I guess I’ll begin with my interpretation of the quote from the article.
When we speak aloud, whether conscious of it or not, we are seeking to gain a bit of power …perhaps often over our own immediate or distant future. But in playing the power game, one is forced to use some of the language tools of those in power/the status quo. To make language clear and “good”, one must follow certain rules, inevitably established over time by those in power. So in speech, we either use these rules of power, aligning ourselves with power, or we seek to subvert these rules, attempting to gain power. But it’s hard to...well..."stick it to the Man" when you have to inevitably use the same tools as him. Hence the need for “altogether different intelligibility”.
I think the last part about the danger of speech just emphasizes the risks involved in speech due to its “irreversible” and “will to power” nature. No revision, and no protection from inevitable challenges, critiques and attacks. Its interesting thought – because sometimes I think that writing though, in suppressing the rawness of emotion and spontaneity through revision, is often less truthful and even less powerful than speech. I think this idea of language as power is increasingly important. Modern technology, such as websites and film editing, is allowing language to be separated and dissociated from the speaker.

Okay so I’m a senior, former biology concentrator turned IR concentrator. I spent last semester studying abroad in France, dealing with their uniquely confining teacher-student class structure as well as their often archaic approach to the internet. I’ve been a fan of the global media project long before I knew it existed as a class. I attended the majority of the public movie viewings and have a very clear memory of being blown away by “Control Room” and then by the “Guerilla: The Taking of Patty Hearst”.
I’m a documentary and general film junkie. And though I know that not every groupie would make a good rock star, I feel like I have something positive to contribute to this field. And as media has been an increasingly significant part of my internships and work outside the classroom, I would love to somehow continue this trend in a post-graduation job.

I am very interested in why certain voices in the public forum have power of influence and others don’t. And yes, these philosophical inquiries justify my late-night YouTube addiction. It may be obvious to some why YouTube users the world over love to watch laughing babies, daft punk hands and Beyonce falling down stairs. But what happens when those people click on the nearby video showing Mike Huckabee responding to a question about evolution (2,272,000 did just that) or add their voice to the long list of people responding to The Davos Question? YouTube and personal internet blogs are providing new avenues for public expression, as well as new and often confusing patterns of power acquisition.

I’m fascinated by the ever increasing rate of change in the development and use of media technology. But for many parts of the world, still relying on radio or print, they are left out of these changes and the evolving power dynamics that come with these changes. When I was working in Senegal a couple summers ago, I was assigned to a project in a rural village in the south. The NGO I was working for was using radio waves to disseminate information on health and human rights to rural and urban villages. Late one night I was invited to a field behind a tiny house where the entire village was gathering. Lying sleepily on the grass, we spent that night watching a small TV blaring early 80s episodes of “The Young and the Restless”. In talking with my neighbors over the next few months I tried to grasp what kind of image of the U.S.A. was represented by this show and all the odd tidbits of America that survived the Atlantic trek. It never corresponded with my reality. The soaps had won.

As part of the 9/11 generation, I watched from my desk in sophomore homeroom and chewed bubbalicious as two towers burned. Equally vivid is my memory of the start of the “shock and awe” campaign shown 24/7 on CNN and the sick feeling in my stomach after I realized the horror and death that lay covered beneath those brilliant and beautiful fireworks and streaks of light. War was reduced to a light show. Global Media has become such a powerful and pervasive force. I think that all of us who plan on a career with global connections desperately need to better understand the role of global media. And maybe a part of me is resentful of this media onslaught and wants to fight back. I want to understand this force that often feels more like a one-way street rather than a dynamic conversation. I have so many questions and could probably be absorbed for a lifetime by them. So with a couple lines left in my allotted blogging space – I suppose I should just grovel and beg...and say again how much I would love to take this class. (And did I mention this class would also fulfill my senior seminar requirement that I need in order to graduate?)