Journalism, New Technologies and Media Development
The Transformation of News
in the Digital Age:
an interactive, live conversation between scholars and
practitioners
On Tuesday July 14, 2009, 200 viewers from across the globe participated in the first-ever Webinar hosted by Central European University Center for Media and Communication Studies and the Center for Global Communication Studies, Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, at Magyar Telekom headquarters in Budapest.
The seminar covered the ever-evolving landscape of media development and journalistic practice in a world that is experiencing paradigm shifts in the ways people communicate through the use of mobile technologies. Iran, a focal point of much of discussion, provided context to the ways mobile technologies and citizen journalism can undermine or bolster current regimes. The seminar reached viewers in China, The United States, Baghdad, Gaza, Latin America as well as multiple locations throughout Europe. Participants actively engaged panelists using a live chat and video call-in option.
The interactive session was moderated by Susan Abbott, Associate Director of the Center for Global Communication Studies, and Kate Coyer, Driector of the Center for Media & and Communication Studies, and featured James Deane, director of policy for the BBC World Service Trust; Persephone Miel, Senior Advisor, Internews Network, and a former fellow with the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University; András Benedict, developer of iwiw.hu, the largest and oldest Hungarian social networking site and a consultant in Hungarian Internet industry for more than 10 years, as well as practitioners, researchers, and journalists concerned with media development from Bangladesh, Palestine, South Africa, El Salvador and across Central and Eastern Europe.
1. part of the video:
2. part of the video:
Chat:
| Journalism, New Technologies and Media Development | (07/14/2009) |
| 18:17 |  |
| 18:16 | katecoyer: Hi, one parting word - we will be posting edited pieces of this up on you tube, and on this site - so check this site and if you havent email us your contact details please do and we can send you an email when the webinar material is posted. |
| 18:13 | katecoyer: hi! sorry about the thank yous :) |
| 18:13 | Mira: Hiba and Nasry hope I can help in sending u addresses or watever u need for follow ups |
| 18:12 | Mira: @jackysutton I am very interested .. will write you |
| 18:12 | [Comment From James D] Richard Sambrook blog on Iran coverage |
| 18:12 | [Comment From Amer] Persephone thans for the link |
| 18:11 | Moustafa: Yes |
| 18:10 | Moustafa: Daniel from Magyar Telekom the tech
working the camera, was great |
| 18:10 | Persephone: The public service media debate at beyondbroadcast.net is very much in need of more interational perspectives - I hope people will join. |
| 18:10 | susan: Well, even the BBC cares about ratings
and if the people wanted MJ and that's what will drive people to watch, why not? |
| 18:10 | Mira: can we get the full log of this chat somehow (I guess once u refresh u loose some messages)? in addition to the presentation of Mahmoud and the email or twitter accounts for the panelists to distribute to those who were on? |
| 18:09 | susan: thank you Kyle! and thank you to everyone else who wrote it. this was a great session, and we had a lot of ideas and points to discuss. Until next time... |
| 18:09 | Persephone: but on the other, when I was stuck in a hotel room when Michael Jackson died and BBC World Service went to unrelentingly wall-to-wall coverage, I was ready to firebomb Bush House. |
| 18:09 | [Comment From Paul Winkel] Absolutely! Very interesting and informative webinar, thanks to all of you! |
| 18:08 | [Comment From Kyle Schneider (Sorbonne)] Thanks to Susan and to Kate for including all present in today's discussion. You did excellently at making sense of all of our ideas, comments and questions. You bring new meaning to 'media hierarchy'! |
| 18:08 | Persephone: on the one hand, It's SO depressing to hear James say the BBC may die when it's the beacon of hope in literally every country I know from the US to former Soviet States to Asia and Africe wish they could have a BBC of their own. |
| 18:05 | Moustafa: Thanks Anne, I'll do my best |
| 18:03 | [Comment From Anne] [Moustafa - is there a survey or an email address you can send the online audience? It helps to follow up with a questionnaire or just an open door to allow audience members to send feedback and comments for a next seminar or following up on content] |
| 18:03 | Persephone: On James' mpoint about philanthropic reporting, see Christine Gorman's piece on ProPublica: http://globalhealthreport.blogspot.com/2008/12/propublica-and-conflicts-of-interest.html |
| 18:03 | Moustafa: Sorry for the acroynm parade |
| 18:03 | Mira: YAY Hiba great to see you !!! |
| 18:03 | Moustafa: CEU, CGCS, Annenberg, Magyar Telekom thank you all |
| 18:02 | Dan Henry: Thanks all - lots of good contacts I hope we can keep in touch. |
| 18:02 | [Comment From Álvaro Ramírez] Thanks to all. It has been a very nice Webinar. Actually my first one. Thanks to Susan, Moustafa and all the organizers. |
| 18:02 | Moustafa: The only crowd Ive worked with, but still number one with a bullet |
| 18:01 | [Comment From Maria] Thank you so much! very interesting and challenging information! |
| 18:01 | Moustafa: Anytime, guys, probably the best crowd I've worked with |
| 18:01 | [Comment From hiba farhat] it was really great to get involved... |
| 18:01 | [Comment From hiba farhat] thank you mustafa |
| 18:01 | [Comment From nasry esmat] salam |
| 18:00 | susan: For anyone that would like to be part of our emerging research network on media development and democratization, please write to me at sabbott@asc.upenn.edu. Please send name, email and institutional affiliation. |
| 18:00 | Moustafa: Salaam |
| 18:00 | Moustafa: Thanks Nasry |
| 18:00 | [Comment From Álvaro Ramírez] @Kyle. I live in Bergen but at the moment I am in Medellín, Colombia. Working with HiperBarrio-ConVerGentes |
| 18:00 | [Comment From nasry esmat] my email is nasryesmat@gmail.com .., thank you all i wish i could catch the conversation earlier |
| 17:59 | susan: Sure, we can work with you on setting it up. |
| 17:59 | Moustafa: Let me know Jacky |
| 17:59 | jackysutton: This was wonderful - i'd like to organise something with one of the universities here in gaza - they are very isolated and this kind of conversation is so stimulating |
| 17:59 | Persephone: finally, lots of excellent information on mobile on www.mobilleactive.org. And the links for privacy/anonymity online browsing www.torproject.org; general internet censorship circumvention www.sesawe.net |
| 17:58 | [Comment From Hongmei Li] Thank you, Susan, Kate and all for the wonderful panel. Big congrats. |
| 17:58 | susan: Jacky that's great -- we'll certainly be in touch. |
| 17:58 | Moustafa: Thanks Anne for your help as well |
| 17:58 | jackysutton: if anyone wants to use any of my projects as academic case studies, please just contact me - jacky.sutton@undp.org or jackysutton@gmail.com |
| 17:58 | [Comment From Anne] CMCS and CGCS: Congrats again on an excellent and informative session. A pleasure to listen in! |
| 17:57 | [Comment From David Wescott] what a great job you all did - thanks so much |
| 17:57 | [Comment From Kyle Schneider (Sorbonne)] @Álvaro Ramírez are you in Bergen? Trying to find you on Linked In. |
| 17:57 | [Comment From Daiva] Would be nice if we could exchange addresses of english-language blogs from our countries that we trust |
| 17:57 | [Comment From James D] Thanks everyone....Kenya case study is at http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/trust/pdf/kenya_policy_briefing_08.pdf |
| 17:56 | [Comment From nasry esmat] afterwards bloggers starts to publish online again what was published about them in traditional media to increase their credability and authority ... so as u see it seems as competetion but in fact they are helping each other and increasing press freedom ... at the last the sentences against police men involved in torture was published in my governmental newspaper as the last piece of the chain (it is like the government admitting the cases and say it was true) |
| 17:56 | jackysutton: You cant be anonymous - your isp
can be tracked TECHNOLOGY / INTERNET | July 13, 2009
Full article below: Study Measures the Chatter of the News Cycle
