JMSC

I adopted an interesting role this past week. I surfed the HK Stories site with the dual-job of overseeing the organisation and editing the text of two classmates’ features. Having experienced the process as the edited, I was aware of the depth to which you can deconstruct and advise for a feature.

I was responsible for overseeing the sites on Racial Discrimination in Hong Kong, and The Charm of Hong Kong. The former was strong on dividing up a controversial issue in a manageable and easily comprehensible manner. I advised on the titling of different pages in order to make each piece more coherent. Editing of language was less problematic.

For the second feature, the writer had decided to adopt a photo-story approach, so on balance there was little text to critique. There were some issues with clarity of purpose, but the writer is continuing to enhance this. 

As mentioned in my previous posts, I have a number of photos of the Soho district under the gun, and interviewed some stakeholders or experts.

To clarify, the sites I want to focus on are the Police Married Quarters, Peel Street Market, Central Police Station and Victoria Prison. I may add a photo essay from the Sun Yat-sen Museum on Caine Road if time permits as I have interviewed a representative from the Robert Ho Foundation, the group behind its conception.

I’m still drafting my main story, which is an amalgam of the above that fuels discussion of government practices, Hong Kong’s architectural heritage and how it feeds into collective memory and cultural identity. Then I’ll record a voiced version for the mp3 option.

Following this, I’ll start uploading all the elements onto the class website, hopefully in keeping with my desired layout.

As my story falls under the Arts and Culture theme of our Hong Kong Stories webpage, I’d like to frame the topic of architectural and cultural heritage preservation with an introductory summary blurb. I imagine an appropriate headline will emerge as I finalise all elements. As described by Foust, I’m interested in layering my story by topic; thus I plan to break it into “chunks” which can be understood, irrelevant of the order in which each is read or viewed.

Such layering is heavily used in the BBC News website, and in particular to amplify the Special Report features. Of course, my effort will be a mere shadow, but it’s good to set our sights high.

In last week’s post, I began to cite the various elements I plan to include. At this stage, I plan to provide a rundown of government policies, departments and actions concerning urban renewal; this will probably be bullet-pointed for ease of understanding. In addition, I will provide a personal descriptive account of the Gough, Aberdeen, Peel Street market area, and Soho. I will provide hyperlinks to the government agencies, and deep links to relevant documents concerning redevelopment designs for example. I also hope to embed a video showing a group news package on the market in particular.

In addition to some relevant photos on the page, I’d like to include a clickable embedded slideshow of the Staunton Street police married quarters protest, and perhaps a photo essay pinpointing certain buildings and areas of concern. I have one or two taped interviews with experts in town-planning and conservation, but as these were recorded with poor sound quality I may offer them in the form of transcribed highlights, adding another chunk. Many online stories include some form of discussion forum, so ideally I’d like to offer this with the capacity to moderate comments.

Finally, I plan to write a short, conventional news story that perhaps follows directly on clicking the headline. To give readers an extra option, I may also voice the story and so offer it as an mp3 alternative.

There is certainly still a lot up in the air…

Due to the shifting nature of my subject, aiming to document and publicise urban renewal in the Soho area, it lends itself to a multimedia format that can be readily added to as new developments arise.

The topic of heritage preservation at odds with property development is by no means new to the Hong Kong audience, but I hope to shed light on specific happenings in Central and Sheung Wan which are not so well known. I envisage a collage of information on the webpage, with photos predominant as this can engage readers’ attention and allow them to visualise important scenes. Some of the photos could be presented in the form of a looped slideshow, but I’d want to preview the page in its entirety, and see how long all the elements take to load before committing.

Alongside this I plan to include short video excerpts, including interviews conducted with various stakeholders, and demonstrations which show the community rallying in protest against unfettered property development. The combination of moving image and audio can further augment the impact of the story upon the web audience.

Textual elements would, I imagine, serve primarily to give context. This may include brief summaries of the neighbourhood’s history, government proposals and existing heritage protection orders. I would also incorporate links to relevant websites for readers who wish to further their understanding of the topic.

