Silicon Valley journalist Dan Gilmore's new book We the Media has just published by O'Reilly. As a veteran journalist, he often receives emails or comments from surprisingly knowledgeable readers. The readers know more than he does, he realizes. He see the significance of these kind of feedback that is becoming a new phenomenon in journalism.

Traditionally, mass media's relationship with audiences is one-to-many, producer to consumer. Recent development in technology has altered the landscape. All of a sudden people are speaking via the media of Internet. These former audiences are no more passive recipients. Many are becoming active citizen journalists. Communication patterns can be one-to-one or many-to-many and is much more interactive. The result is the rise of grassroots journalism and the democratization of the media.

Social changes would seldom go without conflict. Corporate media, loosing their grip to channels they have little control, are fighting back. The copyright cartel, as the author called them, are using stringent copyright law and restrictive use term to retain control of distribution. That why it is all more important for us to understand the context and fight for the freedom of speech and the right of fair use, for much innovation would not be possible without openness and sharing.

The author portrayed this phenomenon in this book with much insight. This is a must read for anyone who care about media and journalism.

2004.08.10 [sociology, media] - comments