Fred Friendly Seminars Continue On

With privacy protection a deep concern in the digital world and out, The National Science Foundation and The Department of Energy are sponsoring Nanofuture: Privacy and Security, a series of nanotechnology focused events at the Museum of Science in Boston. As a part of the series they are tonight conducting a Fred Friendly Seminar, a moderated Socratic discussion based on hypotheticals intended to compel seminar panelists to question their previously held beliefs.  It will be recorded, and in time will air on PBS.

Fred Friendly - broadcast journalist, one of the founders of public broadcasting and fierce proponent of news system autonomy - developed the debates in his ongoing study of the relationship between media and society. Broadcast on PBS stations nationwide, the debates' purposes served, in the words of Mr. Friendly, "not to make up anybody's mind, but to open minds and to make the agony of decision making so intense that you can escape only by thinking." In the process, he trained the founder and faculty co-director of Berkman, and Harvard Law Professor, Charlie Nesson as a debate moderator.

Professor Nesson recently posted video of Eye on the Media - Business & the Press, a CBS-aired Fred Friendly Seminar that he moderated in 1982. He dove and dipped into the issues then, still does through his courses and at his blog, and that Fred Friendly spirit continues to push Berkman in a direction of query, interest and responsibility.