"Julian Assange: The International Gossiper"

The unique thing about audio is that you are forced to use your imagination to create the images.  Not only that, but by eliminating images you are destined to be more tuned into the actual dialogue.  So without destracting images popping up and catching your eye, one can use their mind in the way they would read a book; the images of the characters and places are created by you. 

In my audio I focused around an exchange between Julian Assange, spokesman and editor-in-chief of Wikileaks, and myself; I played soundbits from Assange during his interview with Democracy Now! and followed them up by commentary.  The theme here was how Assange's detailed documentation of the Iraq war is almost similar to gossiping about someone.  If the Iraq war was a person (for sake of argument), Assange would have let the world know all about his (the war's) humiliating secrets.  A notable spot is where I repeat the phrase "the most description of a war to have ever been released").  This shows how, Assange, like a gossiper, spreads information to feel superior.  Now I'm very aware that this truly is the most accurate description of any war up to this point due to the advances in technology along with the leakage of secret documents, but I'm pointing out that Assange may be boasting about his work.  This may have been Assange's motivation in the first place; he states that he releaved this information to depict the horrors of the war, but it can be speculated that Assange got his start by trying to prove that his information was the best and most accurate out of anyone else's.

A few fun things to notice in my audio is how I use a fun, almost vaudeville type instrumental piece in the background.  I just thought it was perfect for the juxtaposition of moods; here we have the controversy of Wikileaks and the horrors of war, over silly music.  This takes the theme off controversy and more on the gossiping part.  Also I had fun in the beginning by using the AT&T Text-to-Speach Tool to have an English voice introducing Assange, followed by a crowd cheering.  I couldn't resist!  And finally I added a short bit of audio of Rush Limbaugh's coverage of the Wikileaks controversy.  I thought by ending my audio with Rush's joke on Assange's physical appearance is representative of how gossipers often times are lacking in physical strength and that's why they use words through computers to express how what they find disturbing in other people instead of going face to face. Would Assange try to confront a U.S. marine whom he suspected killed an Iraqi citizen?  Doubtful. 

My main objective in this audio presentation was to cover an issue like gossip in a fun, humorous way, while blending it with the Wikileaks case.  I feel that audio allowed me to express this well, especially by adding music and other effects to enhance my theme