Messarra_Grace_DS5

Messarra_Grace_ML5

Media Coverage of the 2006 ‘Gaza Beach Blast’

Grace Messarra

American University of Beirut

Abstract

This paper is written with the aim to uncover the differences in media coverage of a single incident, the 2006 Gaza Beach Blast, through exploring five articles by each of The Guardian, BBC News, The New York Times, The Jerusalem Post, and Human Rights Watch and their chosen approaches on the topic. Among the notions that will be examined are the manipulation of word-choice, the titles, and the choice of pictures to uncover biases in the news media.

Media Coverage of the 2006 ‘Gaza Beach Blast’

Concerning the highly controversial issue of the 2006 Gaza Beach Blast, many techniques are employed to sway audiences’ opinions on who is to blame. The following addresses articles by The Guardian, BBC News, The New York Times, The Jerusalem Post, and Human Rights Watch and their different accounts of the incidents in Beit Lahiya beach in the two weeks after June 10, 2006.

On the topic of what has become known the “2006 Gaza Beach Blast”, The Guardian, frequently taking the side of the Palestinians uses powerful diction to elicit an emotional response in its audience towards the suffering of innocent Palestinians. It comes off as highly pro-Palestinian using powerful imagery to describe what it makes out to be an Israel-inflicted Palestinian misery. In its article Death on the beach: seven Palestinians killed as Israeli shells hit family picnic, the title itself suffices to establish who is at fault. The image of a happy family- on a picnic- obliterated by Israeli shells is created automatically portraying the Israeli’s as ‘the bad guys.’ The Guardian focuses on the deaths and uses the word “killings”- it is a violent word that brings with it the notion of a killer (he who has committed the killing) and makes sure to include a mention of “family” and “picnic” to further the injustice of the Israelis who tampered with the happiness of a ‘happy family’ on a picnic. Meanwhile, a BBC News article about the same incident shifts focus from the deaths and heads “Hamas militants vow to end truce” ignoring the deaths and instead drawing attention to the Palestinians intent to disturb the peace agreement. If one were to look at both titles, one would have hardly guessed they were about the same occurrence. In the BBC News article, the subheading reads “The military wing of the Palestinian militant group Hamas has said it will no longer respect a self-imposed truce.” As such BBC News gives its audience the impression that Palestinians are anti-peace, only taking into account the bombing that brought this about later in the article.

As a matter of fact, the BBC News article proves highly biased in its coverage of this incident. Not only does it completely ignore the causal incident of the retraction of the peace agreement in its title, but it also colors Palestinian behavior with violent adjectives throughout the course of its article: “angry demonstrations in Rafah, southern Gaza,” “fire their crudely made missiles into nearby Israeli territory.” It could have avoided the terms “angry” and “crudely” but instead chose to include them creating the association of all things Palestinian with anger and crudeness. In addition, the BBC News article makes sure to cast doubt on what Palestinian authorities claim by adding a “Palestinian officials say” at the end of “Seven people, including three children, died on Friday when Israeli shells hit a beach in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian officials say.” The reader will think “Well of course the Palestinians would say that, they’re their enemies.” Readers are led to doubt the credibility of the Palestinians’ account of the incident and as no further information is offered, they are left unsatisfied in terms of facts and what drove Palestine to make this retraction. They are are thus perceived as rash, reckless, and aggressive.  Not to mention the quotes included to support their belligerent portrayal, “No-one can say to our people you have to be patient, you have to be polite,” “The Israeli massacres represent a direct opening battle and that means the earthquake in the Zionist cities will resume and the herds of occupiers have no choice but to prepare the coffins or the departing luggage.”

In its introduction of the incident, BBC News does not say “were killed” or “were murdered,” but instead use “died,” a more impersonal term one would use to describe the death of someone by natural causes and does not at all make the incident seem a murderous one. This contrasts sharply with the graphic introductory description offered in the Guardian article “A barrage of Israeli artillery shells rained down on a busy Gaza beach yesterday, killing seven Palestinians, three of them children.” The Guardian continues to heart-wrenchingly tell the tale of the innocent harmless families who were trying to enjoy their “Muslim day of rest” at the beach when suddenly, “the explosions landed among them, scattering body parts along the dunes” It only mentions the retraction of the ceasefire agreement nine paragraphs into the article and does not dwell on it as does the BBC News article.

