9:15 - 11:50 D Block Social and Environmental Science
12:30 - 3:05 A Block Criminology
D Block Social and Environmental Sciences - Today we will start with young in 115. Our focus this morning will be deforestation of the Tropical Rainforests, connected to agriculture (we will deal with the Temperate Rainforest we live in next week). Here are some Rainforest facts from Mongabay:
- Tropical forests presently cover about 2.4 billion hectares or about 16 percent of Earth's land surface.
- The world's largest rainforest is the Amazon rainforest and Brazil has the largest extent of rainforest cover, including nearly two-thirds of the Amazon.
- An estimated 50 percent of terrestrial biodiversity is found in rainforests
- Rainforests are thought to store at least 250 billion tons of carbon
- Deforestation and degradation of tropical forests account for roughly 10 percent of global greenhouse emissions from human activities
Farming, grazing of livestock, mining, and drilling combined account for more than half of all deforestation. Forestry practices, wildfires and, in small part, urbanization account for the rest. So, deforestation for agribusiness / industrial agriculture (specifically soy, biofuels and cattle) is an issue.
So, in partners use the links and the hand out sheet I'll give you in class and try to answer the following:
- What are some ways that forests impact your daily life?
- How much of the world’s original forest cover has been lost in the past 50 years?
- Define deforestation in your own words.
- Why does deforestation occur?
- What does the tropical rainforest look and feel like before deforestation?
- What does the tropical rainforest look and feel like after deforestation?
- What are the top three sources of greenhouse gas emissions?
- How do you think we can work to stop deforestation?
- How does deforestation relate to biodiversity?
With Benton, again you'll be looking at forests, this time focusing on the mycelium network of fungi to understand how trees talk with each other:
A Block Criminology - We're diving back in to true crime media...this time, however, I want you to watch a Dateline video called "My Kid Would
Never Do That: Stranger Danger". This episode deals with the fear associated with stranger abductions and tests
whether kids would know what do to when confronted by someone who attempts to
lure them. The Dateline website says:
While stranger abductions are rare, all parents worry about keeping kids safe. In this special report, parents and experts watch as the following scenarios unfold, testing whether or not children know what to do when approached by a stranger.
DATELINE NBC: MY KID WOULD NEVER DO THAT: STRANGER DANGER from Loren Burlando on Vimeo.
Check out these Facebook and Twitter posts in response to the show
So now for the reality of stranger danger and abductions...
Okay so now what:
Stephen A. Kohm wrote a piece that "examines the way shame and humiliation in criminal justice have become increasingly commodified, enacted, and experienced through hybrid forms of mass media that blur the boundaries of reality and entertainment". In it, he argues that, "public narratives about crime in the news media operate on a distinctly emotional level, weaving powerful messages about not only the nature and extent of crime, but also how audiences ought to feel about crime. To Catch a Predator similarly plays upon and appeals to emotions running the gamut from outrage to humiliation".
Rolling Stone had a great article on To Catch a Predator (The New American Witch Hunt) as did the Columbia Journalism Review (The Shame Game). So, what is To Catch a Predator?
To Catch a Predator is a reality television show which features a series of hidden camera investigations by the television news-magazine Dateline NBC. It is devoted to the subject of identifying and detaining those who contact people they believe to be below the age of consent (ages 12–15) over the Internet for sexual liaisons. What is the problem with to Catch a Predator? Lots...but in the context of the course we're in what it has done is shape the public's consciousness about crime to the point that "Creep Catchers" is now a thing...This is not a "foreign" thing...in Nanaimo the RCMP is concerned about vigilante justice there and here in the Comox Valley we also had another vigilante creep catcher event as well.
So, did To Catch a Predator perform a public service, or was it just another ratings-hungry reality series?
Clearly it was a cultural phenomenon that still reverberates throughout North American society today. The show was parodied on the October 3rd, 2007 episode of South Park titled “Le Petit Tourette.”
It was mocked on Arrested Development
And on Mad TV
But Chris Hansen is back on tv...
So To Catch a Predator led to Creep Catchers...here the infotainment led to people creating a real vigilante groups...did infotainment television influence the public's reality on crime?
