We the Media

Rating:
Summary: Easy to read overview, sensible, read with Trippi's book
Review: <P>
Joe Trippi's book, "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised: Democracy, the Internet, and the Overthrow of Everything" joins Howard Rheingold's book, "Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution," and Bill Moyer's collaborative book, "doing DEMOCRACY," as the companions for this book--taken together, the four books provide everything any group needs to "take back the power."

Whereas Trippi provides a personal story that illuminates the new power that comes from combining citizen activism with Internet-enabled networking, this book focuses more on the role the Internet and blogs play in the perception and dissemination of accurate unbiased information. It is not only an elegant presentation, easy to read, with good notes and a fine seven-page listing of cool web sites, but it also provides a useful survey of past writings on this topic--with due credit to Alvin Toffler's first perception of the trend toward mass customization and the elimination of intermediaries, together with original thoughts from the author.

This book could become a standard undergraduate reference on non-standard news sources and the blurring of the lines between producers and consumers of information (or in the government world, of intelligence).

Resistance to change by established media; the incredible emotional and intellectual growth that comes from having a "media" of, by, and for the people that is ***open*** to new facts and context and constantly being ***refreshed***, and the undeniable ability of the people in the aggregate to triumph in their assembled expertise, over niche experts spouting biases funded by specific institutions, all come across early in the book.

The book is provocative, exploring what it means when more and more information is available to the citizen, to include information embedded in foods or objects that communicates, in effect, "if you eat me I will kill you," the author's most memorable turn of phase that really makes the point.

While respecting privacy, the author notes that this may, as David Brin has suggested, be a relic of a pre-technological time. Indeed, I was reminded of the scene in Sho-Gun, where a person had to pause to defecate along the side of the trail, and everyone else simply stood around and did not pay attention--a very old form of privacy that we may be going back to.

Feedster gets some good advertising, and it bears mention that Trippi is still at the Google/email stage, while Gillmor is at the Feedster/RSS/Wiki stage.

Between Trippi and Gillmor, the term "open source politics" can now be said to be established. The line between open source software, open source intelligence or information, and open spectrum can be expected to blur further as public demands for openness and transparency are backed up with the financial power that only an aroused and engaged public can bring to bear.

Gilmor is riveting and 100% on target when he explores the meaning of all this for Homeland Security. He points out that not only is localized observation going to be the critical factor in preventing another 9-11, but that the existing budget and program for homeland security does not provide one iota of attention to the challenge of soliciting information from citizens, and ensuring that the "dots" from citizens get processed and made sense of.

The book slows in the middle with some case studies I could have done without, and then picks up for a strong conclusion by reviewing the basic laws (Moore, Metcalfe, Reed) in order to make the point, as John Gage noted in 2000, that once you have playstations wired for Internet access, and DoKoMo mobile phones that pre-teens can afford, the people ***own*** the world of information.

Spies and others concerned about deception and mischief on the Internet will appreciate the chapter on trolls, spin, and the boundaries of trust. Bottom line: there are public solutions to private misbehavior.

The chapter on lawyers and the grotesque manner in which copyright law is being extended and perverted, allowing a few to steal from our common heritage while hindering innovation (the author's words), should outrage. Lawrence Lessin and Cass Sunstein are still the top minds on this topic, but Gillmore does a fine job of articulating some of the key points.

The book ends on a great note: for the first time in history, a global, continuous feedback loop among a considerable number of the people in possible. This may not overthrow everything, as Trippi suggests, but it most assuredly does ***change*** everything.

I have taken one star away because of really rotten binding--the book, elegant in both substance and presentation, started falling apart in my hands within an hour of my cracking it open.

Rating:
Summary: When we become the medium
Review: As I was about to write this review, Reuters published the news that: "Iranian authorities have arrested at least six Internet journalists and webloggers in recent days, colleagues and relatives said on Wednesday, in a further blow to limited press freedoms in the Islamic state. News-based Internet sites and online journals known as Weblogs have flourished in Iran where the disproportionately youthful population often turns to the Internet for information and entertainment."

How significant is this? It indicates that the power of internet publishing, today's equivalent of samizdat (which in most slavic languages means self-published), is being recognized not only by those who consume and produce blog-based news, but also by those who fear the power of media when in the hands of the people.

I grew up in a communist country where every typewriter (machine) had to be registered with the police department. A friend of mine from a different town had asked me to buy him a typewriter because in his hometown his name was on a list banning him from owning a typewriter.