By STEVE LOHR Published: July 12, 2009 For the most part, the traditional news outlets lead and the blogs follow, typically by 2.5 hours, according to a new computer analysis of news articles and commentary on the Web during the last three months of the 2008 presidential campaign. The finding was one of several in a study that Internet experts say is the first time the Web has been used to track — and try to measure — the news cycle, the process by which information becomes news, competes for attention and fades. Researchers at Cornell, using powerful computers and clever algorithms, studied the news cycle by looking for repeated phrases and tracking their appearances on 1.6 million mainstream media sites and blogs. Some 90 million articles and blog posts, which appeared from August through October, were scrutinized with their phrase-finding software. Frequently repeated short phrases, according to the researchers, are the equivalent of “genetic signatures” for ideas, or memes, and story lines. The biggest text-snippet surge in the study was generated by “lipstick on a pig.” That originated in Barack Obama’s colorful put-down of the claim by Senator John McCain and Gov. Sarah Palin that they were the genuine voices for change in the campaign. Associates of Mr. McCain suggested that the remark was meant as an insult to Ms. Palin. The researchers’ data points to an evolving model of news media. While most news flowed from the traditional media to the blogs, the study found that 3.5 percent of story lines originated in the blogs and later made their way to traditional media. For example, when Mr. Obama said that the question of when life begins after conception was “above my pay grade,” the remark was first reported extensively in blogs. And though the blogosphere as a whole lags behind, a relative handful of blog sites are the quickest to pick up on things that later gain wide attention on the Web, led by Hot Air and Talking Points Memo. The Cornell research, like so much of the data mining on the Web, does raise the issue of whether something is necessarily significant just because it can be measured by a computer — especially when mouse clicks are assumed to represent broad patterns of human behavior. “You can see this kind of research as further elevating the role of sound bites,” said Jon Kleinberg, a professor of computer science at Cornell and a co-author of a paper on the research that was presented two weeks ago at a conference in Paris. “But what we’re doing is more using them as the approximation for ideas and story lines.” “We don’t view quotes as the most important object, but algorithms can capture quotes,” Mr. Kleinberg said. “And we see this research as using a rich data set as a step toward understanding why certain points of view and story lines win out, and others don’t.” The paper, “Meme-tracking and the Dynamics of the News Cycle,” was also written by Jure Leskovec, a postgraduate researcher at Cornell, who this summer will become an assistant professor at Stanford, and Lars Backstrom, a Ph.D. student at Cornell, who is going to work for Facebook. The team has set up interactive displays of their findings at memetracker.org. Social scientists and media analysts have long examined news cycles, though focusing mainly on case studies instead of working with large Web data sets. And computer scientists have developed tools for clustering and tracking articles and blog posts, typically by subject or political leaning. But the Cornell research, experts say, goes further in trying to track the phenomenon of news ideas rising and falling. “This is a landmark piece of work on the flow of news through the world,” said Eric Horvitz, a researcher at Microsoft and president of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence. “And the study shows how Web-scale analytics can serve as powerful sociological laboratories.” Sreenath Sreenivasan, a professor specializing in new media at the Columbia Journalism School, said the research was an ambitious effort to measure a social phenomenon that is not easily quantified. “To the extent this kind of approach could open the door to a new understanding of the news cycle, that is very interesting,” he said. A challenge in this kind of research, Mr. Sreenivasan said, will be to account for and model how quickly online news sources and distribution networks are changing. Mr. Sreenivasan pointed to social media, especially the rapidly rising Twitter, as an informal but highly influential news recommendation and distribution network. “Even from last fall to today, the dynamics of the news cycle are very different, because of Twitter,” he said. |
| 17:55 | Mira: @jackysutton I agree with ur point on the exploitation of big mainstream media for social media for certain political gains (if i may call them so) and so ur comparison of Iran and Gaza war is really worth thinking, are you on twitter from Palestine currently in Budapest for this summer school |
| 17:54 | [Comment From Joost] Speaker a while ago (Dean?) asked, "where is the money going to come from to fund serious, investigative journalism?" Wondering how panellists would evaluate David Geffen's reported proposal to buy the NYT and turn it into a nonprofit foundation, and Sulzberger's clear rebuffing of the idea? http://mediamemo.allthingsd.com/20090526/why-the-new-york-times-took-carlos-slim-over-david-geffen/ |
| 17:54 | Moustafa: Thank you Hiba |
| 17:54 | [Comment From Hongmei Li] @nasry esmat. I think that is also what happened in China. The Internet can set the agenda, but the influence of the Internet often depends on whether traditional media, such as newspapers and TV can pick up the story. |
| 17:54 | [Comment From nasry esmat] the bloggers started spreading the videos with no big effect but when inpendent newspapers started publishing people felt they cant ignore it anymore ... traditional journalists called and met the bloggers (as they do with sources) and get more comments from other sources then publish the stories |
| 17:54 | [Comment From Nicholas Nicoli] @David Wescot - that's great...we should chat... |
| 17:53 | [Comment From Álvaro Ramírez] @Dan. I agree with you and It should not be research alone. @Kyle and Susan. Count on me for a discussion group on this and related issues. Research and activism can go hand on hand?. |
| 17:53 | jackysutton: how do i skype in? |
| 17:52 | Persephone: Also, the news agency with 100,000 paid subscribers is in Sri Lanka (sorry, my bad memory) http://www.jasminenews.com/ read Ivan Sigal's excellent piece that mentions it here: http://ivonotes.wordpress.com/2008/05/14/sri-lanka-how-conflict-drives-information/ |
| 17:52 | [Comment From nasry esmat] by the way back to my first idea about social media against traditional media ... i want to tell u that without print journalism no body would take the blogs of trture seriously |
| 17:51 | [Comment From David Wescott] too many people get tripped up on nomenclature - it is what it is. |
| 17:50 | jackysutton: I am involved in an issue of online
voting in Iraq where the issue is not so much the technology of button pushing but the institutional structures and inertia
that lie behind (and on top of) social media I am also involved in trying to support the regulation of telecoms in Iraq where you can actually use private sector investment climate to encourage freedom of expression (without actually mentioning Article 19) |
| 17:49 | [Comment From Ronald] There may be a need to re-define "journalist" given the new growing group of "citizen journalists" |
| 17:49 | [Comment From nasry esmat] i am not saying this to show how free is my newspaper but to show how independent journalism in Egypt has increased the margin of press freedom to the highest limit .. they open new areas and we go behind them to fill it :) |
| 17:48 | [Comment From Kyle Schneider (Sorbonne)] @susan -- sounds great. With Valérie Jeanne-Perrier we are starting research on entrepreneurial forms of journalism and how it is affecting the field and the profession. Looking mainly at European examples, but the topic obviously doesn't have borders. |
| 17:48 | Dan Henry: @Jacky - thanks for the link! |
| 17:48 | [Comment From Hongmei Li] Just another example about mobile phone development in China. If I remember correctly, there were over 600 million mobile phone users in China and the Internet penetration rate is about 21% according to the latest survey for CNNIC. |
| 17:48 | [Comment From sekerfare] another example for autoritarian regimes : Turkey has suspended the access to Youtube since 2007, because videoclips insulting Ataturk had appeared on the site.http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6427355.stm |
| 17:48 | [Comment From Anne] One more report from UN and Vodafone here: http://www.unfoundation.org/press-center/publications/wireless-technology-for-social-change.html |
| 17:48 | [Comment From Luis Botello] How much content quality could bring mobile technology, especially when dealing with in-depth reporting? |
| 17:48 | [Comment From David Wescott] @Nicholas Nicoli - I LOVE the idea of an online investigative journalism/research incubator! I drafted some legislation for Sen. Kennedy a few years back on business incubators with ties to academia; would love to chat about this sometime |
| 17:48 | [Comment From nasry esmat] for sure it is different because the freedom of speach in Ahram is much lower than online media in general ... however good ahram journalists know how to make the right message to their readers without screaming ... you can read features everyday about corruption and bad decisions made by the prime minister .. sometimes people can point a finger to higher authority like the president |
