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The Blog, The Press, The Media: The destruction of democratic discourse
About 250 people attended The Media Center's We Media conference last week at The Associated Press, with that number swelling to about 300 during Al Gore’s keynote address. We Media conference blog includes analysis of Al's speech, as well as analysis and reports on all the sessions.
Al Gore acknowledged that there are serious problems with our political system. He argued that the internet has the potential to serve as a medium through which normal citizens, like me, can be heard. He is absolutely right. He is also right that we must protect the freedom of the internet.
Quoting the German philosopher, Jurgen Habermas, Gore describes what's happened as "the refeudalization of the public sphere." The result is a situation in which most Americans sit on the sidelines while a wealthy few control the news and advertising outlets and, in turn, politics. Gore claims that such a radical reconfiguration of the "marketplace" has fogged and unfocused the public discourse and has profoundly hindered America's abilities to reason and make choices. As a solution, Gore wants to return public forums to the people. Recently, he launched Current TV, an independent news and information network where average citizens participate and "the meritocracy of ideas" reigns.
On the morph blog, the We Media Conversations and Collaborations continue to generate deeper discussion. Also, nearly eight hours of podcasts from every session are available for download
• Reviews so far have been rave: Gary Goldhammer of MarCom Interactive said in his Below the Fold blog: "The 2005 We Media conference was a gorgeous blur, a non-stop serenade from modern media pioneers, practitioners and a few procrastinators about the coming Collaboration Age.” You can see other comments at Media Center
• · Jon Garfunkel says there are three sorts of bloggers -- he says these categories are "three distinct definitions, which are larger circles of inclusion." Bloggers: Some Formal Definitions; Jay Rosen Times Report on Judith Miller is Up: Key Passages
• · · At Newspapers, Some Clipping; Gore sees the Current TV channel as "a chance to democratize the medium of television" by blending new Internet technology with old-fashioned television. Al Gore hopes to 'democratize' TV with new channel
• · · · I came here today because I believe that American democracy is in grave danger. Al Gore's Code Red: An alternate universe ; The potential power of many: we the Webdiary
• · · · · Julianne Schultz, editor, Griffith Review: There is no public policy rationale to abolish the cross-media ownership laws. We are about to go back to the 1960s just as the rest of the world is leaping into a new century of media diversity and choice. Removing cross-media laws is an answer to yesterday's question. Independent media on cross-media ; Media Ownership Regulation in Australia ; Xmedia posted An outline of the parliamentary history of the media ownership reform Timeline: media ownership 1991-2003
• · · · · · Ari Sharp: Another win for Kerry and Rupe ; The Sydney Morning Herald on Cross Media Ownership