Today, everyone can start a Blogger account or install a Movable Type on a web server and start publishing. With this power, of course, comes enormous responsibility.

This book, "We The Media", is a fascinating look on the way the internet self-publishing and blogging phenomenon has changed the way we produce, consume, and share news.

The author is more than respectable--Dan Gillmor, the business and technology columnist from SilliconValley.com. The publisher, O'Reilly, is more than knowledgable on the subject of the convergence of new technologies, business and society. The result is enjoyable, educating, thought-provoking. In my humble, unprofessional opinion, this book fully deserves 5 out of 5 stars!

Rating:
Summary: Bravo! A Great, Great Book
Review: First of all, let me say that I am not related to Dan Gillmor the inspirational author of this truly great book. I wish I were related, but alas I am not.

This book by Dan Gillmor is again a great book. This Mr. Gillmor the author provides real insight and inspires this Gillmor the book reviewer to publish his views on the Internet, to become a blogger.

Books like this that inspire would be bloggers are special and the author of this book who is not related to me is once again special. I heartily recommend you buy this book by Dan Gillmor, read it as I have done and treasure its lingerging value to this and all future bloggers. Bravo, Dan Gillmor, the author!

Rating:
Summary: I reviewed this on my blog!
Review: from www.frankmyers.blogspot.com (a journal of my war in Iraq expereince) and on blogcritics.org:

Wow. I'm just finishing Dan Gilmor's "We the Media." It was published by O'Reilly Media in August of 2004.

If you have any interest in how the internet is changing journalism, and I bet you do since you're reading this review, this book is a must read.

After giving you just enough history to inform you without being boring, Dan works his way through the bulk of this massive online phenomenon. He focuses on how big money media is being changed by the web community. In many places he shows the conflict between the two, but in many places he demonstrates the compatibility of the two.

In a well written insiders look at blogging, Gillmor only bogs down late in the book when he handles copywrite law, Big Media, and cyber-liberty. Lets face it, and this is coming from a lawyer, there are not a lot of interesting ways to write about these mundane, party-spoiling topics. My only other critical thought, and its hard to find any with this great book, is that I felt a little shorted in that I wanted more insight into the future. What's coming next? Where is all this going? He hit on these topics, but maybe it's a topic better suited for its own book. Or a blog. :>

Overall, outstanding book, written while this new medium is still fresh enough to expect Gillmor's book to soon be referred to as the seminal work on blogging.


Rating:
Summary: Who Really is The Media Now?
Review: I am going to have to confess to something here. Before I started reading "We The Media:Grassroots Journalism By The People, For The People",(299 pages , O'Reilly Media, 2002, ISBN 0-596-00733-7) written by Dan Gillmor, I had my mind all set up that it would be some more rubbish spit out by a hack journalist. This was easy for me to do because I never considered myself to be a journalist and I knew virtually nothing about Dan Gillmor. The latter is because I have probably had my head buried too deep into purely technical books more than I should. I also have been undecided on the role of "new media" in society as a whole because of my disdain for the latest and greatest toys pushed out by manufacturers. Then I sat down and read this book. I was instantly drawn in, not only because I had started my own blog in July, but because the book challenged me to think about the role of bloggers in society. I do not agree with everything Mr. Gillmor has written, but like movies like "The Passion of the Christ", a truly good book is one that challenges your notions, makes you think about them, and offers you the chance to enter into conversation about them.

If you choose to read this book, don't expect a how to guide on how to build and publicize a blog. Expect to gain an understanding how, in Mr. Gillmor's view, the blog boom is a natural extension of how journalism has changed over the years. I disagree with him that we as bloggers are journalists because I define it differently. In fact, I believe that between the lines of this book, a reader will see that they are not truly journalists in the strictest sense, BUT, because blogs are essentially journals that we write and publish, what we write can take on a life of its own. Even though we do not have copy editors reviewing our work, blog postings can and do take on a life of their own, sometimes with damaging results. For me, this is key in Mr. Gillmor's presentation.

Mr. Gillmor discusses the evolution of Mickey Mouse (tm) impact of copyright law in the United States. If you can read this section of the book and not come away with even a smidgen of disgust for the tactics and hypocrisy of the corporate world in preventing works from truly entering the public domain as originally envisioned, then you will need to go back and reread the book. Here is where I diverge from his point of view again. Mt. Gillmor talks extensively of his view of Free Speech as being an inherent right on the Internet in all forms, with courts and laws stifling free speech with every chance they get. This IS something I did expect from a book written by a journalist. For me, we have no right to impose our values on other sovereign nations and that in our own nation, irresponsible free speech on the Internet needs to be policed. Yes I know this is a slippery slope, but his book provides a catalyst for conversation.