| 17:47 | jackysutton: http://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/publications/skyful-of-lies-black-swans.htmlThe new tyranny of shifting information power in crisesby Nik Gowing The study highlights how in a moment of major, unexpected crisis the institutions of power - whether political, governmental, military or corporate – face a new, acute vulnerability of both their influence and effectiveness. |
| 17:47 | Persephone: links re: mobile. Internews Europe
publication on mobile "The Promise of Ubiquitiy" http://www.internews.fr/spip.php?article459
mobile-based business news agency in India (MySMENews) http://www.internews.fr/spip.php?article426 |
| 17:46 | susan: thanks Jacky |
| 17:46 | jackysutton: http://www.unapcict.org/ecohub/resources/the-promise-of-ubiquity-mobile-as-media-platform-in-the-global-south Internews study on the potential for mobile platforms |
| 17:45 | [Comment From nasry esmat] but the worst thing about the syndicate that it gives no membership to bloggers or online media journalists ... it needs alot of development and change in the concepts of how journalists define themselves |
| 17:45 | susan: @Kyle -- we feel your pain -- would be interested to chat with you offline. Are you currently doing research related to media development? We are interested in forming a research collaborative for scholars and others interested in research related to media development -- its impact, models, etc. |
| 17:45 | [Comment From Anne] Seconded on the informative session. Recent stats on mobile penetration - over 4 billion subscriptions last January, Pew Internet consensus report that it will be the primary point of Internet access by 2020 |
| 17:45 | [Comment From Nicholas Nicoli] I agree...what about public service broadcasting? should it play a leading role as patron, experimentor, incubator in how journalism/investigative journalism/research can exist? |
| 17:44 | [Comment From Devra Moehler] Action research - yes. Small risky interventions will be of limited value unless we can evaluate whether the investment paid off. Donors are feeling greater pressure to evaluate impact and are more likely to support more robust research/evaluation as a component of development projects |
| 17:43 | Moustafa: @Nasry - do you write differently for your blog than Al-Ahram? |
| 17:43 | [Comment From James Lim] A very informative session. Thanks folks. |
| 17:43 | [Comment From nasry esmat] nooooo .. the board members are elected freely by journalists (that is why the syndicate is always a place for protesting against the government) |
| 17:43 | susan: Just wondering for the people out there interested in doing research, what are the top research priorities related to social network platforms and mobile technologies that you think would help advance this issue of journalism, new tech and media development? Please send research themes and questions that you think would be purposeful and useful for people out in the field as well as for journalism professionals working in various contexts and environments. |
| 17:42 | [Comment From nasry esmat] unfortunately the syndicate gives membership only to those journalists who works with big organization (whatever political point of view they have) .. because it can only defend journalists rights in these organizations |
| 17:42 | [Comment From Marjorie] @persephone @devra - i agree completely. moving old models to cross-disciplanary approaches is key. and in many cases there is a real desire to move to multimedia, convergent newsrooms that look at models to include participatory media. they see that to survive they need to adapt. |
| 17:41 | Moustafa: @Nasry |
| 17:41 | Moustafa: And its editors are appointed byt he leading politcial party correct? |
| 17:40 | [Comment From Natalya] To Supriya: one of the most outstanding examples of Internet censorship is China. Politicians from some other countries are eager to follow chinese example. This is a picture from former Soviet Union: http://www.theotherrussia.org/2008/10/27/the-great-russian-firewall/ |
| 17:40 | [Comment From Kyle Schneider (Sorbonne)] @susan and @alvaro -- it's probably too tempting for donors to look at the quantifiable 'products' of news in their investment choices. I would have a hard time making the sale for only support of research. |
| 17:40 | jackysutton: I agree with Dan and am instituting these in Iraq and also beginning in Gaza, where the role of mobile phones during the recent incursion has emboldened gazan media, which for ages have been ignored by mainstream media and development actors because of the no contact policy with hamas |
| 17:40 | [Comment From nasry esmat] @ Moustafa .. the press syndicate has no role in affecting the free flow of information .. however it has more dangerous role as it is the only place in the country that gives licence to journalists to work and to be considered as a professionals |
| 17:39 | Dan Henry: @susan_@Alvaro - I also like the idea of supporting research as part of development projects. I don't think we should wait, however until we have a solid base of resaerch upon which to base our assupmtions. That will put us too dfar behind the curve of human behaviour and reactions to the stimulus of new modalities of communication. We need to move on both fronts - small risky interventions, and stronger understanding on how those interventions are working in each distinct environment. Essentially, action research. |
| 17:39 | [Comment From Daiva] the British Embassy in Lithuania is sponsoring a market fundamentalist think-tank which pours lots of texts to all kinds of media, mainly online, trying to argue for complete deregulation. how is that for donor behavior? :( |
| 17:37 | Supriya: I agree with Nasry... wondering if and how this vibrant social media helps traditional media push its boundaries for more quality journalism considering that majority of people in the world derive their information from traditional media... for e.g. in India, a billion plus population the internet penetration if barely 3-4 % |
| 17:37 | Moustafa: Can you speak on the effectiveness of the press syndicate in Egypt Nasry ? and how it enables or disables the free flow of information? |
| 17:36 | [Comment From nasry esmat] i am from Egypt .. i work for al-ahram newspaper a very governmental traditional newspaper in morning and i work in an independent news portal at night .. and i teach media to students |
| 17:35 | Persephone: @devra But the training facilities
adn trade associations I know are hopeless mired in old models, while a dangerous, separatist orthodoxy of "citizen media"
that insists on renouncing all contact with institutional journalism grows.I think donors need to enforce cross-disciplinary,
hybrid projects (insisting legacy media incorporate more participatory media, insisting participatory media demonstrate commitment
to journalism principles) |
| 17:35 | susan: To Alvaro -- not sure this answers your
question, but I am in favor of donors supporting research and for research to be part of sound media development practices |
| 17:35 | [Comment From David Wescott] @susan - donors should absolutely take some risks on funding decisions, but in many cases just can't be the sole or main source of funding for many of these efforts over the long term. |
| 17:35 | Rob McMahon: @Supriya - this is a debate going on in Canada now too. This link from Monday: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/who-should-police-internet-traffic/article1215637/ |
| 17:34 | jackysutton: re Persephone - donor activities - when done well - ... there's the rub because media development attracts carpet baggers and unfortunately there is a glamour in new and social media that has led to very content poor analysis and a huge chunk of suppositions |
| 17:34 | susan: Nice comment Nasry -- where are you from? |
| 17:33 | susan: TO David -- that's interesting about the issue of sustainability -- should donors only fund what is sustainable? |
| 17:33 | [Comment From Nelli] To Supriya: Absolutely. Internet is actually regulated in many authoritarian regimes. I experienced that in the Emirates, where Skype site was blocked. However, I am not sure what was the rationale of blocking Skype and allowing Facebook. |
| 17:32 | [Comment From Devra Moehler] Persephone: Good point. But most donor activities (when done well) focus on supporting the institutions that make for better media - training facilities, trade organizations... |
| 17:32 | [Comment From David Wescott] there seems to be a reliance on the foundation / govt sector for funding here - I'm not convinced that's sustainable. |
| 17:32 | susan: Stanley -- we'll put your question out
there next -- will bring it up for the panelists |
| 17:32 | [Comment From Kyle Schneider (Sorbonne)] Thanks @Dan Henry. Seeing Sandeep's example made me think that online journalism in the US will be supported in similar forms that Political candidates are supported via PAC (Political Action Committees). |
| 17:32 | [Comment From nasry esmat] i dont see social media as competitor for main stream media or traditional media .. i see them improving each other and working together side by side to help informing the audience ..... but the question is how to reach the right formula that makes a mix between both of them to inform us better |
