Archive for Public Media
by Rob Paterson
April 29, 2008 at 8:13 am · Filed under
ABC News, CBS, Information Management, Interview, Messy World, Michael Skoler, News, Politics, Public Insight Journalism, Public Media, Public TV, Social Networking, Trust, Trusted Space, User Revolution
It’s ironic isn’t it, that at a time when the problems that confront us, such as the end of cheap oil, a war that we cannot get out of, an education system that fails 40% of Americans, a healthcare system that serves only a few, that our news is so awful.
CBS put all their eggs in Katie’s salary and now are thinking of leaving news. ABC spend half the debate on stuff that doesn’t matter. We now know that most of the experts called in to advise us about the war were on the payroll of the Pentagon.
News is becoming entertainment or has often been bought just when we all need to be informed.
How can we get a sense of how these issues, or any issue, really affects us?
I interviewed Michael Skoler of American Public Media to find out how he is using new technology to draw on the real experience of over 50,000 citizens to ground their news at a price that they can afford. His project is called Public Insight Journalism and may be part of the foundation of a more relevant way of offering news.
Over 55,000 people are in the network and are tapped for their experience - how are gas prices affecting your life rather than what do you feel about rising gas prices.
This network is facilitated by a new kind of journalist and by a new kind of social software that keeps the system healthy.
The experiment is now 5 years old and has gone beyond the experiment into the operational and is now starting to spread.
What do you think about the news today? Do you think this may help?
by Rob Paterson
April 14, 2008 at 3:54 pm · Filed under
Apple, PBS, Public Media, Public TV, iTunes
It’s happening - Bits now but I bet soon the real deal. Here is the announcement on Apple’s site. iTunes is a natural for PBS programming. Worried about loss to stations - use this as the place to go a month later after the broadcast.
Enjoy PBS programming on iTunes U
From The War: A film by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick to The Jewish Americans: A Series by David Grubin to Meet the Author, featuring more than 40 interviews with top children’s book authors and illustrators, WETA — Washington D.C.’s Public Broadcasting Station — delivers a rich assortment of educational programming for students, teachers, and parents alike. And they’re not alone. Educational programming from four other PBS stations, including KQED, WGBH, thirteen, and ideastream can also be seen and heard on iTunes U. Take a look. And enjoy.
by Rob Paterson
April 9, 2008 at 6:15 am · Filed under
Change, Culture, Dr David Vaine, Euan Semple, Interviews, KM, Management Theory, Public Media, Relationships, Social Media, Social Networking, Story, The 'Phoric, Video, YouTube, interaction, podcasts
On April 1st, we had the honor of recording a podcast of the esteemed Dr David Vaine, Senior Partner of Apparently KM PLC, who has finally revealed how to make 2.0 work in the most traditional organization.
The link to the “Phoric” is here. I must warn you that some of the material may not be workplace safe.
The ‘Phoric” is a site where well known people in the 2.0 world choose 3 clips from YouTube and discuss why these are important to them. You may find some of the other guests moving and funny. Guest include Matt Moore, Euan Semple, Alex Kjerulf (Chief Happiness Officer)
All fun aside, and there is lots of fun here, the “Phoric shows the “heart” of the 2.0 relationship explicitly and it shows how simple tools can have a huge impact.
Enjoy
by Rob Paterson
March 26, 2008 at 6:28 am · Filed under
John Proffitt, Michael Rosenblum, Public Media, TV
Here is Michael Rosenblum in a tour de force nailing why TV is dead. No fuzziness - Just the straight math!
Every Board member in Public TV should see this and know why simply trying harder means death. Thanks to John Proffitt who is in the pub Radio/TV world in Anchorage whose Blog - Gravity Medium is becoming a centre of the debate about the future of public media.
And here is what is killing TV and here is what all those in TV have to do
by Rob Paterson
March 10, 2008 at 9:26 am · Filed under
BBC, Bryant Park Project, Euan Semple, John Proffitt, NPR, Public Media, The 'Phoric
This slide shows us that another kind of content is winning big time. We can’t pass this slide over - it must be dealt with.
