Utrecht University (my alma mater) has a vibrant (new media) student community and a very good student magazine called BLIK. I sat down with the magazine’s editor and had a long conversation about my views on social politics, the Obama campaign and new media in general (of course, in Dutch). The result is a 6-page interview, you can download the .pdf here. I had a decent amount of interviews on this subject but I think this interview captures my recent thinking on this subject really well! Also, the magazine looks great.

Summary from BLIK’s website:

Alhoewel het voorheen een onderbelicht thema bleek in BLIK komt in beide interviews van deze uitgave de wisselwerking tussen politiek en nieuwe media uitgebreid aan bod. Toepasselijk, want precies een jaar geleden behaalde de Amerikaanse presidentskandidaat Barack Obama een historische overwinning die ten minste ten dele te danken was aan een innovatieve inzet van nieuwe media tijdens diens verkiezingscampagne. UU alumnus en nu docent Nieuwe Media aan de UvA David Nieborg ervoer als vrijwilliger in het campagneteam van Obama van dichtbij de politieke bevlogenheid van de Amerikaanse burger. In ons openingsinterview vertelt hij hoe hij in Nederland die bezieling voor politiek en nieuwe media vooralsnog mist.

It’s not that big a secret that I am a big fan of BNR Nieuwsradio. Last Thursday (January 28), I had a great conversation/interview with BNR’s Paul Van Liempt. We talked about Obama’s State of the Union address, the current US political landscape, his dwindling support, social media, political organizing, social politics, Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, Jon Stewart, Whitehouse.gov, MSNBC, and tea parties.

You can download the interview here (.mp3, 28.8 MB). The interview starts at 3:30 and ends at 17:30.

Last Tuesday (January 26), I participated in a debate on “Individu 2.0”. The debate was hosted by Christian student organizations to prepare for their Easter gathering where they will tackle religious and societal issues. As an outsider/expert I was asked to share my thoughts on the mediatization of everyday life, together with Jan van der Stoep (affiliated with the Christelijke Hogeschool Ede). It was an insightful debate. Jan and I agreed on many counts which made the debate a little bit less spectacular, but for me it was good to have some outsider conformation on some deep felt thoughts and opinions on new media.

What I did not expect was that the debate would spark the interest of two attending journalists of the two leading Dutch Christian newspapers. At the end of the debate the students asked about my views on (Dutch) politics and new media, as well as the rise of the Dutch populist politician Geert Wilders. In a nutshell, I think social networks (Youtube, Facebook, Hyves, Twitter etc), could be a valuable (additional!) avenue to discuss politics and to voice one’s concerns about the deep seated fear (and sometimes hatred) towards “others” (i.e. non-native Dutch citizens). I might be hopelessly naive here, but I think engaging in a debate in this particular case (through movies, pictures, blogs, etc), and taking the concerns of those-who-fear very seriously (instead of trivializing the Wilders supports’ genuinely felt fear-of-others) could be one way out of a xenophobic, divided political future. There’s way more to this issue, and my argument is much more nuanced, but this is one of the points I made during the debate.

The debate’s media fallout was illustrative and focused on my views on social networks and politics and used my quotes in their headlines. The best article ended up in the newspaper (first link). The two other articles surfaced immediately after the debates on the newspapers’s websites.

- ‘Gebruikers netwerksites zijn machthebbers’. Nederlands Dagblad. January 28, 2010, page 6.
- „Twitter en Facebook zijn machtige wapens”. Reformatorisch Dagblad. January 27, 2010.
- ‘Netwerksites gaan Wilders stemmen kosten’. Nederlands Dagblad. January 27, 2010.

Rather than the somewhat traditional list of what made 2009 remarkable (for me), I wrote a book review of 2009’s three best game books: “De 3 beste boeken over videogames“. To be sure, there are way more (and arguably better) books published last year, but these three books are best suited for the Bashers.nl audience (many of which are not scholars or students) and I have read them cover-to-cover.

The list consists of:

1. Montfort, N., & Bogost, I. (2009) · Racing the beam: The Atari Video computer system · Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press.
2. Gilsdorf, E. (2009) · Fantasy freaks and gaming geeks: An epic quest for reality among role players, online gamers, and other dwellers of imaginary realms · Guilford, Conn: Lyons Press.
3. Juul, J. (2009) · A casual revolution: Reinventing video games and their players · Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press.

I promised on Bashers.nl to make the book review a monthly feature, so expect the next book review (somewhere) in February. Tips on good game related books (the newer, the better) are always welcome of course (contact me at David @ gamespace . nl)!

