"Don't let the actions of the few dictate the perception of the many." - Chapter 27: We Outnumber Them

Today, another tragedy.

During the Boston Marathon, three were killed and dozens more injured.

Last time, guns. This time, bombs.

What I want to talk about, though, isn't the downward spiral of humanity, the disgusting state of our society, or how we need to clean up our attitudes and figure out why the fuck these things keep happening.

That's not what I'm walking away with today.

I'm not going to remember the perpetrator(s) of this horrific attempt at terror.

I'm not going to cynically live my life thinking the world is a horrible place full of demons. Full of killers - full of monsters.

I'm not going to allow myself to live with any semblance of fear or anger toward The Unknowns.

I'm going to remember that, despite the fact that there are twisted viruses masquerading as people in our world, they're simply blips on our evolutionary blueprint. Glitches. Accidents. They won't endure.

There could have been more bombs, but these heroes ran towards the destruction, not away.

Heroism dominates psychotic terror and we have to make sure that's how it stays.

For every attacker that seeks to terrorize, there are a dozen heroes willing to run toward the insanity, toward the terror, to help those that need it. That's why the monsters will always try, but never win.

This picture was also went viral today, and it's incredibly poignant:

Brilliant advice, and so true.

I spent 27 years being angered and frustrated and confused by these seemingly random acts of violence. These complete voids of human empathy. I tried to explain it, and when I couldn't, I became consumed with jaded cynicism. This cynicism creeps and festers, along with fear, when we can't explain tragedy with logic or reason.

But it's important to not let the actions of the few dictate the perception of the many.

We outnumber them. Don't let their futile attempts convince you otherwise. 

                                                                                      -NxB

"Plagiarism's Steady Incline" - Chapter 26: Consuming Mediocre Art

These days, it's tough to be original. They say everything's been done and done to death; I'm inclined to believe Them.

That's why we, as consumers of media, are flooded with remakes, re-dos, reboots, rehashes, remixes, reruns, re-imaginings, and retweets. 

Once in awhile, something original and incredible comes along and blows us away, sure... but this saturation of repetition, masked, and then packaged, and then marketed as BRAND NEW seems to be slowly suffocating me.

I think this is all motivated by the same gripe I have with a lack of artistic integrity these days.

There's too much money to be made by making five Transformers sequels and seven Fast & Furious movies and not enough money being made creating original, thought-provoking art.

No, that would take time, effort, talent, funding, and artistic integrity.

It's difficult, though. I know that first-hand. Creating anything from scratch is a difficult process, and of course there are going to be previous motivations and inspirations that Creators draw from.

I guess my only plea is that as consumers, we attempt to recognize when we are being manipulated into consuming mediocre art. That's a greater travesty than creating the art itself.

I'll leave you with a brilliant short film (7 mins) that had a completely original twist on the classic Zombie Apocalypse genre. Pure genius. Enjoy.

                                                                                      -NxB

Playing: World of Goo by 2D Boy

Watching: The Winnipeg Jets trying to make the playoffs.

"We will shape the perception of our industries." Chapter 25: Difficult Decisions

I'm going into Media Production because I love filming, editing, and telling stories through a visual medium.

This potentially means I may be working in the field of journalism in the future, and that might not be as bad as I had previously thought.

We've been having some amazing discussions in Joanne Kelly's (@JoanneMKelly) journalism class the past couple of weeks.

About ethics, about grey areas, and a number of 'what would you do?' hypothetical questions that, really, have no right or wrong answers.

Those are the best kind of questions.

It's incredibly inspiring and thought-provoking listening to some of my colleagues and how they approach situations differently.

If a family approaches you with a sob-story fundraiser for their sick child, do you cover it as a journalist? What about the fifteen other sick kids who are having fifteen other fundraisers? Should you print (or post, or report) the names of convicted sex offenders in your community? What about convicted prostitution solicitors? What about drunk drivers? Armed robberies? What if the person is 'famous'? Where do you draw the line?

As far as the 'sick kids' hypothetical goes... Some argued that none of them deserve coverage, because there are thousands of sick kids everywhere, every day.

The counter-point to that was also raised. Just because we can't help everyone doesn't mean that we shouldn't help anyone.

I would like to write that again.

Just because we can't help everyone... doesn't mean that we shouldn't help anyone.

I think there's a difference between what we're required to contribute as a journalist and what we ought to contribute as a citizen of our community, and of our Country, and of our planet.

We're being groomed with the ability to communicate effectively and/or creatively, and with that ability comes a surprising amount of power.

Depending on the particular soap-box we may decide to shout our messages from, we will (potentially) have the ability to influence and sway public discourse, and we can't take that responsibility lightly.

It's important to start thinking about the consequences of our actions.

As journalists, what we choose to cover, how we choose to cover it (and why).

As public relations practitioners, the messages we want to convey, what our motivations are, and how the public is going to respond.

As advertisers and media producers, how will we tell a story or sell a product? Is a hyper-sexualized image the right message to be sending? Do we want to contribute towards current trends or rage against them?

Questions like these need to be asked – of ourselves, and of our peers.

We're the next generation, and we will shape the perception of our industries for years to come.

Remember that.

                                                                                                              -NxB

Watching: The Walking Dead Season Finale

Playing: Bioshock Infinite by Irrational Games