For business large and small, this book needs to be read to understand that a blog is not a toy of the fringe. It is a tool that is increasingly used to keep journalists and corporations/companies in line and the bull meter low (...). This same audience needs to read this book to understand how not using this medium themselves is a mistake, giving examples of how companies use and regulate it. There are business control and corporate governance issues that need to be addressed with this new medium. Without a fundamental understanding of the medium, the risks associated with it cannot begin to be assessed.

For students of journalism and new media, this book should be required reading. Mr. Gillmor points out that the field of journalism is often slow to react to change. They no longer can be and this understanding needs to start in the journalism schools and new media institutes (I will make sure that Dr. Scott Shamp at the University of Georgia's New Media Institute (...).

For bloggers of all kinds, whether they consider themselves to be journalists or not, need to read this book. They need to read and understand its context. They need to understand what their impact is. I also feel that they need to recognize their societal obligations in their writings (...), which I do wish Mr. Gillmor had addressed more in the book.

Over 20 years ago, I sat in a senior Political Science seminar at Niagara University (...) called "Women and Politics" taught by Dr. Nancy McGlen (...). In her book, "Women's rights: The struggle for equality in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries", she wrote about the presence of a critical mobilizing event being required for a social movement to truly take hold. Mr. Gillmor begins his book about the new media with virtually the same thesis. Whether the event he cites is the event is correct or not, its fits her model, I feel this book is the medium for serious discussions of the role of new media in society and in itself should be considered a critical mobilizing event.

I am not writing this to sell you a book. You see, Mr. Gillmor totally won me over when I got to the punchline of the book: It would be nice if you bought it, but you do not have to. It is available free for download from the "We The Media" blog (...) and under Creative Commons licensing, you are allowed to make derivative works. And true to his beliefs, Mr. Gillmor and the publisher have agreed that the copyright on the book, in the spirit of the original copyright laws, will expire after 14 years.

I have already finished 95% of a derivative work: a searchable Lotus Notes database version of the book that I plan to give to a colleague at the Atlanta Journal Constitution and any other Lotus Notes users that want to read it in this format. I think that after reading the electronic versions, you WILL want a hard copy for your library.

The Business Control Caddy Scorecard: Double-Eagle on a Par 5.

Christopher Byrne, IBM CAAD/CASA
The Business Controls Caddy (tm)
(...)

Rating:
Summary: We have a chance to take control of the media
Review: I was very impressed with this book. It takes a long look at the media starting back at the time of the American revolution but quickly moves to the last few years. It shows real concrent examples of where a Blog, an individual in a meeting or some other small-scale participant made a change.
It isn't all positive. That is, while Mr. Gillmore shows what has been done he also talks about government and big business backlash to real journalism. But, he also shows us that we can fight back to maintain control of the media.
For anyone who has been involved in Blogging, Open Source of just good journalism you will likely find mention of people you know from these communities. For example, Doc Searls' of Linux Journal quickly appears.
If you want to get some perspective on media evolution, pick up some tid bits of what has been exposed of just are a media junkey, this book is a must read.

Rating:
Summary: Charting the rise of citizens media
Review: In his new book, Dan Gillmor skillfully chronicles a revolution-in-the-making -- the rise of citizens media, a grassroots-powered phenomenon in which users are becoming both competitors and collaborators with established news organizations.

"We the Media" is certainly the most important journalism book of the year, for it aptly details a gathering storm that is about to sweep away everything we thought we knew about the news.

Gillmor lays out his basic premise with his familiar mantra: My readers know more than I do-and that's an opportunity. He writes: "[R]eaders (or viewers or listeners) collectively know more than media professionals do. This is true by definition: they are many, and we are often just one. We need to recognize and, in the best sense of the word, use their knowledge. If we don't, our former audience will bolt when they realize they don't have to settle for half-baked coverage; they can come into the kitchen themselves."

In a real sense, we're all journalists now. Gillmor passes along approvingly the citizens media credo of Oh Yeon Ho, the reformist founder of South Korea's largest online paper, OhmyNews: "Every citizen's a reporter. Journalists aren't some exotic species, they're everyone who seeks to take new developments, put them into writing, and share them with others."