| 17:31 | [Comment From Álvaro Ramírez] @Susan: should donors concentrate on projects that have a research component? some kind of microlabs of participant`s use of mobile technology? |
| 17:31 | stanley: What are the implications of website-community involvement in the ownership of sporting organizations? Do you think such ownership can curtail the capitalistic tendencies prevailing at the moment? |
| 17:31 | Persephone: @devra I'm all for the basic values of journalism, but I have lost my faith in existing mainstream commercial media to uphold them. It's not about mainstream vs. online. It's what institutions are capable of creating responsible relevant reliable informaiton. And I see mainstream commercial media failing faster and faster |
| 17:31 | Supriya: How much of a danger does social media face from censorship/regulation by authoritative regimes? Can internet be regulated? |
| 17:30 | [Comment From Nelli] To Susan: Some of the donors/implementers pay close attention to online media because it can also serve as development tool for regional media outlets especially in economically developing countries. IREX CMSPA has created a print network among a capital-based online publication and print publications based in the regions of Armenia. The project enabled the information sharing between the regions and helped them draw attention of the capital to some of regional issues. With the help of IREX they also produced monthly newspaper supplement, which actually increased the readership and advertising and eventually the circulation of some of the participating newspapers. |
| 17:30 | jackysutton: One of the huge advantages, from a logframe perspective, is that you can satisfy the quantitative fetish of donors (output = clicks per page etc) but this could devalue the substance |
| 17:30 | Dan Henry: @ Kyle - your comment on hyperspecialization is interesting. I see that as a way to get past the 'inertia of unfamiliarity' that sometimes characterizes the response of 'big' donors to technology-based approaches. |
| 17:29 | [Comment From Devra Moehler] Office of Democracy and Governance USAID has one person focused on new media and one on traditional media (though both do some of each). The interest is there. |
| 17:29 | jackysutton: One of my projects is Aswat al Iraq, a traditional news agency that is incorporating social media into its business model to 'trade' on its reputation as a mainstream media institution |
| 17:28 | [Comment From Devra Moehler] There is some good evidence and theory about the positive effects of mainstream media on democracy, and (as James noted) the situation is dire for mainstream media. I hope donors don’t abandon their previous focus on mainstream media to chase after a more uncertain payoff in new media. |
| 17:27 | Dan Henry: @Susan - Funny you should have that opinion. I think outside of a few 'early adopters', donors such as USAID have a fairly skeptical view based on my attempts to discuss these technologies with them. People have a strong curiosity, but struggle with how donors should engage in such a de-centralised structure. |
| 17:27 | [Comment From nasry esmat] i am Nasry .. an interactivity editor in Sarcom Telecom FilGoal.com .. reporter .. editor for print and online media and a lecturer in Ain Shams University |
| 17:26 | [Comment From hiba farhat] @nasry esmat ahlan |
| 17:26 | [Comment From Kyle Schneider (Sorbonne)] @susan Do you know Sandeep Junnarkar's web-journalism project, Lives in Focus? http://livesinfocus.org -- He's been able to generate significant funding thanks to a fine-tuned definition of his journalistic scope (people affected by prison in the US). My sense is that we're heading towards hyperspecialization in order to garner meaningful funding. |
| 17:25 | [Comment From Luis Botello] Social media does not mean we are better informed. I good case was the recent Honduras political crises. A country not in the radar screen of the mainstream media or policy makers caught everybody by surprise even in this digital age. Hi from Washington, DC. |
| 17:25 | Mira: welcome Nasry from Egypt .. would u please introduce urself to other on |
| 17:22 | [Comment From Kyle Schneider (Sorbonne)] So if we take @james and @Silvio Waisbord comments to heart, then Governments (Authoritarian or otherwise) should not take online-generated discourse into account whatsoever. Are there examples in the world where governance has been enhanced thanks to this -- valid -- discourse? |
| 17:22 | susan: what about donors -- one question we have talked about here during our summer school is whether donors are too optimistic about the potential of mobile technologies as a tool for media development -- where is the place mobile tech and how should donors and those involved in media development think about them? |
| 17:22 | [Comment From hiba farhat] how do u explain MJ's death in relation to events in Iran? |
| 17:22 | [Comment From nasry esmat] yes stanely go on |
| 17:22 | stanley: What are the implications of website-community involvement in the ownership of sporting organisations? |
| 17:20 | susan: yes, stanley -- please send us your question |
| 17:20 | Persephone: @stanley what about sport? ask
away |
| 17:20 | stanley: Can i ask a question related to new technologies and sport? |
| 17:20 | jackysutton: do you think that the period of conflict makes the social networking platforms more relevant and powerful? Yes absolutely. Not a panacea but definitely part of a solution |
| 17:20 | [Comment From Silvio Waisbord] I think James' point is right on the mark. What if media pluralism, thanks to new technologies and policies, foster antagonism and discrimination rather than democratic values? This point ususally gets overlooked in optimistic scenarios about media technologies and citizens' participation |
| 17:18 | susan: The issue of information fatigue is an interesting one -- would be good to hear from others about this. |
| 17:18 | jackysutton: i dont think i had a specific question - i was thinking and writing - i am optimistic but i am worried also that the tremendous creativity of social media is being coopted by dinosaur media institutions (eg Tehran coverage vs Gaza coverage on mainstream media). I am also concerned at the resistance on the part of institutions such as the united nations and liberal parliaments to the enforced accountability and transparency that social and viral media can push |
| 17:17 | Moustafa: I worked in a culture where "informers" were killed, ie "Don't Snitch" campaigns left families without endings to lives of loved ones, so I understand the loaded term, thanks Alvaro |
| 17:17 | susan: Jacky, can you please let us know what your comment or question is? |
| 17:16 | [Comment From Kyle Schneider (Sorbonne)] What I think James (?) is getting at, is that we can't just take online activity at face value. That we need experts to actually give these information flows sense. |
| 17:15 | [Comment From Nasry Esmat] big media organizations in the Arab world is the same as in the west they have their own priorities |
| 17:15 | [Comment From Devra Moehler] Comment on Trish: Same in Africa. Citizen attitudes about democracy are increasing even as the supply of democracy from above is in retreat. |
| 17:15 | Persephone: @david Westcott - the business
model that aggregates (the daily paper, the entertainment + news TV channel) is not just "not doing that well" it's completely
over. |
| 17:13 | [Comment From jackysutton] to give an example, Btselem.org human rights organisation is posting raw footage of video on a daily basis but while CNN is covering Iran, Gaza (the main story in teh Arab media) does not make the screen |
| 17:13 | [Comment From Joost] re the previous commenter on the video - does increased information (from a crisis area) really equate increased commitment (from audiences globally)? seems there is information fatigue already now, with audiences emotionally switching off in the face of heartbreaking stories from everywhere |
| 17:13 | Persephone: @robert washburn Yes! and people are. The mobilization of political activists and civil society actors is (I think) going to be key to building a new enhanced version of the watchdog function |
| 17:13 | [Comment From Trish] Re. James' comment: Whether democracy is advancing or is in retreat perhaps is related to where you view it from. These days, the view from the top is quite different from the view from below. If you look below authoritarian regimes like Burma's you see a growing democratic discourse among the people, although it is often not in open view until critical moments. |
| 17:13 | [Comment From David Wescott] @Persephone I don't think the business model that aggregates all those features is doing all that well either |
| 17:12 | [Comment From Philipp Haaser] Could someone describe the role of companies in distribution of communication infrastructure and censorship infrastructure? |
| 17:12 | [Comment From Devra Moehler] I think we will be led astray if we focus on whether new media is transformative on the one hand or has no effect on the other. There is a large space in between of modest influences that is the area we should be focusing our attention. The collapse of an authoritarian regimes is a rare events and if that is the only place we look for the effect of new media then we will not be very successful. It doesn't make for good social science to focus only on rare events. |
