In case you missed our headlines last week

Jan 14, 2024 03:14 am  .::. 
Commentary | Jan. 6 was an example of networked incitement

Jan 13, 2024 07:20 pm  .::. 
Over 270 St. Joseph-Ogden students earn 2nd quarter academic honors


Jan 13, 2024 12:36 pm  .::. 
Youth Orchestra to perform on Sunday


Jan 12, 2024 12:51 pm  .::. 
Area winter storm cancellations & changes


Jan 12, 2024 11:57 am  .::. 
Prep Sports Notebook | Rockets, Spartans win conference games


Jan 11, 2024 06:55 pm  .::. 
Photo Gallery | Smith & Spartans stunned at Shootout


Jan 10, 2024 08:28 pm  .::. 
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Jan 10, 2024 01:52 am  .::. 
Unity Junior High School second-quarter High Honor Roll


Jan 10, 2024 01:52 am  .::. 
Unity Junior High second-quarter Honor Roll


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Commentary | Jan. 6 was an example of networked incitement

A media and disinformation expert explains the danger of political violence orchestrated over social media


Joan Donovan, Boston University

The shocking events of Jan. 6, 2021, signaled a major break from the nonviolent rallies that categorized most major protests over the past few decades.

Illustration: W4HR/Pixabay
What set Jan. 6 apart was the president of the United States using his cellphone to direct an attack on the Capitol, and those who stormed the Capitol being wired and ready for insurrection.

My co-authors and I, a media and disinformation scholar, call this networked incitement: influential figures inciting large-scale political violence via social media. Networked incitement involves insurgents communicating across multiple platforms to command and coordinate mobilized social movements in the moment of action.

The reason there was not more bloodshed on Jan. 6 emerged through investigation into the Oath Keepers, a vigilante organization composed mostly of former military and police. During their trials for seditious conspiracy, members of the Oath Keepers testified about weapons caches in hotels and vans, stashed near Washington, D.C. As one member described it, “I had not seen that many weapons in one location since I was in the military.”

The Oath Keepers were following Washington law by not carrying the weapons in the district, while waiting for Trump to invoke the Insurrection Act, which gives the president the authority to deploy the military domestically for law enforcement.

The militia was waiting for orders from Trump. That was all that kept U.S. democracy safe from armed warfare that day.

Social media as command and control

What happened in D.C. on Jan. 6, 2021, does not easily fit into typical social movement frameworks for describing mobilization. The insurrectionists behaved akin to a networked social movement, with online platforms forming the infrastructure to organize action, but its leaders were politicians and political operatives as opposed to charismatic community leaders. On that day in particular, the insurrectionists, who are closely aligned with MAGA Republicans more broadly, functioned like Trump’s volunteer army rather than a populist movement.

Even with the availability of social media, networked social movements still need mainstream media coverage to legitimize their cause. Typically, community organizers push a particular issue – for example Black Lives Matter and #MeToo – into the media spotlight to get the public to care about their issue. Social movements tend to struggle for exposure and to frame favorable narratives.

Illustration: Gerd Altmann/Pixabay

The insurrectionists had the advantage of betting on mainstream media coverage for Jan. 6, so they focused on gathering resources and coordinating attendance. As a result, Trump’s supporters did not need to expend much effort to bring attention to the event and, instead, concentrated on organizing ride-shares and splitting hotel costs. As in prior social movements, the networking capacity of social media proved to be an important conduit to bring strangers together for the occasion. What the insurrectionists failed to do was convince key stakeholders, such as mainstream media, Vice President Mike Pence and the U.S. Capitol Police, to join their fight.

Networked incitement is different from the legalistic understanding of incitement, where an inflammatory statement immediately precedes unlawful acts or creates a dangerous situation. The call to action for Jan. 6 came from the president himself in a series of social media posts enticing supporters to come to D.C. for a “wild” time.

Tweets like these from a prominent figure became social media’s equivalent of shouting fire in a crowded theater.

Mobilizing for violence

My colleagues and I sought data to better understand what motivated everyday folks to storm the Capitol that day under great personal risk. Using the method of qualitative content analysis, we assembled 469 charging and sentencing documents for 417 defendants and coded them for the stated reasons for attending the event. We chose these court documents because they represented the fullest narrative accounts available. The purpose of these documents was to explain the rationales and mental states of the accused, while also offering a defense or explanation for their actions.

