New side-gig writing for PBS
The wife is all excited because I just published a piece for PBS MediaShift’s Idea Lab blog about how really smart people, like Cliff Stoll, got the potential for internet-based news so wrong. I guess I’m excited too, except that because it’s such a challenge to get my busy colleagues to publish at Idea Lab like they’re obliged to, I know I’ll be the one volunteering to pick up the slack. (But that’s where good opportunities come from.) Funniest part about it–by virtue of working for the Center for Future Civic Media, I get to have “2007 Knight News Challenge Winner” below my name on the site.
Clifford Stoll Was Wrong, But Internet is Far From Perfect
The 1995 version of Cliff Stoll can take intellectual, if not actual, comfort in the fact that all of these new methods of access haven’t resulted in greater “source diversity” or better news comprehension. Americans haven’t increased the number of sources they routinely check — and yet they feel overwhelmed by those they do. The study found that:
Despite all of this online activity, the typical online news consumer routinely uses just a handful of news sites and does not have a particular favorite. And overall, Americans have mixed feelings about this “new” news environment. Over half (55%) say it is easier to keep up with news and information today than it was five years ago, but 70% feel the amount of news and information available from different sources is overwhelming.
In other words, rather than Stoll’s predicted “wasteland of unfiltered data,” the Internet today is more like the Big City, where residents can feel deeply connected to their neighbors, while at the same time being wary of ever asking “Who else is out there?” — because the answer is overwhelming.
Read the full post at PBS.org. Next up for that blog, I’m 99% sure, will be a post that cites the Southpark “Underpants Gnomes” episode. I’m sure they’ll ask me to stop after that.