The author recounts the time a Slashdot reader uncovered the misrepresentation in Microsoft's "Mac to PC" advertising campaign (the photo of the supposed Mac user who switched over to Windows actually came from a Getty Images archive). He capably relates a number of such episodes, such as the scoop scored last spring by the operator of the Memory Hole, who used a Freedom of Information Act request to obtain the military's photos of the flag-draped caskets of U.S. soldiers-something no news organization thought to do.

Blogs have been slow to take off in the mainstream media in part, Gillmor writes, because of "mistrust among traditional editors of a genre that threatens to undermine what they consider core values-namely editorial control" and "objectivity and fairness."

But he also tempers his embrace of this new world by tamping down any suggestion that blogs will put old media out of business or editors out of a job. "Bloggers who disdain editors entirely, or who say they're largely irrelevant to the process, are mistaken." At the same time, "my readers make me a better journalist because they find my mistakes, tell me what I'm missing, and help me understand nuances."

Despite the news industry's slow, plodding response to all this, Gillmor has come to reform big media, not to bury it. He writes with the passion of someone who desperately wants journalism to find its way in the digital age-and laments what will happen if it does not. "I'm absolutely certain that the journalism industry's modern structure has fostered a dangerous conservatism-from a business sense more than a political sense, though both are apparent-that threatens our future."

Gillmor saves his best admonition for last: "You can make your own news. We all can. Let's get started."



Rating:
Summary: An absolute must-read for serious bloggers and journalists
Review: In my book reviewing, I occasionally come across a book that tilts my world view. We, The Media by Dan Gillmor (O'Reilly) is probably the best and most important book I've read in the last couple of years. It's a must read for serious bloggers and journalists, both "professional" and "citizen".

Chapter breakout: From Tom Paine to Blogs and Beyond; The Read-Write Web; The Gates Come Down; Newsmakers Turn the Tables; The Consent of the Governed; Professional Journalists Join the Conversation; The Former Audience Joins the Party; Next Steps; Trolls, Spin, and the Boundaries of Trust; Here Come the Judges (and Lawyers); The Empire Strikes Back; Making Our Own News

So why is this book important? Because the balance of media power has shifted, and it's no longer in the hands of a few publishers who can make or break public perception. Via the power of the internet and the new tools such as blogs and wikis, anyone with a point of view and an interest becomes a reporter and has a voice. Those who are consumers of news no longer are restricted to controlled media outlets. With the use of RSS, you can "roll your own news" and assemble a collection of media feeds and outlets to get a more balanced view of events. During the Iraq war, people followed the blog of Where's Raed? to get a view of real life in the country as opposed to what we were permitted to see on mainstream news. Gilmore does an incredible job of revealing the power shift, as well as looking ahead to what this many-to-many approach to media might be in the future. In addition, he explains many of the legal issues surrounding electronic media that are being hashed out on a daily basis.

This whole subject recently became very real to me and a group of bloggers in my circle of interest. An IT analyst firm known as The Radicati Group engaged in some behavior that was viewed by many in the blogging community as unethical. For the whole story, see http://vowe.net/cgi-bin/wiki.cgi?RadicatiGroup. But rather than have the story restricted to a small handful of individuals, the independent blogging community picked up the story and exposed the "anonymous" behavior. In short order, the mainstream IT media ran the story and discredited much of the firm's defense. The power had shifted from corporation to individual, and the individuals made the news. Even two or three years ago this couldn't have happened. Now with the new electronic media, the ethical behavior of individuals, companies, and goverments can be examined and exposed when necessary.

If you're a serious blogger or a journalist, this should be the next book you read. Your viewpoint of what you do "for fun" will be forever changed, and you'll have a much richer appreciation for exactly what it is you represent.


Rating:
Summary: Fascinating perspective on the evolving face of media
Review: This is a fascinating read provides historical perspective on the role of media, and the how that is changing with the rise of the Internet and blogs. There really isn't much technical content here. It's primarily history, stories, some high-level technical information, then some excellent coverage of the legal issues surrounding self-publishing on the Internet.

Bloggers and journalists will get a lot out of this book. As will anyone with an interest in the changes taking place in the media.

Rating:
Summary: And the point of this book?
Review: We the Media is without any doubt the most disappointing book I have read this year. I was initially suspicious after I read the five star reader reviews that are posted here because they are just all hype and guess what I found? Buying this book was a mistake and so now I'm selling it used and advertising it as almost new, read once!

To be fair, save your money and consider yourself warned. This book goes nowhere is repetitive to the point of annoying and I learned nothing about using the Internet except perhaps not to trust some of the reviewers and their unfounded praise for this book.