It is clear after the recent IMA conference that public radio remains stuck. Recent changes at NPR highlight the challenge that still remains. NPR will now be looking again at what is important.
This slide reminds me of a shift in power. I think that it deserves a little more thought than merely saying that user trumps producer. Does it simply mean that User Content Wins?
I think that that may be interpreted here is that a more authentic, a more natural, a more human voice and perspective is what we want. I wonder if “User” content is really a proxy for more human content?
One of the most natural and human voices in the Blogosphere is Euan Semple. Here he is on the ‘Phoric talking about the power of the more human - less staged - voice to connect.
One of the examples that he uses is a short film he took on Sydney Harbour. As a tourist, using a simple camera, he took a film of Sydney Harbour and put it on his blog. Shortly after he was contacted by a travel firm who wanted to use his clip. Why? because it showed a real person’s view. From a traditional perspective it was very low quality. From a new perspective it was high quality.
Think of art at the end of the 19th century.
This was seen as quality then:
This painting is by Bouguereau, The Man, of the time. Look at the quality of the flesh tones! He represented “Quality”- the official view of the time. Think of the production quality of radio and TV today. Smooth, slick, controlled. Hard to do.
This painting is by Renoir. Look at how he handles flesh! This view of quality was so offensive to the establishment that the impressionists had to have their own exhibition. But who remembers Bougueureau’s name now?
The quality of the Impressionists is emotional. They use light to find a deeper and more human meaning.
Euan’s last film shows how traditional media can bridge to the new. Just as the crew at Bryant park now show their human side online to their inner group, so here on the BBC, we go inside the studio and discover the human behind the curtain. As we see the humanity, we are pulled in. The power imbalance is leveled out.
I think that this is the meaning of the slide - much more than user driven - more human.
This then is more hopeful for if BPP and parts of the BBC can be more human, the gulf is not too wide.
Remember - Who knows Bouguereau today?
by Rob Paterson
February 2, 2008 at 6:59 am · Filed under
Apple, Business Model, Enterprise 2.0, Microsoft, NPR, PBS, Public Media, Relationships, barriers, iTouch, iTunes, podcasts
As sure as the sun rises in the morning - the web will become the primary delivery platform for all information.
Many in public radio and TV, have told me that my feelings about how fast the shift would take place from “air” and cable to web are exagerated. My argument is this. “Weight of money”.
When you pay $45 billion dollars you are not fooling around.
MSFT wish to get ready NOW for this new reality for when the bulk of advertising revenue and action are on the web. Ad revenues are $50 billion right now and are expected to rise to $80 billion by 2009/10. This is the prize. When the ad money shifts out of traditional media, you will hear the sucking sound of a mortal wound. It will be too late to reinvent your self then.
All the supporting parts of a web based radio and TV will have to accelerate their plans
- The viewing platforms such as the iPods and the large screen TV’s are ready now for a direct link. The Early Adopters are watching the bulk of their video online.
- Many listen to radio online at the office or on their iPods on their commute
- YouTube is bursting with great content both from traditional sources and from new entrants
- Channels such as iTunes and Miro are building capacity - it will be the ease of use that these channels offer that will pull in the Early Majority.
- Major Networks have their toe in the water and are offering some content online
The Yahoo bid will accelerate all this work.
So what is the work that Public TV and Radio have to do in this context of no time? It is to solve the business model problem. How to offer the best content from TV and Radio AND keep the stations whole. How to do that? I think the answer is to make the offer direct with the forced choice of the show and the station.
I am not saying that people will not listen to radio nor am I saying that people will stop watching TV. People will still buy SUV’s and Trucks. But the bulk of the people, especially people who are naturally curious will make the switch.
Remember Mikey - “Give it to Mikey - he hates everything. Well my wife Robin, is the tech Mikey.
Robin is very very resistant to gadgets. BUT …….. She now listens to all her radio online - loading the podcasts onto her MP3 player which she uses when she is doing stuff around the house and walking the dogs. And in her down time, I hardly ever see her anymore - she has discovered YouTube. She has discovered that it is packed with content that she wants to watch - content that is “serious” that is just what a good Public TV member would want to watch. She has discovered that it is easy to watch and listen to what she wants when she wants and that there is tons and tons of great content out there.
