In this week's readings, there is
the idea that media is integrated directly into the city, or urban
functionality. In my mind, I always separate media as a different
category/sphere--not integrated into the city necessarily, but laid on top of it.
For Kittler, the urban is made up of points of location, and conduits linking
those locations: networks, graphs, intersections, capitals. Media is defined by traversing and linking
these geographic locations: "Media exist to process, record, and transmit
numbers" (720). So, for Kittler, the media is a life source of a city, but
they city is also a medium—something that processes, records, and transmits
numbers. In Larkin’s book, you can also see this connection between media and
other types of urban infrastructure. The most obvious examples are those involving
the colonial government, and the use of technology to reinforce awe and support
for the existing authority and their infrastructural projects.
I was interested in comparing this
week’s readings to an example from my own dissertation project in-progress. I chose
Radyo Bakdaw, a humanitarian radio station that was set up during relief
efforts after super-Typhoon Haiyan destroyed several areas in the central
Philippines. The station was initiated by a humanitarian organization based in
the U.K. and U.S., Internews, and it became a beloved resource in the town of
Guiuan for the 4 months they were on air.
These are two online articles on
Radyo Bakdaw that I reviewed:
Two comparisons to this week's
readings come to mind. First, Radyo Bakdaw had specific functions to perform:
to unite disaster-affected people with humanitarian organizations and their
relief goods, to reunite people with loved ones, and to connect people to a
larger (centralized) community. This reminds me of Kittler's article, in which
urban areas are based on connecting points of location, and also that this is a
function of media as well. You can see this theme in news articles about Radyo
Bakdaw. Radyo Bakdaw’s organization description included “helping to bridge the gap between affected communities and aid providers”
(ComDev Asia). There was also a recognized usefulness in Radyo Bakdaw’s ability
to “connect” loved ones: “The storm also prevented people from connecting with
their loved ones who were in Guiuan during the typhoon” (Eclipse 2014)
Second, Radyo Bakdaw became a media event, and this
reminded me of both the traveling cinema in colonial Nigeria and also the more
permanent movie theaters in chapter five. Radyo Bakdaw contained a mix of
function and entertainment. The programming included informational segments
like weather updates, reports from NGOs on available services, advice “call-in”
sessions. The station also hosted concerts and karaoke competitions. These were
broadcast on a stage in the town’s central square area. The radio station took
on a very community-center role that gathered people together physically and
emotionally. During colonial cinema and cinema afterwards in Nigeria,
movie-going had personal and social gratifications. People went to the movies
to see friends, or find new friends, and also to be seen. The experience of
cinema was not contained to the theater. There was the experience of rushing
out after the film ended to evade parking payment, or race with other
motorbikes down the street, or avoid police roadblocks. There was also the
experience of dealing with moral questions involved with attending the
cinema. Analyzing Radyo Bakdaw as a
media event similar to Larkin’s description, I am seeing that it can be
difficult to draw lines around what is or isn’t part of the media event, and
therefore also around what media is.
Although I am seeing media now as integrated into
other parts of urban infrastructure, I am still wondering if/how it might exist
outside of this definition.
References
ComDev Asia. (n.d.). Radyo Bakdaw
Reconnects Typhoon-affected Communities. ComDev Asia. Retrieved from
http://www.comdevasia.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=247:community-radio-reconnects-typhoon-affected-communities&catid=27&Itemid=51
Eclipse, J. P. (2014, February 13).
Blog: The Day Radio Came to Guiuan (Philippines). CDAC Network.
Retrieved from http://www.cdacnetwork.org/i/20140529160838-emdgf
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