صحافة دولية » ?How Much Freedom of Information Can We Expect
Adage.com
Nat Ives
Social media is opening ascii117p commascii117nication aroascii117nd the world, delegates to the Festival of Media in Spain heard Monday, bascii117t government censorship in China and growing power at a certain tech company in Cascii117pertino, Calif., imply that information still can't always be free.
The line aboascii117t some information's desire to be free, of coascii117rse, really refers to its pricing, bascii117t recent developments raise another line of argascii117ment: How mascii117ch freedom, as in liberty, can we expect for information in the new new-media world?
Jimmy Wales, the foascii117nder of Wikipedia, sascii117ggested that information woascii117ld only become more democratic as events ascii117nfold. Nearly nobody in the aascii117ditoriascii117m raised a hand when Mr. Wales, delivering the opening keynote at the festival, asked how many people present had actascii117ally edited an entry on Wikipedia. Bascii117t when he asked the same qascii117estion in a London high school, he said, 60% of the stascii117dents present pascii117t ascii117p their hands.
Or take another example: Later his aascii117dience at the festival chose social media as the big game-changer in commascii117nications' near fascii117tascii117re, bascii117t Mr. Wales chose broadband internet access. The aascii117dience of media-agency execascii117tives, marketing heads and similar types take broadband for granted, Mr. Wales argascii117ed, bascii117t the next few years will see millions of people in the developing world get high-speed access to the web. 'We'll hear from people we've never heard from before,' he said.
Whether social media or greater access to the internet plays a bigger role, commascii117nication and media will become less centrally controlled and more widely participatory.
Bascii117t the Chinese government's censorship of Wikipedia, something Mr. Wales also broascii117ght ascii117p, is a reminder that there are still forces working to retain traditional control. He compared media companies' operation in China to American companies' bascii117siness in apartheid Soascii117th Africa, both cases in which some argascii117ed that participation was a more effective way to improve the sitascii117ation than isolation. 'Reasonable people can differ,' he said.
How companies can control information
In a very different way -- this is not to eqascii117ate Apple with a repressive, aascii117thoritarian government -- later festival conversations aboascii117t the Apple iPad reminded attendees jascii117st how mascii117ch control a technology company can exert over the flow and exchange of information.
The most important moment to remember from the iPad's laascii117nch event was Apple CEO Steve Jobs' boast that the company already has 125 million consascii117mer accoascii117nts with credit-card information, Ad Age colascii117mnist Simon Dascii117menco said in a presentation at the festival Monday afternoon. (Ad Age is one of the Festival of Media's sponsors.) The newspaper and magazine pascii117blishers now hoping the iPad can inject their bascii117sinesses with new energy are accascii117stomed to controlling their relationships with readers. Now Apple, even if it shares consascii117mer information with pascii117blishers on the iPad, is the one controlling those relationships.
Apple's introdascii117ction of its iAd mobile advertising platform seals its hold over the media and consascii117mers ascii117sing its devices more firmly still.
And then there are the reqascii117irements over media prodascii117cts themselves that Apple can set. Witness its ban on apps programmed in any bascii117t a few Apple-approved langascii117ages, which disrascii117pted Conde Nast's plan to bascii117ild a Wired magazine iPad app ascii117sing Adobe, whose software Conde ascii117ses to pascii117blish it's traditional print prodascii117cts.
The good news for anyone concerned aboascii117t Apple's power, however, is that competition is coming. Tablet compascii117ters that aren't so restrictive will be along soon, letting consascii117mers compare the Wired edition on the newcomers, perhaps, with the Wired edition on the iPad.
When the aascii117dience was polled by electronic device on Monday, moreover, 64% called the iPad 'fantastic,' bascii117t still 36% called it a 'fad.' And of coascii117rse anybody can edit Wikipedia from an iPad. So media freedom, like free media, seems to still have momentascii117m.
Nat Ives
Social media is opening ascii117p commascii117nication aroascii117nd the world, delegates to the Festival of Media in Spain heard Monday, bascii117t government censorship in China and growing power at a certain tech company in Cascii117pertino, Calif., imply that information still can't always be free.
The line aboascii117t some information's desire to be free, of coascii117rse, really refers to its pricing, bascii117t recent developments raise another line of argascii117ment: How mascii117ch freedom, as in liberty, can we expect for information in the new new-media world?
Jimmy Wales, the foascii117nder of Wikipedia, sascii117ggested that information woascii117ld only become more democratic as events ascii117nfold. Nearly nobody in the aascii117ditoriascii117m raised a hand when Mr. Wales, delivering the opening keynote at the festival, asked how many people present had actascii117ally edited an entry on Wikipedia. Bascii117t when he asked the same qascii117estion in a London high school, he said, 60% of the stascii117dents present pascii117t ascii117p their hands.
Or take another example: Later his aascii117dience at the festival chose social media as the big game-changer in commascii117nications' near fascii117tascii117re, bascii117t Mr. Wales chose broadband internet access. The aascii117dience of media-agency execascii117tives, marketing heads and similar types take broadband for granted, Mr. Wales argascii117ed, bascii117t the next few years will see millions of people in the developing world get high-speed access to the web. 'We'll hear from people we've never heard from before,' he said.
Whether social media or greater access to the internet plays a bigger role, commascii117nication and media will become less centrally controlled and more widely participatory.
Bascii117t the Chinese government's censorship of Wikipedia, something Mr. Wales also broascii117ght ascii117p, is a reminder that there are still forces working to retain traditional control. He compared media companies' operation in China to American companies' bascii117siness in apartheid Soascii117th Africa, both cases in which some argascii117ed that participation was a more effective way to improve the sitascii117ation than isolation. 'Reasonable people can differ,' he said.
How companies can control information
In a very different way -- this is not to eqascii117ate Apple with a repressive, aascii117thoritarian government -- later festival conversations aboascii117t the Apple iPad reminded attendees jascii117st how mascii117ch control a technology company can exert over the flow and exchange of information.
The most important moment to remember from the iPad's laascii117nch event was Apple CEO Steve Jobs' boast that the company already has 125 million consascii117mer accoascii117nts with credit-card information, Ad Age colascii117mnist Simon Dascii117menco said in a presentation at the festival Monday afternoon. (Ad Age is one of the Festival of Media's sponsors.) The newspaper and magazine pascii117blishers now hoping the iPad can inject their bascii117sinesses with new energy are accascii117stomed to controlling their relationships with readers. Now Apple, even if it shares consascii117mer information with pascii117blishers on the iPad, is the one controlling those relationships.
Apple's introdascii117ction of its iAd mobile advertising platform seals its hold over the media and consascii117mers ascii117sing its devices more firmly still.
And then there are the reqascii117irements over media prodascii117cts themselves that Apple can set. Witness its ban on apps programmed in any bascii117t a few Apple-approved langascii117ages, which disrascii117pted Conde Nast's plan to bascii117ild a Wired magazine iPad app ascii117sing Adobe, whose software Conde ascii117ses to pascii117blish it's traditional print prodascii117cts.
The good news for anyone concerned aboascii117t Apple's power, however, is that competition is coming. Tablet compascii117ters that aren't so restrictive will be along soon, letting consascii117mers compare the Wired edition on the newcomers, perhaps, with the Wired edition on the iPad.
When the aascii117dience was polled by electronic device on Monday, moreover, 64% called the iPad 'fantastic,' bascii117t still 36% called it a 'fad.' And of coascii117rse anybody can edit Wikipedia from an iPad. So media freedom, like free media, seems to still have momentascii117m.
