Category: Communication

How to Remedy the “Infodemic”? On the Notion of Communication Rights

Minna Aslama Horowitz1 Comment

Collaborative essay with Quiana Criales, Hope DeVito, Seraiah Romero, and other participants of the ICM835 – Media Governance course, Spring 2020.

 

What Are Communication Rights? 

people holding mask over a sculpture
Photo by cottonbro on Pexels.com

The rights-based approach is typically presented in a general sense as a counterforce that protects individuals against illegitimate forms of power, including both state and corporate domination. Many have noted the democratizing power of the digital age. But the increasing amount of challenges – the rampant spread of disinformation and hate speech online, the internet giants and related violations of privacy, persisting digital divides, and inequalities created by algorithms, to name a few  – face us as individuals and members of society.

These challenges have sparked renewed discussion about the idea and ideal of citizens’ communication rights – and these debates have intensified in today’s global health crisis caused by the coronavirus. No wonder the World Health Organization has called the situation “infodemic”.

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R-42: Not Just a last ride, but the end of a communication era

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by Mark Juszczak

I had a suspicion, at the moment, that this might be bigger than I thought. And I also knew I was not alone. So I approached them and asked if them if they were waiting for R42. Not the A train, as in the A train line. But the arrival of the R-42 Subway Car type. Indeed they were. Continue reading “R-42: Not Just a last ride, but the end of a communication era” →

#WhoWillWatchtheWatchers? IICM Symposium

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“Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?” Bruno Latour & The Need for a New Critical Science of ‘Science & Technology’ Symposium

Authors and organizers: Dr. Basilio Monteiro (Director, IICM)
Dr. Natalie Byfield (The Department of Sociology & Anthropology of St. John’s University)

“Who Will Watch the Watchers: Bruno Latour & The Need for a New Critical Science of ‘Science & Technology’,” a jointly organized symposium by the Institute for International Communication and the Department of Sociology & Anthropology housed respectively in the Collins College of Professional Studies and St. John’s College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, brought together researchers who have different epistemological approaches to the study of contemporary technologies and people’s relationships to those technologies.

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“Hiroshima Sparrow” by Harumi Yamamoto

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A Guidepost for the Future: Japanese Artist Stuns with Musical Message 

NEW YORK — “Study, learn, and try to become more invested in these issues,” said artist Harumi Yamamoto. “Remember that nuclear issues affect each and every one of us.”

This was the message Yamamoto gave students who attended her musical presentation about the horrors of nuclear power, on September 30 at St. John’s University’s Queens Campus. About 70 students, faculty and guests crowded an upstairs room in the D’Angelo Center.

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Global Gender Advocacy Workshop at Emerson College

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IMG-1293Emerson College, Boston, hosted the Global Gender Advocacy Workshop on 16 and 17 October 2019, focusing on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and their connection to gender equality.

This international event addressed an array of issues: Gender and Institutional Legitimacy, Institutional Equity & Closing Global Gender Gaps, Gender & Leadership, and Combatting Marginality.

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Information Disorder and International Communication: Issues and Solutions

Minna Aslama Horowitz23 Comments

Screen Shot 2018-06-04 at 3.46.03 PMThis commentary has been co-authored by a number of participants in the course ICM835 – Media Governance as a response to Minna Horowitz’s article in the Journal of Vincentian Social Action titled: Disinformation as Warfare in the Digital Age: Dimensions, Dilemmas, and Solutions. 

The authors develop Horowitz’s arguments further by clarifying the dimensions of fake news, offering examples, and suggesting policy solutions. 

