STRATEGIES AND TACTICS

1. STRATEGIES AND TACTICS GROUP 2

2. STRATEGY TACTIC “By contrast with a strategy… a tactic is a calculated action determined by the absence of a proper locus.” “Thus it must play on and with a terrain imposed on it and organized by the law of a foreign power. “”It operates in isolated actions, blow by blow. It takes advantage of ‘opportunities’… It must vigilantly take use of the cracks that particular conjunctions open in the surveillance of the propriety powers.” “In short, a tactic is an art of the weak.” • “I call a strategy the calculation (or manipulation) of power relationships that becomes possible as soon as a subject with will and power (a business, an army, a city, a scientific institution) can be isolated.” • “As in management, every ‘strategic’ rationalization seeks first of all to distinguish its ‘own’ place, that is, the place of its own power and will, from an “environment”. ACCORDING TO CERTEAU…

3. WHAT DOES THIS MEAN? THE THEORY, EXPLORED

4. De Certeaudevelops the theory of productive and consumptive activity in everyday life, arguing that many of the things we as humans do on a day to day basis are influenced and repetitive but we are unconscious of it. For example, coming home and signing on to Facebook. • De Certeau links strategies with things like the government and major institutions that are deemed as “powerful”. Taking Facebook again, making it a producer whilst we who are the ones using Facebook (“acting”) and helping it be as successful as it is as the consumers. • We are defined by strategies by using tactics. THE THEORY, EXPLORED

5. In a way, linking to the first point, we are unconsciously forced to do the same thing on a day to day basis without being unaware as mentioned: walking on the pavement; children listening to their parents etc. We sometimes sense there is a power influencing us to do these things, but are unaware of where or who this power is coming from. • We conform to these things as they are seen as the norm in society even though have free will and are able to take shortcuts or jump walls etc. Though it would not be all of us that are influenced by major institutions like the government or corporations. There are some people for example that take the “shortcut” if they do not agree with something. An example of this would be the Tottenham riots in which people believed one of their own was unlawfully killed and so defied authorities by protesting. THE THEORY, EXPLORED

6. Sandy hook shooting, 2012

7. Our group’s chosen topic is a recent event that profoundly affected society, particularly America. On December 14th 2012, Adam Lanza fatally shot twenty children and six adult staff members at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. • This severity of this incident affected the world as it drew attention to the security and safety of their young children and how easy it was for a stranger to enter their school and commit such a horrific act before killing himself too. • This is how the world saw the event, but then internet users took it upon themselves to expose the flaws in the story. SANDY HOOK SHOOTING

8. A CONSPIRACY? SOME EVIDENCE COLLECTED VIA THE INTERNET

9. ‘Think outside the TV’ uploaded a video exposing a conspiracy and it immediately went viral gaining 12,000,000 views in less than a month but then was ‘censored’ according to the uploader and the view count is now 10,000,000. However, since the video was put onto YouTube, it gathered attention quickly in less than a month, sparking a lot of debates. HOW SOCIAL MEDIA CAME TO BE AWARE OF A CONSPIRACY

10. HOW SOCIAL MEDIA CAME TO BE AWARE OF A CONSPIRACY

11. Expectedly, the response to this video has been phenomenal and on all realms of social networking, people have been talking about both the even and the conspiracy; debates about gun laws; the effects of video games and the American government have all surfaced. • On YouTube, there have been many videos related to the topic with more ‘evidence’ people have found. THE REACTION ON YOUTUBE

12. THE REACTION ON YOUTUBE

13. On Facebook, the reaction is not so big. On the official page ‘R.I.P Sandy Hooks Victims’, some people may comment on posts about the ‘hoax’ or post a link to the video. However, where these pages have a million likes, the number of likes on the hoax pages are only in the hundreds. • Perhaps not a lot of people want to be seen by their Facebook friends liking the page. It might also suggest that not many people believe the suggestions made in the conspiracy video. THE REACTION ON FACEBOOK

14. THE REACTION ON FACEBOOK

15. These two sites have also had a mixture of reactions: some who have not come across the conspiracy; some who have and don’t believe; and others that believe too. THE REACTION ON TWITTER AND TUMBLR