The pictures alone prove the difference in approach of both articles. On the article by The Guardian, a picture is shown of a little boy crying in the arms of a young man who has a worried look on his face (with the clear intention of evoking a strong emotional response) – “A boy injured by Israeli shells is carried to hospital. Photograph: Abid Katib/Getty” –

While BBC News chose to go with this image, which shows how the “shelling has caused outrage among Palestinians” but does not depict the Palestinian grief:

Perhaps the most powerful of pictures can be seen in the New York Times article by George Azar “Errant Shell Turns Girl Into Palestinian Icon” which focuses entirely on Huda Ghaliya and how she has become “a symbol of Palestinian pain and loss.”

The picture on the left is accompanied by the caption “This image of Huda hovering over the bloody bodies of 13 dead or wounded members of her family was televised around the world.” It shows the genuine suffering of Huda who, in addition to being an innocent, is a little child screaming in agony over the carnage of the people she loves. The second image (right) is of Huda with her injured mother who was wounded by the same shell that killed her husband (Huda’s father). Here we see the loving mother’s attempts to console her grieving daughter and the focal point of the image is the clearly battered arm embracing the young child- a painful image. This article has a solely emotional (and not politically-inclined or finger-pointing) focus as it introduces its readers to the Ghaliya family and then pinpoints each and every family member Huda has lost to the Israeli forces. To add to the reality of the situation, Azar includes the ages of Huda’s dead relatives “Ilham, 15, Sabreen, 4, and Hanadi, 1. Raisa, 35, and her baby, 4-month-old Haitham, died on the beach.” (Furthermore, The article states “On Saturday, the Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas, and Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh announced plans to adopt her” casting the president as a noble and caring fatherly figure.)

A fourth article by Haviv Rettig of the Jerusalem Post entitled Peretz: Friday’s Gaza beach shelling ‘not our doing,’ reports “following an intensive three-day investigation, the IDF “has enough findings to demonstrate that [the Friday death of seven Palestinian civilians in an explosion on the Gaza beach was not of our doing” Note the use of the personal pronoun ‘our’ to reinforce a sense of Israeli nationalism among its readers. The article then shifts blame on the Palestinians, arguing that they brought this tragedy upon themselves when they issued Kassam rockets and that the Israelis were “acting to reduce,” IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Dan Halutz: “The price the Palestinians are paying lies on the shoulders of the Palestinian [organizations].” This article is clearly issued by Israelis (The Jerusalem Post) for Israelis with the purpose of counteracting any allegations against them. “We owe it to ourselves to know that we did not cause these deaths.” The pro-Israeli article attempts to convince its audience that they are not the terrorizers and does so by quoting supposed experts like Deputy Head of the IDF Ground Forces Command Maj.-Gen. Meir Kalifi, IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Dan Halutz, and Defense Minister Amir Peretz for further reassurance of their innocence.

However, instances of omission on the part of IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) are uncovered in a fifth article by Human Rights Watch “Israel: Gaza Beach Investigation Ignores Evidence – IDF’s Partisan Probe No Substitute for Independent Inquiry” which calls for a less biased and more truthful “independent, international investigation” because “an investigation that refuses to look at contradictory evidence can hardly be considered credible” which it states in its opening line. Kalifi explained that the reason some information was disregarded was because Palestinians “have no problem lying.” Attempting to absolve IDF of any blame for dismissing pertinent information offered by Palestinians. This article calls into question the accuracy of the IDF report and highlights its problematic conclusions. “If the Israeli allegations of tampered evidence are to be believed, many Palestinians would have to have engaged in a massive and immediate conspiracy to falsify the data,” said Garlasco. “The conspirators – witnesses, victims, medical personnel and bomb disposal staff – would have had to falsify their testimony, amend digital and hand-written records, and dip shrapnel into a victim’s blood. It beggars belief that such a huge conspiracy could be orchestrated so quickly.”

The way in which the news chooses to cover a certain topic can have a great effect on the way the audience perceives an incident, as is illustrated in the articles above. It is important that one seeks multiple media sources in order to get as holistic and unbiased an account as possible of the desired information.

