battering when I moved to Leicester back in 2007 and I feel that the last few years have been a real turning point in terms of allowing myself to be myself. I say this as it is always in my focus to look after myself and keep myself in a position that keeps myself safe, a major motivation behind how and what I work on.

Context/History

When I began my PhD journey, although there were mumurings, I was not in the position to qualify for a funded place. Due to a number of factors out with my control, and feeling a little coerced into signing up to a PhD at the institution that I studied for my Masters, I started a PhD program part time, without funding and with a teaching assistant job (that I fought for post-MA to keep myself connected to the university) that barely paid for my rent, let alone my fees. I was partly in awe of being considered ‘smart’ enough to be considered for a PhD program, and partly in fear of being flung back into a world that I working hard to leave (at the time I was working in a bar and finding myself slip back into old habits and old expectations.)

I don’t regret it. The position of having to fend for yourself and find solutions to circumstances, quickly, along with watching funded PhD students bask in, what seems like a ‘luxury’ position of knowing where your next pay check was coming in for the next 3 years, only forced me into working harder and to be more creative in how I saw an academic career unfolding.

Through connections that I had made online, I was offered my first research assistant short term contract – alongside a full time 3 month post in new media development within the alumni department of the university – that provided me the funds to pay for my PhD, but not the time to actually do it part time.

When I was offered funding to transfer my PhD to UWS and to undertake it full time, I didn’t think twice about moving but the need to work flexibly alongside my PhD was very important to me. It still is, for a different reason, looking at the way that universities and academic jobs have been threatened by government policy and how phd labour is used to plug the gaps is also another reason to consider a portfolio career. Autonomy is something to be appreciated and to be valued – much like developing a voice through having academic courage to not only develop your thesis, but to challenge the dominant ideas of what an academic career should be. Understanding the value of yourself and how you can play to your strengths is as equally important, although I feel that in the same way that others inspired me to feel as if I can belong in academia, I have a responsibility to be there to encourage others. You take, you give – and there are real rewards in teaching in all sorts of contexts.

What does it entail?

The jobs that I have found myself doing have ranged from the “traditional” phd student roles such as a teaching and/or research assistantship -to more freelance research projects or consultancy. I have built several websites for larger academic research projects and my skills in this area has been one of the reasons that I’ve managed to find myself on larger projects. Recently I’ve been undertaking professional live blogging and capturing services at events, something that I was doing *anyway* through my attendance of things I was interested in, and finding my own way to articulate my own feelings about *ideas* and *stuff* without necessarily putting my hand up and saying it.

My research background is media studies, with a academic focus on new media and the Internet (only when I found out that I could bring my skills in web development into my education, rather than a hobby, during my final year of my undergraduate). When I moved my PhD to UWS, I began working on case studies around the Olympic Games (which has been timely also in terms of finding work) and after completing a PGCert in Higher Education through my part time teaching role, I’ve collaborated on several learning and teaching projects in this area. I tend to keep all the work that I decide to take on linked to one or two of these themes to keep the work that I do relevant to my larger aims of completing my PhD and establishing my self as a researcher beyond that. I am keen to balance between research (preparing publications for the REF), teaching (both research and establishing new methods of teaching), public engagement and practice and development through my interest in the web.

I’ve found myself often working multiple contracts within the same university, at different universities, freelance, consultancy and project based contributions. It is definitely reliant on a change of mindset, but I’ve worked a part time job since I left school at 16 so I’ve kind of conditioned myself to rebel against doing things that feel exploitative (I’ve done all sorts!) and/or treat me as nothing more that a number of a salaried manager’s HR spreadsheet. Worst employee ever.

Managing:

Due to the nature of the work that I do and having a PhD registered in Scotland and living in England, I have found myself travelling quite extensively in the last 3 years. I work a lot on trains and between places, rather than in a static place like a PhD office. It’s a lifestyle that I’ve became accustomed to and I often to prefer to do that instead of being trapped in one place.

I work almost entirely online, trying to avoid paper work and buying stamps (doesn’t always work with universities however) I use the web and social media to stay in touch with people, information, topics and news. I live out of my laptop and my mobile phone – and work abnormal hours and ‘shift’ patterns, rather than trying to pretend that it is a 9-5, Monday -Friday lifestyle. Sounds scary, but it does mean I can take the days off that I want, not the days that everyone else has. I can answer most emails quickly because I don’t have an office to be out of.

Pros and Cons

The biggest attraction of a ‘portfolio career’ is the autonomy that it allows from existing within the cracks of the system. At some stages, I have had a contract at four different universities at the same time – being able to see and compare how different systems operated is an interesting and unique position to be in.

