Enoch posted a link to the Panel on Non Fiction Media that will take place tonight in Mountain View, CA. Of course, I can’t make it, but I’d like to be there if I could. I’d like to meet Susan Mernit. And I’d like to see Dan Gillmor again. Although I didn’t say hi to him at BloggerCon, I appreciated the session he lead on Presidential blogging (I titled my post with a quote of his: “human face on an inhuman process”), and I also have enjoyed what I’ve read from his book in progress, posted by chapter on his blog, now titled We The Media (formerly “Making the News”). Here’s a link to the book at O’Reilly and on his blog. What’s great about the book, from my perspective, is how fresh it is. He covers examples that have happened this year, weeks ago, using them as illustrations of what is yet to come. It was a fun read for me, because I realized how much I knew or recognized. (Or perhaps it was scary for me to see how deep into this culture I’ve swum!) I like how Dan Gillmor explains the technology and events with a clarity and simplicity so it’s understandable but also with analysis and passion, so you know what he believes and why he’s writing. He explains the technology and the media and where the two are headed together. Here’s a few quotes from the book.
From the Introduction, page 2
Tomorrow’s news reporting will be more of a conversation or seminar. The lines will blur between producers and consumers, changing the role of both in ways we’re only beginning to grasp now.
From Chapter 1, page 3
Yes, the pace of life has quickened. But when most of us don’t stop long enough to consider what we’ve been told, much less seek out context, we are allowing ourselves to be shallow, and to be led by people who take advantage of it. A shallow citizenry can be turned into a dangerous mob more easily than an informed one.
From Chapter 2, page 2:
The news is what we make of it, in more ways than one.
To understand the evolution of tomorrow’s news, we need to understand the technologies that are making it possible.
From Chapter 3 page 2
Information no longer leaks. It gushes, through firewalls and other barriers, via instant messages, emails and phone calls.