We analyzed the documents, looking at the multiple motivations for the insurrectionist mobilization. Overwhelmingly, insurrectionists said they were motivated by a desire to support Trump, which was equally split with a rationale to stop a rigged election. In sum, we concluded that disinformation mobilizes and incites political violence under specific conditions, such as a popular public figure calling for help.

No sitting president before Trump had exploited the capacity of social media to directly reach citizens to command specific actions.

For example, the court documents also directly reference social media posts of the accused. On Dec. 22, 2020, Kelly Meggs, an Oath Keeper who was later convicted of seditious conspiracy and sentenced to 12 years in prison, wrote on Facebook:

“Trump said It’s gonna be wild!!!!!!! It’s gonna be wild!!!!!!! He wants us to make it WILD that’s what he’s saying. He called us all to the Capitol and wants us to make it wild!!! Sir Yes Sir!!! Gentlemen we are heading to DC pack your sh*t!!”

The reference to “it’s gonna be wild” was a rejoinder to the now infamous tweet Trump sent after a reportedly difficult six-hour meeting the president had with staff about how to proceed with the fraud inquiry and undo the election results. Oath Keeper Meggs’ tweet illustrates that even before Jan. 6, militia groups were looking for signs from Trump about how to proceed. An investigation by NPR also illustrated how Trump’s messages emboldened participants and ignited the events of that day.

A dark future

No sitting president before Trump had exploited the capacity of social media to directly reach citizens to command specific actions.

The use of social media for networked incitement foreshadows a dark future for democracies. Rulers could well come to power by manipulating mass social movements via social media, directing a movement’s members to serve as the leaders’ shock troops, online and off.

Clear regulations preventing the malicious weaponization of social media by politicians who use disinformation to incite violence is one way to keep that future at bay.The Conversation

Joan Donovan, Assistant Professor of Journalism and Emerging Media Studies at Boston University, is on the board of Free Press and the founder of the Critical Internet Studies Institute.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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Over 270 St. Joseph-Ogden students earn 2nd quarter academic honors

St. Joseph-Ogden High School Honor Roll ST. JOSEPH - Last week, St. Joseph-Ogden High School announced the second-quarter Honor Roll and High Honor Roll recipients. Just over 270 members of this year's enrollment earned second-quarter Honor Roll recognition.

To receive honor roll recognition at SJO, students must earn a grade point average of 3.25 or higher on a 4.0 scale. Students whose GPA soared above 3.74 are recognized as High Honor Roll students.

Freshman High Honor Roll

Lillian Ahart
Zhou Barbee
Zachary Benoit
Alec Bowlin
Colin Burnett
Elizabeth Clark
Abigail Crider
Hayden Dahl
Iris Davis
Nick Ditchfield
Justin Downs
Madison Farber
Nathaniel Farney
Nolan Franzen
Skyler Graham
Anna Hammond
Mark Harbourt
Nicholas Harris
Tyler Hess
Maggie Hewkin
Mia Jones
Alivia Learned
Hadley McDonald
Finnegan Miller
Maddux Musselman
Mason Ramm
Dennis Rineberg
Isa Santiago
Sophie Schmitz
Adeline Stevens
Ani Stine
Isabella Turner
Brayden Waller
Jack Wear
Emerson Williams

Freshman Honor Roll

Yadiel Acosta-Reyes
Samuel Albrecht
Olivia Berlatsky
Brenda Castro Gutierrez
Leah Gaines
Morgan Huls
Brynn Ikemire
Waylon Jones
Avrianna Lyttle
Chase Mabry
Mason Olinger
Tripp Palmer
Peighton Reim
Kiah Riesel
Ava Smoot
Cameron Wagner
Kaden Wedig
Cameron Wright
William Yeazel
Declan Yohnka

Sophomore High Honor Roll

Caroline Aden
Trevor Ames
Kylie Barrowman
Lexie Barrowman
Kaitlyn Beyers
Emily Bird
Tim Blackburn-Kelley
Aiden Bonny
Addison Brooks
Sara Bytnar
Erica Hardimon
William Carlson
Rudra Chaudhary
Adelyn Childers
Christopher Coffey
Katherine Ericksen
Callie Evans
Abigail Getty
Camden Getty
William Haley
Zachary Harper
Claire Hartman
Lydia Huckstadt
Adalyn Jannusch
Kaelyn Jolley
Sophia Kasper
Madilyn Kelley
Cooper Kietzman
Kylan Kincaid
Alexis Lackey
Ryker Lockhart
Mackenzie Loschen
Michael McDaniel
Danny McGinnis
Emma McKinney
Kodey McKinney
Patrick McMahon
Ava Midkiff
Ashlyn Miller
Hannah Mock
Delaney Nekolny
Allison Ochs
Brennan Oleynichak
Kayla Osterbur
Colton Overstreet
Garrick Page
Branson Pearman
Kaleb Peoples
Asher Pruemer
Ainsley Rhoton
Lily Rice
Landon Roberts
Logan Rosenthal
Amber Ruppel
Cameron Schlueter
Allison Schmitz
Lucas Smith
Tao Smith
Karleigh Spain
Quinn Stahl
Sydney Steinbach
Hadley Sweet
Carlee Taylor
Sophia Vliet
Madeline Wells
Wyatt Wertz
Logan Xiao
Cyrus Zadeh

