Media Relations in the Network Age with Dan Gillmor

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This is a recording of a conversation I had with Dan Gillmor at the New Communications Forum in Palo Alto about the rise of grassroots media, the relationship between citizen journalism and traditional journalism, as well as the future of the mainstream media amidst the rise of online journalism.

Dan Gillmor is the founder of Grassroots Media Inc., a project aimed at enabling grassroots journalism and expanding its reach.

He is the author of “We the Media: Grassroots Journalism by the People, for the People,” a book that explains the rise of citizens’ media and why it matters.

Gillmor was a columnist at the San Jose Mercury News, Silicon Valley ‘s daily newspaper, and wrote a weblog for SiliconValley.com. He joined the Mercury News after six years with the Detroit Free Press. Before that, he was with the Kansas City Times and several newspapers in Vermont.

Dan is currently directing and working on projects related to the Center for Citizen Media, a non-profit organization helping to enable citizen journalism.

SHOW NOTES

3:18 – Dan Gillmor talks about launching the Center for Citizen Media.

4:45 – Gillmor on why he decided to leave the San Jose Mercury News.

6:03 – Gillmor discusses the development of grassroots media in the United States: “…the digitization and democratization of the tools for creating media…is the big shift that enabled people who wanted to say something to actually say it…”

10:30 – Gillmor on the credibility of citizen journalism: “We’ve learned over the years what’s trustworthy and what isn’t in traditional media. We have to now apply very similar marketing skills and learning to understand what we can trust online…”

13:32 – Gillmor talks about how technology can help with editorial oversight.

14:31 – Gillmor talks about applying grassroots concepts to newspapers and traditional media organizations: “…look at the tools for conversational media that exist like blogs, like podcasts…and use them internally as part of the news gathering and dissemination process done by professional journalists…”

17:39 – Gillmor talks about how the online media can work towards ensuring truthful coverage: “one thing bloggers are pretty good at is debunking and fact checking after the fact.”

20:00 – Gillmor discusses his book “We the Media: Grassroots Journalism by the People, for the People.”

20:58 – Gillmor talks about the ways traditional media organizations and citizen journalists can work together “I would like to see individual journalists…be more willing to listen to readers who want to talk about what they are doing and offer their own insights.”

23:30 – Gillmor on how long it will take newsmakers and readers to work together: “…I think over time we can have a pretty healthy and diverse ecosystem that includes the big media and the micro media…”

25:43 – End

Photo by Joi Ito