| 17:12 | [Comment From Álvaro Ramírez] You are right Moustafa. They can contribute a lot as "citizen jounalists" not as "informers" a word that has a heavy load (at least in some languages) as "informants"- that is the point that I am trying to make |
| 17:12 | [Comment From jackysutton] where the Strip is the most surveilled piece of land in the world and human rights violations are the norm |
| 17:12 | katecoyer: i think this is where we need to distinguish the discussion from the tools, to the uses. tolls are great and people will do all kinds of thngs with them - good, bad, indifferent. but it is for me the question fo what kinds of institutions should be supported to, if you will, make up the balance between the social /entertainment uses and the public interest uses, ie the reason we have institutions like public broadacsting. not saying the bbc will save us all, but the institutional question is important. |
| 17:11 | susan: Yes, Jacky -- go ahead -- do you want us to skype you in or would you rather just send us your text -- we can read out your comment |
| 17:11 | Persephone: @Nicholas Nicoli The business model problem is much trickier than you make it sound. People largely don't pay the true costs of journalism and not likely to. They pay (via advertisements) for a package that includes all kinds of non-news (sports scores, restaurant reviews, etc. etc.) that support the news. When those are disaggregated, the business model falls apart. |
| 17:11 | Robert Washburn: Can we apply these powerful technologies to hyper-local communities to make municipal government/institutions in rural areas accountable? |
| 17:11 | [Comment From jackysutton] can i make a comment here from gaza? |
| 17:11 | [Comment From hiba farhat] how much can an online event translate into real change offline (not only protests...) like change of regimes, etc. |
| 17:11 | susan: Is Peter Noorlander still on? Peter, can you address issues related to the regulation of social media? |
| 17:11 | Moustafa: I think the pressure from cell phone images of abuse in Egyptian police station resulted in the prosecution of police officers, something that would not have happened without citizens who "informed" the world and Egypt |
| 17:10 | [Comment From Daiva] Has the "outside world" ever made any govt accountable? |
| 17:10 | Mira: a question here from my friend ILYA , looking at this enormous effect of social media.. do you think online/social media should be regulated? |
| 17:09 | [Comment From Allan, Canada] @Joost: Assuming you can trust Wikipedia. The other option is to edit Wikipedaia to show you ARE correct ;) |
| 17:09 | [Comment From jackysutton] there is a danger of loss of accountability if regulation of internet is transposed to code but this presupposes that liberal democracies are fully accountable as well |
| 17:09 | [Comment From hiba farhat] i hope the organizers will post the presentations online and post it on their website |
| 17:09 | susan: to Jacky in Iraq -- do you think that the period of conflict makes the social networking platforms more relevant and powerful? |
| 17:09 | Persephone: The problem I see is that the huge potential to make money creates an overwhelming motivation to provide entertainment |
| 17:08 | [Comment From Nicholas Nicoli] the same way professionally produced entertainment content is finding a home on online media, I think professional journalism will too...the first large daily that stops its printing presses will see to it...the problem is finding a business model for them as James Deanne says… |
| 17:08 | [Comment From Nelli] to Hongmei: I do not think usage of internet should be strictly separated as entertaining or information-seeking, as it can be combined. However, I think that largely depends on the occupation and age of the user. I would assume that young people spending their nights at internet cafes usually use internet for entertainment, i.e. chatting, playing, dating. |
| 17:08 | Moustafa: @Alvaro They can inform the world about their regimes/governments and in turn keep them accountable no? |
| 17:08 | katecoyer: thanks an-ox for your participation! |
| 17:07 | [Comment From Philipp Haaser] In my opinion there is no pure entertainment purpose. There is a huge demand for entertainment but this is no zero-sum game meaning all the entertainment overlays the infomration purpose. |
| 17:07 | [Comment From Joost] turns out i'm only partly right -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyves -- Hyves is a free Dutch social networking site which has been online since October 2004. [..] In July 2008 Hyves announced that they had reached 7 million users, of which about 5 million were Dutch. This amounts to about a third of the entire population of The Netherlands. |
| 17:07 | [Comment From jackysutton] if |
| 17:07 | [Comment From jackysutton] not |
| 17:07 | katecoyer: thanks kyle for joining us! |
| 17:07 | [Comment From Álvaro Ramírez] Many informed citizens have become citizen journalists. I find Moustafa`s "citizen informers" concept problematic in authoritarian societites |
| 17:07 | [Comment From Jasper] leaving with the oxford crowd—thanks everyone! |
| 17:06 | [Comment From Sam] Persephone: I am glad that you say that "few ordinary citizens think that the so-called "professional journalists" {what ever that is since journalism is NOT a profession} have divorced themselves. If its only a few then it does not really matter if its most of the people who think so, then there is a big problem but then, that should not be a predominant assertion among media academic who should know better, that is where my problem is. |
| 17:06 | susan: OK -- bye to the folks in Oxford. I hope we can do this again -- thank you for dealing with our technical difficulties -- we have hopefully ironed things out and would love to set up another webinar with you or others in the near future. |
| 17:06 | [Comment From Kyle Schneider (Sorbonne)] Bye, Monroe et. al. Good seeing you and hope to catch up at PENN soon. |
| 17:06 | [Comment From jackysutton] from my perspective as a practitioner in gaza and iraq, social media is fundamentally transforming communications and forcing accountability and transparency on important stakeholders, such as the un. |
| 17:05 | Moustafa: Salaam to Oxford |
| 17:05 | [Comment From monroe price] .We are going to sign off from Oxford. we loved our chat, and we are happy to leave on James depressing note |
| 17:05 | Rob McMahon: @Joost - thanks - this raises an additional thought -examples of bi/multi-lingual social networking sites as (potential) global intercultural public spheres... |
| 17:05 | [Comment From Diego] There are some interesting insights by MacKinnon on the Xinjiang riots and the increasingly better management of the media http://rconversation.blogs.com/rconversation/2009/07/xinjiang-infowar.html |
| 17:05 | [Comment From Daiva] @ Hongmei Li on post-communist European countries -> there are some EU-supported projects, for example, which try to introduce free internet in all public libraries. People use it for various purposes as elsewhere, but some problems arise when anonymity allows people to spread hate speech, etc in their blogs and comments |
| 17:04 | [Comment From Joost] hyves is different example from iwiw though ... if i'm correct, iwiw is a hungarian company that's set up in hungarian for hungarian users. hyves was not built for dutch people - it just happened to become picked up as the standard tool in holland while (or before) facebook became the interntional standard |
| 17:04 | [Comment From Jasper] @Joost: well correct me if I'm wrong, but hyves.nl does offer an english language service, right? |
| 17:03 | [Comment From Joost] @Rob - I think you can join from anywhere, it's the standard language that organically turns the community into a national one |
| 17:02 | monroe price: what does "path forward" mean? How does "path forward" in James' term relate to existing institutions, existing vocabulary. The easiest, maybe default position, is to think of the "informed citizen," but this is probably too simple. |
| 17:01 | Persephone: @sam don't know where you're from but in the US I think few ordinary citizens think of most existing professional journalism as being "for" them, journalists have divorced themselves |
| 17:01 | Rob McMahon: sorry, meant Jasper |
| 17:01 | susan: Hongmei -- will ask the panelists your
question -- just a sec |
| 17:01 | Rob McMahon: @ Joost - thx for confirming, and the link! |
| 17:00 | [Comment From Jasper] @ Rob: not at all, at least not for the Dutch example of hyves.nl |
| 17:00 | [Comment From Hongmei Li] Can you also comment on the role of entertainment in developing/ prohibiting the development of civil society? To what extent, do users in post-communist countries in Europe use the Internet for fun or for information-seeking or for other purposes? |
| 16:59 | [Comment From Eva Bognar] Hungarian young people seem to not to feel like they are part of a global or European youth group |