References

Azar, G. (2006, June 12). Errant shell turns girl into palestinian icon. The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/12/world/middleeast/12huda.htm

Hamas militants vow to end truce. (2006, June 10). BBC News. Retrieved from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5065982.stm

Idf’s partisan probe no substitute for independent inquiry. (2006, June 19). Human Rights Watch. Retrieved from http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2006/06/19/israel-gaza-beach-investigation-ignores-evidence

McGreal, C. (2006, June 10). Death on the beach: seven palestinians killed as israeli shells hit family picnic. The Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2006/jun/10/israel

Rettig, H. (2006, June 13). Peretz: Frida’ys gaza beach shelling ‘not our doing’. The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved from http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1150191574202&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull

 

Messarra_Grace_DS4

This is a podcast about Arab portrayal in the media-

Link: http://gracemessarra.podbean.com/2011/12/10/messarra_grace_ds4/

In order of appearance,

1) Achmed the Dead Terrorist (Jeff Dunham) – Jingle Bombs (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWKsErC1koQ)

2) Disney’s Aladdin – Arabian Nights (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gtfk9JNfVss)

3) Malitia Army – Rewinding Sound Clip (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCL7ALVOS14)

4) Achmed the Dead Terrorist (Jeff Dunham) – Spark of Insanity (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEI5js4RCpc)

Podcasting Exercise

To listen to my first podcast, visit the link.

Link to Podbean: http://gracemessarra.podbean.com/

ML4 – My Reflection Shows Who Disney Wants Me to Be Inside

My Reflection Shows Who Disney Wants Me to Be Inside

Grace Messarra

American University of Beirut

Abstract

The paper takes into account the many instances in which Disney’s 1998 film Mulan reinforces gender, class, racial, and socioeconomic stereotypes in its (highly Americanized) adaptation of the ancient Chinese poem “The Ballad of Mulan.” It dissects three gender-defining musical pieces accompanying the film, then analyzes the ways in which most of the characters adhere to certain ‘disneyfied’ character conventions and the many messages children receive from being exposed to them. Disney’s attempt to cast a female savior instead of the usual male is acknowledged, but the underlying stereotypes it supports must not go unrecognized as they do tamper with the just-forming ideals of young minds.

My Reflection Shows Who Disney Wants Me to Be Inside

     While Disney’s Mulan may be hailed in some respect for breaking the gender role conventions set by its predecessors, the great social strides for which it is lauded are hindered by other underlying stereotypes- Overshadowed by the celebrated concept of a female heroine, these notions seem of a lesser caliber and are thus brushed off as insignificant in order to continue to applaud the avant-garde adaptation of the ancient Chinese poem. Dating back to the Southern-Northern Dynasty (AD 420-589), “The Ballad of Mulan,” originally a Chinese epic poem (Cheu, 1008), underwent several filtrations through the sieve of conventional America before emerging as Disney’s 1998 classic. So too did it undergo several plot reworkings in order to achieve the fairytale-like ‘Disneyfication’ of the wonderful world of Disney. Just in time to greet the 21^st century, a disneyfied Mulan was released with the high hopes of shattering stereotypes, shifting paradigms, and setting the stage for many more social innovations to come.

One must look no further, however, than the musical accompaniment to be disillusioned.  The musical numbers are lyrically replete with woman-exists-to-serve-man, woman-must-be-beautiful-to-find-husband, and woman-needs-not-a-brain and such anti-feminist themes. The very first piece, “Honor to Us All” (Appendix A) occurs while “a group of twittering female relatives doll [Mulan] up demurely for a visit to the matchmaker” (Maslin, 1998). In an attempt to turn “this sow’s ear into a silk purse,” the women give Mulan a complete makeover, singing “Wait and see/When we’re through/Boys will gladly go to war for you/With good fortune and a great hairdo/You’ll bring honor to us all” and have Disney’s young girls, who will undoubtedly be smitten with its upbeat and catchy tune, repeating “Men want girls with good taste/Calm, obedient/Who work fast-paced/With good breeding/And a tiny waist” Mulan, in her natural “who I am inside” state is no good to please the man, so she must follow the “recipe for instant bride” and be “primped and polished till [she] glow[s] with pride.”