Sophomore Honor Roll

Adalyn Bell
Shelby Campbell
Jacob Carlson
Caleb Dwyer
Brandon Goodwin
Charles Hale
Bryson Houchens
Amelia Huckstadt
Nick Jackson
Malachy Kates
Sami Kelso
Graham Ray
Lance Retz
Trevor Sexton
Gracyn Sjoken
Landon Smith
Luke Tranel
Hunter Van Meenen

Junior High Honor Roll

EJ Beckett
Audrey Benoit
William Besson
Holden Brazelton
Arely Castro Gutierrez
Richi Chimal
Preslee Christians
Madison Clampitt
Lauren Dewese
Ella Dietiker
Luke Ditchfield
Jackson Ennis
Savanna Franzen
Addison Funk
Kaiden Gaines
Tayton Gerdes
Olivia Getty
Makennah Hamilton
Lauren Harris
Haley Hesterberg
Maebree Houston
Kendrick Johnson
Paige Johnson
Dylan Jones
Sara Kearney
Madison Lankster
Logan Mills
Gabriel Mortlock
Grace Osterbur
Chayse Palmer
Sonia Patel
Haley Rudolph
Audrey Ruppel
Charles Schmitz
Kyler Swanson
Collin Thomey
Samantha Uden
Reese Wheatley
Fiona Xiao

Junior Honor Roll

Jared Altenbaumer
Rylie Barton
Eli Birt
Sul Bonny
Landon Brown
Landen Butts
Hayden Coffey
Joshua Courter
Nolan Earley
Lyla Frerichs
Tinley Ideus
Amilliya Kindle
Owen Knap
Aiden Krall
Jeffrey Kuchenbrod
Logan Lackey
Gabe Mata
Brenden Maury
Logan Patton
Nathan Phillips
Sydney Reitmeier
Tanner Siems
Corbin Smith
Thea Smith
Coy Taylor
Ava Worley
Charley Wright

Senior High Honor Roll

Edward Alewelt
Logan Allen
Luke Allen
Aden Armstrong
Samantha Beetz
Chloe Burkhalter
Payton Carter
Garrett Denhart
Samantha Downs
Sadie Ericksen
Joseph Frasca
Mia Frederick
Alana Frerichs-McCurry
Addison Frick
Grace Getty
Chloe Harper
Rachel Harris
Brody Hausman
Annabelle Hueber
Tanner Jacob
Kya Jolley
Helene Jones
Tori Kibler
Lauren Lannert
Quinn Lewis
Taylyn Lockhart
Addisyn Martinie
Ethan McElroy
Shannon McMahon
Talan Miller
Isaiah Mock
Caleb Ochs
Macy Reed-Thompson
Addison Roesch
Addison Ross
Daniel Santiago
Addison Seggebruch
Lucas Skelton
Aescton Slowikowski
Logan Smith
Dylan Smoot
Drew Thurman
Emma Thurman
Braxton Waller
Elissia Ward
Colin Wayland
Brody Weaver
Corbin Wells
Hayden Williams
Peyton Williams
Spencer Wilson

Senior Honor Roll

Halle Brazelton
Tyler Buss
Maya Chahine
Cameron Dressen
Ashton Fonner
Chloe George
Amaya Gula
Ray Gutierrez
Emmitt Holt
Ella Jones
Luke Landrus
Hayden Lewis
Connor Little
Carson Maroon
Rowan Musselman
Cole Pruitt
Kaydence Reynolds
Madison Stevens
Zoey Sweet
Nicholas Wetzel
Mitchell Wright


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Youth Orchestra to perform on Sunday

East Central Illinois Youth Orchestra
Members of the East Central Illinois Youth Orchestra performed at Smith Recital Hall in Urbana during their Winter Concert 2022. The 2024 concert will be performed this Sunday at 7 p.m. Admission is free.

