Another sparsely attended FIU event...

It was a Thursday night, balmy, not unlike most other South Florida evenings, no hurricane, no rain, not even a cloud. So I can't understand why hardly anyone showed up to the Hearst lecture on Tom Dowd at Florida International University. I admit, I didn't know who the guy was either -but if the school is spending money to make it happen, it ought to be worth my time to check it out. As a side note, I'd like to point out that as students we often complain that the school doesn't do anything for us - but the events I've attended on campus have ALL been nearly empty (except for the students that were required because of a class to attend).

So for those of you that missed out, below is a link, if you'd like to read about Tom Dowd and purchase the documentary.

Tom Dowd and the Language of Music - Home

What you missed was an in-depth look at the life of Tom Dowd, who produced music for a whole slew of famous people, including Eric Clapton, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Coletrain, the Drifters, Allman Brothers, etc. (check out the website above if you want a longer list!) Dowd was with Atlantic Records, in NYC, during the 1950's. For those of you who have not taken New York in the 50's with Professor Dan Wakefield, ( dan wakefield.com: Welcome to Wakespace ) the 50's was a time when music, namely jazz, carried people across racial boundaries and towards the civil rights movement. Music played a large factor in helping to integrate the nation, and Dowd was there, behind the scenes producing this music.

As Professor Allan Richards put it, "This is not just about music; it's about changing the fabric of society."

In itself it's quite an achievement to have worked with so many well known artists, especially over such a long span of time and through the digitalization of music. Yet, there is more to the story than just working with famous people, Dowd was a scientist, who participated (unbeknownst to him at the time) on the Manhattan project ( National Atomic Museum The Manhattan Project ). Here is the element of intrigue, a man who helped to bring America together also helped to arm it.

As a journalist in training, it's easy to see what makes Dowd a great candidate for a feature (or a documentary - which is like a feature, but on film). However, no one else seemed to think so, and Moormann couldn't get any financial backing to make the film.

According to Professor Allan Richards, this was a "lesson in not taking no as the final word."

Mark Moormann, the Director of "Tom Dowd and the Language of Music," spent seven years creating the film. True perseverance. Moormann knew there was a story to tell and he was determined to be true to his vision, even if that meant another few years of shooting.

"The bottom line," Moormann said, "you have got to stick to your guns."

Not only did Moormann invest a great deal of time on the project, but he and the crew spent their own money on equipment and were not compensated financially for the finished product.

In the end, their reward, perhaps the biggest one, came from Tom Dowd himself. On his deathbed Dowd watched the documentary and called Moormann to thank him for creating this lasting legacy. Two days later he died.


To sum up:

• "Try to observe reality and catch people as they are." -Moormann
• In an interview, "be prepared, you may only get 10 minutes." -Moormann
• "When you interview famous people, don't be a fan. Show your respect, but it doesn't make them feel at ease when you go on and on about how great they are." -Moormann
• "Blend into your surroundings, let the action happen and document it." -Moormann(Afterwards Moormann did say he jumped inside a voodoo circle once and it ended up being a good thing that he got into the action, so take this tip or leave it.)
• "Someone has to really trust you, unless you just want to get standard stuff out of them." -Allan Richards
• "It's all about how you tell your story that makes it interesting, keep structure in mind." -Moormann

Blogging for bucks?

I just recently signed up for Poynter email newsletters, anyhow this tidbit came right into my in-box and I wanted to share it. In class last Thursday we briefly touched upon the idea of bloggers requesting or expecting compensation for their reporting. Here are some bloggers responses to the idea and to blogging ethics in general.

Posted by Steve Outing 12:51:39 PM <---This is the guy from Poynter who wrote the blog.

Will Citizen Journalists Want to Be Paid?

Poynter Online - E-Media Tidbits

Other blogs of interest, same topic.

Poynter Online - Weekend in the Blogosphere

ARIANNA ONLINE - April 07, 2004 - A Mash Note to the Blogosphere

Knowledge Is Power: SondraK.com

iowahawk: Ethics 'R' Us

Blog Surfing

I see that already some of my classmates have posted their blogs for class, so I decided to try and get a handle on what I wanted to do with mine. While I did read the articles from class, I don't feel like writing about them (at least not as if this was a book report). This is supposed to be commentary, so I'm commenting.

What I want to write about, what really sort of shocked me was what I found while procrastinating. You see, late Sunday night, early Monday morning is when I end up doing everything I've put off. So instead of jumping right in and writing off a quick blog, I decided to check out the profile page and all that other fun stuff. After playing around, I found that when you view your profile you can click on your interests (be it movie, book, etc.) and that will bring up TONS of profiles that mention the same obscure phrase, movie, or book - the one you thought ONLY you knew about.

Ok, maybe you're asking, so what?

Try it. Then think about it.

You can read about how there are millions of people out there in cyberspace, psychos, hackers, perverts, bored housewives, gossips, conspiracy theorists and the likes, but it's amazing to see it. And even more amazing to realize that you share some of the same interests, if not views, as any of them.

Now, how does this relate to blogs as a medium for communication - The answer is right here.

A blog, unlike most other news outlets, has no target audience. Your reader might be that kid in Hong Kong who likes Godzilla re-runs or that retired piano teacher in Idaho who adores The Great Gatsby. How someone stumbles onto your blog is wonderfully random. It means that you have the power, not just by content alone, to share your views (both big and small) with virtually anyone in the world.

As always, with power comes responsibility. Its one thing to bad mouth an ex-boyfriend to your gal pals -it's another thing to broadcast it to the world, pictures included. Earlier tonight (while procrastinating) I spoke to a web designer pal of mine; we ended up arguing about what constitutes art and who decides. Basically what it came down to was while some people might see a pile of dog poop with a twig in it and call it "art," other people would call it, well you know. Which sort of brings us back to blogs, while some people might call it journalism, other people might call it (see above). Who decides where to draw the line between art and poop and "real" journalism and gossip? When a line begins to blur, which side do you stand on? I guess it comes down to this; I wouldn't discredit Dali because Jackson Pollack threw paint on a canvas. I wouldn't just write off art as a medium because someone takes it in a direction that I don't care for. The same thing goes for blogs. They aren't created equally - but a discerning critic should be able to tell the difference between art and poo.