(Link to “Honor to Us All:” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Py5nWHVdZWs)

After having established what it means to be a woman, the creators of Mulan go on to define the man- but not before making it clear that women absolutely do not belong in military service. “Did they send me daughters when I asked for sons?” As soon as Mulan arrives to the training camp, she is greeted with disgusting images of men picking their noses, picking the dirt between their toes with chopsticks, spitting on floor…etc. In other words, expressing their “manhood.” Interesting to note is the stark difference in presentation between the average soldiers, and Shang, the alpha male. Shang is never seen engaging in such revolting acts as listed above illustrating the class differences between them. He comes from a hierarchy of well-bred generals, while the average Joes who of course work beneath him are the ones who partake in acts like burping, farting, and the like.  Further stereotypes about manhood are reinforced in the piece “Be a Man” (Appendix B) which defines the man in a powerful refrain sung by a chorus of macho operatic men “Be a man/We must be swift as the coursing river/Be a man/With all the force of a great typhoon/Be a man/With all the strength of a raging fire/Mysterious as the dark side of the moon.” Disney’s children are made to infer: Women must be pretty, graceful, and obedient and men must keep to themselves, and be strong and aggressive- (and that it is natural of men to be disgusting)

(Link to “Be a Man:” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGMN-gNfdaY)

Perhaps the most blatant display of women as slabs of meat comes in the song “A Girl Worth Fighting For” (Appendix C). Not only does it teach young girls the criteria to fulfill to become a become this girl worth fighting for, but it also instructs young boys on what to want in a woman. “My girl will think I have no faults/That I’m a major find… I want her paler than the moon with eyes that shine like stars…It all depends on what she cooks like: Beef, pork, chicken … Mmm.” Mulan, who is pretending to be a man at the time, then suggests “How ’bout a girl who’s got a brain/Who always speaks her mind?” and is immediately received with a dismissive “Nah!” and laughed off as ridiculous. Women are only required to look good and cook well- brain activity is frowned upon. In addition, “A Girl Worth Fighting For” encourages chauvinism, instilling the idea that being a patriotic war hero will score a man some points with the ladies who “love a man in armor.” It tells little boys, who are thus bred to become potential soldiers, “when we come home in victory they’ll line up at the door.” So, armor up little boys.

(Link to “A Girl Worth Fighting For:” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiqmZLOaD8o)

Though the characters in Mulan may appear Chinese with their large tilted eyes, and elevated cheekbones, they are very much modeled around the Americanized interpretations of the oppressed damsel, the prince charming, the fragile father, the big scary bad guy, and the trusty sidekick.

Mulan herself is introduced as assuming the out of character role of homemaker, caregiver, and caterer-to-man; in the opening scene, she is shown doing chores, pouring tea for (and dropping it all over) her father, and later learning how to pour tea for her future in-laws at the matchmaker’s (who needless to say, fulfills the stereotype of the matchmaker who needs matchmaking, with her manly figure, deep voice, large moles, and angry complexion) residence. Every time she tries to speak her mind, Mulan is invalidated and put down as a disgrace and a dishonor to her family, “silence, you would do well to teach your daughter to hold her tongue in a man’s presence.” In the attempt to stand up for her sick and disabled father when he is called to war, Mulan is received with a “Mulan, you dishonor me.” Mulan is trapped in the prison of her own culture, her actions constantly debunked by reminders of her ‘place’ in society, “I know my place, it is time you learned yours.” Thus, Disney creates a tortured princess notion, similar to that of Cinderella, who was an inferior maid to her evil stepsisters. Mulan is, instead, an inferior maid to the masculine society. Furthermore, she possesses, of course, a very feminine figure, a slim waist, a soft, caring voice, and an overall gentle nature- a de facto characterization of the classic Disney princess. This strong, defiant Mulan manages to remain in touch with her feminine side in her assumption of the role of male warrior. This safeguards against advocating masculinity in a woman- echoes here, are sounded of the blasphemy of a manly woman and of cross-dressing. For example, when the ancestors discuss Mulan’s situation, they are irked that their “granddaughter had to be a crossdresser” and to-be sidekick Mushu exclaims “I’m doomed, and all cuz Mrs. Man decide to take her little drag show on the road!”

