What are your definitions of “feminism” and “feminist media studies”?

“Feminism” is the movement which advocates women’s rights to break gender inequality , whether socially , economically , legally and politically.

Nowadays the system our world functions in is masculine and patriarchal mostly . Therefore , feminism is fighting against the system which oppresses certain group of people , and achieve equality for all.

I believe that through studying the gender role of women in Ancient Egypt and their admiration in ancient societies could impact women’s gender role in Egypt and middle east in specific , as women in the middle east region are more disadvantaged.

“Feminist media studies” it is the study of media from feminist principles , theories and ideologies, study the media content , distribution and company. How the representation of women in media define women.

Media literacy is to analyze the information presented on media and be aware of its source and purpose. As media plays a huge role in connecting people from different regions and have an outlook of what is happening. WHAT is presented in the media plays a huge roll in affecting peoples point of view, as we use it the most nowadays to get news and become acknowledged of whats happening. For example, what is happening in Lebanon , the Revolution that is driven by people trying to speak up their rights, are not given the voice on big Media coverage, an interview with the Foreign Minister of Lebanon happened where he spoke hes opinion but the coverage of the revolution becomes normalized violence on screen. As noted by Melki.J (2017) that Media can become part of capitalism ,in choosing what to portray on Media. Media can be oppressive due to the capitalist system that controls it. Therefore Media Literacy is important , it is the awareness of misinformation and identifying reliable sources from fake news . The knowledge of the history of the media , how it decides what to show and its structure and culture is important to know by the people as they will use it more beneficially for their own needs .It is a two way communication , media is for everyone not for a specific class or one side of a topic. Moreover, Hoechsmann,Mand Poyntz, S.R. (2012) explained that media literacy expands critical thinking of the subjects. In conclusion, Media literacy is an essential concept as it gives the ability for people to participate in the media wisely.

When i register for this class , i honestly had nothing in mind but all the good stuff i heard about this class and how interesting it is. Personally, so far in my major , this is the most course i have benefited and learned from. It excited me for my major and got a vision of what i could do in the future.

The skills i have learned in this course , helped me to know how to identify fake news, which i used to fall for. Moreover, i got exposed to different methods to use media to speak up for injustice. i really enjoyed this class and got to know a lot of organizations and movements from all over the world.

will miss u

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The film killing Gaze is an example of bearing witness. As explained by Ristovska (2016) using testimony to bearing witness , which implies the responsibility to take action through viewing the experience and the words of the testimony , instead of just viewing the inhuman actions portrayed by Israel for example in this fm. As the film showed the testimony of “Izzaldin Khader Mohemed Shwedeh” and another testimony from affected Gaza strip citizens . The film bears witness to these testimonies as they share their traumatic experience of airstrikes done by the Israel. As their words explain to the audience they are normal citizens ( from kids , to mothers , to sons) and not resistant fighters , portrays the inhuman acts done by Israel towards Palestinians in Gaza. The film has examples of Proactive witnessing , such as the two journalists that traveled to Gaza in 2014 to document the injustice acts, they were able to hold live footage of people fleeing the airstikes and becoming refugees, it is proactive as they have done their investigation and planning to provide the audience with the right information and image of the The Palestinians living in Gaza struggles . On the other hand, an example of accidental witnessing that was used in the film , is the Israeli citizens celebrating and dancing in the streets while shouting death for the Palestinians and the bombings of buildings that were captured by Gaza’s Citizens. These are recordings that were collected from a person welling to document an event happening with their phones.

Finally , this movie uses Testimony for moral engagement , as it is the process of deciding the targeted audience and working backwards , to collect the right videos and testimony to evoke the moral response needed in the audience to take action towards the issue. This film showed the story of the kid that was accompanied with volunteers to rescue his family , being shot with cold blood. as well as following the testimony of the mother that had to escape with her children as their house was being bombed. The affect on the Audience , is a better understanding and revealing truth and acts of the israeli occupation, as noted in the film : israel portrays itself as the most moral and human country. Therefore these scenes will evoke a need for the audience to speak out about the truth and volunteer to help out Gaza through the injustice acts they face by Israel.

