We the Media By Dan Gillmor

Chapter 1
Gillmor’s way of going through a pretty extensive history of mass media and how it has evolved so much in the past few centuries, was a quick but interesting way to establish what the book is about and tell the readers what history they need to know.  I like the way Gillmor goes through his own personal experiences with how he started out as a journalist, first with just a personal computer in the 1970s, then a portable computer in the 80s, then slowly getting online, etc.  The chapter reminds readers of how much talk-radio can influence people, and how much it changed media because once it was invented, anyone could have a say in what information circulated to the masses.  The many examples Gillmor uses in the Chapter 1 are appropriate and noteworthy, but get to be a lot of keep track of.  September 11 was obviously one of the biggest days to go down in history, but I was too young at the time to realize how much it changed the press and media coverage, as it explained in the chapter.

Chapter 2
The world of wikis (which I didn’t really understand the meaning of until reading this chapter) and the Web is vaster than I think I will ever be able to fathom, but Chapter 2 explains how incredibly immeasurable it seemed at the time of their invention.   It is pretty amazing how we now have four means of communication, one-to-many, one-to-one, and now with the Internet many-to-many, and few-to-few.   Blogs have changed they way the Internet is used for news, and “could be the missing link in the communications chain.”  They are online journals with a specific “voice,” comprised of links and postings with most recent postings appearing first on the page, and can span from nearly any topic imaginable.  SRS’s and cameras have become everyday sources of communication for journalists and regular people alike.  The file-sharing, or P2P, is definitely applicable to my life because I like to download music, and I also realized that I use RSS frequently as well.   Chapter 2 was very informative, but had a lot of commuter lingo and jargon to sort through, and I found myself having to re-read many of the definitions to fully understand them.

Chapter 3

Information and news no longer only belongs to journalists now that blogging and other media forms have begun so outspoken and trustworthy.  If someone cares about something and wants others to know about it, basically he or she has the power spread the word at the touch of a button in the comfort of their homes.  The stories about the Macintosh, McDonald’s, and Tobacco campaigns were attention-grabbing because they explained how much the Web influenced such big operations.  Our society is now so information driven and always looking for novel info, that consumers are now the ones to figure out all the tricks and secrets of new technology, how things work, and what may be wrong with it, and we can now even learn about unauthorized things on the Internet.  Nowadays, journalists who cover big companies and fail to look at forums and blogs are bound to miss relevant data because of how popular use of the Internet is.  A scary thought late in the chapter is when Gillmor quotes David Brin when he suggested that privacy is becoming a relic of a pretechnological time and that preserving old-fashioned privacy is impossible because modern technology will overwhelm us with its snooping power and the collection of vast amounts of data.  Luckily though, Gillmor assures his readers that regular people are beginning to discover ways to redress the balance between technology and privacy.  Apparently however, the trend toward media transparency is inevitable and we should try to embrace openness and avoid paranoid secrecy.

Chapter 4

Mass media remains an important tool of modern communications, and understanding the ever-constant evolving world of technology will become just as necessary, according to Gillmor.  I’ve come to learn that a weblogger who has become an expert in a given area may be more of an effective source than a magazine ad.  Blogging is even being used for PR purposes now, like user Tom Murphey with his pulic relations Opinion blog, and big businesses to keep information straight and rumors down.  Celebrities have also jumped on the blog-bandwagon and started blogs to keep their fans up-to-date and give them a sense that they’re getting to know the celebrity.  I like all of the references to Apple, such as the RSS iTunes uses to display their top songs.  The 10 rules for new-world PR and marketing are well thought out and really hone in on the technological skills and areas people in the upcoming business world need to know.

Chapter 5

I was really surprised when I read in Chapter 5 how blogs made such an impact on Ben Chandler’s special election in 2004, especially when it came to money.  I’m still shocked by how much blogs have impacted our world, in what seems like such a short amount of time.  The effects of technology on politics are intriguing, yet somewhat obvious.  People who are technologically savvy and are going to vote for someone they feel values and is interested in the same technology.  The Net really enhanced Howard Dean’s unlikely popularity during his campaign, and helped him raise millions of dollars.  Gillmor talks about his feelings that 2004’s campaign will be seen, in retrospect, as the first glimmerings of open-source politics – which are from people all over the world can work on politics.   Government official sites are springing up everywhere, from environment concerns, to missing-child systems, DMV processes and Homeland Security Information Network.

