What is an information tsunami?

An information tsunami is what we are living in: A constantly increasing blast of information from many media, including new ones that are continuously being invented. It's loud, scary and exciting. And it erodes the ground we thought we were standing on, the authority of more traditional information sources.

As a journalist and instructor in Creative Communications at Red River College in Winnipeg, Canada, I am interested in the consequences of this tsunami. How can we make sense of it? What should we believe? How can we contribute to it? Is there any way to control any of it?

In particular, I am interested in the devices that are used to make sense of the tsunami, such as the forms of fiction and non-fiction writing, headlines and other organizing devices, and the audio and visual elements of messages.

Can you hear me above the crashing? Let's talk -- and maybe have some fun. For example, why are these people laughing?