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"We the Media: Grassroots Journalism by
the People, for the People"
Chronicles the Dismantling of Big Media's
Monopoly on the News
Sebastopol, CA--For the first time, bloggers
have been awarded press credentials to cover the
national political conventions. That's a harbinger of bigger
changes in the media landscape, according to nationally
known columnist Dan Gillmor. His new book, "We
the Media: Grassroots Journalism by the People, for the
People," tells the story of the grassroots
journalists--including bloggers--who are dismantling Big
Media's monopoly on the news. Through Internet-fueled,
interactive vehicles like weblogs, these
readers-turned-reporters are transforming the news from a
lecture to a conversation. They're publishing in real time
to a worldwide audience that's eager to read their
independent, unfiltered reports. And the impact of their
work is just beginning to be felt by professional
journalists and the newsmakers they cover. "We the
Media" sheds light on this deep shift in how we
make--and consume--the news.
"We the Media" is essential
reading for all participants in the news cycle:
* Consumers learn how they can become
producers of the news. Gillmor lays out the tools of the
grassroots journalist's trade, including personal web
journals (called weblogs or blogs), Internet chat groups,
email, and cell phones. He also illustrates how, in this age
of media consolidation and diminished reporting, to
"roll your own" news, drawing from the array of
sources available online and even over the phone.
* Newsmakers--politicians, business
executives, celebrities--get a wake-up call. The control
that newsmakers enjoyed in the top-down world of Big Media
is seriously undermined in the Internet Age. Gillmor shows
newsmakers how to successfully play by the new rules and
shift from "control" to "engagement."
* Journalists discover that the new
grassroots journalism presents opportunity as well as
challenge to their profession. One of the first mainstream
journalists to have a blog, Gillmor says, "My readers
know more than I do, and that's a good thing." In
"We the Media," he makes the case to his
colleagues that, in the face of a plethora of
Internet-fueled news vehicles, they must change or become
irrelevant.
At its core, "We the Media" is a
book about people. People like Glenn Reynolds, a law
professor whose blog postings on the intersection of
technology and liberty garnered him enough readers and
influence that he became a source for professional
journalists. Or Ben Chandler, whose upset Congressional
victory was fueled by contributions that came in response to
ads on a handful of political blogs. Or Iraqi blogger
Zayed, whose Healing Irag blog (healingiraq.blogspot.com)
scooped Big Media. Or "acridrabbit," who inspired
an online community to become investigative reporters and
discover that the dying Kaycee Nichols' sad tale was a hoax.
Give the people tools to make the news, "We the
Media" asserts, and they will.
Journalism in the 21st century will be
fundamentally different from the Big Media that prevails
today. "We the Media" casts light on the future of
journalism, and invites us all to be part of it.
We the Media: Grassroots Journalism by the
People, for the People
Dan Gillmor
ISBN: 0-596-00733-7, 320 pages, $24.95 US,
$36.95 CA
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