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Anyone who has been a Hamster for any length of time has read and probably participated in some discussion of the shortcomings of our media, here in NH and nationally. We know that there is a serious information shortage going on, and we suspect it has a lot to do with the corporate control of the media.
But the question always comes back to how do we create a new media, an alternate media, that actually might get read by enough low-information citizens to make a difference.
That question was raised again in my mind by this piece by Josh Marshall discussing the growth of TPM (Talking Points Memo):
If you have a web-native news and business model, you can build a news organization more or less from scratch and grow fast without big infusions of outside capital. And it's not just our staff. Our audience has always been key to our editorial model. I cannot think of a major story we've been on where audience input (of various kinds) hasn't been a crucial part of the equation. More recently, reader amplification through social media has been one of the core drivers of audience growth. Sustained engagement with readers is the core of our success as a company, across the spectrum from news tips to revenue models.
This doesn't solve the problem, but I suspect like so many of our current problems, there is no magic bullet, but many varied solutions, many of which will have to be implemented to some scale in order to overcome the predominance of TV and what is left of the newspapers. Also, I suspect this is a problem whose solution may require the passing of age cohorts who vote in large numbers and simply will not move to the internet (except perhaps to forward quantities of right wing e-mails to their long-suffering offspring).
One other model I have been involved with, as one of the many volunteers that have kept it going for the past 5 years, is The Forum. If you are not familiar with it, take a look.
The mission of The Philbrick-James Forum is to provide a source for news and current information, and an outlet for the sharing of events, opinion, and creative expression through an interactive web-based newspaper supplemented by periodic print issues. An easily accessible source of information and a venue for input by the citizenry will encourage community involvement and identity.
The Forum's Pledge:
- To report the news with accuracy and objectivity, and treat people with respect.
- To provide content to help citizens make informed decisions about local issues.
- To facilitate community debate.
- To furnish an opportunity for creative expression.
- To correct our errors in a timely manner.