User:Paul Fitzpatrick

=MY PAGE=

Studies

I have recently finished my degree in journalism - end of 2004 - and I hope to finish my degree in media and
communication at the end of this semester. I am very much over university life now, I need MONEY!

Interests

I'm a big fan of alt country music such as Ryan Adams, Wilco, Uncle Tolebo, Son Volt
and the likes of Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen and Dylan. I couldn't get a ticket to this year's Splendour and almost cried
considering it was the only time Ryan Adams has ever been to Australia.
I also play soccer for a local club as well as gaelic football - I was born in Ireland and go back every couple of years.

--Paul Fitzpatrick 11:56, 2 Aug 2005 (EST)

==Annotated Bibliography==

Wellman, B, Boase, J and Chen, W (2002) “The Networked Nature of Community Online and Offline�? in IT & Society: A Web Journal Studying How Technology Affects Society, URL: http://www.stanford.edu/group/siqss/itandsociety/v01i01/v01i01a10.pdf, Access Date: 06/08/05.

This journal article was published online and serves as one of many valuable resources attributed to the same website. This particular article explores the impact of the Internet on community and argues that rather than weakening community the Internet contributes to existing face-to-face and telephone contact. In summary, this article proposes that rather than increasing or destroying the community, the Internet assists in transforming community to such an extent that it becomes integrated into the normal daily routine of society, with life online integrated with offline activities. Such a stance or argument is supported by relevant background research and commentary which suggest that communities started changing from groups to networks well before the advent of the Internet. Wellman, Boase and Chen agree with referenced scholars in claiming that communities continued with the arrival of the Internet; but more as diversified, spatially-dispersed social networks rather than as specific, village-like local groups.

Bell, P (2005) Everyday Technologies in Youth Culture, URL: http://faculty.washington.edu/pbell/courses/EDCI505-Winter2005-syllabus.pdf, Access Date: 07/08/05.

This website explores computer and associated new technologies and how they have continued to make significant contributions into the construction of society, and thus helped to define society for our generation. Bell specifically focuses on youth in an attempt to prove that computer technology has become increasingly a part of our everyday lives. Bell claims that while it is common for children to interact with dozens of digital devices throughout a typical day, and subsequently become familiar with using many computer devices such as laptop computers, handheld computers, game consoles, cell phones, pagers, and audio players - increasingly rich technology infrastructure is influencing the development of children in terms of how they interact with others, their understanding of society and subsequent meaning-making, how it shapes who they become and the communities they join, or how they complete everyday activities with the use of technology. Thus, in essence, Bell’s website provides a focus on understanding the technological fluencies that youth are developing with new technologies as well as how digital technologies, electronic devices and interactive media are influencing children's learning and development.

Rosen, C (2005) “Playgrounds of the Self�? in The New Atlantis: A Journal of Technology and Society, URL: http://www.thenewatlantis.com/archive/9/rosen.htm, Access Date: 06/08/05.

This journal article published online serves as a commentary and analysis of the arrival and rise of video games as a major cultural force, with countless dollars and time expended on them each year. Rosen comments that while video games may be criticised for their sexually explicit and violent content, others respond to their graphic sophistication and some even argue that video games are in fact good for society. Rosen examines how video games have enabled a new kind of identity theft, as society employs new technologies (video games) in an attempt to play out certain fantasies and frustrations the many video-game make-believe worlds produce. In essence, Rosen’s article explores the rise of technology and argues that with new technology (i.e. the Internet, video games) comes the ability of society to construct new identities for themselves. Rosen’s article also explores the thoughts and opinions of others and the article possesses numerous references in relation to new technology and video games’ role in society.

Alvermann, D.E. (2002) Adolescents and Literacies in a Digital World, New York: P. Lang, ISBN 0820455733.

This book explores the significance of digital technologies and media in youth's attempts or approaches to making meaning within a diverse range of self-defined literacy practices. Structured around a series of case studies, this book incorporates theories of an attention economy, generational differences, communication technologies, and neo-liberal enactive texts with actual accounts of adolescents' use of instant messaging, shape-shifting portfolios, critical inquiry, and media production. In essence, Alvermann employs the thoughts and opinions of educators in the US and Australia throughout this book in a bid to explore the significance of youth's engagement with digital technologies, taking into account how adolescents use information and communication technologies to make meaning of society.

Marshall, P.D. (2001) “Video and Computer Gaming�?, in Cunningham, S. and Turner, G. (eds) The Media and Communications in Australia, Crows Nest, NSW: Allen and Unwin, pp. 258-274, ISBN 1865086746.

Marshall’s chapter argues that, as reflected through amount of use, geographical impact, cost production and its standing in the marketplace, video and computer games have become a central component of both our cultural industries and our everyday lives. As a result of their ability to incorporate and utilise the technologies of both television and computers, Marshall employs the study of electronic games as a means of investigating the various impacts of new media and the technologies of convergence on society as a whole. This chapter maps and analyses the emergence and continuing rise of electronic games and its subsequent influence throughout society. Marshall argues that, with a majority of the population having grown up with video and computer games, any analysis of such technologies allows society to develop rich insights about:

• the meaning of interactivity,

• the concept of media convergence, and;

• the new intertextual relationships among the various entertainment industries.

Beavis, C (1998) Computer Games: Youth Culture, Resistant Readers and Consuming Passions, URL: http://www.aare.edu.au/98pap/bea98139.htm, Access Date: 08/08/05.

