Customer Reviews

Mediactive

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If you shape your political opinions based on what's reported in the news, you owe it to yourself to know more about how the news is reported. Mediactive is not only a great guide to the way journalism is conducted by the establishment media, but also a great guide to the way journalism *should be* conducted (see especially Chapter 8, "If I Ran a News Organization, Part 2"). It will help interested journalists do their jobs with greater integrity, and will better enable an engaged citizenry to recognize the difference between journalism, on the one hand, and stenography, propaganda, and other forms of deceit, on the other. An excellent read for bloggers, citizen journalists, professional journalists, and all consumers of the news, and I highly recommend it.

In 2004, Dan Gillmor wrote "We the Media", one of the first books to illuminate the role of "citizen journalists". "Mediactive" should be seen as a follow-on to "We the Media", not an update or sequel. It's split into three major sections: Media literacy, Media creation, and, for lack of a better term, "Other". The first section is essential reading for anyone, but it would be particularly valuable for high school and college students who are still learning how to judge whether a story is valid or an information source is reliable. The second section starts with a high-level overview of citizen journalism and dives into the nuts & bolts of blogging, Twitter and other means of self-publishing. This section is written primarily for novice citizen journalists; if you've been doing it for a while, you already know most of what Gillmor says.

The third section is, in my opinion, the least useful part of the book. It starts with a review of the laws and norms governing journalism and communications in the U.S., but it's at best an overview of the issues that any journalist should be aware of. Then, it jumps into a discussion of teaching and learning media literacy and journalism, and concludes with what needs to change in order to improve the practice of journalism. As Gillmor himself admits, the latter topic alone deserves its own book, and that's the problem with the final section of "Mediactive". Each of the last three chapters would work much better as separate books, and there are books that you can buy on the three subject areas that are much more comprehensive than the information that Gillmor gives in a single chapter.

In short, I strongly recommend "Mediactive" if you or someone you know is serious about developing media literacy skills, and moderately recommend it if you're interested in citizen journalism. If the topics in the last three chapters are of serious interest, you'd do better by buying books dedicated to the topics.

'Mediactive' challenges the reader to go out and make sure others don't usurp their right to factual, informed information, as well as take responsibility for their own online activities and posts. It is a call for individuals to not only embrace the new mediasphere of blogs, journals, tweets and who-knows-what's-next, but to do so with a sharper, skeptical mind. Separating the good from the bad, the manipulators from the truth, is not going to be an easy task, but one we must all be up to. We need to dio what we can to prevent the telecoms, media giants, and governments from using this as another way to control "sheeple." For too long the mainstream media has dumbed itself down and we can no longer rely on it for anything. It's always been up to us, but even more so today. Dan provides many great guidelines and suggestions for how to incorporate sensibility and responsibility into our online interactions.

Make sure you get copies for your children.

"Mediactive" might well have been called "New Media Literacy 101," but I like the term that Dan Gillmor has coined to describe the new responsibilities thrust on us as both creators and active users of news and information in our hyperconnected age.

Besides, it's a sexier title.

Gillmor -- whose previous book, "We the Media," chronicled the rise of citizen media -- here takes us on a tour of the churning, still-evolving media landscape, where blogs and independent websites figure prominently in the discussion alongside the usual traditional media giants of print, broadcast, cable, radio and the Web. It's an age not just of "radically democratized and decentralized creation and distribution" but also an era of "information confusion."

Gillmor writes in the Introduction:

"For many of us, abundance feels more like a deluge, drowning us in a torrent of data, much of whose trustworthiness we can't easily judge. You're hardly alone if you don't know what you can trust anymore."

But we aren't helpless, either. In fact, we've never had more ways to sort out the good from the bad -- a variety of tools and techniques that are emerging from the same collision of technology and media that has created the confusion.

Not all information is created equal in quality or reliability. Gillmor's recent sojourn into academia has put him in close quarters with the next generation of journalists, and this book is intended as a steely-eyed look at news and information in the emerging mediasphere, the precepts and standards that set journalism aside from speculation and rumor, and why it's important for us to get this right -- as a society and not just as a profession. Its message goes to the very heart of civic engagement and what it means to be an informed citizen.

Dan has positioned Mediactive not just as a new book but as a multifaceted project at mediactive.com. And the final chapter in the book makes clear that the answers to many of the issues outlined here -- payment systems for quality journalism, digital identity, proper use of aggregation and curation tools, community-based networks of trust, the education community's role in all this -- have yet to be written.