Also on Bashers.nl, an email discussion between me and Niels ‘t Hooft on 2009’s mega-hit Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, in which we reflect on realism in games, mediated warfare and the potential and expectations of big games such as these. See: “David en Niels over Modern Warfare 2″: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4.

Last week’s Media van Morgen symposium, organized by two Utrecht University MA students, turned out to be a huge success. There was even a waiting list, but, luckily the event has been recorded by LectureNet.

You can access all talks here, video and slides are included. And here’s the direct link to my talk “Mediawetenschappers en de Media van Morgen“.

In my talk I argue that journalists, politicians, consultants, entrepreneurs, and fans dominate the debate (and discourse) on (new) media (i.e. its meaning, effects, future etc). Instead, students and scholars should have a much bigger stake in many such discussions (for example on media literacy, Second Life, social politics, games, etc, etc). Given the radical decentralization of the means of cultural production and the decline in professional journalism, there is a huge opportunity for media scholars to get their hands dirty by engaging in debates in traditional media (newspapers, TV, radio), as well as setting up their own platforms for discussion and dissemination of thoughtful analysis. I think that today’s (new) media students can (and should) be tomorrow’s experts.

*Update* (30/01) – Here’s a good summary of my talk (and the others) at MindNote.nl: “Symposium Media van Morgen (deel 1)“.

Yesterday I went to Doetinchem to give a talk at Reed Business on social politics (the ins & outs of the Obama 08 campaign). Had a great time there and got lots of positive feedback.

This month I will take part in the following events:

- January 21. “Mediawetenschappers en de Media van Morgen“. I will do a TED-like talk sharing my thoughts on the media scholar of the future for an event organized by Universiteit Utrecht’s MA (media) students. The symposium is called “Media van Morgen” and has a couple of interesting speakers (many of my fellow UU alumni).

- January 26. “Debat Individu 2.0“. For a debate on the mediatization of everyday life I will participate in a roundtable discussion in the Tituskapel (Amsterdam).

- January 28. “Yes we can? Nieuwe media gebruik in “the age of Obama”. After two successful masterclasses (hosted by KREM), we will do a third masterclass on social politics in The Hague. There are still seats available! There’s more information at KREM’s website.

Just a quick note: Best wishes for 2010! For me it’s back to work (on my PhD). Lecturing will start in February and until that time it’s PhD-crunch-time.

Again a job opening, this time at the NHTV Breda University of Applied Sciences I would love to fill (but cannot). More information here.

You will contribute to the development of a research program within the field of design of serious games, as well as collecting external funds for research programs and doing research and publishing yourself within the knowledge domain. You will be consulting in the process of curriculum innovation for the Game Architecture and Design Program and contribute to course development and education in the Game Architecture and Design program (especially in courses Serious Games and Research Methodology). You will be consulting on the integration of education and research programs and providing guest lectures in within the Academy for Digital Entertainment management and other bachelor and master programs within NHTV. You will be contributing to the development of Master programs and monitoring of PhD programs of lecturers within the Academy for Digital Entertainment management. Apart from this you are a consultant for the industry and you coach both students and collegues in our research programs.

My research school is offering three PhD Fellowships starting in September 2010. Application deadline is February 8th, 2010. If you need tips / feedback on a proposal or something like that, you know where to find me. More information here.

Located at the Faculty of Humanities at the Universiteit van Amsterdam, the Amsterdam School for Cultural Analysis (ASCA) brings together scholars active in literature, philosophy, visual culture, religious studies, film and media studies, and argumentation theory. Specialists in their own respective fields, they share a commitment to working within an interdisciplinary framework and to maintaining a close connection with contemporary cultural and political debates within society at large and with the cultural institutions outside of the narrow confines of the academic world. Within ASCA they have joined forces to provide a stimulating environment for scholars, professionals, and graduate students both from the Netherlands and abroad.

Does game journalism exist? (My answer: Yes!). And if so, what should it look and feel like? Last Wednesday Dutch game journalists gathered to discuss the ins and outs of contemporary game criticism. I opened the evening with a presentation (titled: “Mijn naam is David en ik ben gamejournalist”), followed by a roundtable discussion. For those who did not attend, there is/was a liveblog (which is still accesible) and there is still a lively discussion going on at Bashers.

Update (14/12): another review of the debate (with pics) at G4M3.nl.
Update (18/12): Gezocht: ondernemende gamejournalisten, m/v. Further reflections on Bashers.nl
Update (18/12): Special Podcast: opname van het gamejournalistiekdebat. Audiofeed.
Update (18/12): Xi/Bashers-debat – 9 december 2009 @ CREA. Some notes on Mindnote.nl.