We the Media–Chapter Reviews (7-12)

7

The first thing the chapter discusses is citizen journalist and people who blog about various things, including the news. Meaning, barring journalists and the media from coverage doesn’t mean much anymore and is on its way to meaning nothing at all. Blogs now can be acts of civil engagement. They can contain more depth than the work of professional journalists who face the standard limitations of reporting time, airtime, and available space for they learn. Next the chapter talked about how blogs have become the material used for spurring revolutions. Unlike in America where we have the right to free speech, in other countries the blogsphere is more dangerous and thus more serious to engage in. Blogs in certain places, most especially Iran, have become a communications network for repressed people and evinces how effectively citizens are learning to use modern technology. Blogs have enabled millions of people to speak openly and freely but the struggle to protect and maintain that freedom is only beginning. After this the author discussed “alternative media” and how it hasn’t used the Net well and so now a new kind of alternative media has arisen trascending blogs (for example, Indymedia). These powerful programs have brought people to the Web so they can find more information such as additional video footage, supporting documents, and extended interviews. After this it discussed the Wiki phenemenon and how it has become a profoundly democratized form of online data gathering. The author said that under the right cirumstances it is almost an ideal journalistic tool allowing us to travel immediately and easily to loads of  information, some of which is credible and most of which is accurate.  Wiki has no limits. The last couple of sections examined business models for journalism. The author claimed that we are now in an age where people can bring serious alternatives to the public, for its consumption, and make bills doing it.

8

The first section the chapter talked about laws and codes and how journalism has evolved from its 20th century simple, top-down framework. Now there are more alternatives and a conversational tone, previously unknown, has developed between the media and the public. Technology and an increasing dissatisfaction with the mass media have created guidelines for a new and improved framework. Now the news is embedding brains in everything it touches and adding memory to everything too. Grassroots journalism feeds on all the innovations. As technologies of creation and communication grow more powerful and become smaller and then become entwined with fabric of life, we will have much more raw data and need tools and humans operating those tools to make sense of it all. Next the chapter discussed how in the future the tools being developed will need to be drop-dead simple or the promise of grassroots journalism won’t be kept. The reporter of the future, nevertheless, will report equipped with an amazing toolkit. After the author talked about how the ability to get all the news you want is the hallmark of a networked world. It discussed new tools on Google which have enabled people to create their own reports and more. The author said he is most impressed with Yahoo!’s in considering all the major web companie’s innovative moves. Next he talked about how mountains of information are created every day by RSS feeds and other structures of information and smart entrapeneurs and other researchers are currently creating tools which will become intregral parts of tomorrow’s architecture. The chapter then talked about Technorati and how its various information and research services have effectivley aided many news networks. Then it discussed APIs (applications programming interface) which are standards engineered to ensure that one product can interoperate with another. It then analyzes an array of developing technologies which will become part of future news dissemination systems. Web services will soon make things possible previously concluded impossibly laborious and time consuming. Lastly, it talked about how among the missing components in this hierarchy is a way to evaluate a person’s reputation beyond the crude systems in place today.

9

The first thing examined is the fact that nothing, journalistically speaking, justifies blatant deception. But the line between improper doctoring and making an image better is less clear than people might think.  It talked about how elements of mystery have been present in the media and news programming for years. Several techniques were analyzed each of which have been made to order for the Internet, where lies spread quickly and can do huge damage before the truth is learned and made known. After this came a discussion on why anonymity on the Net should be done away with, though it has become enshrined in American culture. It went on to the pros and mostly cons of anonymous posting. The author then stated in summation of several examples of mistrust and shadiness that people reading comments on discussion boards would be wise to question the veracity of a commenter whenever they aren’t absolutely certain where the posting is coming from. He went on to say that all parties commenting on a site for online discussions should be willing to verify who they are or expect their post to be questioned or even ignored. Next it discussed trolls: vandals who try to clog the site with irrelevant or obscene postings, trying to provoke readers and waste their time. The chapter then declared that not everyone has the right to speak on everyone else’s site or be part of everyone else’s conversation. After this it discussed “spinning”: putting events or other facts, especially of those with political or legal significance, into contexts favoring oneself or one’s client or cause, at least in comparison to opponents. Online spin varies from the relative harmless, and even amusing, to more ethically challenged methods.  Some online spin is simply purposelydeceptive and should be viewed cautiously. Exposure, however, can be a reasonable counterweight to spinmeisters. Next it discussed the rescuing role of citizen reporters stating that when there are lots of citizen reporters scrutinizing what other people say, they have a way of getting to the truth or at least shining light on inconsistencies. Lastly, it discussed how the flood of unreliable information on the Net could have the ironic effect of reinforcing the effect of big media, at least in the short term.

