Censorship, Echo Chamber, and Democratization of News
Here’s the top 12 News stories that didn’t make mainstream media and should’ve. Top 25 Censored Stories for 2007 1. Future of Internet Debate Ignored by Media 2. Halliburton Charged with Selling Nuclear Technologies to Iran 3. Oceans of the World in Extreme Danger 4. Hunger and Homelessness Increasing in the US 5. High-Tech Genocide…
Here’s the top 12 News stories that didn’t make mainstream media and should’ve.
Top 25 Censored Stories for 2007
- 1. Future of Internet Debate Ignored by Media
- 2. Halliburton Charged with Selling Nuclear Technologies to Iran
- 3. Oceans of the World in Extreme Danger
- 4. Hunger and Homelessness Increasing in the US
- 5. High-Tech Genocide in Congo
- 6. Federal Whistleblower Protection in Jeopardy
- 7. US Operatives Torture Detainees to Death in Afghanistan and Iraq
- 8. Pentagon Exempt from Freedom of Information Act
- 9. The World Bank Funds Israel-Palestine Wall
- 10. Expanded Air War in Iraq Kills More Civilians
- 11. Dangers of Genetically Modified Food Confirmed
- 12. Pentagon Plans to Build New Landmines
More here at Project Censored. Anyone can slap up a blog these days, for free, and report on what they want, or set up iGoogle and track news that didn’t make the News. That’s the beauty of personalization on the ‘net.
Many editors get miffed when I talk about social media informing mainstream media. “The day we rely on comments for news, is the day that unbiased, professional reporting dies!” cry they. But it’s naive to think that when the audience is telling you what they think is hot news and what they want to see and hear, that the media savvy won’t respond. For better or for worse.
And as Lara Logan on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart says ” If I were to watch the News that your hearing in the United States, I’d just blow my brains out because it would drive me nuts” And she is the Chief Foreign Correspondent of CBS News. Her stories get buried because the audience struggles to tell one military uniform from another. What will she do when the editors really start listening to a bunch of marketing and PR bloggers that have more listeners/viewers/readers than mainstream media do?
Use the power of social media wisely, my poppets. The Echo Chamber is alive and well online as well as offline. In fact it impacts our lives more than we know, at a personal level. Here’s a great post from This Is Herd – I start my classes asking people about their passion – not allowed to mention work (unless it is a consuming self employment) or family (cos we are all passionate about our kids etc). This stops everyone from being in the “professional” trap of reading only highbrow websites and The Australian and all that rubbish. Nothing worse than a class of people debating the merits of Radio National podcasts or some such rubbish – I want them to tell me about the acting theatre online community they joined or the social network around Bridge (game) they are addicted to – much more engaging, and makes the exercises more fun. Well, for me anyway!
Note: I think this is the first time I have linked to This Is Herd so there’s no echo here on my blog .. echo… echo… 😛
I suppose what I wonder is how do you differentiate between a “censored story” and a baseless conspiracy theory? As you point out the “echo chamber is alive and well online.”
Thank you for the kind words Laurel, my post about the echo chamber drew heavily on an earlier one from Shannon Paul, a PR professional and new media coordinator for the Detroit Red Wings (ice hockey).
Her original post is definitely worth a read: http://tinyurl.com/6gzwmn