publichistorysalem

As the blog assignment starts to wind down, I'll take quick look at a few blog updates. the pastime of past time has a very interesting post about the place of a historian in the movie and television industry. Bryan Andrachuk writes about the low opinion that many in his profession have of the History Channel and about the recent chat he had with its Director of Original Programming, Michael Kot. Kot believes, and Andrachuk agrees, that it's all about the story.

"Having a strong story will draw people in," writes Andrachuk. "If people are entertained, they'll keep watching. And maybe, just maybe, we can trick them into learning something. For me, all history (that is, the product of someone's work, not the past as it happened) is about is telling stories, anyway."

We've been talking a lot in class about media conglomerates and, coincidentally, Andrachuk discusses the purchase of Alliance Atlantis (broadcaster of 13 Canadian cable channels, including the History Channel) by CanWest Global Communication, one of Canada's largest international media companies. (He discussed it in a previous post, as well). Interestingly, the CBC story he links to includes an overview of who owns what in the Canadian media. Very enlightening!

Moving onto Reading Archives, Dr. Cox provides a review of Photography Theory, which includes a "compendium of views and attitudes about the nature of photography, representing a wide range of theoretical perspectives."

For tomorrow: an update from The Attic.