Dan Gillmor, whom I've been lucky enough to meet a few times, is one of the leading thinkers about the revolution in journalism and its implications. In "Mediactive," he has created an indispensable user's manual and rallying cry for news consumers and would-be "citizen journalists" in the digital age. While most analysts focus only on eroding and emerging publishing and business models - and Gillmor has compelling insights to offer there as well - "Mediactive" speaks directly to all of us. It is a lively, fast-paced, and readable mix of inspiration and practical advice on how to be a smarter consumer of news - how to know what to believe in an age of anything-goes "journalism" - and, ultimately, how to become a productive participant in a global "conversation" enabled by digital technology. Whether you want to dive into citizen journalism or just keep your head above water in the flood of news and what passes for it, I warmly recommend "Mediactive" for anyone who cares about the future of journalism and its role in a vibrant democracy.

Andrew Heyward

Chairman, Advisory Board, Center for News Literacy, Stony Brook University

Former president, CBS News

I reviewed this book for my job as a media researcher. Some of this review is modified from my longer review for the Center for Social Media, which you can read here: [...].

I found Mediactive to be both personally and professionally inspiring. Professionally, Gillmor got me thinking with his thoughts on ethics, norms and the big legal issues of our time (free speech, privacy, copyright, and corporate media consolidation, etc.) and his thought-provoking lists of ideas: ideas for running a hypothetical news organization (his would link prominently and often to competitors, ideas for reshaping journalism education (he'd encourage cross-disciplinary study and require courses in research methodology and business concepts) and ideas for reshaping the ways in which stories are written and disseminated (he'd include a "Big Topic" overview for each story, and make revisions and updates transparent, similar to Wikipedia articles. Personally, Gillmor got me thinking about my own online "brand" and the ways in which I use social networking sites. This book has made me much more systematic and conscious about the way I present myself online.

Mediactive is easy-to-read and can reach a large audience, but this strength is also its weakness. As the reviewer Len Feldman points out, readers may find certain parts of the book more useful than others. I personally thoroughly enjoyed Gillmor's thoughts on journalism education, but I was less enthralled with his chapter on media literacy. In it, Gillmor includes quotes from experts in the field about why media literacy is currently lacking in schools, but I think he could have made a stronger argument for systematic media literacy education at all levels. That being said, this book is a terrific read! It's fun enough to read for pleasure, and it would also make for a great textbook in a college-level media studies or journalism course. I highly recommend checking it out!

I've always been interested in communications, both the content and technical side. While flirting with content, I've have long been focused on the technology, including in my work.

With the growth of newer media, a couple of years ago I was cajoled by a friend into blogging, despite my objections. I didn't think think I had much to say other than 140-character messages on Twitter.

It turns out my friend was right and I was wrong. I do like it, and some others like what I write. I've been looking, off and on, for more guidance in either what I'm doing now or a possible next step, and this book serves that purpose well. It outlines a principled approach toward being a valued and trusted contributor to media. It also deals with important business issues, and it sparks me to consider if there may be a business angle to my writing that I have not considered. Very valuable to me is the discussion of the tools for media creation. Though I am a technologist, it is not in this area, and reading Dan's clear, concise discussion of tools makes me so grateful I did not try to figure it all out on my own. There is excellent advise on taking ownership of your media presence, so others do not.

Media creation is half the book. The other half is media consumption. Through following Dan on Twitter, I had some sense of some of this already. The book goes much further. As with media creation, a principled approach is described, along with a summary of useful tools for media consumers. A key principle is to be skeptical of everything, but not equally skeptical of all things.

Finally, I recommend the book for anyone raising kids or who works with young people. These principles are important to impart to them, in my view, and this book has good advice on how to do so.

If you have become too cynical on journalism, or are sitting on the fence about being a content creator, I recommend you get this book and see if the principles promoted might help.

I am advocate for Media Literacy Education and "Mediactive" fits my needs as an American and Teacher. He tells it like it is and he speaks from experience. Americans need tor read this book to understand where media is today. Our media has gone so far to the left and have forgotten how to communicate truth. Yet there are fools out there that still believe what they hear, see, and touch. Read this book and wake up.We all need to be proactive. Become a solution not part of the problem.