There also can more flexibility than a permanent role. You work with different people on a regular basis and customise your approach as a researcher, rather than an employee of an institution. The flexibility to experiment will always be stronger during the time of the PhD, it is even more so if you are contributing to research as short-term contractual help. Over time, you can build on those relationships and work with the people that you want to, rather than those who happen to share an office with you. It’s a more natural process of collaboration. You can also recommend others if you don’t fit the bill, and I try and find opportunities for people that I know who might fit it better than I could.

This can lead on to collaboration on quite radical and unpredictable projects, which can be much more exciting than data entry or stacking books. Being able to bring your research skills and interests into other people’s projects, often from a different discipline or research area, can transform a piece of work and attempt to break down silos and week as transforming and changing your perceptions in the process.

The downside of a portfolio career is definitely the administration processes. The more institutions and the more work contexts that you take on, the more and differing paperwork appears in your to-do list. If you are working for less than 30 days on a project, contracts are often very different from part time/project specific ones. If you are a crack in the system, it can be often difficult for that system to find you, and more importantly pay you. It is hard for them to understand when they are working in the 9-5 space, including lunch breaks, rather than something that is more ad hoc or on demand. My pet peeve is only being considered to be working when I am physically in a space like a classroom or an office. The association with power, control and physical space is very strong. You need to be ‘seen’ to be working rather than showing and delivering a project over a period of time.

Another potential problem of a portfolio career within an academic context is the seemingly lack of progression. A permanent role have markers and expectations to progress through the system, through research publications, teaching and administrative roles. The portfolio worker have to manage their own expectations of progression in a sense, in order to recognise their own value on projects and tasks. Without knowing what the measurements are, it isn’t always straight forward to tell if you are heading in the right direction. Especially as an early careers researcher, it is difficult to apply for funding, or to publish, without a home institution, so being able to keep a foot in a few doors does help.

Conclusions

Being proactive, seeing opportunities and not waiting for opportunities to appear. I would have a much harder time to to apply for a short term or part time contract coldly through jobs.ac.uk, against others on paper or by interview. I wonder if it is worth the effort, considering it is a fixed term post that may or may not result in more work beyond it.

For me, having heard the way that part time labour is spoken in terms ‘buying in’ support, I find it much more useful, and ‘right’ for me in terms of how I work, to step forward and make myself indispensable and not being scared to present ideas as an equal and get to grips with understanding my own value to a project, and to act as somebody who can have further input on further research, that also needs to be there for the project to work.

If I could imagine myself writing about myself in this way, even 18 months ago, I would be laughing. Having the courage, especially after making mistakes along the way in terms of trust and agreeing boundaries of contract, have had a big influence in this. I can’t say if I would always want to be in this position, but for now, it’s working for me in a range of different ways – ways that I couldn’t have achieved if I had just stayed at my desk throughout the PhD process.

Academic, not public engagement.

]]> http://jennifermjones.net/2012/02/14/presentation-reflecting-on-portfolio-careers-for-early-career-researchers/feed/ 2 http://jennifermjones.net/2012/02/14/project-help-me-investigate-the-olympics-media2012/ http://jennifermjones.net/2012/02/14/project-help-me-investigate-the-olympics-media2012/#comments Tue, 14 Feb 2012 18:28:30 +0000 Jennifer Jones http://jennifermjones.net/?p=1638 Through the work that I have been doing at Birmingham City University and collaboration with Paul Bradshaw on the Online Journalism and Alternative Media module, we have launched a new Help Me Investigate site focusing on the Olympic Games, to provide support, help and resources for people exploring critical aspects of the mega events. Along with Paul, I’ll be curating submissions and adding posts relating to documents, data, links, questions and other information relating to all aspects of the Olympic Games, beyond the remit of sport.

More details about Help Me Investigate is available on Paul’s website, the online journalism blog.

For more context and posts on the Stories and Streamsproject, check out the website.

Today’s class was the first week that it felt that the majority of the students had a clear understanding of their role in the group and how they are working as a class as a whole, with most of them having already published aspects of their investigation online, using a content management system and linking to distribution social media accounts (albeit a personal or investigation specific twitter or Facebook account)

There are three points of interest that have emerged on reflection of today:

Feedback and Evolving Streams

This allows us, as lecturers, to see and provide feedback on topic, style, presentation and format of the investigation and allow us to fine tune the future workshops and sessions to suit the needs and issues of the class as whole. The observation of practice is supported by student requests for workshops, working simply with post-it notes and selecting from most popular skill request (see below). A definite move away from defining and sticking to learning outcomes ahead of individual weeks and bringing the student’s negotiation of learning back into the dialogue around set curriculum of the modules.