According to Beavis, computer games as new texts, digital texts, and texts of youth culture, inspire multiple readings in relation both to their own, reflexive, textual nature, and in relation to their implications for young users. Beavis suggests through this paper published on the Internet, that constructions of youth, of youth culture and of reading in relation to computer games vary considerably across a range of fields. This article proclaims that the understandings of the nature of reading, and of the role of digital texts in youth culture and in the construction of subjectivity, have real world implications in many spheres. Thus, Beavis argues computer games must be seen in the context of the “cultural/industrial, 'military-entertainment' complex which produces them, and the multinational socio-economic context within which they are marketed and sold�?. In essence, this article stresses that complex understandings of the links between representation and identity, between pleasure and aesthetics, between dominant discourses and hegemonic practices and a recognition of the appeal of a text’s appeal are all important factors in exploring the nature of young peoples' engagement and fascination with computer games, and in helping young people become informed and critical. Beavis also argues the exploration of the textual nature of games, of the changing nature of both literacy and narrative, and a recognition of the defining role of youth culture and popular culture in many young people's lives are also important factors in understanding youth culture and its engagement in and association with new technologies – specifically computer games.

GENERAL BACKGROUND RESEARCH:

Castells, M (2000) “Materials for an Exploratory Theory of the Network Society�?, in Hartley, J and Pearson, R.E. (eds) American Cultural Studies: A Reader, Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp 3-15, ISBN 0198742541.

Manuel Castells’ article provides a theoretical analysis of social structure, and in doing so, goes on to list the main transformations taking place in social structures around the world, in the Information Age. Castells concludes that we live in a ‘new economy’ characterised by three fundamental features.

Firstly, according to Castells, the ‘new economy’ is Informational, in which knowledge and information are the sources of productivity and competitiveness. Information technology has the ability to provide real-time knowledge and information feedback to the models of production and distribution, and subsequently, production and distribution are transformed in the process of using knowledge and information. Castells claims that now, after two decades, we are observing a substantial growth in productivity throughout the most advanced economies and sectors.

Second, Castells claims the ‘new economy’ is Global. The core activities of the ‘new economy’ have the capacity to work as a unit in real-time or chosen-time on a planetary scale. Castells realises that most jobs are not global, but believes that the movements of their globalised core influence all economies. In essence, Globalisation is highly selective. According to Castells’ paper, Globalisation proceeds by linking up all that, according to dominant interests, has value anywhere in the planet, and discarding anything which has no value or becomes devalued.

Thirdly, the ‘new economy’ is networked. There is a new form of economic organisation: the network enterprise. The networked enterprise is not simply a network of enterprises; it is an organisational form. It is by forming these networks with each other that corporations and businesses become competitive. Furthermore, these networks are based increasingly on sharing of information.

As a result of these three fundamental features of the ‘new economy’, Castells claims through this article that the central power-holding institution of human history, the state, is also undergoing a process of dramatic transformation. Its power is called into question by global flows of wealth, communication, and information, and its legitimacy is undermined by politics. Overall, Castells argues the new state is no-longer a nation-state. The state in the information age is a network state, a state made out of a complex web of power sharing, and negotiated decision making between international, multinational, national, regional, local, and non-governmental, political institutions.

Hartley, J (2002) Communication, Cultural and Media Studies: The Key Concepts, London: Routledge, ISBN 0415268893.

This book serves as a key topical and authoritative guide to a vast array of concepts associated with communication, cultural and media studies. Hartley defines and links together for the reader, in an easy and accessible manner, a diverse range of concepts which are integral to the topic of new media and technologies, and thus, this book serves as an invaluable asset for providing background information and definitions relating to concepts relevant to my chosen topic. Each key topic entry in the book contains numerous references to theorists and associated reading material and Hartley has also included an in-depth bibliography for further research.

Flew, T (2002) “Beyond Ad Hocery: Defining Creative Industries�?, paper presented to Cultural Sites, Cultural Theory, Cultural Policy, Second International Conference for Cultural Policy Research, Wellington, New Zealand, 22-26 January (edited).

In “Beyond Ad Hocery�?, Terry Flew describes three significant trends in modern capitalist societies, with a specific focus on the creative industries. The article both explores and gives definition to the rise of the creative industries. whereby Flew associates the development of creative industries to three significant trends in modern capitalist societies.

Firstly, Flew relates the rise of the creative industries to the development of cultural industries as an object of public policy, as well as a critical rethinking of the best methods by which cultural development can be supported through cultural policy. In essence, the emergence of creative industries directly relates to the rise of cultural industries. Cultural processes such as design and signification impact upon all aspects of everyday life, particularly those related to the consumption of commodities. Culture is thus recast from being a distinct sphere of social life, to something that pervades everything in our lives. The relationship of creative industries to cultural industries is central to understanding the dynamics of the ‘new economy’.

Secondly, Flew considers the rise of the knowledge-based economy (the relationship between information, knowledge and creativity) to be a definite stimulus for creative industries development. The emergence of a knowledge-based economy has been identified as a central trend in modern economies, in recognition of the increasingly important role of information, technology and learning in economic performance. Central to Flew’s analysis of the knowledge-based economy are theorists Brown and Duguid who argue that a knowledge economy is different, not only to an industrial economy but also to an information economy, in that they emphasise how ‘the importance of people as creators and carriers of knowledge is forcing organizations to realise that knowledge lies less in its databases than in its people.

Thirdly, Flew considers the rise of the services industries as a major trend in advanced capitalist economies and societies. Flew focuses on the shift from manufacturing to services as the dominant employment sector and how it has raised important issues concerning the nature of services sector employment and the services industry model. Integral to Flew’s comments are theorists Castells and Aoyama who found that, in terms of employment, advanced capitalist economies become service industry-based economies before they become information or knowledge economies, as services industries are typically more labour-intensive and less able to be automated than both manufacturing and information-based industries.

--Paul Fitzpatrick 17:26, 11 Aug 2005 (EST)