Digital Media Trends Discussed at Pechakucha Night
The 7th edition of Pechakucha Night was held last Friday in Fabrika hostel’s jungle room, with 12 speakers invited to give their opinion on new digital media trends, each with a presentation of 20 images they had 20 seconds to comment on. The event lasted over two hours and the presenter made sure the guest stayed energetic and motivated.
Some very interesting issues were raised, such as the problem of fake news and sensationalism in today’s media. Dominik Cagara, founder of OC Media, explained how journalists tend to look for breaking news and fast information, sometimes forgetting to properly check the sources. This often leads to the spread of fake information and the distrust of the audience. Cagara advised those present to always check information from different sources. He explained that in terms of information linked to the conflicts happening in Georgia, a lot of European Union experts are working in these zones to specifically observe what is happening and as such are best placed to deliver the right information and check facts without being biased.
Several documentary film-makers talked about the challenges linked to this specific field. Thomas Burn, Creative Director of Coda Story, explained how documentary film-makers tend to put more emphasis on the information they want to deliver instead of what the audience is looking for. They sometimes create amazingly interesting documentaries that find almost no audience because they are not well marketed. Stories do not speak for themselves, and producers have to take into account the experience of the viewer at the same time as the content of their film.
Stephen Steim, Executive Director of New Media Advocacy Project, creates audience-focused documentary videos raising human rights issues. His non-profit organization is based in Brooklyn, USA, and works in collaboration with other human rights focused NGOs all around the world. He stated that “human rights experts are terrible at talking to non-experts” and his goal is to work with them and create efficient videos that can talk to the audience. This enables vulnerable communities to actually have a voice and fight for justice. His videos are sometimes of great use for legal cases and can find them at this address: www.nmap.com.
Other speakers talked about their own way of producing attractive information, such as giving ideas or news through “top 10” lists and the special power of photos. Sophie Datishvili, for her part, uses Instagram (Tavisupleba) to make people think about news topics. She asks questions through 15-second videos on Instagram and gets a lot of feedback from her public. It is a way to create content perfectly adapted to her audience as well as make people fully active in their search for information. She also created Factmzomi, a blog that can check for people the information they found online.
Overall, the event was a very nice insight into the need for fact checking as well as the need to deliver content in an attractive way and to distinguish oneself in a world saturated in information.
By Gabrielle Colchen
Photo by Doru Avram