As the page would comprise various information boxes or side bars, one idea is to create a feature personality where a willing member of the affected community has, for example, a vox pop giving his or her point of view. This would also work for anyone who is keen to offer a view, though I’d prioritise direct stakeholders, and people of influence such as policy makers. If unwilling to speak in front of the camera, this could be in the form of an audio podcast.

In terms of interactivity, it is possible that the organisers of the recent demonstration on Staunton Street will be willing to upload a version of their protester sign-up sheet in order to garner support via the web. I also think it’s becoming more of an expectation to include the writer’s email address, so I’d be happy to respond directly to reader enquiries. Incorporating some form of bulletin board or discussion thread would also allow interested readers a space to continue discussion independently of my input.

Thus, after reading Foust and McAdams’ writings and what we’ve learnt on this course so far, there is clearly a wealth of potential to create an eye-catching, informative new media story, complete with bells and whistles. Now, it’s just up to us to make it happen…

sky_podcast.mp3

This week I had the pleasure of interviewing Sky Canaves on the subject of her final project: the arts and culture scene in Hong Kong. As we move rapidly towards celebrations of a decade since the Handover, she wonders how far Hong Kong has progressed or changed in its support, at government and community level, for a vibrant local arts scene.

In addition, to what extent are connections being made between Hong Kong and Mainland artists, and can Hong Kong become a safe haven for Mainland artists to pursue their passions and ideas without possible interference from political bodies? An interview she recently conducted with a film-maker in Beijing offers insights to this area.   

There are certainly plans afoot for Hong Kong to become more of a cultural hub by the government. Take, for example, the development of the West Kowloon Arts and Culture District. But, Sky wonders, is this anything more than a land-developer’s excuse and thus empty of promise.

Hong Kong certainly does have a number of cultural events every year such as the Art Walk and the Man Literary Festival which are very popular amongst residents. However, considering its size and its claim to be a ‘World City’, does Hong Kong really have what it takes to compete with the artistic life of New York, London, or Paris? Perhaps funding for the arts should not continue to be whittled down in favour of other projects, and been seen in a new light as part and parcel of Hong Kong’s identity and what makes it world class.  

Click testing.mp3 

See a podcast about this. It’s a little rough around the edges due to time limitations.

Thanks to Sky and Ken!

Part of a series of photos of the outdoor market that spans Graham, Gage and Pottinger streets. Hong Kong could lose this if plans to re-zone the area to make way for higher-profit properties go through, thus forcing decades-old stall owners to move out.

Funny how rarely we look up in Hong Kong! Hollywood Road boasts the original Police Station which has fallen into disuse since 2002 when police headquarters was moved to Wan Chai. Note the grand Corinthian columns, symbolic of an era of colonial confidence and the Empire.

Victoria Prison was emptied in 2006. Plans afoot include converting it to an entertainment hub featuring more bars and nightclubs.

A trendy new Soho eatery aims to evoke the neighbourhood’s history.

Umbrellas have been repaired at this stall on Peel Street since 1947.

The four-storey police residential quarters is being demolished for its prime land. Opposite, Henderson Land’s luxury highrise Centrepoint is under construction.

This notice conveys the local community’s frustration with property development on Staunton Street. Some residents are unhappy with plans to further gentrify the neighbourhood.

Behind is an old photograph of Queen’s Road Central, part of the Sun Yat Sen Trail signage. Beyond the wall, the four-storey police residential quarters is being demolished for its prime land. Opposite, Henderson Land’s luxury highrise Centrepoint is under construction.

Just one typical view from Mid-levels down to the waterfront. Spot the gaps…

A signpost from along the Sun Yat-sen Walking Trail. Note the irony… “With magnificent buildings and greenery on two sides, many streets in 19th century Hong Kong were wide and spacious. With this picture in mind, Dr. Sun Yat-sen once remarked that the territory was orderly and tidy.”

Fundamental to Creative Commons are the concepts of authorship, collaboration, learning from one another.