Chapter 6

Today’s news boils down to the fact that readers/viewers/listeners collectively know more than media professionals do, according to Gillmor.  He says that this is true by definition because they are many, and media professionals are often just one individual, and they need to use the knowledge of the masses.  Chapter 6 looks at how the news industry has no choice but to adapt to “an evolution that is turning some old notions on their heads.” One of the most significant differences between print and the Web is that web-based conversations transcend geographical boundaries and can help give a global reach instead of a local one.  Group blogs lack an individual voice but can work well, especially for “event blogs,” suggests Gillmor.  They are also very useful for big stories and breaking news such as natural disasters.    He also says that linking is a great Web-like activity that points readers to articles and date that reside outside the blogger’s sites, and something that bloggers need to do more of.  News sources and the like have begun to catch on to using its audience to get information, like when NASA asked anyone who might have had a picture of it’s space shuttle to help with the investigation about it’s crash.  In addition to photos, other news organization are making it easy for readers to send them tips through text messages.  Big organizations were missing big stories, as they can’t cover them all, and BBC created iCan in 2003, which aims to create a platform to help citizen activists influence the system from the local level up.  The job of the journalist, is to be a filter, said iCan’s editorial project leader.  Gillmor proclaims that all journalists should be incorporating multi-media forms into all of their stories, as long as it doesn’t distract from the reporting mission, because that is what the next generation is craving, and promises that it doesn’t mean we have to cross ethical lines.

Chapter 7
Chapter 7 caught my attention when Gillmor said, “for the first time in modern history, the consumer is truly in charge, as a consumer and as a producer.”  Chapter 7 mainly focuses on the two groups of people involved with journalism.  The first being the original ones engaged by journalism, that stay active and aren’t afraid to agitate the realm of journalism.  The other group is the people who take their interest in journalism to the next level and are on their way to becoming professional journalists themselves because of their intense involvement through a variety of mediums.  I was enthused to read that Gillmor admits that one of the main criticisms of blogs is that so many are self-absorbed tripe that are only interesting to the writer, and maybe their family and friends.  But he goes on the defend that blogs have become more than that and are now considered acts of civic engagement because people want to talk about different things and link up to each other, and are beginning to make profound differences in the world.  Many sources of information, such as Democracy Now! keep their information “streaming” on their sites because it enables users, who might not have their own computer, to listen to the programs without having to download massive files onto the computer.  This is so helpful, because most of the world’s population doesn’t own a computer, but mass media still can dominate.  Learning about the Wiki’s in more detail was pretty interesting because I never thought about how amazing it is that Wiki’s actually work without causing drama or becoming crooked with such a wide range of attributors.  Gillmor points out that so many people are using the Web today, and that few of them are actually making money.  The tip-jar and nano-publishing sections were definitely interesting because it is something inexperienced people, such as myself don’t think about, even though we/I use the Web so very often and writers of information I use, etc. have to be making money somehow.

Chapter 8
I was shocked to learn about Moore’s Law, which states that the density of a piece of silicon will double every 18 to 24 months, and to find that there is no historical equivalent for this kind of change.  Metcalf’s Law seemed confusing before Gillmor gave the example of the growth of fax machines, and how one fax machine in the world is useless, but as soon as there are two, real value is created and continues to increase with the number of fax machines increasing around the world.  As Gillmor points out, journalists are supposed to filter information, not just collect facts, which is why the idea of making blog’s even more interactive, by having the people on webcams, is a little hasty because it writing one’s thoughts out is the first step to organizing those thoughts.  I’d be afraid that people using cameras to record their thoughts instead of writing them would be too scattered and disorganized.   Customizable news pages on the Web have become really popular because they organize news in an easy and comprehensive way for people who want news fast.  I had never heard of Technorati until reading this chapter, but after much confusion, I finally figured out how it is different from Google (and the like) and why it is important.  Technorati is a system that estimates how much “authority” a person has, for example, by how many people there are linking to that person.
Chapter 9
The troubling risk of people misquoting others or taking their words out of context is always a concern, and now more than ever with such a vast variety of opinions and information at people’s fingertips.  Gillmor points out how easy it is to manipulate public opinion because of people’s willingness to trust information, especially if it seems to be controversial.  The advancements in technology have made unethical journalistic behavior, such as doctoring photos, videos, and even live-shots easier than ever, and it remains a huge concern.  What’s also scary, as Gillmor calls attention to, is how easy it is to remain anonymous on the Net, which is one of its great defects but seems to be impossible to do away with because many people enjoy having their anonymity and have good reason to want to keep it.  One quote that stuck with me from this chapter was “Credibility stems not just from smart arguments; it also comes from a willingness to stand behind those arguments when a compelling reason to stay anonymous is absent.”  I support Gillmor’s suggestion that if we are going to have serious online discussions that all parties should either be willing to verify who they are, or risk having their contributions be questions or possibly overlooked, with some exceptions.  The parts about spinning were very entertaining, especially Adam Gaffin’s experience and his “Wicked Good” forum that had the ability to place an item on a Google listing that pointed out “why new media strategies suck,” with good reason.