16. THE REACTION ON TWITTER AND TUMBLR

17. After the Sandy Hook shooting occurred, many different reactions circulated. • On sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr, there was a call for people to stop playing violent video and a call for the gun laws in America to be reviewed – similar arguments that happened after the Batman shooting a few months before. • Of course there were many tributes made. A Facebook group was set up that currently has 1.4 million likes. Pictures from all around the world of people paying tribute were put onto the group also. SOCIAL MEDIA’S OVERALL REACTION

18. SOCIAL MEDIA’S OVERALL REACTION

19. SOCIAL MEDIA’S OVERALL REACTION

20. WHAT DO THE EXPERTS SAY? IS THERE ANOTHER SIDE TO THIS?

21. The Sandy Hook shooting shocked the whole world, but the murderer Lanza' s motivation is still a mystery. When people around the world expressed sympathy for the victims and their families, there were people thinking the whole case is nothing but a hoax concocted by the U.S. government and media . • According to the reports, this amazing speech issued by James Tracy, a 47-year-old professor of Florida Atlantic University communication department, a senior "conspiracy theory expert". He believes that the campus shooting could fundamentally not happened, it is just a figment of the U.S. government, the purpose is just to let the U.S. government to implement the laws of the management of firearms smoothly, and the report of the media about this cause is to pave the way for the larger political purposes in the future! WHAT DO THE EXPERTS SAY?

22. The media mistakenly identified that the gunmen as Lanza's elder brother at first, and big mining his "dirt", but these reports are corrected later. Initially the media claimed that Lanza' s mom is a teacher of Sandy Hook Elementary School, but almost not many people know her. Moreover, so far there were no period of video or photographic evidence can be conclusive show that Lanza has appeared in the campus on that day . • There are various reports and versions of this event documented, and what people believe is different depending on what has been heard. Then, what are the different ways that people have researched or have come across information on the event? • After the case occurred, people received information from various channels, the mainstream media, like The New York Times, Huffington Post. The network, like Youtube. People posted their own ideas, suspicions and investigations for that case in article, photo or video. Media has become an important channel to the diffusion and report of mass incidents. WHERE’S THE EVIDENCE?

23. THE CONNECTION HOW DOES THIS VIDEO RELATE TO CERTEAU’S THEORY?

24. Certeau’s theory of strategies and tactics is relevant here because there are people who believe the government, news producers and the police, as institutions that control society, are using strategies to cover up the truth about the Sandy Hook shooting. • However, the public are able to use internet resources tactically to research the matter themselves. Journalists and reporters are no longer the only people with the tools and knowledge to make a topic known to a large audience. THE CONNECTION

25. One of the strategies suggested to have been employed by the authorities in the Sandy Hook case is the use of crisis teams such as crisisactors.org. who provide actors and advice in extreme situations where it may be pertinent to present a certain perspective or response to these events. • In the Sandy Hook case, a number of the parents and locals who appeared in news interviews have been accused of working for such companies after the tactics used by many via the use of social media have been able to expose them. Some parents have been seen laughing and joking moments before they believe the cameras have been recording. THE CONNECTION

26. Sites such as Youtubeallow for footage like this to be circulated relatively freely without being as edited and censored as the footage may have been on television channels covering the event. Social media has also allowed for interviews of the event to be compared relatively easily, some even showing interviews from the same people with a variety of differing accounts of the events. • Some of the tactics used in the Sandy Hook case raise the issue of a conspiracy theories, as  news helicopter footage and very early news reports from the scene do not align with the official account of events released by the police and local authorities. The availability of these sources means that the consumers are able to question the producers as they have evidence that strategies may have been employed to deliver the story either superficially or incorrectly. THE CONNECTION

27. TO CONCLUDE…

28. The power of social media not only connects us with other people, but also a multitude of resources. This, paired with the global popularity of new technologies (tablets, smartphones etc.), illustrates how society is getting smarter and more independent. • Most of us are now able to use tools like the internet and editing software, amongst other tools, to analyse things and do our own research, as opposed to passively accepting what is told to us straight away. We also know how to broadcast our conclusions to the world. • In other words, we have the tools in our jeans pockets; gain new opportunities every news bulletin; and know many of the tactical shortcuts to create awareness of what we mavericks consider newsworthy. • Technology = Freedom to Explore TO CONCLUDE…

29. THANK YOU ARE THERE ANY QUESTIONS?