We The Media

''We the Media'' is a book written by Dan Gillmor, published in 2004 by O'Reilly ().

Gillmor discusses how the proliferation of grassroots internet journalists (bloggers) has changed the way news is handled. One of the book's main points is that a few big media corporations cannot control the news we get any longer, now that news is being published in real-time, available to everybody, via the Internet. The book received widespread praise from the demographic it covered, and mixed reviews elsewhere.

Background

''We the Media'' details how media and its consumption has changed with the introduction of online platforms. Big corporations are no longer able to control what is being published about themselves, while the "former audience," as Gillmor calls it, is no longer passive. The former audience has a larger role in the consumption and production of media.

Gillmor believes the aggressive use of copyrighting in America is a cause for the lack of creativity and innovation in the states. For this reason, he has his book published for free under a creative commons. The book will be released into the public domain 14 years after publication.

Ch. 1: From Tom Paine to Blogs and Beyond

"Big Media" has increased availability of news reception. Major broadcasting companies no longer have the mass influence over users it once had. News is now more of a conversation. News has more choices, voices, perspectives, and options. "Big Media's" only strength is its depleting stocks of financial resources and their powerful presence during copyright investigations.

Early social innovators, like Thomas Paine and other early American pamphleteers and muckrakers, set the stage for successive media revolutions. The most significant being worldwide, low-cost access to internet and having their own say about what is happening in the world.

Ch. 2: The Read-Write Web

David Winer developed user friendly software that would allow most people with a computer to be able to write on the web. People no longer needed an ISP account or be an expert with HTML to create web pages. With this new technology anyone could subscribe to the content of others. In the past 150 years there were two major means of communication: one to many, and one to one. Winer's software changed this.

Today there is the addition of many to many or few to few. We use SMS for time sensitive alerts, text messages, and information. Publishing is easy with RSS. It allows the public to both blog about and keep up with current events, commentary, personals, and businesses. The internet makes the amateur the professional. There is no reliance on limited sources because the public can access information and receive events in real time.

Ch. 3: The Gates Come Down

The power of big Media’s ability to advertise and conceal news or information with the rest of the world is dwindling on the brink of a new era. This grassroots media era is what’s essentially in effect here. The power of the common people united in a “truth squad" is at an all-time high. They are able to gather and release information through blogs, e-mails, and journals. The public can keep a watch on corporate offices and political affairs. In the past, big media had a controlled grip on what the public had access to.

There are a number of ways for writers to get their story out others in their online communities. Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, Medium and WordPress are a few of these online platforms. The days of big media are numbered due to this expanding movement of writing individually for the people.

Ch. 4: Newsmakers Turn the Tables

Politicians of the future will not be able to use the media to its highest effect. In his discussion o
Phil Gomes
Gillmor mentions that a large part of the success of Gomes’ strategy was the IBM AS/400. Computers made the instant transfer of materials possible. This helped Gomes achieve his marketing penetration.

The largest part of Gillmor’s focus lies in the way the current political community has yet to embrace the notion of social media. His main advice for the community at large is to make use of the media as a tool. The community can use the untapped masses connected to the other end of those networks.

Ch. 5: The Consent of the Governed

Chapter 5 discusses the introduction of the Internet as a medium both for politicians and citizens to actively contribute to campaigns from. More specifically the chapter focuses on the usage of micro blogging as a more personal form of democratic interaction between the electors and the elected. Both Howard Dean and John McCain are both credited with pioneering and perfecting this grassroots medium utilization.

Ironically the chapter predicts microblogging reaching its apex during the 2008 elections, which would feature none other than John McCain. While John McCain used microblogging effectively; his opponent Barack Obama brilliantly carried out the most effective internet medium based campaign to date. Obama's successful implementation of strategic targeted microblogging resulted in his election to the presidency over McCain.

Ch. 6: Professional Journalist Join the Conversation

BBC
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