Dear Class,
Please look at the site http://antiwar.com/blog/. Leave your opinions and questions about different aspects of the blog for us to talk about in class as comments below. This blog has articles along with plenty political propaganda, which is quite different from the rest of the sites we have visited. Along with being anti-war this site seems to present how the view the government itself. Click on some of the various links to find out what these bloggers have to say and how they site presents its opinion to the public. I am interested to hear your opinions.
Thanks
This blog is not a very fancy web site or filled with a ton of media. However, upon first glance it is obvious that the site appeals to American patriotism through the use of its color scheme. The site uses primarily red white and blue. White is the blogs background, blue is used for borders, and red is used for section titles. This color scheme is definitely effective in making a connection with the viewers of the blog because it creates a natural sense of patriotism that all Americans can relate to. Because of this connection, the readers may me more influenced into siding with the anti-war views of the blog. Also, layout is is set up nicely for easy navigation and viewing. I like how at the top of the page it lists the recent top news and gives a brief description of the article so the reader can choose which article they wish to read. Below are longer articles that incorporate media images and videos into the text. The articles they select for their site is also very effective in displaying their opinions. They use various articles and images that show the negative and brutal side of violence. These aspects and the patriotic connection that is made help to persuade the audience to agree with their anti-war beliefs.
ReplyDeleteThe first thing that catches my eye with this website is the red white and blue color scheme. This is an obvious play to American patriotism and helps strike a strong chord with its readers (possibly positive or negative). This next thing I notice about the site is it has a lot to offer. Some of the other sites we have looked at just have links to various social media sites and blog posts. This site has blogs posts and also links to other blog sites, a news ticker, a donate tab, a contact tab and much more. This site appears to be very well organized, put together and run. The layout is very easy to follow and is very simple and concise. In addition to the layout of the site, they appear to have a lot of partner blogs and links to other blogs who share similar ideas and a similar message to the one of this site. What is going on here is a legitimate operation with lots of followers and also lots of money. The site also sells advertising which makes me think that this site receives a lot of traffic and attention.
ReplyDeleteThe website gives me a neat and clear impression as the former blogs does. The design follows the white background and black words tradition, making viewers easily focusing their eyes on the content. Different from the blogs we've viewed before, this blog puts the complete content of in the front page, instead of just putting a part or an abstract. Thus the link to the whole source simply acts as an access to the comments. Since the blog talks about political issues, it could draw more attention from the government. I guess this kind of separation between content and comments may be aimed at giving the viewers more courage and protection to write what is truly in their mind. In the articles, many words and expressions are shown in red color. I find the marked words and expressions are all related to some other sources, including politicians and events. The marked words are actually hyperlink, directing the viewers with interest to deeper research. This detail shows that the blog has a responsible and credible style. I really have a strong feeling of the authenticity of the blog. Looking through the articles, the opinions always goes along evidences. No matter how cruel the reality of wars are, the editors just show us the truth, which makes viewers taking the blog seriously and do deep thinking about anti-war subject.
ReplyDeleteI really agree with what you're saying, I think the editors made it easy for readers to go on this site because they are saying the truth about war. Please remember to discuss this in class.
DeleteUpon first glance, you can tell that this site appeals to American patriotism through the use of the colours red, white and blue. This site contains many features such as a donate box as well as a contact tab. Unlike the other blogs that we have looked at during class, this site displays all of its blogs and articles strictly on the front page with very few links to other sites, making it easier for the viewer to navigate through the web site. This site also appears to be neat, organized and concise.
ReplyDeleteWhen reading bits and pieces of certain articles, I was impressed with the fact that no matter how cruel or horrible the topics that certain authors are reporting, they always bring out the truth and make it open for further thinking and reasoning.
I chose to comment on the article "Posing with the dead" it had alot of comments already so I was hoping that I could get some rebutals from some of the people who read this website. Unlike my last comment on the feministing website, this one wasn't subject to approval and was posted immediatley. Here it is so that you can read it without going to the website. However, I encourage the class to read the article, some of the other comments, my own, and then respond back to me under this website with your feelings on the situation. Thanks!......
