Tuesday, March 27, 2012
GBV In the White House (no way dude)!
After our discussion concerning the Howard piece yesterday I was thinking about how common vernacular can attach itself to institutional discourse thereby providing participants in on-line media new access to audiences and widening spheres of influence. This reminded me of a recent occurance in the White House Press Briefing Room involving White House Press Secretary Jay Carney and his love for the seminal (yet relatively unknown) Dayton band Guided By Voices . Watch the clip (he mentions GBV about thirty seconds in) with the thought that no GBV fan would ever imagine having any agency in the White House, no matter how cool President Obama seems about most things. Having been a fan for going on twenty years this really blew me away. After he mentioned their band name, the video went up on GBV's website, Facebook, and YouTube within minutes. I believe that this directly speaks to the "pulses of electricity", "digtal bits", and "myriad of everyday expressive moments" that Howard claims can influence the "discourse of powerful institutions" (Howard, 2008, p.509). While it is far fetched to believe Carney's statement could have any bearing on major policy decisions, it does add a certain element of identification with the people who work in that particular institution daily. Our shared identity could be all that is neccesary in this age of digital rhetoric to enhance argumentation or identify and define the profile of our audience.
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ReplyDeleteThis Administration is definitely one of the most, if not the most, pop culturally astute in history. There was a clip recently of President Obama singing a few lines from Al Green's "Let's Stay Together" and the President's iPod playlist has been the subject of news stories. I think Carney was just giving a shout-out to his favorite band, but you're right, it certainly helps to humanize the institution of the White House and the office of the Press Secretary. ...and it's really amazing how fast these things can circulate in the digital sphere.
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