Dan Gillmor is arguing that we should abandon the golden
standard of “Objectivity†in American Journalism. Undoubtedly some in the old
guard will label him a heretic; however, like most heretics, he is being
condemned for speaking the truth:
A poll of 21 countries published yesterday - reflecting opinion in
Africa, Latin America, North America, Asia and Europe - showed that a
clear majority have grave fears about the next four years.
The media hath spoken: 2004 was the “year of the blog.†As we all
know, whenever a broadcast and print media come to a consensus, a truth
is born. Thus, we can relax. There is no need to put any further
thought into the matter. Unfortunately, I have a bad habit of thinking.
And as a result of my nasty habit, I believe the media has completely
misunderstood what the blog represents: the first significant manifestation of much larger trend.
This powerful trend is two-fold:
the rise of the network as a form of social organization.
the freeing information from the constraints and limitations of the physical world.
In the first post of this series, we will explore the rise
of the network through the lenses of history, and the social sciences.
This Friday, I'm flying to Washington D.C. for the Progressive Democrats of America Summit. I'll be giving a talk at the summit about how progressives can get their message out online. If any of ya'll are going to be in Washington DC 21st-25th, contact me, and perhaps we'll be able to meet up at some point.
Scandal has rocked the blogosphere in the wake of Harvard's conference on 