24/7 Online Support

Often the most daunting question asked when I am discussing the use of social media in learning and teaching with other academics is the notion of 24/7 support, where the lecturer is expected to be “always-on” as part of their duty to the student and the module.

It is clear, if we believe the expectation that an academic role is similar to the 9-5, switching off when the clock hits 5pm, that a 24/7 online support module could be considered a threat to a particular way of working (especially if you are an hourly paid contract staff)-however- the process of working with the groups to get their investigation groups does require extensive interaction beyond the three hours of the class.

What remains and what is being replaced when you remove lectures and workshops out of the equation?

Well firstly, I already feel that I am much closer to the work that my students are researching and producing from day one, and I managed this (mentally and institutionally) in a way that allows me to see what their doing not as a student project that exists in a vacuum, that I will mark in May as part of my admin duties as a visiting lecturer, that will have no effect beyond the grade that they are given at the end.

Instead, I feel like each website and investigation is each as much a living breathing journalism project as any other that I follow on RSS, on twitter, on facebook (etc) and something that I can fold into my online media space in the same way that I can fold in any other news feed. This is partly one of the reasons as the module progresses that I can see myself engaging in their projects at anytime, not just set ‘teaching’ times.

Secondly, I have given students access and ‘permission’ to get in touch with me using my twitter account. This is not something that I’ve actively done before or in previous years, despite some students finding me and following me anyway. Not that I mind, often I have found it difficult to link what I am doing to what they are doing through pedagogy and/or influence I have in modules, this is the perfect opportunity to try.

I can understand the concerns about introducing a social media channel into official communications, it’s not something that you can switch off at 5pm and it is not something you can ignore as they can see clearly and publicly your replies to others.

There has to be an element of managing expectations. This year, because of the changing and evolving nature of the module, and where the students are in terms of researching, producing and displaying their work, it’s only fair and entirely unavoidable to not give them the opportunity to use me and my network to help them achieve the goals set.

Similarly, being able to tell the difference between communicating by email, communicating by module and communicating by twitter are important – and the fact that the students are being asked to communicate to others in different ways (such as pick up the phone) should give them an idea of what method works best for different requests through experience, not expectation.

Finally, If I am expect them to work as a functioning independent news room, producing quality and in-depth investigations in public, then I can’t put up a pretence that my own social media presence can exist separately from it. The case in point is the fact that I’m even blogging about the concerns of blogging, a module like this can only work if the theory is seen and worked through the practice on doing.

Therefore, I’m on and available through social media without a job role or a job title attached. I am me first online, then I fulfil the tasks I’ve been asked to do. And in this case, it is ensuring I can take my students through the process of learning -and if always-on social media/online contact is how I do that, and it can work, then there is a potential to explore that space further.

Web Production: what is it?

It has been a task over the last two years to define and present what the alternative media and web production module means as a concept. The word “web” is a clue, but often gets it mixed up with the expectation of web design and web development. The key words are “production” -and the key context is “alternative media.”

These are emphasised, because they are important.

Alternative media brings the politics. Alternative media brings the rhetoric -or the style- to the production -and alternative media brings the social and historical context, as what we are demonstrating and encouraging does not exist in a vacuum, devolved from politics, history and critique.

Production is the act of making something. It requires research, it requires creative and technical skills and it requires context provided in order to create something that has value to your and others experiences. Web production can be anything produced on the web, not just a web site.

So from week 4, I will be moving from the discussion and activity from producing a website and providing a technical support for the online journalists and setting new tasks for the alternative media and web production students, working as multimedia journalists.

The tasks will test them on the context of alternative media but also on their ability to illustrate and communicate a story for the web in a way that addresses issues provided by their other group members and is suitable for an audience/network of their choosing.

Conclusions

There are some themes that have emerged after three weeks of working on the stories and streams project. They are as follows:

• clarification of role: the purpose of the student, the expectation of the student and challenging and defining expectations in the classroom.
• learning outcomes: moving beyond rationalised, universal outcomes and using group work and individual roles to draw out key issues, skills and challenges in a way not previously possible through existing teaching methods in this area.
• definition of terms: drawing down the role of theory and production methods in new media studies. Embracing student expectations but also challenging them. Working out new and transforming ways to introduce key concepts without losing sight of political and social context of work.

Anything else?

