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Author: pjohnson18

Jul 26 2022

Drawing from what DJ Tanner taught me

Posted on July 26, 2022 by Patrick Johnson

Just this week we read and talked about feelings of being obsolete. While the inherent purpose was to discuss the evolution of technology and digital spaces, I gravitated to my own person concern and woe. I instantly responded with the moment that my then high school freshmen sat in my introduction to journalism class and had no idea what several of my pop culture references were or meant — such as my very consistent retort: Oh my lanta. 

I’m a pop culture junkie. Like it is something I pride myself on.

But in those initial moments of that hot August, just as the academic year was in its infancy, I came to the conclusion that how I interacted and engaged grew to be more middle-aged or geriatric for the budding baby journalists that sat before me. I began to venture into the obsolete.

To me, one of the most critical takeaways from the work I’m doing for this fellowship is that technology may become obsolete but the skills I’m gaining won’t. I started this experience concerned about the ethics of big data and having to challenge myself to be more okay with the idea that big data doesn’t mean big issues. Rather, I’ve found that it provides a different perspective. I learned the basics of R to work with this large dataset, but the foundations I gained can help me make data analysis, cleaning, and organizing easier regardless of the dataset size or method.

I learned to ask questions about process, not outcome. With Nikki’s guidance and support, I’ve been able to grasp how digital tools can help shift my time and attention, thus improving my productivity. My proclivity for organization also improved with new opportunities to use technology to enhance my database building, coding, and thinking. I even had a wink and a nod suggestion that if what I’m doing doesn’t work out I could have a future in the information sciences.

But most importantly, I’m not obsolete. What I do and have done has the power to help others, which inherently means I won’t ever be obsolete. That should be my goal—to use what I’ve learned not to bow down to the technology gods but to make a difference in the communities I hope my research can serve. If anything, I certainly am walking away from this experience knowing that I’m far more capable than I originally gave myself credit and that’s a difference-maker in itself.

Posted in Studio FellowsTagged Opportunity, Pop Culture, Process, Product, Reflection
Jun 27 2022

Big Data Makes Me Uncomfortable, but Hey

Posted on June 27, 2022 by Patrick Johnson

It takes a lot for me to say that I’m truly uncomfortable.

In life, I am pretty sure I’ve lived it in a perpetual state of discomfort—or at least a way in which I embrace situations that aren’t all that cozy. I believe in being uncomfortable so much, that I used to start my senior English class (I used to teach high school) each semester with an article about needing controversy, not comfort in our classroom spaces. For me, being truly uncomfortable really is about admitting I don’t know something and the public perception that I’m not actually as put together as I like to personify to the world.

Let’s just say I’m having that moment.

As part of my project, I’m having to work with Big Data – like hundreds of thousands of cells of data. And I’ve often been vocally opposed to doing this type of research because I find it lacking the ethic that I live by; I feel like I can’t find relationships and work to help challenge oppressive systems. But what I’m trying to accomplish cannot be done without living in the uncomfortable.

Thankfully, I’ve gotten tremendous support in the early weeks of the fellowship as I embark on my journey to learn R, work with so many pieces of data, and find how to make something from plenty.

My fellowship project hopefully will result in a searchable database of journalism, media, and communication research that lives on a static webpage, with a specific focus on mixed methods studies. This means that journalism, media, and communication scholars and professionals will be able to go to this page, query certain keywords and mixed methods used, and get a list of articles that respond to that need—with the title, author, journal, and DOI that can be used to access the article in other search engines or libraries. I’m doing this as part of a larger project with Dr. Melissa Tully and Dr. Rachel Young about the current state of mixed methods research in journalism, media, and communication. It is the comfort of having them with me on this process, as well as the incredible Nikki White coaching me along, that I embrace my discomfort and work to better myself and my field in the process.

-Patrick Johnson

Posted in Studio Fellows

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