Category Archives: visual persuasion

The last temptation of Al Jazeera

Posted on February 6, 2013 by

Al Jazeera’s popularity stemmed from the perception, shared by a large Arabic-speaking audience, that the satellite newscaster’s editorial decisions were not dictated by any government or party.  Under the banner of “the opinion and the other opinion,” Al Jazeera demonstrated … Continue reading →

Posted in death of news, influence, the public, tv, visual persuasion | Leave a comment

Kony 2012 and the art of going viral

Posted on March 26, 2012 by

The online advocacy video Kony 2012 can only be described as a digital enormity, breaking all records and rules.  By one measure, it reached 100 million views in six days, fastest in the history of the web.  But that’s only … Continue reading →

Posted in influence, visual persuasion | 10 Comments

The unsettling “simplifications” of Kony 2012

Posted on March 21, 2012 by

The popularity of digital platforms, particularly social media, has swept away in a whirl the traditional gate-keepers of information – journalists, scholars, politicians.  By now this is an old story, often told.  Information, once scarce, has become overabundant, and those … Continue reading →

Posted in influence, visual persuasion | 1 Comment

Death and influence in Syria

Posted on December 1, 2011 by

A grim axiom of old-time journalism maintains that “if it bleeds, it leads.”  The mass audience pays attention to violence – so goes the assumption.  Since the news media desperately seeks an audience, it gravitates toward violence, at times ceding … Continue reading →

Posted in visual persuasion | 3 Comments

The very visual end of Muammar Qaddafi

Posted on October 21, 2011 by

Muammar Qaddafi’s death yesterday in some ways resembles that of Mussolini in 1945.  Like Mussolini, Qaddafi was captured alive then executed by militias fighting his regime.  Like Mussolini, too, his body was exhibited with much rejoicing by the victors.  Let … Continue reading →

Posted in visual persuasion | 3 Comments

A man on fire: pictures from the revolution

Posted on March 1, 2011 by

Abdesslem Trimech, a Tunisian street vendor, set himself on fire in the provincial town of Monastir to protest the government.  That was March 3, 2010.  Trimech died, mourned no doubt by his family, but otherwise obscure and inconsequential. On December … Continue reading →

Posted in visual persuasion | 2 Comments

Al Jazeera and the Arab uprising

Posted on February 24, 2011 by

Each bit of information implies an ideology and is a form of advocacy.  This is true even of science.  The physics of Newton described a moral and political order, as well as a universe of mass and force. With the … Continue reading →

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