As for prince charming, Shang, whose character is completely untrue to the original Chinese poem, provides the handsome hunk with which Mulan falls in love and earns her disneyfied happy ending. After all its efforts to showcase its openness to the idea of a female heroine, a woman in a position of power, a woman equal or dare –it-imply superior to a man, Disney drops a piano on its progress by thrusting Mulan back into the arms of the big strong male. She willingly returns, after the long hard defiance of conventional ideals to the confines of her home, “With all due respect your excellency” she tells the emperor “I think I’ve been away from home long enough.” In the original poem, no such love story occurs as Mulan goes on to fright for 12 years before being found out- In Disney’s version, she yields to convention, finds a man, and is celebrated for doing so, “Sign me up for the next war!” exclaims her grandmother. Shang, the wide-eyed, square-jawed, broad-shouldered, captain muscle man, son of the honorable general has Disney written all over him. He does not cry over the death of his father as compared to Mulan, who cries when her father is requested for war and when she returns home, reinforcing the common gender role crying-is-only-for-women stereotype. He is tough, serious, and superior and contrasts nicely with his subordinates, the short one, the fat one, and the scrawny one. The latter characters are portrayed as not those of a hero toward which little boys should aspire. Therefore, when Mulan comes up with a plan that involves the men dressing up as concubines, all but Shang cross-dress, because it would be unsound for the ‘man’ to dress up as a woman (while the subordinates do, with pleasure). In addition, the obese, effeminate warrior is the most peaceful of the soldiers, calming everyone down with hugs- the least manly of them all is the one who showers those around him with affection. The message? The more affectionate and tender a man, the less of a man he is.

The emperor is the only character who possesses a Chinese accent, only inserted as such to assert the Chinese-ness of the film that has so far been dominated by American themes adapted to fit the pseudo-Chinese context. He is the wise, mindful head who loves to speak in metaphors to whom everyone is privileged to bow. He however, is old and weak, and fits nicely into the stereotypical ‘fragile father’ image, the category where Mulan’s father also lies. Mulan’s father is handicapped, while the emperor is skinny and petite- a frequent ageist depiction of the elderly in Disney films.  These fragile fathers’ very fragility occasions them to step back in order for prince charming to take over the care of the princess.

The Huns’ appearance says it all: Huge builds, vampirically sharp teeth, hunched backs, pale grayish skin, dark ripped clothes, crooked swords, deep coarse voices- bad guys. They are always accompanied by foreboding music and an eagle, the predatory bird often associated with evil, lingering above. Children thus infer that this is what it means to be evil. As always, the patriotic good guys defeat the power-hungry bad guys, the common good beats evil stereotype, and the Huns are annihilated.

Finally, Mushu’s character provides an interesting perspective on what has become of racial stereotyping. Is it not convenient that the helper and sidekick be voiced by and modeled after Eddie Murphy in a clear African American accent as the clumsy failure of an ancestor? He is considered among the ancestors as the good for nothing goof whose only use is to sound the gong to wake his betters. Why choose an African American sounding and looking character as the little helper? Mushu embarks on this journey with the mission of saving Mulan, after destroying the statue of the intended guardian. His prerogative, “I’ll make Mulan a war hero and they’ll be begging me to come back to work.” He therefore acts as her little helper dragon along the course of the film, catering to her needs. In one scene, Mushu greets Mulan with bacon and eggs ‘porridge,’ (which is certainly not a Chinese ancestral dish, and an example of the Americanization of the film) and feeds it to her with chopsticks before she goes to train for war. For a little, scraggy fellow, Mushu is not much of a dragon, though he tries. (Is Disney, perhaps aiming at forming the association between African Americans and inferiority?) A stab at the African American’s role in society? A certainly and unashamedly blatant one.

(Link for Mushu: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3ZO_mxFmN4&feature=related)

However, credit must be given where credit is due. There is a strong motif showcasing Mulan’s capacity for logical thought, whether it be from the way she goes about doing her chores (tying a bone on a string so her dog will chase it and spread the grains for her), the way she uses the weights to her advantage when reaching for the arrow atop the pole, or the way she causes the avalanche that destroys most of the Hun’s army.  One cannot ignore the attempt to create a female character of (at least some) substance and heroic qualities. Though she ends up presenting them to her father in an attempt to gain his approval and restore her family’s honor (which is a tad counterproductive on the breaking stereotypes front), Mulan does receive the emperor’s pendant and the Hun leader’s sword as symbols of recognition. In the end, her defiance of the conventional ways of China do pay off, perhaps (after corrupting the children by implanting in them preconceived ideals) teaching them that it is okay to be yourself, even if it means going against the grain.

