Blogbook

In the Guardian (where else ? ) Simon Waldman reviews “We the Media: Grassroots Journalism By the People For the People” by Dan Gillmor, a book about blogging that was written using the internet to interact with visitors to his blog site.

Quote:

Throughout this book, he argues that the growth of internet and related technologies is changing the balance of power between journalists and their readers; you can succeed in the coming decades only by acknowledging that shift in power and changing your behaviour accordingly. “Big media … treated the news as a lecture. We told you what the news was. You bought it, or you didn’t. You might write us a letter; we might print it … it was a world that bred complacency and arrogance on our part. It was a gravy train while it lasted, but it was unsustainable.

“Tomorrow’s news reporting and production will be more of a conversation or a seminar. The lines will blur between producers and consumers, changing the role of both in ways we’re only beginning to grasp. The communication network itself will be a medium for everyone’s voice, not just the few who can afford to buy multimillion-dollar printing presses, launch satellites, or win the government’s permission to squat on the public airways.”

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