She is closer to 60 than 50 and is in the centre of the demographic for Public TV.
So Robin’s desire for interesting content that intrigues her has been met already. Just imagine how easy it will be for her to have access to even more and what her choices will be soon.
Don’t you want her and the millions like her as your audience?
by Rob Paterson
January 27, 2008 at 7:32 am · Filed under
Andy Carvin, Business Model, Community, Grooming, NPR, Public Insight Journalism, Public Media, Social Computing, Social Media, Twitter, User Revolution, Wisdom of Crowds, iTouch
This is a slice of time last night on my Twitter. I am watching TV but I have my iTouch in my lap. When the ads come on, I mute the set and go back to my Twitter feed. here I have a real friend - not a Fake Friend - Andy Carvin covering the South Carolina Primary. I also have a Twitter friend worrying about how to cope with teen boys - her son is out late.
As Andy twittered his coverage, others that I know, pitched in too.
This was not strangers talking to strangers but Friends Talking to Friends - much much much much warmer.
Add the back channel of a parent asking for help about how to cope with your teens being out late and this is an entirely new Media Experience.
I am inside a system - inside a system that is deeply human and that I feel a part of.
BPPDiner - the Twitter inner circle for Bryant Park Project is also adding this warmth to the show. Already we are seeing program ideas being discussed in real time with the listener. Over the weekend even contact is still there between the crew and each other and their inner group.
My intuition is shouting out that somehting that I don’t fully understand yet is happening that will turn out to be momentous.
by Rob Paterson
January 21, 2008 at 8:07 am · Filed under
HBO, PBS, Public Media
HBO will launch a new feature on Tuesday this week - Subscribers will be able to download its shows.
Targeted at younger subscribers and travelers who watch TV shows and movies on laptops, HBO on Broadband will offer 600 titles each month, with 400 of those available at any time, as well as a live stream of the main HBO channel.
HBO on Broadband will also suggest titles based on viewing habits. Programming will be available for at least a month, but will be erased from users’ libraries at its expiration date.
The application can be programmed for up to five users and downloaded to five devices that use Microsoft XP or newer operating systems. An Apple version is in the works.
Each month, an HBO original series such as “Entourage”, “The Sopranos” or “Sex In the City” will be available in its entirety.
Apple now rents and allows downloads. Netflix delivers online as does Amazon.
TV is moving decisively in 2008 to an online delivery.
If I want to see a show again on PBS, I have to order it on DVD by mail and it costs $19.95.
I imagine that a block for public television delivering online is the Station Issue.
I would love to have a PBS/Producer subscription that allowed me access online to content. I would have no problem in indicating in my subscription my “home” local station. So the revenue could flow both to the producer and my home station.
Time for an experiment folks - 2009 may be too late to learn.
There is more to profits than simply offering content online - I will talk more on how making the show a social object can add even more soon.
Update - please see comments below where Jen kindly brought it to my attention that PBS announced a few days ago that it will launch a new arrangement with YouTube
by Rob Paterson
January 16, 2008 at 8:17 am · Filed under
Andy Carvin, CPB, Emergent, NPR, NPR Music, PBS, Public Media, Relationships, Social Media, Social Networking, Social Objects, TV, Trusted Space, Web 2.0, Wisdom of Crowds
Wouldn’t it be something if Public TV and Radio got together to cover the election? Would it be great if the local stations got together with the big producers to cover the election?
Well it’s more than a dream now - CPB is funding just such a Mashup - The beginning I think of the key new force in public media - a Real Network of Many to Many.
Many of us had had a problem wit the term “Network” in Radio and TV. What it really means is one powerful producer using a system to distribute its product. Of course a real network is a diverse multi node system that where many nodes add value to the whole.
This is what is being “born” in Public radio and TV. Our hope a year ago was that the Election would be a powerful enough incentive to help the current large players to grit their teeth and really share and work with each other. This is working.
Here is Andy Carvin with the story.