URBANA - More than three dozen of the best orchestra students in Champaign-Urbana and the surrounding area will perform at the East Central Illinois Youth Orchestra Winter Concert at Smith Music Hall in Urbana.

"It’s going to be cold on Sunday. What better antidote than an evening of heartwarming music?" asks music director Kevin Kelly. "The talented students of the orchestra have been working hard since mid-September on a challenging and worthy program."

The program starts at 7 p.m. and will include Richard Wagner’s Prelude to the opera Die Meistersinger, Eine kleine Nachtmusik by Mozart, and Sibelius’s Karelia Suite. The orchestra will also perform Johann Strauss Jr.’s Emperor Waltz, and Borodin’s Polovtsian Dances from the opera Prince Igor.

The concert free to the public. Those who wish to make a much appreciated donation can do so through The Conservatory of Central Illinois.

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Area winter storm cancellations & changes

This page will be updated as we receive information from Athletic Directors and event organizers. Refresh this page to see the latest updates.


Friday

• Rantoul Eagles at Prairie Central rescheduled

• Urbana - Peoria Notre Dame game canceled

• St. Joseph-Ogden's home game against Pontiac has been postponed

Game will be now be played on Feb. 2.

• IPC Conference Wrestling at Unity cancelled

• Unity's home game against PBL changee

This will be a varsity only contest tonight starting at 5:30 PM.


Saturday

• SJO home game against Maroa-Forsyth time changee

This will be a varsity only contest starting at 4 PM


Sunday

• Urbana Park District's S'mores Social and Stroll cancelled

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Prep Sports Notebook | Rockets, Spartans win conference games

Brooks has breakout game, leads Spartans in road win over IVC
CHILLICOTHE - Addison Brooks drained four treys for 12 points to lead St. Joseph-Ogden in a 40-38 win over Illinois Valley Central. Senior Addison Frick finished with 10 points. Timera Blackburn-Kelley and Kayla Osterbur chipped in six points each.

While led with Kayt Miller's 14 points and Sage Geltmakers 10, the Grey Ghost (12-9) suffered their second consecutive loss, dropping to 2-2 in conference play.

The win improves the Spartans' record to 10-8.

Stringer & Ray show power Rockets past Eagles
TOLONO - Raegen Stringer and Addison Ray's combined effort of 27 points moved the Rockets to a 3-0 conference record on Thursday after defeating Rantoul at home, 54-39. Stringer hand-delivered a game-high 14 points, wrapped with eight steals and four rebounds. Ray led the team in the paint with seven rebounds and four assists in addition to her 13-point contribution.

Reagan Little rounded out Unity's top three scorers with eight points. The senior also grabbed four rebounds to put the team in second place in the Illini Prairie conference standings.

Next week, the trio will host the Bloomington Central Catholic on Monday. The Saints currently sit at the top of the conference standings with a 4-0 record. On Thursday, Unity is on the road to Prairie Central, who have yet take down a conference opponent.

Manual stymies Tigers
URBANA - Down by 15 at the half, the Urbana girls basketball team was unable to erase the deficit to visiting Peoria Manual (5-13). The Tigers played a much better second half, but their effort fell short in Thursday's 62-22 conference loss.

The Tigers have three games next week, starting with a roadtrip to Rantoul (5-13) on Tuesday. On Thursday, the Green Wave of Matton (14-2) will be in the house, and Saturday, the team is back on the bus, this time, to East Peoria (6-16).

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Photo Gallery | Smith & Spartans stunned at Shootout

Logan Smith goes up for a shot in the second half of St. Joseph-Ogden's Christie Clinic Shootout game against Pinckneyville. The Spartans suffered their their third loss of the season, falling 72-57 to the Panthers. Smith finished the game with ten points. See more photos from this game below.
Photos: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

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Urbana Park District Toddler Art Play Group starts tomorrow

URBANA - The Urbana Park District is hosting a free event for toddlers at the Phillips Recreation Center at 505 W. Stoughton tomorrow between 9 - 11 a.m.

The Toddler Art Play Group is for children ages one to four. Children must be accompanied by a parent or adult. Participants can show up at any time. Each session will explore and create various art projects.

The group is an opportunity for parents and children to socialize, network with others, and make new friends.

The group will meet on seven other dates through April. The next group will meet on January 25.

No registration is needed. For more information, call (217) 367-1544 or visit the UPD website here.

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