References:

Bancroft, T. (Director), Cook, B. (Director), & Coats, P. (Producer) (1998). Mulan [DVD].

Cheu, H. F. (2008). Feminist film theory and the postfeminist era disney’s mulan. In Cinematic Howling (pp. 65-85). Toronto: University of British Columbia Press.

Maslin, J. (1998, June 19). A warrior, she takes on huns and stereotypes. The New York Times, Retrieved from http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9C00E3D91E3DF93AA25755C0A96E958260

[Web log message]. (2011, October). Retrieved from http://lightspeedsound.tumblr.com/post/9617049288/anti-feminism-through-exotification-a-comparative

Appendix A

Honor to Us All

http://www.fpx.de/fp/Disney/Lyrics/Mulan.html

Vocals: Beth Fowler, Marnie Nixon, Lea Salonga and Chorus
Music: Matthew Wilder
Lyrics: David Zippel

This is what you give me to work with?

Well, honey, I’ve seen worse

We’re going to turn this sow’s ear

Into a silk purse

We’ll have you

Washed and dried

Primped and polished till you glow with pride

Trust my recipe for instant bride

You’ll bring honor to us all

Wait and see

When we’re through

Boys will gladly go to war for you

With good fortune and a great hairdo

You’ll bring honor to us all

A girl can bring her family

Great honor in one way

By striking a good match

And this could be the day

Men want girls with good taste

Calm obedient

Who work fast-paced

With good breeding

And a tiny waist

You’ll bring honor to us all

We all must serve our Emperor

Who guards us from the Huns

A man by bearing arms

A girl by bearing sons

When we’re through you can’t fail

Like a lotus blossom soft and palm

How could any fellow say “No sale”

You’ll bring honor to us all

There – you’re ready- Not yet!

An apple for serenity …

A pendant for balance …

Beads of jade for beauty

You must proudly show it

Now add a cricket just for luck

And even you can’t blow it

Ancestors hear my plea

Help me not to make a fool of me

And to not uproot my fam’ly tree

Keep my father standing tall

Scarier than the undertaker

We are meeting our matchmaker

Destiny guard our girls

And our future as it fast unfurls

Please look kindly on these cultured pearls

Each a perfect porcelain doll

Please bring honor to us, please bring honor to us, please bring honor to us, please bring honor to us, please bring honor to us all.

Appendix B

     Be A Man

http://www.fpx.de/fp/Disney/Lyrics/Mulan.html

     Vocals: Donny Osmond and Chorus
Music: Matthew Wilder
Lyrics: David Zippel

Let’s get down to business – to defeat the Huns

Did they send me daughters when I asked for sons?

You’re the saddest bunch I’ve ever met

But you can bet before we’re through

Mister, I’ll make a man out of you

Tranquil as a forest

But on fire within

Once you find your center

You are sure to win

You’re a spineless, pale pathetic lot

And you haven’t got a clue

Somehow I’ll make a man out of you

I’m never gonna catch my breath

Say goodbye to those who knew me

Boy, was I a fool in school for cutting gym

This guy’s got ’em scared to death

Hope he doesn’t see right through me

Now I really wish that I knew how to swim

(Chorus:)

Be a man

We must be swift as the coursing river

Be a man

With all the force of a great typhoon

Be a man

With all the strength of a raging fire

Mysterious as the dark side of the moon

Time is racing toward us till the Huns arrive

Heed my every order and you might survive

You’re unsuited for the rage of war

So pack up, go home you’re through

How could I make a man out of you?

(repeat chorus)

(repeat chorus)

Appendix C 

A Girl Worth Fighting For

http://www.fpx.de/fp/Disney/Lyrics/Mulan.html

Link to song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiqmZLOaD8o

Vocals: Harvey Fierstein, James Hong, Lea Salonga, Jerry Tondo, Matthew Wilder and Chorus
Music: Matthew Wilder
Lyrics: David Zippel

For a long time we’ve been marching off to battle

In our thund’ring herd we feel a lot like cattle

Like the pounding beat our aching feet aren’t easy to ignore

Hey, think of instead a girl worth fighting for

Huh? That’s what I said: A girl worth fighting for

I want her paler than the moon with eyes that shine like stars

My girl will marvel at my strength, adore my battle scars

I couldn’t care less what she’ll wear or what she looks like

It all depends on what she cooks like:

Beef, pork, chicken … Mmmh …

Bet the local girls thought you were quite the charmer

And I’ll bet the ladies love a man in armor

You can guess what we have missed the most since we went off to war

What do we want? A girl worth fighting for

My girl will think I have no faults

That I’m a major find

How ’bout a girl who’s got a brain

Who always speaks her mind?