Earlier today, NPR and its partners announced that the Corporation for Public Broadcasting is awarding more than $1.3 million dollars to a consortium of public media organizations to expand our coverage of election 2008 across multiple platforms. The consortium, led by NPR and including American Public Media/Minnesota Public Radio, Capitol News Connection, KQED, PBS, PRX, PRI/Public Interactive and The NewsHour, will work together to produce election-related content and interactive tools available to the entire public broadcasting system.
“By pooling content produced locally and nationally — for radio, television, and online — we will discover new ways of doing business to better serve the public,” said NPR CEO Ken Stern in a note that went out today to the public radio system. “We are pleased to have succeeded in coming together to deliver on the commitments made at the 2007 Annual Meeting.”
“This grant underscores CPB’s support of innovative projects that move public radio and television into the digital future so they can help individuals better connect with their communities wherever they are,” added Pat Harrison, CPB President and CEO. “This ambitious project will provide us with new ways of looking at how we serve the public on existing and emerging media platforms.”
The basic premise of the project was built around a simple reality - many public broadcasters were planning to create on air content and interactive modules for their websites, but we didn’t have a structure in place to work together during the election cycle. Around a year ago, NPR and PBS began conversations around editorial partnerships for the election, including the creation of an interactive map that would work on both of our websites, as well as on the TV show NewsHour. While that conversation was taking place, I co-organized a group discussion at the February 2007 Integrated Media Association conference for public broadcasters to talk about the Election 2008 social media plans and how those activities might be replicable across the system.
The conversation kicked into high gear at NPR’s annual meeting last April, where you may recall I blogged about some of the ideas that were brewing among those of us present at the event. We organized breakout conversation in which we laid out what was at stake and how we might collaborate. It didn’t take long to realize that we had an opportunity that might quickly slip through our fingers if we couldn’t get our act together. We needed to pull together a SWAT team and get to work……….
Now with NPR Music - we are seeing a real network emerging. With a real network, there will come the network effects for all concerned.
by Rob Paterson
January 11, 2008 at 6:43 am · Filed under
Autos, CES, NPR, News, Public Media, Social Media, User Revolution, Web 2.0, Web Advertising, podcasts
Part of the growth of audience for public radio has been the car. For many Americans, commuting can take up between 1 and 2 hours a day. NPR’s key shows Morning Edition and All Things Considered have been designed to meet the demand of thoughtful people who sit alone day after day in traffic. Many of the hosts seem to have become friends - after all for a 4 hour commute, the radio hosts spend more “talk” time with the commuter than any other person.
Until now, the car, like the plane, has been a “Web Free Zone” But all of this is going to change.
At the CES this month, Cars moved onto the spotlight. (AP)
Cars and automotive technologies from startups and established aftermarket makers are abundant at this gadget show. They’re coming in such variety that they encapsulate many of the advances seen elsewhere at CES in cell phones, TVs, video games and wireless Internet networking.
For example, one theme at CES is the development of touch-screen and voice-activated controls for portable devices. Cars are showing that off, too, with systems that let people make phone calls, navigate, choose music and have e-mails read to them without dangerously fumbling for manual controls.
Or look how CES overall is highlighting the widening availability of Internet content. Autonet Mobile Inc. offers a small box for car trunks that takes a cellular broadband signal and uses Wi-Fi to relay it to portable computers in the car, so people can browse the Internet in the vehicle. And while the car is parked near a home wireless network, people can beam music and video content to it for enjoyment on upcoming road trips.
“The car is a lifestyle product,” said Sterling Pratz, Autonet Mobile’s CEO. “It’s not just a car anymore.”
The clock is ticking for the car terrestial radio market. Wifi is not only seen as being key to car entertainment and guidance but also enables the systems in cars to be updated.
One reason for automakers’ increasing comfort is that powerful computers now found in cars can get software updates fired in by wireless networks, letting vendors fix bugs and keep features up to date, said Erik Goldman, president of Hughes Telematics Inc. His company is expected to begin outfitting Chrysler and Mercedes cars with a navigation, entertainment and diagnostics service in 2009.
Another change is that car makers have often sought to differentiate themselves with proprietary electronic systems, like General Motors Corp.’s OnStar, that operate independently from gadgets people regularly use outside the car.
But these days automotive electronics are being more closely integrated with standard Web technologies.