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Por qué sí eres inteligente

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by Cristina Pérez-Cordón, Ph. D

Albert Einstein no comenzó a hablar hasta cumplidos los cuatro años de edad y fue incapaz de comenzar a leer hasta los siete. Era tan mal estudiante que estuvo a punto de dejar la escuela y dedicarse a la venta de seguros. Sus profesores lo definían como un muchacho “mentalmente lento” y su padre siempre lo consideró un auténtico fracaso. Esto último le rompió el corazón. Hoy día se le considera un genio y uno de los pilares de la física moderna. Además de su inteligencia matemática, fue su paciencia, su perseverancia y su voluntad de hierro los elementos que lograron cambiar la injusta etiqueta que de niño le habían colocado. Continue reading “Por qué sí eres inteligente” →

Algo se muere en el alma cuando una lengua se va

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By Cristina Pérez-Cordón, Ph. D

El idioma navajo es la base del único código militar que fue totalmente imposible descifrar en su época. Es extremadamente complejo, se dice que es imposible de dominar si no lo aprendes desde pequeño. Tiene cuatro tonos, no tiene adjetivos, cuenta con más de cuarenta sonidos vocálicos y consonánticos (frente a los veintidós del español) y una forma totalmente diferente de construir las frases y conjugar los verbos. Estos últimos no solo tienen en cuenta el sujeto, sino también el objeto. Así, el verbo varía en función de las características del objeto en cuestión, que se clasifican hasta en 11 tipos, por ejemplo, “sólido redondo”, “alargado flexible”, “alargado rígido”, “viscoso”, “plano flexible”, “animado”, etc. Esto supone, por ejemplo, que el verbo para sostener un palo es diferente al verbo para sostener una hoja; pero el verbo para sostener barro es el mismo que para sostener una rana (porque ambos son viscosos). Actualmente es la tribu más numerosa de los EE.UU después de los Cherokee.

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Nuestro cerebro ya no es lo que era, (des)afortunadamente

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by Cristina Pérez-Cordón, Ph. D

Soy un desastre para recordar los cumpleaños. Mis amigos lo saben y no me lo tienen en cuenta. Hasta hace poco vivía con cierto cargo de conciencia por olvidar año tras año los cumpleaños de personas que me importan y a las que quiero, hasta que un amigo me dijo que en realidad era Facebook quien le avisaba, “como a casi todos”, añadió. No sé si me sentí aliviada o triste por este cambio de roles en el funcionamiento de nuestra memoria y en las relaciones sociales.

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Prosumidor responsable vs. Pinocho digital

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by Cristina Pérez-Cordón, Ph. D 

Hace algunos años compré por internet una máquina de ruido blanco para poder dormir mejor por las noches. El aparato llegó estropeado, así que escribí una valoración negativa en internet. Al día siguiente, recibí un correo electrónico de la empresa que fabrica las máquinas para disculparse y para ofrecerme una nueva sin coste adicional a cambio de que editara mi valoración explicando la reacción positiva de la empresa ante el problema. Ambos cumplimos nuestro acuerdo, ellos no vieron sus ventas perjudicadas y yo duermo mejor por las noches. Dos semanas más tarde, una empresa de vitaminas contactó conmigo ofreciéndome un buen lote de melatonina totalmente gratis (una hormona reguladora del sueño) a cambio de que escribiese una valoración positiva en internet. Tras vivir mi momento Snap “I’ve got the power”, les dije que no.

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Space and Fashion or ‘‘Spashion’’

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By Anna Morozova

Have you ever thought how Space and Fashion could unite and form something fascinating and beautiful just like anything combined by two opposites? In the way, a child from two different races and cultures is usually unique and especially beautiful, so the child of space and fashion is. Let’s call this child ‘‘Spashion’’! In this article I am going to attempt and answer the question if ‘‘Spashion’’ could be the beginning of a new trend or has this trend already been existing?

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Jewelry as a communication medium

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By Katerina Juszczak 

​Its alluring glow in the dark surroundings of the exhibition hall is purposefully staged to invite visitors to take a closer look at it – jewelry: a massive golden breast piece, golden calf covers (probably a part of royal armor), massive golden earrings that could hardly conceivably be worn through piercings. Hall after hall of masterfully arranged jewelry pieces that represent different periods, traditions, and geographic regions draw the attention with their exquisite beauty, unusual appearance, or sheer opulence.

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