Category: Uncategorized

Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9Fe4m7NLj4
Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9Spj80kJyQ
Part 3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqs58HVzzMA

Since the entrance of tools like YouTube and Vimeao and other Internet based communications I hear folks say “why do we need community media?”  “Is PEG access really necessary?”  “Why should we support public media, hasn’t the Internet solved all of our woes?”  While it is true that there is more access than ever before to the tools of media making and the distribution of media via new Internet platforms, what is not made more rich is the production of “common goods”.

Lohmann (1989 – http://nvs.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/18/4/367) writes that nonprofit organizations are provide more than the production of needed goods and services often ignored by the public and commerical sectors.  These organizations produce crucial “common goods” that allow individuals to express themselves and their values, build meaningful practices, learn new techniques and a range of other useful non-tangible goods that are necessary for a fully functioning society.

This concept of “common goods” is not unlike theories surrounding social capital, civic engagement, democratic participation, and freedom of expression often found in other civic sector activities.   Ellie Rennie (http://www.cbonline.org.au/3cmedia/3c_issue3/BarryERennie.pdf) also talks about community media existing as to serve needs that are different than commercial mainstream media.  These “common goods” which are about creation of social interaciton, expression of values, and the creation of social spaces where what is produced are relationships, learning, new ideas and expression.  The Internet is not particuarly adept at this.  It is here that community media has its value.

It is this space that I am interested in exploring more.

BBC NEWS | Technology | The rise of clip culture online: “The popularity of the websites that allow people to share short video snippets is leading to the rise of a clip culture, writes internet law professor Michael Geist.

The telecommunications and broadcast industries’ vision of the future of the internet invariably involves its convergence with television.
Large telecommunications companies are busy gearing up for this future by investing heavily in new high-speed networks whose focus is not faster internet connectivity, but rather entry into the high-definition television broadcast market.”

Children benefit from exposure to digital culture, Jenkins says – MIT News Office: “Children need to participate fully in digital culture in order to develop the ‘skills, knowledge, ethical frameworks and self-confidence needed to be full participants in the world around them,’ MIT Professor Henry Jenkins told members of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) recently.Jenkins, director of the Comparative Media Studies Program, presented a paper at the AAAS annual meeting, which had the overall title ‘Grand Challenges, Great Opportunities.’ Held Feb. 16-20 in St. Louis, the meeting was attended by more than 6,000 people, including 900 scholars and scientists. Jenkins spoke at a symposium titled ‘It’s 10 p.m.: Do You Know Where Your Children Are %u2026 Online’ in the AAAS series, ‘Kids Online — A New Community.'”

Children benefit from exposure to digital culture, Jenkins says – MIT News Office: “Children need to participate fully in digital culture in order to develop the ‘skills, knowledge, ethical frameworks and self-confidence needed to be full participants in the world around them,’ MIT Professor Henry Jenkins told members of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) recently.Jenkins, director of the Comparative Media Studies Program, presented a paper at the AAAS annual meeting, which had the overall title ‘Grand Challenges, Great Opportunities.’ Held Feb. 16-20 in St. Louis, the meeting was attended by more than 6,000 people, including 900 scholars and scientists. Jenkins spoke at a symposium titled ‘It’s 10 p.m.: Do You Know Where Your Children Are %u2026 Online’ in the AAAS series, ‘Kids Online — A New Community.'”

Infothought: Gatekeeper argument, part N 1: “Having had the gatekeeper argument many times, I know it follows certain patterns. Sometimes evangelist types make a kind of ‘best of all possible worlds’ assertion. Regrettably, I’ve yet to be able to figure out what evidence they’d accept to the contrary – it’s on par with: If There Is A God, Why Do Bad Things Happen To Good People? To me, the ‘power law’ structure objectively refutes any such Panglossian view.

Once more, the flip side of that, is the argument ‘I Am Not Worthy’. To be immodest for a moment, I am worthy. Note I’m not out to become an A-lister myself. Rather, I’d like to be able to get heard, which is different (though related) and I want a means of *effective* defense against attacks. Both of which are a struggle with gatekeepers and hierarchy, and do not afford me the luxury of confusing pleasant sentiments with unpleasant realities.”

Infothought: New Gatekeepers Are Still GATEKEEPERS: ” A soft answer turneth away wrath. — Proverbs

Doc Searls, one of the nicest A-listers, writes a reply to one of my comments, in part:

… it pains me to think I’m being cruel without knowing it to a blogger who’s trying just as hard as I am – or maybe harder – to make sense of things. So, if that’s what I did with that post, my apologies to Tristan, Scott, Seth and anybody else who took offense.

Thank you. That’s very generous.

Here’s the problem:

I have this idea that the blogosphere is the one place in the world – or perhaps an entirely new world, or a part of a new world, created on the Net – where there is no need for class, for caste, for gates or keepers of anything.

Regrets. It’s not. Let’s stop right there. This is an idea that goes way back in a certain type of mythologizing – whether it’s called the Classless Society, The New Socialist Man, The Wild West, The Wide-Open Frontier, etc. – of a New Era where rank and privilege have been abolished, and all is based on individual merit. I wish it were true too. But sadly, wishing won’t make it so (and mistakenly believing it can get people deeply hurt in various ways).”

Infothought: FON-ey business, or The A-list profit algorithm?: “Wall Street Journal: Blog Buzz on High-Tech Start-Ups Causes Some Static (via Infectious Greed):

But the tiny company [FON] also got publicity from another source: influential commentators on the Internet who write blogs — including some who may be compensated in the future for advising FON about its business.

…

The avalanche of blogging about FON, much of it from people now tied to the four-month-old company, highlights the rising influence of blogs in shaping opinions about tech start-ups, particularly in Silicon Valley. It also reveals the possible conflicts of interest such complicated relationships can dredge up.

Earlier, I had posted a comment about this on one A-lister’s blog (slightly expanded):

Regarding: ‘I joined the advisory board without asking whether there would be any financial reward. (The answer, it later turned out, was that there might be, depending on how the company did in the marketplace.)'”