Nah!

My manly ways and turn of phrase are sure to thrill her

He thinks he’s such a lady-killer

I’ve a girl back home who’s unlike any other

Yeah, the only girl who’d love him is his mother

But when we come home in victory they’ll line up at the door

What do we want? A girl worth fighting for

Wish that I had A girl worth fighting for

A girl worth fighting –

4 – Conclusion: Aviary Myna, Yay or Nay?

This post will include the pros and cons of using Aviary Myna, and conclude with a decision of “yay” or “nay.”

Overall, Aviary Myna has proven to be a very effective online audio manipulation application, but let us address its pros and cons to make a definitive decision about why we should use it over other software.

Points “YAY”

– Licensing option

– User-friendly (Easy to navigate for newcomers)

– Free (All you need is a computer with internet access)

– Advanced audio manipulation options

– Library of sound effects and loops

– Once saved, it can be accessed through any computer.

Points “NAY”

– Limited movement of loops (Makes having 10 tracks a hassle)

–  Cannot make extremely detailed manipulations (Not as advanced as Pro Tools or Adobe Audition)

– Slow to upload existing tracks, and sometimes upload failure

– Slow to save

– Myna mixes limited to 6 minutes maximum (Some songs and podcasts exceed that amount of time.)

One reviewer, Christina Warren said “I’ve always been opposed to using online audio editing tools, because I haven’t found them to be robust or fast enough to be compelling to use.” when talking about the convenience of Myna. She continues to say “think about how convenient it could be to start a project on one computer and pick it up some place else.” (Warren, 2009)

It seems Ms. Warren and I are in agreement, I vote “yay” for Aviary Myna. For an app that allows thorough and detailed (to a great extent, maybe not to the expert extent) manipulation of audio for free and without headache, Aviary Myna has my vote.

Image retrieved from: http://www.mylot.com/w/photokeywords/2/yay.aspx

This post has offered a list of the different advantages and disadvantages of Myna, and concluded that what it has to offer outweighs its quirks.

5 – References

References:

AppAppeal. Aviary myna – web-based audio editor [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://www.appappeal.com/app/aviary-myna/

Free online audio editors [Web log message]. (2010, July 28). Retrieved from http://www.jiscdigitalmedia.ac.uk/audio/advice/free-online-audio-editors

Linder, B. (2009, September 16). Aviary myna: The best web-based audio editor yet [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2009/09/16/aviary-myna-the-best-web-based-audio-editor-yet/

Thurana, J. (2010, December 14). Myna – a powerful digital music recording studio in the cloud [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/myna-free-powerful-digital-music-recording-studio-cloud/

Warren, C. (2009, September 16). Myna: Garage band in your web browser [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://mashable.com/2009/09/16/aviary-myna/

2 – History and Background of Aviary Myna

This post will provide a brief history and background of Aviary Myna, mentioning its creators, naming, and source of funding.

Aviary Myna is one of the many tools of the web-based multi-media application company Aviary, which is credited with the creation of the more popular Phoenix Advanced Image Editor. The company consists of approximately 20 employees, including founder and CEO Avi Muchnick, Vice President Michael Galpert, Angel investor Reid Hoffman and CTO Israel Derdik (AppAppeal, n.d) who all take part in co-creating the applications. It is funded by private donations. And While Aviary is already well-established as an online image editing suite, the company decided to expand its creative reach into the audio manipulation realm. (Warren, 2009) Thus, Myna was launched on the 16th of September, 2009.

The word “Myna” refers to the the Asian Myna bird- As a matter of fact, All Aviary’s tools are given bird names such as Phoenix, Peacock, Toucan, Rookery, Raven, Talon, Falcon and Roc because of their motto “Creation on the fly.” The Aviary team thought it appropriate to name their software after birds. (And an aviary, according to the New Oxford American Dictionary definition, is “a large cage, building, or enclosure for keeping birds in.”)