| 16:59 | Mira: @Daiva I agree .. |
| 16:59 | [Comment From Allan, Canada] Sorry can you please ask James to speak up. thanks |
| 16:59 | [Comment From Danilo Yanich] I worry that just because there is much information that is being pushed at citizens that we think that we are "informed". Regardless of the source (citizen "journalists" or "professional" journalists), citizens need to pause to understand what the information means (what makes this news?). The problem with the instantaneous news cycle is that there is no time for context and reflection. And that affect any notion of citizenship and public sphere. |
| 16:59 | Rob McMahon: @Joost - v interesting point - do you know whether membership to such nation-based social networking sites is open to global users, or only those whose IP addresses are located within their state boundaries? |
| 16:58 | [Comment From Daiva] "Oldschool" journalists may be frustrated and everything, but internet is still inherently a class attribute, and universalizing these new globalized experience from the middle and higher classes may result to unprecedented marginalization of those who don't have access to the technologies we are now taking for granted |
| 16:58 | [Comment From Sam] I think the concept of citizen journalism is a terrible misnomer. Journalism from the very beginning has always been for and by citizens unless we have forgotten the history of the press. Why are we now divorcing the tradition of story telling from the people? Is it because of our newly found fascination with the so-called "new media" which in any case have been "new" for the past 20 years? |
| 16:58 | [Comment From Jasper] @Joost: great point. As with many things, social networking also 'glocalizes.' |
| 16:58 | [Comment From Yahia] 2 weeks after Iran elctions the Int. Herald Tribune published a cartoon in which a cleric asks an official police to expell all journalists. The police official responded: all are journalists. He ment all citizens became journalists. This is true. New technology is affecting the old media. In most Arab countries journalist is who is member of press association. There is obligatory membership in these association. Now any citizen with mic and degital camera is capable to become a journalist and "wathdog". |
| 16:58 | [Comment From Kyle Schneider (Sorbonne)] @Hongmei Li> Also interesting. So the communications medium changes the message. A sort of heightened opposition. Some research going on under Michael Wesch at Kansas State University on the expression of identity in the context of anonymity. Also research going on here at CELSA on expression of identity and how it changes in the context of Facebook. Thibaut Thomas has a thesis (forthcoming) on the topic. |
| 16:57 | [Comment From hiba farhat] @jasper thanks for that |
| 16:57 | [Comment From Eva Bognar] well good question kate |
| 16:57 | [Comment From Katie] Following Eva Bognar comment- how can we measure actions between online and offline actions...how to track the impact? |
| 16:56 | [Comment From Joost] It's interesting that in Hungary everyone uses iwiw as primary social networking site, with Facebook lagging far behind ... similarly, in Holland Hyves is the social networking site of choice. This creates a kind of national "islands", separated from the globalised networking on Facebook, since only hardcore users regularly use more than one such site. What's the future for such national social networking sites? Do they have a future, in the long term? How are they coping with the increasing pull of Facebook? To what extent does their success debunk, perhaps, some idealistic notions about such new media creating a globalised youth? |
| 16:56 | [Comment From David Wescott] AMEN - there is a culture of information consumption as well - many sources, all in the background, and "mainstream" journalists are frustrated that they're no longer the primary source. online citizen journalists understand this better right now. But mainstream journalism will certainly survive |
| 16:55 | [Comment From Jasper] @hiba: yes, congress pressured twitter to delay scheduled maintenance to facilitate continued usage in Iran: http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=14095 |
| 16:55 | [Comment From Eva Bognar] re: monroes price's question: I dont know much about corporations, but activists without a hierarchical offline organisations seem to adjust quickly to online environment - but interestingly, their goal is to make a difference offline |
| 16:54 | Mira: My question (I wonder how many twitterers where actually in Iran?) was mostly dedicated to Mahmoud from BBC? how can u know who is twitting and how reliable it is? |
| 16:54 | Moustafa: Should we change our concept of "informed citizens" and call them "citizen informers'? |
| 16:54 | monroe price: Another question Persephone's comments raise: is there a relationship between new media technologies, ideas of space, and concepts of governance. Just think of the "local newspaper" or the "national newspaper". We saw strains with this concept of space and sovereignty with satellites. Satellites at least have footprints |
| 16:53 | [Comment From Hongmei Li] @ Kyle Schneider, that is not what I mean. I just wonder if users from authoritarian regimes are more likely to resort to extreme views ( extreme freedom vs. nationalism, etc.). I am not aware is there are such studies about the use of twitter and other social networking technologies. |
| 16:53 | [Comment From Katie] @Persephone-What are some ways in which citizen journalism can work with 'old' media? How can media outlets better utilize citizen journalism? |
| 16:53 | susan: Question back to Monroe -- how do we as consumers of news and all the clutter that's out there differentiate between news and information and the rest? It seems there's a lot to grab our attention these days and it's hard for us to know what to focus on. |
| 16:52 | [Comment From hiba farhat] is it true what was said that twitter was facilitated in the America congress after facebook and youtube crashed? |
| 16:52 | [Comment From Daiva] @ Hongmei Li -> in some aspects even the so-called democratic societies can be pretty authoritarian... think about anti-terrorism measures and all that authoritarian stuff |
| 16:52 | [Comment From katecoyer] to monroe's question - eva, how does this connect with civiweb project? |
| 16:51 | susan: Hongmei -- this is an interesting comment and point. One of the things we are doing tomorrow at our summer course is talking about the future research agenda for media development and I think the question you ask is an important and timely one. |
| 16:51 | Moustafa: Jacky Sutton has joined us and is a media and elections projects manager with UNDP in Iraq and currently in Gaza with UNDP also |
| 16:51 | monroe price: One point for Persephone is how different organizations adjust to new technologies: are NGOs more facile in adjusting to new technologies as modes of diffusion compared to established business organizations? |
| 16:50 | [Comment From jackysutton] sorry for delay - problems with connectivit y in gaza |
| 16:50 | [Comment From Keeley] I am from Canada, a Student at Simon Fraser University, a Communications Major |
| 16:49 | monroe price: there's a difference we should
explore between viral civil society use of new media and adjustment of "institutions" that channel information, entertainment,
etc. Will there be the hulu-ization of the news (not sure what that means)? |
| 16:49 | [Comment From Kyle Schneider (Sorbonne)] @Hongmei Li So online tools are only for members of the Opposition? Interesting point. |
| 16:48 | [Comment From David Wescott] Have NGO's and/or businesses taken steps to build relationships with the Hungarian "super users" you're describing? |
| 16:48 | [Comment From Hongmei Li] I think we should probably make a distinction between users from authoritarian regimes and those in democratic societies. I suspect that users from authoritarian regimes might be likely to resort to extreme views largely becuase of the lack of support for the devleopment of civil society. Is there any study that discusses how people from different societies use social networking sites differently or similarly? |
| 16:47 | [Comment From Jasper] (guest = Jasper) |
| 16:47 | [Comment From Álvaro Ramírez O] Hi, joining from Medellín, Colombia (HiperBarrio-Rising Voices)- |
| 16:47 | [Comment From Guest] @ susan: anyone working with online media should learn about IP and copyright law. This is likely to affect anyone with an online footprint at some point. |
| 16:47 | susan: HI Yahia! Great to see you online -- would be great to hear your thoughts about these issues from the Jordanian context. |
| 16:46 | Persephone: @guest - exactly! there is only
the question of how many chokepoints there may or may not be and who controls them. the problem of how to deal with "bad actors"
is the same, regardless of the medium. |
| 16:46 | monroe price: \i think the question is resilience
of societies. so much is being dumped into the infosphere--so much that embraces, surrounds , educates and corrupts citizens.