The Real Story Behind the Rise of Creep Catchers, Canada’s Vigilante Pedophile Hunters
Hunting Child Predators With Canada's Freelance Vigilantes
The truth about online vigilante group Creep Catchers: Part One
He lures alleged child predators and shames them on Facebook. Now one of his targets is dead
While stranger abductions are rare, all parents worry about keeping kids safe. In this special report, parents and experts watch as the following scenarios unfold, testing whether or not children know what to do when approached by a stranger.
DATELINE NBC: MY KID WOULD NEVER DO THAT: STRANGER DANGER from Loren Burlando on Vimeo.
Check out these Facebook and Twitter posts in response to the show
So now for the reality of stranger danger and abductions...
- Stranger Danger doesn't teach what a stranger is
- It doesn't account for trusted adults and
- It can demonize all adults to children.
Okay so now what:
- What do you think the purpose of the "My Kid Would Never Do That: Stranger Danger" show and what assumptions or beliefs do its creators have that are reflected in the content?
- Who and what is shown in a positive light? In a negative light? Why might these people and things be shown this way? What conclusions might audiences draw based on these facts?
- What techniques does the Dateline show use to get your attention and to communicate its message?
Historically, news organizations maintained a distinction between “hard” news and entertainment, or “soft” news, programming. In the 1980s, communications theorists began to use the term infotainment (a portmanteau of information and entertainment) as a synonym for soft news. Hard news was generally defined as breaking developments involving major leaders or issues, public policy, or disruptions of daily life such as natural disasters or calamities. Soft news was less institutional as well as more personal and immediate in nature, with an emphasis on human-interest themes.
Stephen A. Kohm wrote a piece that "examines the way shame and humiliation in criminal justice have become increasingly commodified, enacted, and experienced through hybrid forms of mass media that blur the boundaries of reality and entertainment". In it, he argues that, "public narratives about crime in the news media operate on a distinctly emotional level, weaving powerful messages about not only the nature and extent of crime, but also how audiences ought to feel about crime. To Catch a Predator similarly plays upon and appeals to emotions running the gamut from outrage to humiliation".
Rolling Stone had a great article on To Catch a Predator (The New American Witch Hunt) as did the Columbia Journalism Review (The Shame Game). So, what is To Catch a Predator?
To Catch a Predator is a reality television show which features a series of hidden camera investigations by the television news-magazine Dateline NBC. It is devoted to the subject of identifying and detaining those who contact people they believe to be below the age of consent (ages 12–15) over the Internet for sexual liaisons. What is the problem with to Catch a Predator? Lots...but in the context of the course we're in what it has done is shape the public's consciousness about crime to the point that "Creep Catchers" is now a thing...This is not a "foreign" thing...in Nanaimo the RCMP is concerned about vigilante justice there and here in the Comox Valley we also had another vigilante creep catcher event as well.
Creep Catchers is a strong example of where people see a problem (through the mediated coverage of crime) and decide to bypass law enforcement and take matters into their own hands. In this, the media has created a moral panic about pedophiles and shaped the consciousness of the public about the problem and the apparent lack of police response."All jurisdictions across the United States and Canada have trained officers that are on the internet and are trying to interact with these people and find out who they are" said Nanaimo RCMP Cpl. Jon Stuart but To Catch a Predator undercuts the actual detective work of the RCMP and other police services.
So, did To Catch a Predator perform a public service, or was it just another ratings-hungry reality series?
Clearly it was a cultural phenomenon that still reverberates throughout North American society today. The show was parodied on the October 3rd, 2007 episode of South Park titled “Le Petit Tourette.”It was mocked on Arrested Development
And on Mad TV
But Chris Hansen is back on tv...
So To Catch a Predator led to Creep Catchers...here the infotainment led to people creating a real vigilante groups...did infotainment television influence the public's reality on crime?
The Real Story Behind the Rise of Creep Catchers, Canada’s Vigilante Pedophile Hunters
Hunting Child Predators With Canada's Freelance Vigilantes
The truth about online vigilante group Creep Catchers: Part One
He lures alleged child predators and shames them on Facebook. Now one of his targets is dead
For this activity, please review text pages 14-16 (in the pdf it's page 50-52/694), as well as text pages 213-216 (in the pdf it's page 250-252/694) and text pages 487-503 (in the pdf it's page 523-539/694) in the Media &Culture: Mass Communication in a Digital Age online text.You should also spend some time looking at various Communication theories from University of Twente (specifically: Agenda Setting, Priming, Framing, Cultivation, Medium, and Uses and Gratifications).
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