Image retrieved from: http://www.flickr.com/photos/koss/3426561546/

Myna has been compared to other audio manipulation softwares like Audacity and Garage Band, ” a Garage Band in your web browser” (Warren, 2009), and has received a five star rating on the web application directory AppAppeal.

You have received some feedforward and background knowledge of the creators and origins of Aviary Myna, which has received positive criticism in the web-application realm.

1 – Introduction to Aviary Myna

This post offers a brief introduction to the Aviary Myna application and what it allows its users to do.

Aviary Myna is an audio manipulation and podcasting Web 2.0 application launched by Aviary on the 16^th of September, 2009. It is an advanced, user-friendly, and free online audio editing application that allows the creation and editing of multi-track audio recordings. In other words, it allows the user to record and import audio files onto the timeline of the application and play around with the speed, the sound, and superimpose other audio files and harmonize the sounds.

Image Retrieved from: http://img.teck.in/aviary_myna_logo.jpg

(Click on the image above to go to the Aviary Myna website)

Myna allows its users to speed up, slow down, add on, merge, and personalize audio tracks to their liking and save them as they would the any song. Myna also encourages its users to share their creations on facebook or twitter. It is a do-it-yourself recording studio available on the web at no cost.

3 – How to Use Aviary Myna

This post will offer a tutorial on how to use Aviary Myna with constant reference to Jeffery Thurana’s explanations throughout (Thurana, 2009).

To start, there are ten blank track fields to fill either by recording using a microphone (the computer microphone will suffice) or by importing audio files from your hard drive.

By clicking the “Snap To Grid” option, you can divide the audio into grids in order to be more precise and organized in the manipulation process

To rename the tracks, double-click the name field.

The map field makes it easier to navigate.

The Library provides a list of available audio loops to choose from- these loops are chosen by Aviary (and provided by Quantum Tracks) and could be considered templates.

However, before acces to these loops is allowed, Myna asks you to agree to the ‘Terms of Use’ to avoid copyright infringement.

The loops are very organized; they are divided into categories and sub-categories in order to simplify choice and navigation.

Once you have chosen a loop, you can lick on the “play” button beside it to listen to it or drag it onto the track.

Myna also provides many items from Aviary’s public library, beats created using Roc, or sounds from the SoundCloud service.

The view bar allows you to choose what to show and what not to show the Myna user, such as the grid divisions, the time, and the tempo.

The “Record” button, which is right next to the volume slider, allows you to record your voice or even you playing an instrument through your computer microphone or any other type of microphone. Before you start, you will have to allow Flash Player to access your microphone as the ‘input device.’ After that’s settled, you can click “Start Recording” and even modify the quality and volume of your recording as you record. There is a two-minute limit for recordings.

When done recording, click on “Import to Project” and your recording will appear on the sidebar to the right of the screen under “Imported” (which is right next to the “Library” button). You can then drag and drop your recording into the desired track.

To import pre-existing audio files from the hard drive on your computer, click “File” and then “Import Audio.” Aviary Myna supports many audio formats: Wave (.wav), AIF (.aif), MP3 (.mp3), Windows Media Audio (.wma), AAC (.m4a), and Ogg Vorbis (.ogg).

Once you have filled many tracks, your screen will look something like this, with up to ten superimposed track creating one sound.

In order to save, you are required to log on to your Aviary account. If you don’t have one, you can sign up for free.

If you already have one, you can log in. (Aviary allows you to log in using Twitter, Facebook, Google, Yahoo, or SoundCloud accounts.)

Once logged in, enter the name, details, and descriptions of your project  click “Save as new creation” to finalize.

Your creation will be available as wav or mp3, and you will be shown several links to the project.

Finally, you can either continue the project or publish it to your social network accounts.

(Thurana, J. (2010, December 14). Myna – a powerful digital music recording studio in the cloud [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/myna-free-powerful-digital-music-recording-studio-cloud/)

Here is an example of a techno song created by using Aviary Myna, posted by Brian, otherwise known by his YouTube name “sharkman265” on October 10, 2010.

In this post, you received a crash course in all that is Myna, whether in recording, importing, or generally navigating the application. You also now know how to save and share your creations and have been provided with a sample creation that has been posted on youtube.