This is another stage in this process. |
| 16:45 | [Comment From Marjorie from Internews] Hi - joining from DC |
| 16:45 | Mira: I wonder how many twitterers where actually in Iran? |
| 16:45 | [Comment From Guest] @ Persephone: and how is online communication different here anyway? Bad actors will appear in any communications stream |
| 16:45 | susan: question for those who are lawyers or regulators out there: our participants in the Budapest summer course want to know how internet and new technologies or mobile technologies are affected and impacted by legal aspects of communication -- for those lawyers that work with the media development community -- what advice can you give to people working in online media? |
| 16:44 | [Comment From Kyle Schneider (Sorbonne)] During the Iranian crisis, it was said that there no longer was a need for Representative Government due to online tools like twitter. Does the panel still feel that governance as we know it is still valid? In what ways may governance evolve in light of these new tools and wider use of them? |
| 16:43 | Robert Washburn: However, we should not treat them like journalists. They should be contributors who bear witness to events. |
| 16:43 | Persephone: @ Dan Henry: well since "we" (whoever
"we" are in any given situation) almost certainly cannot restrict the spread of information in a useful way, the only possibility
is to enable communication that can counteract extremist voices |
| 16:43 | [Comment From monroe price] henry's question is clearly pertinent, unsolvable, inevitable and still almost, ironically, beside the point. of course, cooption efforts will take place and the same is true about rumor. Iran is a case of the problems of co-option, with the question of who are the "bad actors" being a central question. |
| 16:43 | Robert Washburn: Citizen journalism acts like an impressionist painting. Up close, it looks like little blobs of paint. Stand back and all the blobs create a coherent picture. |
| 16:41 | [Comment From Hongmei Li] Can you please discuss the role of rumor that can be spread instantly by new communication technologies? How can rumor possibly ruin the development of civil society? |
| 16:39 | [Comment From hiba farhat] hello everyone @hibz on twitter... communication officer from lebanon |
| 16:39 | [Comment From Dan Henry] One question that always arises when I discuss the citizen journalism/crowdsourcing paradigm with crisis managers and development professionals: "How do we mitigate the possibility of these technological platforms being co-opted by 'bad actors' to increase the level of violence, spread ecthnic hatred / nationalism - such as happened with radio in Rwanda, and to a lesser extent Kenyan election violence?" |
| 16:38 | susan: Response to Allan from Canada: during our course, we have talked a lot about Monroe Price's Market for Loyalties -- this would be one; we have also talked about Participatory Communication research theories; in addition we have talked about how other disciplines can better inform this research or alternatively how media and communication should interact with theories from political science, economics and international relations |
| 16:37 | [Comment From Persephone] Questions not just for me and James but also for András Benedict, developer of iwiw.hu, the largest and oldest Hungarian social networking site and a former blogger |
| 16:35 | [Comment From Zoltan] There are 80-100 online participants who can see the live video |
| 16:35 | susan: any thoughts about the role of social
networking and new media technologies with regards to iran from our viewers? |
| 16:34 | [Comment From Allan, Canada] What academic theories in media studies, moving beyond the public sphere, are best for capturing and theorising the new media space that journalism operates in. Can you provide any specific references our authors? |
| 16:34 | Mira: yaaaaaaaay , glad I have two friends on .. for those on twitter follow my comments there, my user is: miragabi |
| 16:34 | [Comment From Joe, Canada] A question for those there: |
| 16:34 | [Comment From Robert Washburn] How do we deal with issues of verification of information when we are using so many technologies that offer anonymity or false identities. |
| 16:32 | [Comment From stanley] My name is Stanley Akpu; from Nigeria ... my interest areas are media, sport and development |
| 16:32 | susan: this is Mahmood from BBC WST Iran Journalism
training program speaking |
| 16:31 | susan: Can people out there watching and taking part in this session start sending some questions that they have? Questions that you'd like to pass on to James Deane or Persephone Miel? |
| 16:30 | [Comment From stanley] yes...Mira |
| 16:30 | Arne: After the round of introductions, Monroe Price from the Annenberg School for Communication, currently in Oxford, UK, suggests to frame key questions around journalism and technology, and the shift that has emerged with the use of new technology. |
| 16:30 | Rob McMahon: Great, hi 453 people, glad all can join |
| 16:30 | [Comment From Aimee] Aimee here from SFU (CMNS 453) in Canada. I had technical difficulties, all great now. Looks like I came in at the right time. |
| 16:30 | [Comment From Katie] @J-A-M - Hi Maya! |
| 16:29 | [Comment From Janella Hamilton cmns 453] ohh technology these days.. |
| 16:29 | Mira: is that you stanley from Nigeria ? |
| 16:28 | [Comment From Anne from SFU Canada] Hi Rob :) |
| 16:28 | [Comment From DAYU(Canada)] Hi Rob |
| 16:28 | Moustafa: Monroe Price has joined us from Oxford |
| 16:27 | [Comment From stanley] hi |
| 16:27 | [Comment From Maria] Hello everyone Im arriving a bit late... Hello from Costa RIca |
| 16:26 | Rob McMahon: Hi Janet - welcome to the webinar! |
| 16:26 | susan: we are about to bring on Monroe Price
and Nicole Stremlau from Oxford |
| 16:26 | [Comment From Janet from SFU - Canada] Hi Rob! |
| 16:23 | Arne: The 34 participants of this event who participate physically at the Magyar Telekom center are introducing themselves... They include participants from Serbia, El Salvador, Palestine, Georgia, Zambia, India, Bosnia, Uganda, Ukraine, and many other countries... |
| 16:21 | Mira: oh, this is Mira (twitter user: miragabi) researcher at Center for Development Studies @ Birzeit University , Ramallah - Palestine.. hello to everyone ! |
| 16:21 | Rob McMahon: Ha ha - great Arlette, glad you could sign in okay! |
| 16:20 | [Comment From Arlette Hernandez] Hey Rob, i think i can see you!!! lol |
| 16:19 | Arne: Susan Abbott is introducing the summer school on media development which this webinar is part of. The summer school has brought together over 20 participants from many different countries, most of whom are in this room right now. |
| 16:18 | [Comment From Jasper] finally sound and image here :-) |
| 16:18 | [Comment From Anne] Congrats - very exciting to see this come together! |
| 16:18 | Moustafa: If you have problems with either sound or video please refresh |
| 16:18 | [Comment From Danilo Yanich] Great video and audio work |
| 16:17 | [Comment From Guest] test |
| 16:16 | Arne: In case some remote participants cannot follow the live video, we will occasionally summarize some key points made at this webinar. At the moment, Kate Coyer introduces the main institutions, including CMCS/CEU, Annenberg and Magyar Telekom. |
| 16:16 | [Comment From Mira] My connection is slow for some reason, but I am on .. hello, my friend Hiba from Lebanon should be on too, are you ? |
| 16:16 | Rob McMahon: Hi Dayu and James, welcome to the webinar! |