ReplyDelete"It’s very easy to criticize this when it happens. It’s easy because it wrong and correct to criticize it. The soldiers in these photos don't have the luxury of debating the moral or political reasons behind what they are doing or where they happen to be. They simply have to survive. What’s important to realize is that these young men who kicked down that door and took the lives of those other people did so because if they didn’t then they would be dead. Does that make it better? No. But does it make it understandable? Yes. Caught up in the excitement which follows a life or death situation, young people can do very stupid things. This is one of them. Whether it’s right to be in Afghanistan or not has no weight in how these solders acted. For them, at that point, it was kill or be killed. And when it was over and the deafening report of .556 and .762 finished echoing through that small clay brick house, and the soldiers each did a short once of their own bodies, checking to make sure that adrenaline wasn’t trying to hide from them a gunshot wound of their own, and realizing that they were alive and riding on that wave of euphoria, they acted without thought. It’s wrong. And it’s detrimental to the whole effort of the United States. It sparks anger in a country where everyone is already angry. These soldiers need to be punished, by the military, and then allowed to continue their careers. This won’t be that last time this happens. And it’s not a characteristic specific only to the American Serviceman. War-trophies have been around since the beginning of fighting and its spans all races, religions, and era’s of human civilization. It’s human nature, it won’t stop. Sometimes we like to think that as Americans were better than other people. After all we are the world’s super-power and we should hold ourselves to higher standards then a poor, ignorant, farm nation’s people. But I guess in the grand scheme of things we’re all the same. Animals with instincts and emotions that sometimes get the better of us. I guess all I’m trying to say is that this kind of act should be condemned but is as natural as breathing."
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DeleteThank You for posting this article, I really enjoy reading this; it's powerful and insightful. At times we are put in certain situations hat we cannot avoid, and in this case doing your job isn't always what you want to do but it has to be done. It's simply a decision based on choosing to live or die.On the other hand i do think that smilling next to a dead guy is dehumanizing. It's one thing to be obligated to perform a task, it's another thing to enjoy such obligation.
DeleteYou have to dehumanize an enemy. If these soldiers would have stopped for one second to consider that they were about to kill a fellow human, that hesitation may have cost them their lives and then in concequence put the lifes of their squad members and other Americans at risk. Dehumanization in war is an absolute necessity.
DeleteThe first thing that pops out at me is the color scheme of the blog. The use of American colors red, white, and blue, help express a sense of patriotism. This should attract most american citizens since most of the website regards the US military actions around the world. The blog does a great job expressing its anti war topics in giant red letters to catch the eye of readers. There is no problem navigating the page at all. The only problem is the blog is an overall anti war blog not just American. If the blog was truly all for anti war it would not just use red, white, and blue colors, but other colors as well. Other than that the blog is well plotted.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very well organized website. As previously mentioned by other classmates, the red, white, and blue practically jumps off the screen. However, I question the opinion that it is used to inspire patriotism. Patriotism can just as easily motivate a person to go to war, to protect or defend America's honor. Yet this is an anti-war blog. Just a thought. There are several headlines with very anti war rhetoric in big bold red lettering, which is very easy to be spotted on a white background. One example is "Posing with the Dead, Dehumanizing the 'Enemy'" The use of quotes suggests that the dead were not actually an American enemy, so why are we fighting? Also, right at the top is a tab for US Casualties, making it extremely easy for viewers to get an idea what this war is doing to our soldiers.
ReplyDeleteWhen I first opened this blog, the first thing that came to my head was that this site was very cluttered. It says that it has multiple viewpoints regarding the wars throughout the world, but I can tell just from a few titles, that this site is very biased. It even has a U.S casualties tab next to an Iraqi Casualties tab at the top of the page, clearly appealing to those against war. What also pops out at me is the red white and blue logo which relates to America for people to know it is a political website. I believe this site has a great agenda, to inform the citizens of the Unites States and the world of U.S negotiations and imperialism world wide. This however shines a bad light on American politics and treats America as the bad guy in many articles. It is also true that the media inputs their own bias into almost every story to better fit their agenda, but it is clear to me that this site is also very biased.