10

The first section, among other legal principles, defamation and libel. Online journalists are no less required to follow the law than anyone else. A blogger who commits libel may have to face the consequences. Even if a blogger can libel someone else with her own comments, a blog owner is probably not liable for what someone else writes in the comments, according to Jack Balkin. Though they constantly confront tough threats, bloggers have mostly avoided libelous suits and the legal chopping block. Then the chapter examined jurisdiction or power. Many court rulings have been blows to the open and conversational nature of the Internet. One, the author stated, was an attack on our First Amendment rights because it suggested that standards in the nation’s most repressive communities could determine what the rest of hear, read, and view. Then he declared to force sites to provide versions for every jurisdiction is not practical and is fundamentally antispeech. Next the chapter examined plagiarism and how the lines between what is  and what isn’t plagiarism can so easily blur and be innocently confused especially on the Internet. Though cheating may prevade the Net, the Net itself provides mechanisms for catching cheaters and violators. The author then said that fairness is a hard word to define but everyone knows what cheating is and means and that society accepts too much of it. It then discussed how one of the most pernicious trends in recent times has been the application of property rights to almost all things digital. Trademarks encompass the words, logos, and other things which define a brand. The author cites and analyzes numerous examples. Basically a site can imitate the entire look and feel of another and then try to use it for commercial gain or other times purely satirically. The following sections was about forbidden links, examining many examples related to its outrageousness.  It went on to declare that if a judge can say one kind of journalist is legitimate and another isn’t, the entire concept of grassroots media is undermined and threatened. A division is thus created which doesn’t exist and should chill all so-called legitimate journalists. This could foretell the licensing of journalists in the precarious future of its evolution. The copyright debate goes far beyond linking and attacks on free speech and deep into the realm of the Internet and technology.

11

The author begins the chapter by stating that it’s imperative to understand the very notion of copyright has changed since the founders first enshrined it in the Constitution and, as balance has disappeared, it has become an instrument of harsh control. Copyright holders are essentially stealing our heritage to protect a few valuable works and they’re thwarting innovation. Ironically, industries now pushing for absolute control got their start by doing what they would call piracy today. Shamefully, the news industry must fight to protect its First Amendment rights without which it wouldn’t survive. There has always been infringement and copyright holders have lived with it as part of their overall bargain with society. Laws have been abused repeatedly in copyright cases because copyright is not at clear and straightforward but deceptive and obscure, and purposfully so. Give copyright holders the ability to fix all their perceived infringement problems and you give them unprecedented control over tomorrow’s information and over culture itself. If we need permission or have to pay, just to quote from other works, scholarship will be only one casualty, the author states. There is always a serious question of privacy within the copyright debate. And, the chapter declares, anyone with a sense of history should fear a system in which the government knows every copyrighted work you read. The costs and harms of copyrighting outweigh its benefits. The future of media belongs to people who should be able to depend on the rights of the First Amendment–and it should belong to the rest of the globe, too. Next the chapter discussed how slowly but surely key members of the tech elite have evolved from being fiercely independent to being a lackey for some entertainment companies. No tecnology company, the chapter states, has done more to curry favor with copyright cartel than Microsoft–a company, ironically, that continually ignored copyright law in building its business. Several major technology companies are working on a program to prevent people’s PCs from being taken over by viruses. However, it might be devastating for information freedom. Next the chapter discussed the “end to end” principle which stated that we want to keep the intelligence out at the edges of the network and make t transportation of data as simple as possible in between. People in China where the government censors Internet content know firsthand the dangers of centralized choke points. The mass media, immersed in the conflict of interest war, is ignoring the current threat posed by growing ownership concentration. Ultimately the author declared that the Internet is infinitely diverse but if you can’t find it completely or if there are artificial barriers blocking some of its content, that diversity means nothing. Next the chapter urged the customer to be proactive by: writing and calling his elected officials, local and national; contribute to organizations that defend your rights; use your power as a customer. The public must help to preserve the end-to-endness  of the Net in the face of new monopolists. There must at least be rules, rules which are followed, and strict regulation and enforcement ensuring that the cable and phone companies cannot discriminate against any content. Next the chapter talked about how if the scarcity of the airwaves can be overcome, the implications would be both exciting and disruptive, as we shall see a cornucopia of communications that foreshadows woes and opportunities for some of the biggest telecommunications companies. There have been limitations on the right to free speech, involving the airwaves, justified in part under the idea that the spectrum is a public and limited resource. If that’s not true, there’s no reason to regulate speech in this way.

12

The author began the last chapter by declaring that he is confident that technology will win its battle with big business and governments–especially the copyright cartel–because it is becoming more and more ubiquitous and that he has faith that public officials will eventually pay deserved attention to the interests  of their constituents. Because of the argument he presented against copyright in chapter 11, the author then stated that he is not against copyright. He said however that he thinks highly of it as it was originally conceived–as a way to allow authors to protect their work and enjoy the fruits of their labor; to allow the public to enjoy what these authors have created; to promote debate and inspiration of all kinds; to enable innovation and news works be based on old ones, and ultimately to benefit the public domain as the whole daily. He said he values it but loathes it abuse which is a common occurrence. The next section discussed the amazing velocity of technical change. The author said he wanted the book above all else to convince you have a voice and to use it and to challenge yourself consistently. All a person needs is a voice and he or she can make news–that means creating dialogue, a conversation, offering advice, helping others, contributing and bettering knowledge, and finding news ways and strategies to do things.