We asked our actors from The New New News Staged Reading to give their thoughts on the art and process. Here's a few words from Becky Chong. - ed.
My two cents. Hahha...they're kind of all over the place but it's just what has been percolating.
The New New News reading was quite the educational experience for me. I am not a user on Twitter and was surprised by how these mediums of communication (Twitter, texting, Facebook, YouTube, etc) are translated into the world of journalism. What exactly is the face of today's Journalism--and is the current technology necessarily an advantage for catapulting Journalism where it seems to be heading?
I do feel that in many ways it takes away the artistic value of journalism. Max's thesis on the death of journalism* (and if people will even be teaching it in the future) is very disheartening.
Many times it feels like, for the average user, that technological advances are happening way too fast and it's hard to catch up. I perform shows at schools and I remember one elementary school where all the students were given rental laptops for the whole year. That generation is growing up where magazines, newspapers, paperbooks, etc are a thing of the past and digital communication is the ruler; where reality television is a normal part of life; where with a click of their fingers, and within a few seconds, they can post a video on YouTube to make something news-worthy.
One more thing that really shook me up was that you have to ask--if you have all these people who are telling these stories--how much of what they are saying is credible? And what exactly in The New New News is true? I left feeling even more confused as to what the real story was and what was chopped up to make it a luring, engaging story. What is fact and how do you trust the media regardless of what medium its being distributed. What is NEWS when the people who are covering the stories being covered become part of the news themselves?
becks :)
*The character of Max in The New New News is a Professor of Journalism applying for tenure. - ed.
My two cents. Hahha...they're kind of all over the place but it's just what has been percolating.
The New New News reading was quite the educational experience for me. I am not a user on Twitter and was surprised by how these mediums of communication (Twitter, texting, Facebook, YouTube, etc) are translated into the world of journalism. What exactly is the face of today's Journalism--and is the current technology necessarily an advantage for catapulting Journalism where it seems to be heading?
I do feel that in many ways it takes away the artistic value of journalism. Max's thesis on the death of journalism* (and if people will even be teaching it in the future) is very disheartening.
Many times it feels like, for the average user, that technological advances are happening way too fast and it's hard to catch up. I perform shows at schools and I remember one elementary school where all the students were given rental laptops for the whole year. That generation is growing up where magazines, newspapers, paperbooks, etc are a thing of the past and digital communication is the ruler; where reality television is a normal part of life; where with a click of their fingers, and within a few seconds, they can post a video on YouTube to make something news-worthy.
One more thing that really shook me up was that you have to ask--if you have all these people who are telling these stories--how much of what they are saying is credible? And what exactly in The New New News is true? I left feeling even more confused as to what the real story was and what was chopped up to make it a luring, engaging story. What is fact and how do you trust the media regardless of what medium its being distributed. What is NEWS when the people who are covering the stories being covered become part of the news themselves?
becks :)
*The character of Max in The New New News is a Professor of Journalism applying for tenure. - ed.
Awesome, Becky. Thanks so much for your feedback. Sorry the show left you so confused. That's definitely something to consider as we revise. Hope the donuts and pizza made up for it at least somewhat.
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Love,
Paul
I think the confusion is largely the point (though maybe not to the degree we confused). Something about the structure of the play and the content force us to ask what is credible and not, which is something we don't do with traditional journalism nearly enough. I like that the play inspired that reflective moment, and hope Paul and Dawson can make that a satisfying experience.
ReplyDeleteYou have done a great job on this article. It’s very readable and highly intelligent. You have even managed to make it understandable and easy to read. You have some real writing talent. Thank you.
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