Monday, March 6, 2017

Alexandria Cordova

Hi Alexandria;

I think Fair Trade Coffee is a great topic for the media activist project.  I don't see what the media activism is, though.  I understand that you want to partner with Fair Trade organizations, gather information about them, and compile that information in a final presentation, but that's not the kind of project I'm looking for here.  For your final project I want to see how you use media to create something beyond a final presentation just for the class.  Near the end of your proposal you mention something about perhaps further down the line you might produce a 30-minute commercial that empowers Third World organizations.  What you if you made *that* your activist media project for this class,  or something similar?

Your stance on the issue in this proposal is very clear, which is good.  What I'm not getting is a sense of how you will use what you've learned about media to create something original and activist within the realm of media to make your voice heard.  For example, some people are producing short videos, some are doing podcasts; some are using social media to create campaigns, etc.  This is what you still need to work on:  to come up with a concrete project using media, but focused on the issue of Fair Trade Coffee.  Give it some more thought, and think about who you want to see it or participate in it via media.

Let me know if you have any questions!


4/3/17
Hi Alexandria;

Your literature review was great!  I have no other comments to make.  Well done!

7 comments:

  1. Hi Professor Fry,

    Thank you for your helpful feedback.

    I was wondering if I could create a social media account/blog on Tumblr and follower other activist groups that encourage/promote Fair Trade Coffee. I will have videos on this account (mostly that I am able to #repost) that define Fair Trade and show the conditions which people go through in Third World countries to produce coffee. I will also embed videos/commercials from YouTube that support Fair Trade so people can have a look at what really goes on in coffee farms around the world.

    I will then bring awareness to American coffee commercials that omit Fair Trade standards and identify this as an issue.

    Please let me know if creating a blog on Tumblr will work in my favor and I will get started asap! If all goes well with my blog, I'd like to develop a television commercial about Fair Trade later on down the line.

    Thanks,
    Alexandria

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    Replies
    1. Hi Alexandria; Sorry for my late reply to you. Yes, your idea sounds like a good one. Perhaps you can specific exactly how you'd use the information you gather via Tumblr to bring awareness to American coffee traders. Then perhaps outline what your commercial would look like!

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  2. Fair Trade Coffee – 5 Possible Sources for Literature Review

    Downie, A. (2007, October 2). Fair Trade In Bloom. New York Times. pp. C1-C5.

    This article is from the New York Times and it provides me with commentary from actual coffee farmers. I will use their commentary in my research to find other coffee farmers who believe in the benefits of Fair Trade to make my position as an activist strong. This article also mentions some American coffee chains that are now adopting Fair Trade standards that will be important to address to bring awareness to consumers.

    Jaffee, D. (2014). Brewing justice: Fair trade coffee, sustainability, and survival. Univ of California Press.

    Author Daniel Jaffee discusses in his book that he has interviewed several coffee farmers of third world countries while examining their environmental conditions. This book provides me with the commentary I need to make my activist project blog interesting and valid.

    Levi, M., & Linton, A. (2003). Fair Trade: A Cup at a Time?. Politics & Society, 31(3), 407.

    This article highlights how the Fair Trade coffee campaign has changed the lives for many coffee farmers. This article provides me with the information I need to understand how supply and demand works in regard to coffee. It also mentions how to strategize a campaign-- which I will most likely incorporate when creating my social media activist account on Tumblr.

    Linton, A., Liou, C. C., & Shaw, K. A. (2004). A taste of trade justice: marketing global social responsibility via Fair Trade coffee. Globalizations, 1(2), 223- 246. doi:10.1080/1474773042000308587

    This article provides me with an overview of the worldwide coffee crisis. This academic journal identifies the four main components of Fair Trade that I will use in my research. This article also provides me with information specifying when the Fair Trade movement was first established and its importance. In concluding this research it is apparent how Fair Trade can benefit the lives of coffee farmers worldwide and it is important for me to understand why, “the Fair Trade movement in the United States” has received some recognition but not as much as other countries around the world (231).

    Robbins, R. H. (2013). Coffee, Fair Trade, and the Commodification of Morality. Reviews In Anthropology, 42(4), 243-263. doi:10.1080/00938157.2013.844035

    This article offers a wide variety of perspectives from various authors discussing Fair Trade. This is important to my research so that I am able to hear different opinions from other scholars who study the movement. This article includes commentary from three different books that I will look further into for the purpose of my project.

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    Replies
    1. HI Alexandria; These are great sources. And they are all quite recent. I think it would be nice if you could also find some sources that cover the big coffee chains (Starbucks, Caribou Coffee, Peets, etc.), and see if anyone's done any work on the extent to which they participate in the Fair Trade movement. See what you can find there. Great work.

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    2. HI Alexandria; These are great sources. And they are all quite recent. I think it would be nice if you could also find some sources that cover the big coffee chains (Starbucks, Caribou Coffee, Peets, etc.), and see if anyone's done any work on the extent to which they participate in the Fair Trade movement. See what you can find there. Great work.

      Delete
    3. Hi Professor,

      Yes, I am looking for some studies about big coffee chains and I will incorporate those in my final literature review/project.

      Thank you,
      Alexandria

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