Informing the Public in the Internet Age

April 15

The profusion of low-cost media production and distribution has led to the rise of an alternative citizen-led media sector. Is this a passing fad of enthusiastic amateurs or the beginning of a fundamental restructuring of the way media and news are produced and consumed? Will the current trends lead to more information, better information, and better informed people or to an infinite stream of unreliable chatter? Will it lead to a more politically engaged populace or to an increasingly polarized society that picks its sources of information to match its biases and ignorance?

Readings

The whos and wheres of modern journalism

• Persephone Miel and Rob Faris, News and Information as Digital Media Come of Age (read executive summary)

• Federal Communications Commission, Information Needs of Communities (read executive summary, skim overview)

Threats and issues

• RonNell Anderson Jones, Litigation, Legislation, and Democracy in a Post-Newspaper America (Section I only)

• Brendan Nyhan, Biases Abound (about 15 mins., watch all)

• Yochai Benkler, The Dangerous Logic of the Bradley Manning Case

• Alexander Abad-Santos, Reddit and 4Chan Are on the Boston Bomber Case

• This American Life, Picture Show (audio, from 0:00 to 5:09)

New technologies and models

• Banyan Project, Introduction and Overview

• Chris Faraone, MuckRock City (Boston Phoenix)

• Adrienne LaFrance, From Cold Calls to Community Building, ProPublica Tries to Make Crowdsourcing More Meaningful (Nieman Journalism Lab)

Optional Readings

• Jonathan Zittrain, 2009 Richard S. Salant Lecture on Freedom of the Press (the lecture starts at 19:45)

Class Discussion

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