Some of you might have noticed that I’ve been tweeting a lot about a thing called “@UWSInteractive” (which has a website and everything) – well, because I don’t have enough things on and inspired by the pure madness of 2012, John Coster, Tina Barton and myself decided we wanted to try set up and run a citizen media festival across all campuses and regions of the University of the West of Scotland – touring between them, hosting themed activities and events on each day. UWS is unique as a university, mainly due to the fact that the widest distance between its 4 campuses in Ayr, Paisley, Hamilton and Dumfries is over 60 miles. Since its merger and name-change in 2007, there hasn’t been a festival or a set of public events that have scaled between the 4 locations – and I don’t think there has ever been a festival that focussed on citizen media and community education in the area before either. I’m excited.

With support from such great partners such as Somewhereto_, Newsnet (part of the Media Trust), DocFilm DogWoof PopUp Cinema, and the Skillset Media Academy, we’re hoping to generate a schedule of free workshops, showcases and ‘stuff’ relating to anything to do with media activism and community production.

Essentially, we want to demonstrate with a bit of organisation that we can provide space and context to people who want to do stuff, learn stuff, meet other people and generally appreciate the part of the world that they live in. Being from Ayr myself, I know how easy it is to get angsty and down on yourself because of the lack of obvious and available opportunities to do things – especially when it can feel isolating and closed when others say it is impossible and not worth the effort.  UWS  was my way out of it, but it is also my way back into it again.

This festival is about reclaiming things and making the most of what we have already, instead of waiting for the big solution to drop by and fix it – and with the help of great people like John and Tina, who have managed to do so much of this in Leicester over the last 4 years, and the people who have already been in touch about running an event or simply just attending, that I’m totally excited about what might possibly happen during the 5th-9th of March.

The direct link to my article is here [.pdf] and I will be presenting an extended version of this paper at the Sport and Politics Association Sports Politics, Media and Identity conference in Southampton on the 24th of February.

 The overall aim of the sessions are to give an introduction to social media in the context of fashion and textiles industry, by demonstrating forms and practices through the use of free (and easy to use) online platforms. Rather than focusing on tools and the how to use tools, I used a range of ideas, contexts and case studies to explore the use of social media platforms that would be currently used as a personal space and more them towards a network-based professional environment. Rather than telling students “not” to do something, instead I encourage them to think about being searchable, contactable and letting their legacy of their online behavior reflect what would like to achieve in their chosen career.

The slides from the session are below and can be used in various contexts (beyond fashion and textiles) as the focus is less on the industry and more on creating personalised professional environments online.

I will be delivering similar workshops for the Fashion and Textiles department at De Montfort University in Leicester on the 22nd February.

Last week I was invited to speak on an industry panel at the launch of the Birmingham School of Media production event at Fazeley Studios, Digbeth.

The Production Event is a first year module in the BA Media and Communication degree at The Birmingham School of Media within Birmingham City University. As part of their studies all first year media students (around 180 of them) will be involved in organising a one day “event” which is based around a different theme each year. The idea is to give them an opportunity to practise the skills they have learned so far in as realistic a vocational environment as possible. Each year they have a different theme for the students to explore and the theme for 2012 will be “The 2012 London Olympiad” – allowing them to explore the alternative viewpoints of the games through the analysis of cultural events and impact, legacy and the cultural, political and social agendas at play, and fold them back into the event that they decide to deliver.

Alongside John Coster (@citizenseye) and Tina Barton (@somewhereto_EM) who I already work with quite closely in Leicester and through my research, we were also joined by Matt Lee from BBC West Midlands and Simon Flynn from Creative England, who presented on their own involvement with the Olympic Games.

I opened the event with an adapted version of the paper that I delivered at the International Olympic Academy in September, focusing on the complexity of the Olympic Games as a subject area and the tension between the mainstream narratives of the ‘movement’ and the impact that it has politically and socially on a community and a country. I also touched on the different types of media that are present during an olympiad and why this is important when considering an event during the run-up to games time, including their potential involvement with #media2012 West Midlands through their event.

My paper was followed on by presentations by Matt on the BBC’s involvement with local coverage in the area and John introducing citizen’s eye and their 2012 pledge. There were also interesting presentations about the film shorts cultural olympiad project and Tina’s (always engaging) somewhereto_ project, where she acts as the broker between 16-25 year olds and those who have empty and unused spaces, in order to encourage them to do something that they feel passionate about in those space.

The event itself will be in the 2nd week of May 2012 when the students will be producing newspapers, magazines or websites, television and radio programmes, photographic exhibitions, musical events etc – all focusing on issues around the 2012 London Olympiad. We will get to revisit the class in that time and see what they have came up with.