I did the exercise , quiet differently. I recorded 10 minutes recording from the rooftop, and at the beginning 5 interrupted records of 2 minutes , from my balcony and my window , thought to capture my environment fully. I enjoyed this ass I noticed how much our listening sense is important and how by sound you can identify the environment and picture it , finally how much we are exposed to different noises daily, bellow is my observations;

N(Nature), H(Humans), T(technological), C(Continuous), R(Repetitive), U (Unique), M:(Moving), C(Close)

N:C:M sound of the birds , its continuous as nature is continuous , I have a small field infront of my house were theres a lot of birds , sheep and horse.

R:T:M cars passing by the street

U:H:M the sound of the guy selling vegetables from his car , using a megaphone to announce what he got, as he passes slowly around the whole neighborhood.

C:H:C neighbors kids playing in the parking lot, its repetitive as I live in a building and closed area, the houses are closer to each other.

U:T: Honk from the street

U:H:F the Quran prayer playing

U:H:F the bells of the church ringing

R:T:C the motor on the rooftop working for pressure of the water.

R:T:C constructions of metal .

C:N:C Rooster BAwk-KAWK, Horse passing by with his owner , the voice of an owl

C:H:C people talking, screaming , playing, moving from the street and surrounding houses

R:N:M heavy wind, repetitive as you cant always hear it.

1. Are there any sounds listed in your “Sound Map” that you cannot hear on the “Ambient Sound” recording? Which ones? Most of the things I heard on both , I would say the footsteps of people passing by the street and hearing more clearly what the people are saying like “ta3al” which is come.

2.Are there new sounds in your “Ambient Sound” recording or “Sound Map”, i.e. sounds that would not have existed in your or your parent’s childhood? as the area was more nature than houses before , I would say they heard more nature and less human activity.

3.What old sounds from your or your parents childhood have disappeared from your sonic landscape today? the guys that sells “kaak” used to pass by every morning and the ice-cream , I asked my parents and they said they used to hear frogs, and the passing by of the military trucks in the intifada.

Identify 2 minutes of your “Ambient Sound” recording that has the most sound, note the time of this part of the recording (write the start and end times in minutes and seconds: mm:ss – mm:ss). My recording from the balcony in the morning , has the most sound 0:20- 02:38, from my 10 minutes one 0:40 – 4:15

I chose this Article , as i personally came across messages on whats app and Instagram that suggested to do this , and as we live in a state of fear , it is easier for people to believe such a statement.

First , The following Article is obviously a False/Fake News, i will be analyzing it through the GLAD concept , suggested to by the YouTube video “Top 4 Tips To Spot Bad Science Reporting “. As well as ,identifying types of misleading news, from Beyond fake news: Ten types of misleading information. issued by Media Literacy for Citizenship by EAVI (2017).

I have identified 5 types of misleading information in this article:

1. Click-bait : as the title of the Article has the word “Expert” and “Simple” , it distracts the viewer by grabbing the attention of the viewer. adding can do it every morning, is misleading information , unrelated to what is being discussed in the article. As the First step is to get past the ClickBait , someone can think through that the CoronaVirus has been known for being hard to identify by scientists , so this simple proposition to the problem , reveals the misinformation and misleading content.
2. Pseudo Science : As the information shared contradicts actual experts such as CDC or WHO’s latest guidance , which provide advice over the CoronaVirus situation. Holding your breath is not a way to self check for coronavirus and referring to this information being released by “Taiwan Experts”, or “Stanford Hospital Board”, is misleading and not accurate as the website Snopes ( Kasprak , 2020) shared” Stanford Health Care, for their part, explicitly stated they had nothing to do with the email.”
3. Partisan : As the claim of the article is:” If you can hold your breath without coughing, discomfort, stiffness, or tightness, your lungs do not suffer from fibrosis and therefore you have no COVID-19 infection.” (Kasprak,2020) as it uses facts about corona symptoms to conform the narrative whilst forging the viewers. The usage of Emotional and Passionate Language, such as “it’s too late!” , “In critical times ,please self-check every morning in an environment with clean air!” , “SERIOUS EXCELLENT ADVICE”.
4. Misinformation : the whole article includes a mix of factual , false and partly false content . As the article bases its “self-check” is an indicator of Fibrosis which is connected COVID-19 infections. These two are unsupported dissertations. As Pulmonary Fibrosis Is Not a Symptom of COVID-19, It is not listed as a symptom in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) “Clinical Guidance for Management of Patients with Confirmed Coronavirus Disease,” ( Kasprak ,2020)
5. Bogus: the whole article is fabricated , has content intentionally to dis inform people in such a pandemic time.