This is something that anyone who publishes on the Web can ill afford to ignore. By providing a platform which articulates the boundaries of web postings’ use and the libellous pitfalls of overlooking copyright (Foust), Creative Commons gave me a lot to think about. Particularly as I begin to document and research my new media project, I am aware of the need to check the copyright status of any images and quotations I use, and fully attribute to the creator. In short, “make sure you have the rights”.

As I post my own photographs on Flickr, even if personal, I’ll exploit the tool that Creative Commons under the chairmanship of Joi Ito has philanthropically provided. After all, you can never be too sure that the cute pic of you and your friend out clubbing won’t turn up in some seedy site linked to some purpose far from that originally intended!

Andrew Heavens’ blogpost about his embracing of the creative commons idea is a revealing one indeed, about the sheer power of the World Wide Web when it is exploited as a tool to shed light on tragedies than might just make page 7 of your daily newspaper. By allowing use of his professional photographs through the Creative Commons vehicle, Heavens enabled an important event to get out of Ethiopia and into more of the world’s consciousness. And well we know the impact of a strong photograph.

“Time and distance have allowed me to reflect on the many benefits of learning to stop worrying and start loving the liberating effect of Creative Commons,” he writes in response to understandable financial concerns of sharing his photos license-free. It has also opened up global business opportunities that he hitherto was unaware of.

The possibilities for budding journalists on the Web could be immense, but it is too early to predict. I can see the legal ramifications of unbridled use of other’s work, and that law makers and regulators have a long way to go to control what can be described as a moving target, the ever expanding and versatile Web. This approach to copyright works well for an established photojournalist like Heaven’s, but for a beginner, perhaps blogging and tagging are more likely to attract the public to your work, and the licensing agreement is secondary. I believe it does offer a measure of the authenticity and professionalism of your work though. As people begin to cite your work, then perhaps what happened to Heavens is possible, though I believe you still need to have a niche, something original you have to say or depict.

Additionallly, it provides opportunities for open collaboration on projects, beyond those wiki or blog-based, where individual’s websites can freely import and export relevant information in keeping with the terms of that site’s CC license As Creative Commons grows, I imagine it will become a trademark of intellectual property standards on the Web, so it’s more than worth your while to be part of such a growing movement.

As Lawrence Lessig reveals, there is a history of innovation being built on the back of some sort of piracy, exploitation of someone else’s creativity and ideas. This is true of developments in music, science, the auto-industry; the list goes on. P2P platforms that enable peer-to-peer file sharing have revolutionized the nature of information.

For now, in Hong Kong what we have are established rules of copyright regarding the use of material under common law. Without a doubt, Creative Commons is a necessary agent, which may help to temper piracy and ensure that credit goes to creators, thus “benefit[ting] authors and society”.

As Lessig writes, “The question is one of balance, weighing the protection of the law against the strong public interest in continued innovation. The law should seek that balance, and that balance will be found only with time”.

N.B. The SCMP published an editorial earlier this week on the nature of WWW information and sharing as a driver for social development, based upon MIT’s decision to freely publish its course materials for the benefit of the global society.

“History has shown that the spread of knowledge depends on it being widely shared. The forces of progress unleashed by a few wise men can never hope to match the impact of an educated population with access to all kinds of publications. What the internet has done in facilitating the circulation of knowledge in this age of information is akin to what the invention of printing and the setting up of libraries achieved in previous eras.

“Since MIT’s pioneering move, internet search engine Google has embarked on an even more impressive project to scan every literary work into digital format and put them online. Yahoo, its arch-rival, has teamed up with Microsoft to create a “common pot” of digitised books from among university collections.

“Knowledge has indeed become only a mouse click away. That has not obviated the need for good teachers. If nothing else, their service in guiding novice learners to distinguish between garbage and gems from the wide array of information available on the Web has become even more valuable. MIT has given away its course materials, but its standing as an institution of higher learning has grown, not shrunk. It has shown that altruism in sharing knowledge pays.”