ReplyDeleteThis site is very plain, the color scheme is made up of the American flag colors; red, white and blue. This color choice can be further analyzed by relating these colors to nationalism, freedom, liberty and the other qualities of the USA that this website is trying to portray by being anti-war. These articles are very biased just by reading the articles such as" America’s Lasting Stranglehold on the Middle East". It also posts very vulgar pictures, to prove the websites point that war is not okay. The ad at the top of the screen is very interesting as well, it states "What could happen to the stock market if Obama was reelected?" One might say that they are imposing the websites political views on its readers. Another interesting heading to an article is “How to Make Syria Much, Much Worse”. There is place for comments after the articles which is different than the previous blogging websites that were presented earlier. There is also an anti-war store people can shop at. This is a very new website because the copyright is in 2012. The overall theme of the articles is that it is Americas fault that war is going on. It also portrays that the reason soldiers are dying is because of Americas lack of control and its irresponsible use of power.
ReplyDeleteThis website indeed is just like the last website with how plain its come to. Also, it intends for the audience to focus more on the details at hand. The maroon letters are links and gateways for more information, and the most important information. The posing with the dead and dehumanizing the enemy article caught my attention with the pictures that surfaced with the army people posing with the dead/injured bodies. It's totally unnecessary, aren't they there in the first place to hold peace not be violent. I find it really disrespectful, pattriotic murder shouldnt even be used to help those who do murder and mock it. Its not right.
ReplyDeleteThe antiwar blog is very similar to the other blogs we have been looking at in the sense that they are all very plain and use very little color. This antiwar blog uses a little more because it uses red white and blue which are the colors of the american flag obviously so it could symbolize freedom and patriotism since the blog is talking about war. Overall, the website was very easy to navigate. It focused on one thing, antiwar, and all the articles had big bold titles so you knew exactly what the article was talking about. Although as mentioned by many other people I felt the website was trying to force its political views on the reader.
ReplyDeleteWhen I first saw the name of the blog, I though this maybe a serious website, maybe just like the anti-bully website and use black and white as its main color. When I open it, I thought I was a little bit out of my imagination. It is more like a commercial blog to me at the first sight, because the first thing that caught my attention was the advertisements of the Estee Lauder at the top the webpage and on the right side. As most of the blog did, the anti-war blog post its blogs at the left side of the webpage. At the right side, there is a “Blogroll”. A MacKeeper’s advertisement is just lying beside the roll. So personally, the design of this blog is not that attractive to me. But I like the theme of this blog very much. Because I believe that there are many ways to solve problems, not just war. The harm war brings to the world citizens is far more than its benefit to the counties. Peace is expected all the time.
ReplyDeleteUpon first looking at the blog, I immediately noticed that this blog site had much more advertising than any of the ones that I've seen so far. This kind of put me off a little bit. The first blog entry I visited was the one about the US soldiers that took pictures while posing with dead bodies of our "enemies" if you will. It was a very graphic account of some gruesome things that our troops have done. The one that really stood out to me was the picture where they posed with only the legs of a suicide bomber. This kind of showed me the reasons for the blogs stance against war. I think that the blog was in a way successful in persuading the reader that war is wrong. However, despite my new found insight on the topic, I still believe that at times war can be unavoidable and is therefore necessary. Overall, I liked the blog despite my initial hesitance because of the ads.
ReplyDeleteThe colors are what catch my eye primarily. The main theme is Red, white, and blue, obviously patriotic. This could be to encourage those who consider themselves patriotic and nationalist of our country to be patriotic in this way, and oppose war. They are probably trying to grab the audiences attention with the color scheme and make them really question whether or not they are actually patriotic and supportive of our country.
ReplyDeleteAlso, the ad at the top of the page is for George Washington University. Also, possibly, another way to encourage the readers of this blog to be patriotic and also keep the attention of those hard core patriotic readers by showing them how important this country is to the blog.
I personally, also enjoy that the majority of the article and in some cases, the entire article, appear on one page and you don't have to click a link to view the rest of the article. This is appealing to the "lazy" quality in most readers.
They also put what they think is most important as an entire article and beneath is they have links to other article's that they probably do not think as highly of. They will obviously put the most valued articles in full on the first page, just like in a news paper.