Chapter 10

Chapter 10 answers a question that I wasn’t entirely sure about, and that is whether or not a blogger has to be attributed if their work strikes up an idea to assist another blogger with their blog.  Gillmor says that online journalists are no less required to follow the law than anyone else, and that a blogger who commits libel may have to face the consequences.  I had never heard of one being insured against libel before reading this text and wonder where one goes about getting insurance for such a thing.  A good point is made when David L. Marburger advises that writers who work without editors – typically bloggers – don’t have that second and third set of eye to look at their work.  Their risk is going to be higher because they’re less likely to critically analyze their own work than an editor would be.  This is definitely something to keep in mind as someone who will be soon starting a blog and needs to try to stay as objective as possible while writing something of interest and probably opinionated.  The law suits mentioned about defamation were intriguing because I was surprised people actually won some of the cases, because people got the High Courts to agree with some of their arguments which seem so far fetched.  Cheating and copyright law is another obvious concern, and I had never heard of the saying “what’s acceptable is what you can get away with,” but when mulling that over, it definitely corresponds to what many people I personally know think of as ethical.  But as Gillmor says the copyright debate goes much farther than attacks on speech and linking, and goes to the heart of the Internet and technology.

Chapter 11
We are lucky in the U.S. to have as much freedom as we do especially when it comes to political content, as citizens of some countries such as China and Saudi Arabia are blocked from numerous Web sites and much content is censored.  The explanation of what “cookies” are – little files placed on users’ computer that allow the owner of a web site to track where visitors go and when – was helpful to my knowledge but I was never actually certain what cookies were, but I had heard of them and knew they pertained to computers.  I personally have no reason to be concerned about cookies and my use on computers, but I can see why they could be a concern to many people to handle valuable data on their computers.  The notion of Fair Use caught my attention because I never considered taping a TV show and watching it later to be an infringement on copyright, but it makes sense because I am using a small portion of someone else’s work as part of a new work – possibly without their permission.  Another main point in this chapter that applied to my personal experiences was the part about peer-to-peer online file sharing – namely, with music.  It’s hard to think of how unfair is it to basically steal music from big industries, when it is so easy to do so.  It’s hard to feel sorry for the big telecommunications industries, but Gillmor does a good job of pointing out how much they get cheated on a regular basis because users are too smart and powerful these days.

Chapter 12
Gillmor makes his claim in Chapter 12 that We The Media was created to persuade readers that the collision of journalism and technology is having major consequences for three constituents: journalists, newsmakers, and the audience, and that for the first time in history the feedback system can be global and nearly instantaneous.  Gillmor gives an overview of the many topics covered in this book, and reinforces his opinion that the issues we are dealing with now with the media are going to continue to be issues for decades.  He states that he has no doubts that technology will eventually win the power fight because it is becoming more and more ubiquitous.  He goes on to describe how he does indeed support copyright and how he has uniquely copyrighted We The People.  Lastly, he encourages his readers to participate in the ongoing development of his Web site that was created to keep a close eye on the changes and updates about innovative new tools and major events, which is the type of global participation and collaboration Gillmor supports through the entire book.