2008 Woodie Awards
Letter to the Editor
Media democracy
Joe La Sac
Issue date: 3/23/07 Section: Opinion
- Page 1 of 1
Dear Editor,
Our media needs democracy. Technology is lifting journalism's traditional barriers to entry one wouldn't have faced before the internet's liberal model for the "marketplace of ideas." Online citizen-journalism in fact began in Seattle (of all places) with the Independent Media Center, which was a response to the WTO talks in 1999. Anti-WTO bloggers were disgusted by the 60-seconds of coverage reporting them as black-bloc anarchists, so they created an alternative media model, (Indymedia.org), which has now grown to cover over 200 cities in the world, including the West Bank.
The idea that citizens can engage in journalism has a long history in the U.S. When the First Amendment was added, "freedom of the press" quite literally referred to the freedom to publish using a printing press, not just the freedom of organized entities in the publishing industry.
Nothing has changed, except that with Web2.0, the average person can gather news and distribute it globally. For example, one might fact-check (or "fisk") an article from the mainstream media on a blog or online forum. A snaparazzi might snap a digital photo of a newsworthy event and post it online. Or, like what happened at the Port of Tacoma this week, one might videotape a newsworthy event and post it on YouTube or MetaCafe for the whole world to see.
I believe citizen-journalism is an important piece of political discourse and engagement. In many ways, the definition of "the press" has now come full circle, back to its originalistic meaning.
As citizens, the "freedom of the press" clause belongs to all of us. But if participatory newsmaking would be considered an infringement on freedom of the mainstream press, an attack on the independence of the mainstream media, then this is because the public must be reduced to apathy and obedience, and driven from political debate and action so that an undemocratic political structure can survive.
Recently, I was detained by police while filming the Port of Tacoma from a street open to the public. This is a blatant infringement on the press' freedoms, resulting in general from pressures against citizen participation. We are deregulating the concentration of media ownership through simple, market means. We have the tools to develop a vibrant media democracy, and undemocratic forces in our government and establishments are against this.
What we truly need now is participatory media democracy, because, to echo the motto of the independent South Korean news group, OhmyNews, "Every Citizen is a Reporter."
Sincerely,
Joe La Sac
Our media needs democracy. Technology is lifting journalism's traditional barriers to entry one wouldn't have faced before the internet's liberal model for the "marketplace of ideas." Online citizen-journalism in fact began in Seattle (of all places) with the Independent Media Center, which was a response to the WTO talks in 1999. Anti-WTO bloggers were disgusted by the 60-seconds of coverage reporting them as black-bloc anarchists, so they created an alternative media model, (Indymedia.org), which has now grown to cover over 200 cities in the world, including the West Bank.
The idea that citizens can engage in journalism has a long history in the U.S. When the First Amendment was added, "freedom of the press" quite literally referred to the freedom to publish using a printing press, not just the freedom of organized entities in the publishing industry.
Nothing has changed, except that with Web2.0, the average person can gather news and distribute it globally. For example, one might fact-check (or "fisk") an article from the mainstream media on a blog or online forum. A snaparazzi might snap a digital photo of a newsworthy event and post it online. Or, like what happened at the Port of Tacoma this week, one might videotape a newsworthy event and post it on YouTube or MetaCafe for the whole world to see.
I believe citizen-journalism is an important piece of political discourse and engagement. In many ways, the definition of "the press" has now come full circle, back to its originalistic meaning.
As citizens, the "freedom of the press" clause belongs to all of us. But if participatory newsmaking would be considered an infringement on freedom of the mainstream press, an attack on the independence of the mainstream media, then this is because the public must be reduced to apathy and obedience, and driven from political debate and action so that an undemocratic political structure can survive.
Recently, I was detained by police while filming the Port of Tacoma from a street open to the public. This is a blatant infringement on the press' freedoms, resulting in general from pressures against citizen participation. We are deregulating the concentration of media ownership through simple, market means. We have the tools to develop a vibrant media democracy, and undemocratic forces in our government and establishments are against this.
What we truly need now is participatory media democracy, because, to echo the motto of the independent South Korean news group, OhmyNews, "Every Citizen is a Reporter."
Sincerely,
Joe La Sac
Be the first to comment on this story