As there is a lot of Fake News spreading in this technological and Capitalist age , What is needed to move beyond the misinformation environment in 2020 by Chenjerai Kumanyika (2018). First , realizing that media nowadays is being controlled by “elities” and their main concern is power and wealth, makes media unreliable and calls on more independent journalists and media sources to establish themselves. Second, these powers take advantage of the ignorance of citizens about media , therefore according to Kumanyika(2018 ) establishing critical media and digital media literacy is important , by including in educational systems or by activists sharing content and campaigns with the public. Third, changing policies and laws to sustain a strong media Environment , as capitalism has taken advantage of the inundated terms of journalism and media , it has been an open playground , instead of a defined one.

I believe through time and spreading awareness , misinformation and capitalism will be exposed and as society changes , media will change to the better.

Team Bollyy ( Mar,4 2020) Taiwan Experts Provide A Simple Self-Check That We Can Do Every Morning . Retrieved From: https://bollyy.com/taiwan-experts-provide-a-simple-self-check-that-we-can-do-every-morning/

Alex Kasprak ( 11 MARCH 2020) No, Holding Your Breath is Not a ‘Simple Self-Check’ for Coronavirus. Retrieved From : https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/taiwan-experts-self-check/?collection-id=241238

According to Padgett(2017),Zaptistas fought their opression by using “e-guerilla Tactics” as they used emails,videos,listerus for machines, flyers all to combat the mainstream news avenues selling. As they started debating, they funded and organized a video workshop for the Zaptistas , this developed into the Chiapas media project. An independent media were they communicated their needs, fears , hopes and passion to their land directly to supporters with the internet technology. They gained recognition by other Mexicans who fought for their rights. Moreover, they made videos for internal use and communication in different languages and for external audiences. As they kept it anonymous by the usage of symbols. they used black balaclava masks which is the most identifiable symbols of the ELZN. To hide their identity and made it a powerful symbol. Mp set up media centers for production and post production to enhance their activism through the internet usage.

According to Tawil-Souri & Aouragh (2014) , as Palestine gained recognition lately by google , all the activists online face limitation. Palestinian internet resistance not only has to battle oppression at the hands of PA and Hamas, overcome that Fatah-Hamas division, and confront Israeli settler colonialism. It must also contend with cyber-colonialism, whose roots are deeply embedded in local and international interests. As Palestine is a complicated area with three powers having control over the area, the powers that exist in real life , still exist virtually and possess limitations on activism. For example , The march 15 campaign brought attention in the media and gave inspiration for initiatives such as an intifada through Facebook groups , but after Zionists gathered enough signatories that deemed the page inappropriate , Facebook closed it , as Facebook has a Zionist bias. Moreover , activists face the fear of being exposed to surveillance and a possible arrest. The internal PA oppression, political divisions and concerns about the positioning of Palestine on the global media , going against any opposition to the Israeli occupation. it is important to point out that the internet and media in Palestine is restrained by the Israeli occupation , as the Palestinian people do not have access to equipment’s to improver their internet usage.

The following page covers daily news in the occupied lands , daily attacks by israeli forces , all filmed by the community and the owners of the page. The following page called eye on Palestine, is an independent and alternative media as it is non-commercial and independently owned by an unknown person , to protect himself/herself from being detained by the occupation, as this is a common act by the IDF. According to Forde’s concepts of alternative media , the page is alternative news , as they share videos from a local ametur journalism that are rarely shown on news channels and cover different regions in the west bank , Gaza and the occupied land. The page has mass audience and participation , as they have 462k followers and share translations in English, Arabic , Turkish and Russian. I would not consider this page as free media due to previous actions taken by Instagram, they have taken some posts down. once i contacted the page because I noticed they were public ( people are able to share their posts on their stories) and they had to make the page private for a while , due to threats from Instagram. According to Dunnifer (2010) definition of free media , It can be counted as the community is a big participatory in the page content and its goal is to liberate and share the truth of what’s happening in Palestine, as they challenge the media constrictions Palestinians face due to the Israeli’s occupation.