book

We the Media

by Dan Gillmor

January 2006

Beginner

334 pages

7h 50m

English

O'Reilly Media, Inc.

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Endnotes
The Corporate EraFrom Outside InRansom-Note MediaOut Loud and OutrageousThe Web Era EmergentWriting the WebOpen Sourcing the NewsTerror Turns Journalism’s CornerEndnotes
Mail Lists and ForumsWeblogsWikiSMSMobile-Connected CamerasInternet “Broadcasting”Peer-to-PeerThe RSS RevolutionMaking Sense of It AllEndnotes
Spreading the WordTruth SquadLooking DeeperBubble, Bubble, Tout and TroubleSwarming Investigators and SpiesWatching JournalistsTurning the TablesEndnotes
Learning by ListeningBlog ItThe Celebrity BlogTalking to the AudienceFine-Grain PitchingSome Rules for New-World PR and MarketingEndnotes
Business as UsualWhat’s New Is OldElecting a PresidentDean Meets Meetup, Blogs, and MoneyCash Cow, and Catching UpOpen Source PoliticsA Changing Role for JournalistsThe Tools of Better GovernanceEndnotes
Traditional Media’s OpportunityAuthority from Linking, ListeningAsking the Former Audience for HelpCase Study: Promoting, Then Reporting, ActivismCase Study: The Citizen ReportersNewsroom ToolsTeaching New TricksA Question of TrustEndnotes
Citizen Journalist: Bloggers (and More) EverywhereEvolutionary and RevolutionaryNonprofit Community PublishingAlternative Media FlourishesThe Wiki Media PhenomenonBusiness Models for Tomorrow’s Personal JournalismNew Business Models: The Tip JarEndnotes
Laws and Other CodesCreating the NewsSorting It OutSyndication Takes OffThe World Live WebProbing APIs and Web ServicesOkay, but Whose “Information” Do You Trust?Dinosaurs and DangersEndnotes

Cut and Paste, Right and WrongNew Ways to MisleadWho’s Talking, and Why?Trolls and Other AnnoyancesSpin PatrolCitizen Reporters to the RescueA Flight to Quality?Plain Old Common SenseEndnotes
Defamation, Libel, and Other Nasty StuffJurisdictionEmail and Free SpeechMisusing Other People’s WorkCopyrights and WrongsForbidden Links and Other OutragesEndnotes
Governments Get Nervous; Big Business Gets NosyThe Copyright CartelEye of the BeholderCharm and ToughnessThe Tech Industry SelloutThe End of End-to-End?Return of the Jedi UsersA Deregulatory Rescue?The End of Scarcity?Endnotes
A Creative CommonsDay-to-Day ChangesEndnotes
Outline and IdeasDrafts and Other PostingsAcknowledgmentsEndnotes

Overview

"We the Media, has become something of a bible for those who believe the online medium will change journalism for the better." -Financial Times

Big Media has lost its monopoly on the news, thanks to the Internet. Now that it's possible to publish in real time to a worldwide audience, a new breed of grassroots journalists are taking the news into their own hands. Armed with laptops, cell phones, and digital cameras, these readers-turned-reporters are transforming the news from a lecture into a conversation. In We the Media, nationally acclaimed newspaper columnist and blogger Dan Gillmor tells the story of this emerging phenomenon and sheds light on this deep shift in how we make--and consume--the news.

Gillmor shows how anyone can produce the news, using personal blogs, Internet chat groups, email, and a host of other tools. He sends a wake-up call tonewsmakers-politicians, business executives, celebrities-and the marketers and PR flacks who promote them. He explains how to successfully play by the rules of this new era and shift from "control" to "engagement." And he makes a strong case to his fell journalists that, in the face of a plethora of Internet-fueled news vehicles, they must change or become irrelevant.

Journalism in the 21st century will be fundamentally different from the Big Media oligarchy that prevails today. We the Media casts light on the future of journalism, and invites us all to be part of it.

Dan Gillmor is founder of Grassroots Media Inc., a project aimed at enabling grassroots journalism and expanding its reach. The company's first launch is Bayosphere.com, a site "of, by, and for the San Francisco Bay Area."

Dan Gillmor is the founder of the Center for Citizen Media, a project to enable and expand reach of grassroots media. From 1994-2004, Gillmor was a columnist at the San Jose Mercury News, Silicon Valley's daily newspaper, and wrote a weblog for SiliconValley.com. He joined the Mercury News after six years with the Detroit Free Press. Before that, he was with the Kansas City Times and several newspapers in Vermont. He has won or shared in several regional and national journalism awards. Before becoming a journalist he played music professionally for seven years.