Meet the Editor Behind Sterohyped

Dori J. Maynard
9:20 PM | bio | Comments: 2

A little more than a year ago, when Jossip Initiatives launched Stereohyped, it tapped former print journalists Lauren Williams to be the editor for the "black interest" site, which boasts the tag line "Once you blog black, you never go back." Written with attitude, humor and at times a sense of horror at the mess we humans can make, the site provides one stop shopping for those who enjoy everything from Beyonce to Barack, from the serious to the celebrity. On any given day, Williams will post an item and links on subjects ranging from an historical overview of the... continued...

Topics: Diversity, Participation, Philosophy
Tagged: best blogs, celibrity, police brutality, politics, race

How Different Media View Racial Controversies

Dori J. Maynard
4:02 PM | bio | Comments: 0

No matter the medium, the subjects were the same. Jesse Jackson made some rather unwise remarks about Barack Obama and the New Yorker published a satirical depiction of the Obamas that many thought missed the mark. The difference came when you looked at how those stories were covered on the web compared to the "traditional mainstream" media. In the end, that was perhaps the most interesting aspect of the controversies because it was illustrative of the pros and cons of both forms of media. While some in the "mainstream" media struggled with how to characterize Jesse Jackson's off-camera and ill-advised... continued...

Topics: Diversity, Philosophy
Tagged: barack obama, jesse jackson, race, the new yorker

Glimpsing the Worlds of Neighbors Online

Dori J. Maynard
2:52 PM | bio | Comments: 1

Over at TheRoot.com, Kim McLarin points out the ridiculousness behind the rumor that floating "out there" exists a tape of Michelle Obama using the term "whitey." McLarin does not base her argument on the fact that a Princeton and Harvard University graduate, married to a man with the political savvy to come from behind to be the presumptive Democratic nominee, is not likely to be guilty of such a political misstep. Nor does she argue that someone who has spent decades of her life navigating the racial fault lines is not likely to step on a cultural landmine by spewing... continued...

Topics: Diversity, Government & Politics, Participation, Philosophy
Tagged: community, digital divide, internet, politics, race relations

Election Day Could Be Our Own Pangia Day

Dori J. Maynard
11:14 PM | bio | Comments: 0

When the filmmaker Jehane Noujaim won the Technology, Entertainment, Design (TED), her wish was to create one day where people across the world gathered at the same time to watch films produced by international filmmakers. Best known for her film Control Room(film), Noujaim believed the power of the films could help the audience see beyond our differences to the humanity that binds us together. Or, as the tag line declared, "4 hours. 24 films. A new way to see the world." Pangia Day, as it came to be called, took place on May 10th at 18:GMT, 11 am PDT, at... continued...

Topics: Best Practices, Diversity, Education, Government & Politics, Mobile, Participation, Technology
Tagged: Diversity, Elections, Pangia Day, Unity

Sean Bell Illustrates Lines that Divide Us

Dori J. Maynard
3:17 PM | bio | Comments: 0

Blaring red headlines on the Drudge Report announced to the world that the three New York City Police who shot Sean Bell 50 times, killing him, were found not guilty. Drudge, with his right wing reputation, it turns out was one of the only mainstream white blogs to prominently play the Bell verdict. In fairness, the Huffington Post did have a small headline about the verdict. Things were different in the black blogosphere. It wasn't just that the black interest sites carried the coverage, it was also that many included rich texture and context in which to look at the... continued...

Topics: Best Practices, Diversity, Government & Politics, Participation
Tagged: blogs, democracy, diversity, government, kerner commission, police brutality

Our Hidden Biases Reflected in Our Work

Dori J. Maynard
5:12 PM | bio | Comments: 0

In a recent post Lauren Williams editor of the black interest blog Stereohyped, wrote about the case of a black man accused of killing a white police officer in New Hampshire. In defense of the accused, Mahzarin Banaji, the creator of Implicit Association Test, a web-based test that measures an individual's inherent biases, testified that it would be virtually impossible for a black defendant to get a fair trail by an all white jury. The movie Race to Execution makes a similar argument, noting that once the jury composition tips in favor of white men, the chances it will deliver... continued...

Topics: Best Practices, Diversity, Participation
Tagged: ASNE, black bloggers, mccain, obama, racial bias, stereohyped

Early Adapters Don't Conform to Conventional Use

Dori J. Maynard
8:18 PM | bio | Comments: 1

At a recent meeting, a representative from Verizon and a former BET executive were discussing the seeming contradiction between the fact that African American males were early adapters of mobile technology, yet have a very low rate of posting videos on internet sites such as BET.Com and Youtube. BET tested the waters with two experiments. One involved fashion/entertainment and the other involved politics. Neither resulted in a flurry of posts, such as the ones MTV receives when it puts out a call for videos. What makes this interesting is that by all accounts African American males are not only early... continued...

Topics: Diversity, Mobile, Participation, Technology
Tagged: African American males, Digital divide, Diversity, Mobile, technology

Computation + Journalism Confab: Exciting, Disappointing and Confusing

Dori J. Maynard
10:44 PM | bio | Comments: 1

Last week's Symposium on Computation & Journalism left me excited, disappointed and confused. It was hard not to be excited listening to all the technologists talking about the latest advances that will allow us to get news to once isolated people in Africa and India using mobile phones and other technology. Once again, it was driven home that no longer is the price of a computer a barrier to digital participation. The ubiquitous cell phone, as common in my neighborhood as the bikes people use for transportation, is now allowing us to get news to people all over the world.... continued...

Topics: Philosophy, Technology
Tagged: Computation + Journalism, democracy, diversity, technology

Bursting the Social Bubble and Getting Outside Your Sphere

Dori J. Maynard
1:51 AM | bio | Comments: 0

Once again, the issue of social networks versus social bubbles has been on my mind since I attended the Online Newspaper Association. While I was there, several people either asked me directly or raised the issue of diversity in online social networks during panel discussions. I think what they were really talking about is how to burst their social bubble and actually create a social network. A network, particularly on the hyperlinked web, suggests to me a vast series of connections that naturally lead you away from your comfort zone and into the home of those you might never encounter... continued...

Topics: Best Practices, Diversity, Participation
Tagged: citizen journalism, community, diversity, media, social networks

Social Networks or Social Bubbles?

Dori J. Maynard
6:15 PM | bio | Comments: 1

First, the Jena 6 story lived on the Internet. Bloggers, many of them black, members of list serves such as the National Association of Black Journalists and members of social networks like Facebook, used the Internet to spread the story before it took off with mainstream news organizations like CNN, The Washington Post, and NPR. The fact that the "afro-sphere" has largely received credit for driving this story is important to keep in mind when we think about what is going on in cyberspace. At a time when "the digital divide" is still code for "people-of-color-don't-have-access-or-know- how-to-use-the-Internet," Jena 6 reminds... continued...

Topics: Government & Politics, Participation, Technology
Tagged: Citizen Journalism, Community, Diversity, Media, Social Networks