Joe Campbell's commentary about the ephemeral character of leads in summertime election polling was posted July 1 at The Messenger news and opinion site. Joe noted in the commentary: "Polling’s past ... is studded with cases of substantial leads that didn’t last" and suggested that reality may have implications for Donald Trump's massive polling lead over rivals for the Republican presidential nomination.
Joe's "last lecture," delivered in his "American 1990s" class April 27 and taped by C-SPAN, was shown five times on C-SPAN3 on June 27-28.
Patricia Aufderheide's journal article with, among others, Aram Sinnreich, ""EXPANDING THE DEBATE ABOUT CONTENT MODERATION: SCHOLARLY RESEARCH AGENDAS FOR THE COMING POLICY DEBATES," has dramatically increased audience since coauthor Tarleton Gillespie posted it on SSRN, one of the open-access platforms for scholarly work. It was among the top-ten downloaded papers for several SSRN scholarly groups last week. Open-access works!
Patricia Aufderheide published an article in Filmmaker magazine about the brand-new DC documentary film festival, DC/DOX, which debuted in June with Joan Baez in attendance on opening night. It looks to become an important place for regional filmmakers to gather and learn. The festival is also elevating short documentaries, a category of growing importance. Patricia also spoke on a panel at DC/DOX, about the implications of artificial intelligence for production, ethics and copyright in documentary filmmaking.
Patricia, with colleagues Brandon Butler and Peter Jaszi, led a 90-minute seminar open to all D-Word members, on June 23, about Fair Use in Filmmaking after the Supreme Court's Goldsmith v. Warhol decision. As the team had previously written, the decision does not change much for most filmmakers; the guidance provided in CMSI's Documentary Filmmakers' Statement of Best Practices in Fair Use continues to be standard.
Patricia also chaired a panel and presented a paper on ethics at University Film and Video Association's (UFVA) annual conference, during its virtual day on July 14. The paper was "Obstacles to Developing Ethical Standards and Practices in the Documentary Ecology."
UFVA's Freedom of Expression and Academic Freedom Committee, on which Patricia serves, presented its research on members' concerns about academic freedom at their universities, on July 14, as well as hosting an open committee meeting on July 12. Patricia conducted the research for the presentation and participated in the presentation, as well as the meeting. The majority of members had experienced, either directly or in relation to a colleague, academic freedom issues. They also strongly supported the principles that the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) has expressed.
As part of her service on the Independent Television Service board of directors (ITVS is the coproducer of many public TV documentaries, and the single most important source of funding for social-issue indies), Patricia served on the search committee for the new executive director. After months of work, we are proud to announce that Carrie Lozano, a leader in nonprofit arts work, is joining ITVS from her role leading Sundance Institute's documentary division. And Patricia is very glad that the search process is over.
Nieman Lab published an interview with Wes Lowery in which he spoke to his ideas of the Investigative Reporting Workshop (IRW) as a “training hospital” model, mentoring the next generation of investigative reporters, and the tools and enterprise our students can bring to under-resourced newsrooms. Special thanks to all the staff who helped make this happen including Rebecca Basu (UCM), Pam Roberts (IRW), and Tia Milledge (SOC).
Whitney Harris Christopher was featured on CBS affiliate WUSA9 as a panelist sharing both my personal story and my research into hair-based discrimination for Black women on the news. The story aired on Crown Act Day, which is a day to mark the passage of the legislation which bans hair-based discrimination in numerous states and localities nationwide. Here's the story: https://shorturl.at/gCHP5
Video Production Coordinator Grace Ibrahim traveled to New York with the NYC Career Intensive this spring and SOC has just released the video she produced.
Four SOC journalism graduate students – Julia Mouketo, Danny Nguyen, Katherine Hapgood, and Ben Balker – who won prestigious fellowships starting next Fall were featured in an article by the SOC Comms Team.
John C. Watson was interviewed Wednesday by Courthouse News Service reporter Sam Ribakoff about a free speech controversy embroiling the city of Carlsbad, California. The City Council is debating whether to fly the Pride Flag on municipal properties and risk lawsuits from others who might seek a right to display flags the council might find objectionable.
Angel Number Nine opened to a full house on Monday July 10th. As Video Designer, Professor Kylos Brannon produced, co-directed and edited video elements for the live show for projection and televisions around the immersive space. For the show, which charts the experiences of a young woman coming to grips with past trauma while her band is getting the first taste of success, Rorschach Theatre transformed a former Rochester’s Big and Tall store into an underground 90s era rock club, complete with working bar. The in-world band plays numerous original songs evoking the music of the decade, while Cupid shows up to pester her. NBC4 and the Washington Post covered the show for the opening. Take a look at the links for more info or reach out to Kylos if you want to get a discount code.