| 16:16 | [Comment From James Lim] And that includes me too. Hello people! |
| 16:15 | susan: testing to see if my comment goes through |
| 16:15 | [Comment From Arne] Hello to all the remote participants from many different countries and continents. The webinar is starting at this moment. Kate Coyer from the CEU's Center for Media and Communication Studies and Susan Abbott from Annenberg are introducing the webinar and the summer school which this webinar is part of. |
| 16:15 | [Comment From DAYU(Canada)] Sound and video is great. |
| 16:14 | [Comment From Barnabas] Hello, I'm Barnabas from Magyar Telekom, checking in from California. |
| 16:14 | [Comment From Kyle Schneider (Sorbonne)] Two thumbs up -- Sound and video are working in Paris |
| 16:13 | [Comment From Rob McMahon] Hi Arlette! |
| 16:13 | [Comment From Arlette Hernandez] hi everyone, it looks like i made it in just on time! |
| 16:12 | [Comment From Kyle Schneider (Sorbonne)] Bonjour from Paris -- Kyle Schneider, Researcher and Head of Languages department at Grad. School of Journalism and Communications at the Sorbonne. I also do not have sound. |
| 16:12 | [Comment From Guest] testing |
| 16:11 | [Comment From Laura] Can hear you, but not see video. |
| 16:10 | [Comment From David Sadaki] Hi All, this is David from Rising Voices [http://rising.globalvoicesonline.org] writing from Portugal. Unfortunately I think my internet connection is too slow to follow the video. |
| 16:10 | [Comment From Hongmei Li] Hello, this is Hongmei Li from Annenberg. |
| 16:10 | [Comment From Guest] Dan from WashingtonDC |
| 16:10 | [Comment From J-A-M] J-A-M trio represents Serbia, Ireland and Bulgaria and we are very pleased to crowd on one laptop to be with all of you :) |
| 16:10 | [Comment From Monroe Price] am standing by! congratulations |
| 16:09 | susan: we are ready to start |
| 16:08 | [Comment From Danilo Yanich] Hi, I'm Danilo Yanich at the University of Delaware in the U.S. |
| 16:08 | [Comment From Guest] Hello, I am Milda from Lithuania. I am a journalist and interested in new digital media spaces and how can they affect the public space and interaction |
| 16:08 | [Comment From Guest] Hi, Rob here from SFU in Canada - any CMNS 453 folks here? |
| 16:08 | [Comment From Fran] Hi, I'm Fran, a telecom lawyer and consultant based in N. Carolina. I'm getting video but no sound. |
| 16:08 | [Comment From Guest] Hi, I'm Amer from the conference room :) |
| 16:08 | Moustafa: No audio yet, so just one second as you bear with us guys |
| 16:08 | [Comment From Jasper] Hey Lokman, good to have to around! |
| 16:05 | susan: we are getting ready to start in 2 minutes |
| 16:05 | susan: hi |
| 16:03 | [Comment From J-A-M] Hello from our trio Jelena Annabel and Maya! |
| 16:03 | [Comment From lokman] hello, lokman from annenberg, upenn here. |
| 16:02 | [Comment From Daiva] Daiva from the participant room :) Hi everyone. The video is a bit behind in time, no? |
| 16:02 | [Comment From Nicholas Nicoli] Hi, Im Nicholas from University of Nicosia Cyprus Communications Department...Great to be present! |
| 16:02 | [Comment From Trish] Hi, I'm Trish, a Canadian in Budapest. Happy to meet you all. |
| 16:01 | [Comment From Anne] Hi, Anne from CGCS is here |
| 16:01 | [Comment From Laura Johnson] From Vancouver, Canada. Interested in how new technology affects society. |
| 16:01 | [Comment From J-A-M] Hello from our trio - Jelena, Annabel and Maya :) |
| 16:01 | [Comment From Mahmood] Hi it's Mahmood here |
| 16:01 | Moustafa: We will be on in a few |
| 16:01 | [Comment From Joost van Beek] Hi from the EU Monitoring and Advocacy Program of the OSI |
| 16:01 | [Comment From Daniel] Daniel from Ethiopia. PhD student at Oxford on Media law |
| 15:57 | susan: hello, this is Susan from Annenberg |
| 15:57 | [Comment From hiba farhat] having problems viewing the video |
| 15:57 | [Comment From Yahia Shukeir-] Hi everybody. I am Yahia Shukeir from Jordan, a journalists and tariner. Thanks to "freedom technology" which will act, I hope, as any new invention in history to curtail dictatorship. |
| 15:57 | [Comment From Charles Wright] Hi, I'm Charles Wright, ASC at U.Penn. Looking forward to ideas and comments. Thanks. |
| 15:57 | [Comment From hiba farhat] interests: new media |
| 15:57 | [Comment From hiba farhat] hiba from lebanon |
| 15:56 | [Comment From Philipp Haaser] Hello everyone, I am Philipp from Berlin, student at the Department for Journalism Studies. |
| 15:56 | [Comment From Jasper] Hello world—live from Oxford UK |
| 15:56 | [Comment From Guest] hiba from lebanon |
| 15:56 | [Comment From Guest] hey moustafa |
| 15:56 | [Comment From Daniel] Checking in from Oxford. PhD student @ Oxford on Media Law |
| 15:56 | [Comment From Emin Huseynzade] Hi, I am from Azerbaijan, working for Transitions Online and dealing with new media education and development |
| 15:56 | [Comment From Guest] hello from Washington DC. Looking forward to learning more about how new media is being used for civic activism and journalism in general |
| 15:52 | [Comment From Timothy] Aloha, checking in from Oxford! I'm an incoming PhD student at Annenberg, most recently hailing from Hawai'i |
| 15:51 | [Comment From Katya] Hello, this is Katya also over at PCMLP |
| 15:51 | [Comment From Peter Noorlander] Hi Moustafa - just checking in |
| 15:49 | Moustafa: Hello Silvio |
| 15:49 | [Comment From Silvio Waisbord] Hello |
| 15:48 | Moustafa: If you would like to skype in, send me an email at ayad.moustafa@yahoo.com |
| 15:47 | Moustafa: We are all settling down now |
| 15:47 | [Comment From Anna] Hello, my name is Ana Keshelashvili, from journalism school in Georgia, researching the online tools in social activism, glad to be able to follow the webinar |
| 15:45 | Moustafa: Hello |
| 15:45 | [Comment From DAYU(Canada)] Hello |
| 15:45 | Moustafa: Not all comments will be posted, especially those of a technical nature so I hope everyone understands |
| 15:44 | Moustafa: The twitter account is MobileMediaWeb |
| 15:44 | [Comment From Rohan Jayasekera] @Moustafa. Are twitter posts directed to the CiL page, or vice versa and do you have a hash code for twitter entries? |
| 15:43 | Moustafa: Nicole there you go....is that better? |
| 15:42 | [Comment From an-ox] This is Nicole from PCMLP -- we don't see our comments |
| 15:42 | [Comment From Andras Benedict] hi |
| 15:42 | [Comment From DAYU(Canada)] Hi |
| 15:42 | Moustafa: Sit tight with us as we wait for the official 4 p.m. start time |
| 15:41 | Moustafa: Im glad you could make it today |
| 15:41 | Moustafa: Hello everyone |
| 15:41 | [Comment From an-ox] hellooo |
| 15:41 | [Comment From Eva Bognar] I'm Eva Bognar from Budapest, from CMCS, sociologist, researcher on civic uses of the Internet by young people |
| 15:41 | [Comment From an-ox] HI |
| 15:39 | [Comment From Rohan Jayasekera] Associate Editor of Index on Censorship, currently working om media support projects in Iraq under contract to UNDP |
| 15:38 | Moustafa: If everyone could just say their names and countries as they arrive, and maybe their interests |
| 15:38 | [Comment From Rohan Jayasekera] Hello |
| 15:38 | Moustafa: Hello Eva |
| 15:38 | [Comment From Eva Bognar] Hello |
| 15:35 | Moustafa: Hello |
| 15:35 | [Comment From ct] hi |
Webinar coordinators
The webinar is being organized by the Center for Media and Communication Studies at Central European University and the Center for Global Communication Studies at the Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania.