[12340] in Commercialization & Privatization of the Internet
Re: C&S&NYT
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Gregory=Kushmerek%AcctgMed%FIN@hum)
Mon May 16 12:31:24 1994
Date: Mon, 16 May 94 09:41:43 EDT
From: Gregory=Kushmerek%AcctgMed%FIN@humres-server.net.tufts.edu
To: com-priv@psi.com
> No, I don't think I missed the points. I don't see how the
> question of whether Lewis is anywhere on the is relevant. Does
> he have to be on the net to report about the net? Do I have
> to be on White House staff to report about WH staff activities?
> Or do I have to be in Iraq to report or editorialize about the
> war? Or actually in the crowd where the President gives
> a particular speech? To suggest he has to be a regular
> net user to report on it is take a very elitist approach to
> net access and discourse.
Apples and oranges -- even your response bears this out. When I
hear of the problems going on in the former Yugoslavia, those daily
issues and problems on the ground, I want to hear it from the reporters
there on the ground. Hence, why I like NPR and BBC World Service.
When I want to hear about rumblings in the halls of Congress, I like
to hear what Nina Totenberg (sp. I'm sure) has to say.
Now in the first paragraph, I'm saying I like to get news on events
dealing with community/geographic-based issues from someone in the field.
This is because there are a number of widespread factors coming from
the interaction of many people in a context where few people are in
charge. Therefore, I want someone who is almost a part of the events
since that environment requires a reporter get a flavor for them.
Now in the second example/paragraph, I'm saying I like to hear what
one knowledgable reporter gleans from a group of leaders in a controlled
environment (put cynicism aside for a moment please). Certainly, Nina
is an outsider in that she doesn't make policy. But you can read
the minutes, listen to the conversations in the hallways, and talk to
the people who interact in this very controlled environment.
The Internet is more like a community than the business halls of
Congress. Therefore, I don't trust or respect an author/journalist/
writer who says anything about the net unless he/she interacts on the
net. There is no one source you can interview to know what is
happening on the net. You can get a cursory understanding this way,
but that is all. That is why a writer must interact with the net
directly rather than get information on the outside.
This is hardly elitist. It's the kind of work required to get a
grip on the topic. Just look at journalist history for your
precedents. You should know your topic as well as your audience.
--gk
Greg Kushmerek
