Download Public/Private Intersections in New Media

• This online learning tool was born of a panel discussion by the
same name—Public/Private Intersections in New Media—
hosted by the Northeastern University Libraries and the
Departments of Journalism and Communications, and
concerning the impact of new media on both public and private
sectors. Participants included NU faculty members Dan
Kennedy, Craig Robertson, and David Marshall, as well as
international new media expert Axels Bruns, from the University
of Queensland in New Zealand.
• For more information, please contact Amanda Folk
([email protected]) or Maria Hudson Carpenter
([email protected]) .
Is there anything different about new media?
Craig:
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Yes, but…the discourse of “new media” is not so new
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The promotion of new digital media, and the on-going debates about their
social and cultural consequences, has continued to make use of the ideas and
discourses that have defined the development of media in the US from at
least the telegraph in the middle of the nineteenth century.
Is there anything different about new media?
Dan:
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The conventional wisdom is that the Internet is revolutionary because of its
many-to-many architecture and DIY soul.
Blogs may be the new media that get the most attention from people like us.
But they’re not necessarily the most important.
Targeted satellite TV, DVDs, music videos and even below-the-radar uses of
direct mail may prove to be more influential.
Is there anything different about new media?
Axel:
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
New media enable
 Interactivity
 Intercreativity
Intercreative uses
 Break producer/consumer dichotomies
 Turn users into producers of content
 This is a new hybrid practice: produsage
Is there anything different about new media?
Meagan:
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
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important to distinguish between different types of “new media”
production-oriented New Media (i.e.: Digital video equipment, website creation
software, etc.) - allows more people to create content
cell phones, iPods - private consumption of medium in public sphere
internet (i.e. blogging, networking websites (facebook, myspace)
-disclosure of sometimes traditionally private info
-a site for subcultures to meet in virtual space – across locations, time, etc.
How has the public sphere changed in this era of new media?
Dan:

Bloggers challenge the dread “MSM,” bringing down major figures such as
Trent Lott, Howell Raines and Dan Rather.

The positive: News organizations are being forced to lower their gates and
engage in a conversation with the public.

The negative: The economic basis for neutral, in-depth reporting is giving
way to blogland’s emphasis on voice and attitude.
How has the public sphere changed in this era of new media?
Axel:
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Produsage is participatory:
 More active involvement in the public sphere
 Multiple perspectives represented

Produsage of democracy?
 Traditional mediated democracy has passive audiences
 Produser-media democracy can be more deliberative
How has the public sphere changed in this era of new media?
Craig:
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Discussions around it have always located the emergence of media in ongoing debates about what is public and what is private

“The people” have always had only a represented voice in the public—the
public never exists unless it is represented

Tension between the hope that advances in media technology will produce a
healthier democracy, and the concern that the commercial organization of
electronic media is eroding democratic values became more acute.
How has the public sphere changed in this era of new media?
Meagan:

Created more separated public spheres that are falsely perceived as more
private
 The architecture of new media - how are the boundaries drawn

Thefacebook.com
Should we be worried?
Craig:

The developing on-line community is increasingly reliant on the economic
value of information gathered through sophisticated interactive
communication technology.

This involves an increased acceptance of what in other contexts we call
surveillance that seems less intrusive in a world where authentic personal
experience has become self-disclosure.

Reality TV produces a subjectivity that equates submission to comprehensive
surveillance with self-expression and self-knowledge.
Should we be worried?
Axel:
Yes:
 More potential for surveillance
 Long-term effects of ‘ephemeral’ communication
 Current climate of fear breeds homogeneity
No:
 Everyone is dirty
 Potential for sourveillance
 Backlash has started
Should we be worried?
Dan:
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Google, Yahoo!, Amazon and other large sites collect information that could
be matched up with records kept by ISPs.

Surveillance with a smile: We willingly hand over our personal data to make
for a better online experience.

Two differences: (1) The commercial nature of modern-day surveillance; and
(2) the theoretical level of effectiveness.
Should we be worried?
Meagan:
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Importance of education on these new media technologies

Monitors in a very subtle way - some people are unaware of the extent
Changes to everyday life
Meagan:
Positives
 They have given people new ways to express themselves
 Convenience
 New ways to “connect” with people
Negatives
 Separating people in physical public spaces b/c of a private medium
consumption (i.e. cell phones, iPods, etc.)
 Excessive disclosure - could be dangerous if uninformed of the possible
consequences
Changes to everyday life
Dan:
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The good: A journalist, especially one with a blog, is no longer bound by the
production cycle or limitations on time or space.

The bad: You’re always on. If you haven’t responded to a major news story
within an hour, people wonder why.

The ugly: A journalist’s potential for making a fool of him- or herself
increases exponentially, especially with unedited blogs
Changes to everyday life
Axel:
Negative

Always on, always at work
 Intrusive and interruptive
 Traceable and open to abuse
Positive
 Personal expression and networking
 New forms of (collaborative) creativity
 Bottom-up produsage instead of top-down production/consumption
Changes to everyday life
Craig: