Vanoc Under the “Media” Microscope

Over the past two weeks, the world’s attention has been focused on 2010 Winter Olympics and its host city, Vancouver, Canada. The Canadian and international media coverage of these Olympics has been very intriguing from a critical and analytical point of view especially since the majority of the media overage, during the first week, has been quite negative. This is not surprising, given that the Games began on a tragic note with the death of Georgian luger, Nodar Kumaritashvili. Even so, coverage of the first week has been dominated by negative headlines in the Canadian media such as “Games go from teething problems to tantrums” (The Canadian Press, February 16th, 2010); “Anger as Olympic flame fenced off” (Toronto Star, February 17th, 2010); “Olympic intruder gets close to Biden” (Toronto Star, February 18th, 2010).

Even International headlines have not been kind to Vanoc. For instance, British journalist Lawrence Donegan wrote “Games could become worst in Olympic history” (British Guardian, February 16th, 2010). Timothy Bancroft-Hinchey, an editorial writer for Pravda Online (Russian Internet news agency) wrote “Canada has an utter incapacity … to host a major international event, due to its inferiority complex, born of a trauma being the skinny and weakling bro to a beefy United States and a colonial outpost to the United Kingdom….” (February 19th, 2010).

Each of these articles, and many more, cite many problems surrounding these Olympics such as technological problems, security and transportation issues, cancellation of tickets, long line ups, prices of alcohol and of course, political and weather related issues.

Reading these headlines alone, one may get the impression that the first week of these games could possibly be the ‘Worst’ in Olympic history. But before we make any judgments based on these headlines, there are a number of issues that should be highlighted that not only may impact the way we perceive these Games, but how we judge its success.

An Introduction

The media is becoming a very overwhelming place to navigate. Not only does the advancement of media tools such as social media networks and digital technology provide access to endless amounts of information, but it also allows us to increasingly participate in the creation of our own content. From tweets to blogs to YouTube; from Flicker to Facebook to the new Google Buzz; we are now able to create and share content with ease. From stating our opinion, to sharing our first hand experience, to actively getting involved, new media has created a space for civic engagement and expression. New media has also created a space to consume and experience where sharing, telling, informing and selling are the dominant behaviours that connect everyone attuned. But as these technologies evolve and become more accessible, the media landscape is becoming a very overwhelming space. Information overload, media addiction, information accuracy, cyber bullying; the media can be an intimidating space to find oneself in.

However, often overshadowed by this intimidation are the benefits the media can provide. The purpose of this blog is to critically discuss issues surrounding the media to stimulate critical dialogue with fellow bloggers and readers in order to share opinions, create new ideas and learn how we can take advantage of the benefits of the media.

So with no further a do, I bring you Know Your Media. Participation and criticism are more than welcome!