Media Theory of Composition - Critiques

Critiques

A main critique of media theory in practice deals with time constraints. Many First-Year Composition teachers complain that there is not enough time in the course to teach digital writing in addition to “regular” writing. This often results in the addition of new media production as a last-minute addendum, “as a strategy for adding relevance or interest to a required course. Only rarely does that call address students as producers as well as consumers or critics”. Related to this, teachers are also frequently concerned that they do not have the ability or knowledge required to teach writing with new media and multi-modality to students because they are often unfamiliar with constantly evolving technologies.

A separate criticism is that new media use allows for more prevalent plagiarism. As more information is available on the Internet, it is much easier to simply “copy-paste” data into a new format. Furthermore, the questionable authorship of many digital texts complicates things both in terms of writing and citing works. Multi-media works are especially subject to concern over criticism as appropriation and remixing are rampant and even encouraged in composition classrooms and as debates over SOPA occur.

Many word processing programs have also been seen to reinforce norms and hierarchies. For instance, the commonly-used spelling and grammar checkers of certain programs can be seen as possibly halting the natural progression of language and the creative use of it by encouraging writers to stay within the realm of standard vernaculars. Furthermore, some cite the highly class-based symbolic nature of many digital word processing systems.

Hierarchies are also potentially reaffirmed with implications of the word “new” in “new media”. While media theory aims to expand writers’ view of modality, a society caught up in modernism is prone to believe that “newness” will result in social progress, as fostered in this case by technological advances, by equating “new” and “better”. Furthermore, class-based issues of access may serve to reinforce existing social structures; as those who are unable to access advanced technology fall behind in composition-based technological capabilities, they will be less able to compete in the job market and are likely to reaffirm the separation between classes. This is especially true in K–12 writing programs, as there are often more economical differences between students and school districts. However, issues of access are disputed as technology becomes more available to the general public. Patricia Fitzsimmons-Hunter and Charles Moran, aware of these issues of access and their inevitable consequences, notably use technology that is friendlier to class-differences: “We consider as our goal the integration of low-end, relatively affordable technology into the lives and work of those who are, or see themselves as being, left behind by the pace of the technological change: “roadkill,” to use a popular contemporary metaphor, on the information superhighway.”

One of the most cited shortcomings of new media composition is that many teachers are unsure how to assess the writing. Oftentimes, teachers are only familiar with the standards that traditional text is held to. Texts written in new media encounter different rhetorical situations and contexts, and thus do not fit the standards that teachers are familiar with. Furthermore, these new texts often combine text with non-textual modes of communication, like the visual or auditory, making the situation for grading a “written work” even more complex.