See previous posts for context on the ‘stories and streams’ project at Birmingham City University.

Introduction
Week 1
Stories and Streams blog [With all posts from Paul Bradshaw and myself, plus student bloggers from the module Luke Seager and Jennie Cosh and videos from Humaira Razzaq (all student-academic partners)]

This week’s Alternative Media stream focused on the roles and the mode of the Alternative Media worker, exploring the different formats and styles that can be considered as being ‘alternative media.’ As this workshop is part of a larger set of joint modules who are working together in a student-led investigative journalism working newsroom, the purpose of this short session was allow for those who are on the Alt Media and Multimedia Journalism stream to think critically about the political implications of their role as an independent media producer.

Discussion below are adapted from notes shared by Jon Hickman (module leader) on the subject area.

Nigg and Wade (1980) argues that there are three different modes of working in the Alternative Media sphere; the auteur, the enabler and the collaborator.

Modes of working

Auteur – authorship: media worker represents the subjects, tells the story through their own vision of the problem. This might be seen as problematic as it is closer to mainstream media ideas. The exception here is if the auteur is a representative of that which they represent – e.g. a feminist making feminist media. This can be see in examples of political shorts reflecting ‘issues’ such as the climate camp video “fences” that was shown in class.

Enabler: the media worker assists media subjects in creating their own media products. The example given in class was Citizen’s Eye, a community news agency based in Leicester. John Coster, the editor, explains the purpose and the history of the organisation in the short video below, where one of the aims of their work is to encourage people of the local community to become empowered to tell their own stories through online media. 

Collaboration: This is a combination of the two modes above. So some structure and authorial control put into place by a media worker, but the subject is also active in production. The example used in class was the ‘audioboo’ accent archiving project for the British Library, that was used to capture the accents of europe through ‘user-generated’ submission. The community who participated were engaged with the British Library previously, but got to contribute themselves and how they speak as part of the community generate project.

In addition to the modes of working, Nigg and Wade also reveals four different archetypes of media workers relating to alternative media. They describe who the media worker might be and how they consider personal politics through their motivation to create media content.

Alternative Media Archetypes

The Radical – has a political agenda they wish to put forward through their media work. They will seek projects that provide a platform for their politics. For example a campaigner for disability rights who uses social media to enable others to lobby. The example used in class was the Spartacus Report, relating to the campaign access the changes to disability benefits.

The Thinker – takes a broader approach than a radical (which can be targeted around specific issues), but still very much political. Concerned with issues of representation in the mainstream media, and would see alternativeness itself as their political aim. By producing and consuming alternative media, they may even actively reject the mainstream media through their decisions to participate in an alternative media space. The example used in class was ‘the fword uk‘ – an online magazine dedicated to discussion around feminist issues and sharing ideas between contributors.

The Operator – they speak to the political need for alternativeness, but may not consider themselves to be ‘political’ – removing themselves from the critique whilst critique other approaches (the mainstream media) in the process. Where they are political they may take a narrow political position (as the radical) or a meta position (as the thinker) but this will be articulated primarily as a means to produce profit making interventions: Activism for profit. They follow the money and thus we might expect their position to change. Two sub types here: 1) clearly corporate, works funders and public sector, looking for commissions for work. May use altruism as part of marketing approach. 2) May seem to be a radical or a thinker, but they use this rather cynically and may be funded through other means e.g. paid for blogging and amplifying of products that they use in their work.

The Hobbyist: a member of the community being served, or someone who just likes to play with media as part of hobby like projects. Perhaps a retired/unemployed media worker. There may be issues of sustainability in terms of community media groups as participation is down to the issues that they may personally effect them at particular times, rather than a wider community media context. They can also be the backbone to larger alternative media projects as they contribute scope and variety to interpretation that may be missed during single issue campaigning.

Conclusions

The role of the alternative media worker (and therefore the political approach and mode of working that is decided by each student) is very much to think about the personal as being political – where instead of presenting a uniformed approach in order to pass an assignment, students should be encouraged to think about their own political position towards what they communicate around and through their work practice. Therefore, through the next two weeks of workshops on the Alternative Media stream, students will be asked to develop and refine their own positions using the guidelines above.

It is also worth baring in mind that these roles were defined in 1980, a long time before we are to think about the role of the web and web production in this space. How does this reflect and change the social and political context of your work? How do they examples use new media to convey and amplify their causes and their stories?

Next week will focus on the discourses and conventions of alternative media, looking at what makes media content “look” alternative and how these rhetoric devices have been used in the mainstream media to present alternative media as a style rather than a political approach.