Online journalism has potential for more democratic media

Over the past decade, the Internet and its related technological advances have brought many changes to the news industry. The consumer now has more options than ever to get their news, while the media itself has additional resources to tell the story.

However, as media companies converge and consolidate, many journalists have been left to scramble for jobs. A shift to online advertising has devastated the newspaper industry. Online news sites, meanwhile, are searching for a profitable business model.

Although such chaos leaves many wondering about the future of news, former San Jose Mercury News columnist Dan Gillmor views these changes with optimism in his book, "We the media: Grassroots journalism by the people, for the people." Calling the Internet "the most important medium since the printing press," he embraces the shift from a top-down mass media into a more democratic approach to news.

Published in 2004 -- and later updated in 2006 -- the book is noticeably dated in spots, reflecting the rapidly changing media environment. However, Gillmor's objective is not to chronicle the revolution itself but rather to trumpet the potential of tomorrow's news as a conversation between all participant groups -- journalists, newsmakers and an audience that can seemingly morph into a potential army of citizen journalists.

While media critic Walter Lippmann once championed the journalist as a useful go-between in filtering news to the public, Gillmor celebrates the audience's newfound power to skip the filter, get the news themselves and participate in the process.

As one of the early pioneers in this new medium, he begins the book with a brief history in how this process began, as several technological and cultural pieces fell into place. He points to the importance of citizen journalists during the events of Sept. 11, 2001, and shows how the lines between news producers and consumers began to blur.

Technology was behind this transformation, and "We the media" examines the new tools of the trade. Some methods, such as mailing lists and forums, have fallen from the importance they once had when the book was written. However, Gillmor correctly predicted the growth of web staples such as weblogs, text messaging, RSS feeds, and wikis -- all areas that still have a way to go to achieve ubiquity.

Other tools have seen dramatic changes and, in one case, a reversal. Digital cameras have reached a quality that increases the potential for citizen journalists. Although Gillmor's idea of Internet broadcasting has had little impact, YouTube came soon after the book's release and has certainly changed multimedia content.

Gillmor seems to be a big fan of peer-to-peer networks, but this method seems to have dropped in popularity. He saw the beginnings of entertainment industry lawsuits over copyright, and their subsequent increase has limited even lawful use of this method.

Although much of his discussion focuses on how the audience has used these tools to become part of the newsgathering and dissemination process, Gillmor examines the changes from the perspective of journalists and newsmakers as well.

Instead of being afraid of the removal of the wall between reporters and their audience, Gillmor hopes journalists take advantage of the opportunities it presents.

Readers can communicate to reporters via e-mail, forums, comments and chats. If journalists pay attention, they can improve their accounts and find story ideas at the same time. In this larger conversation, they serve as the editors and moderators of this realm.

For newsmakers, the online world is one in which they must stay on their toes. Although the Internet offers them a chance to communicate directly to the masses, Gillmor offers several examples of citizen journalists uncovering blunders that the news media miss. For him, the online world is the ultimate fact-checker, ensuring a higher level of transparency. Even journalists can be held accountable for their mistakes.

Gillmor also sees great potential in the political realm. The same tools that can be used in journalism can potentially transform participation in political life. Candidates can raise money, organize campaigns and get instant feedback. In the long run, "We the media" contends "open-source politics" could lead to increased civic activity.

Although what has since been christened "Web 2.0" has great potential, Gillmor exhorts readers to watch for abuses of these new tools and preserve its existence.

With the promise of increased online freedom and a shift in power toward the people, he correctly anticipated the present battle for net neutrality. The groups that formerly controlled information, government agencies and the entertainment industry, have begun the battle to reclaim control and take advantage of the system.

The book describes how corporations have used the Internet to gather information about its users, sometimes without their knowledge. In addition to this invasion into their privacy, corporations also are attempting to control this information superhighway with little resistance from government agencies that purport to protect citizens' rights.

Not only has the telecommunication industry tried to impose controls on our present end-to-end system, but Gillmor argues that large corporations have used intellectual property laws to stifle the free exchange of ideas over the Internet.

While the author says he respects an innovator's right to compensation, he believes copyright law and digital rights management have gone too far. He urges online content producers to get organized and protect their rights. In the last couple of years, organizations like the Electronic Frontier Foundation have done just that.

Showing that he practices what he preaches, this book was actually written under a Creative Commons arrangement, which grants increased rights to users of the material.

In the end, Gillmor concedes that the new Internet landscape is far from perfect. Unethical users can try to use technology to manipulate public opinion. Photos and videos could be doctored. Marketers will try to manipulate messages. The lack -- and sometimes absence -- of editing for blogs and online news has led to inaccuracies. However, the same online world has the potential to expose these schemes or mistakes.

With this in mind, he explains how the new environment of citizen journalism will need to develop its own set of values concerning fairness, accuracy and ethics. With such a vast online world, readers need some type of system to evaluate the trustworthiness of information on the Internet. Gillmor describes several other ethical issues that still need to be worked out as well.

In the end, We the media is neither a history or a guide to Internet journalism. Instead, in a well-crafted narrative, Gillmor takes the reader through a logical progression, from where we've been to where we could be going.

These days, any book on technology will likely be somewhat outdated by the time it is published. However, Gillmor's prescription for grassroots journalism holds true. If we stay on the right track, he feels we will be better off with a democratic online media.