Blog
Finding calm in the media storm
Published by on August 17, 2011 in Festival for the Future
I have had a heightened awareness of the media machine this week! As an expat I’ve felt the full force of the London Riots – I’ve found myself glued to the coverage along with the usual narratives. However, some interesting perspectives seem to be emerging – if you go looking for them.
Even New Zealand media has been whipping up a frenzy of its own, on a much lighter subject – the weather – a sure fire way to create chaos as I watched the entire population of Dunedin load up on extra firewood and supplies this weekend to hunker down for the perfect storm!
Social chaos and snow days aside – it made me think – Surely, events like these have been occurring since the beginning of time, and it is the sheer speed we hear about it through our modern media channels and our saturation levels. It’s so important what stories we choose to tell, the quality of the message and who’s listening…
In other news, I managed to check out some flicks at the New Zealand International Film festival. ‘Fire in Babylon’ the story of the West Indies Cricket team – charismatic characters and a compelling narrative brought the footage to life and really surprised me – so much more than a film about cricket. Also, appropriate to this post – ‘Miss Representation’ investigating the current state of female representation in the mainstream media – it was well balanced with some refreshing perspectives!
I’m hungry for more and scouting for any films/documentaries to make it onto the Festival for the Future screening program. Let me know if there’s anything you would like to see up there!
