Tutorial 1 - Week 2

For me, publishing is like electricity; you know it’s there but you’re not really aware of the mechanics behind it, and you just expect it to work when you want it to. Whilst always being conscious of the notion of publishing, I was never familiar with the intricate foundations and processes of the publication system, in particular the legal implications and the multitude of people involved. Nor had I ever put a great deal of thought into the variety of avenues that publishing presents, such as open publishing or the commons.

I feel that my oblivion stems from being a product of a technology-obsessed society. The printing press made an enormous impact when it was introduced, with immense effort and thought put into each publication. Nowadays, however, the act of publishing as become so common-place, with people publishing statements about what they had for dinner and which supermarket they recently checked-in at, generally without a second thought from the publisher. For this reason, I feel many people are unaware of the impact that publishing material has (hence all the recent scandals involving Twitter-rants or the uploading of an inappropriate photo to Facebook) and the importance of being savvy about what you tell members of the general public.

I had generally assumed that it was relatively simple to publish in a newspaper or book; I had no idea that the method of publication involved the multiple, complicated steps of a design stage and a sales stage. With the advent of technology, the way in which media is published has been altered; as John Naughton said “concepts of what constitutes a magazine or a newspaper are already changing” (Naughton, J. (2009) ‘The original Big Brother is watching you on Amazon Kindle’ The Guardian) with books now published online and available on your phone. 

I am hoping that by studying this course, I will gain a greater understanding (and sensibility) about the ways in which myself and others publish, and the values and risks involved in displaying work in the public arena.