For example, the Hughes Telematics system will include a personal Web portal that lets people remotely lock and unlock their car doors, plan routes, check their auto’s emissions and engine status, select music playlists and even monitor their vehicle’s location.
Increasing ties to the Web could broaden the field of automotive-tech vendors beyond traditional players. Last year, OnStar began working with MapQuest.com, part of Time Warner Inc.’s AOL LLC, so drivers could plan their routes online and send them to the car.
At a CES panel on the interplay between cars and electronics, Eckhard Steinmeier, general manager of BMW’s “Connected Drive” initiative, showed a commercial in which a woman says she wants to investigate sushi options. So she heads out of her house, in the rain, to do a Google search from her Beemer’s dashboard.
Where and how we connect to the web and to each other is becoming ubiquitous. Finding the best interface is therefore shaping up as being very important.
by Rob Paterson
January 3, 2008 at 1:18 pm · Filed under
Hugh McLeod, Netflix, Public Media, Social Media, Social Objects, TV, Video
Netflix are making a big move to a direct model.
Netflix and LG Electronics will deliver rental movies and TV series directly to TV sets, sidestepping the well-known red envelopes used by the DVD rental company.The companies announced Thursday that they will develop a set-top box that will allow users to stream movies and other content from the Internet to HDTV sets.
Netflix, which began to allow users to stream content to their PCs via the Internet last year, said the new system would bypass PCs. The companies said a networked LG player will be released to market by the second half of this year.
“Internet to the TV is a huge opportunity,” said Reed Hastings, Netflix’s founder, chairman, and CEO, in the announcement. “Netflix explored also offering its own Netflix-branded set-top boxes, but we concluded that familiar consumer electronics
devices from industry leaders like LG Electronics are a better consumer solution for getting the Internet to the TV.”
Netflix said the move reflects its larger strategy to offer customers a variety of ways to rent and view movies and television programs. Those who buy the hardware will be able to rent titles cataloged on the Internet. Netflix already offers more than 6,000 titles via the Internet, and the company said it plans to expand its online catalog. The company offers more than 90,000 titles on DVD.
“Consumers crave compelling and immediate content, and the Netflix online streaming movie feature can provide instant gratification,” Ki Kwon, president of the consumer electronics division of LG Electronics USA, said in the announcement.
LG Electronics said the partnership will improve its position in the U.S. digital television marketplace.
I have no opinion about whether this will work but it is part of a mass of innovation that will somehow bear fruit soon. One of my predictions for 2008 is that we will see a moment when it finally becomes easy to both find and access Movies and High End TV Shows without having to wait for the show to air on a schedule. We will be able to have TV and Movies when we want - We will have it our way!
There seems to be an inevitability here that most agree with. Where I differ with some friends in TV is how quickly this will occur.
I think that enough progress will take place in 2008 to make 2009 the Annus Horribilis for Traditional TV that uses the artificial scarcity of its broadcast area and schedule as its economic model. TV will suffer as Newspapers are suffering.
So in a world where there is masses of great content to be had at any time, where is the value?
I think that it is in making it easy to find what you want - Navigation. Maybe just Google - But I doubt it - Maybe a series of Hubs that house niches - The Military Channel - The Opera Channel etc
These Channels would make it easy to find the good stuff - and also have a lot more information linked to the film and reviews.
Here it would be easy to share what you like and to comments on it. John Wayne fans unite and talk to each other about the Duke -
Films and Shows become the Social Objects that Hugh Talks about.
So what then will be left for the local TV stations - both private and public? I think that their domain is to leverage the national content and to win the hyper local wars. More on this as 2008 unfolds as some of my clients do the world to solve this challenge.
by Rob Paterson
December 19, 2007 at 10:10 am · Filed under
NPR, OPB, PBS, Public Insight Journalism, Public Media, Relationships, Social Computing, Social Media, Social Networking
Oregon Public TV is starting a TV version of Public Insight Journalism. Here is a link to a neat video that they are using as the invitation - it makes it all come alive for me.
My own bias is that I want to be connected to people that know a lot about things that are important to me. Knowing what my friends had for breakfast is important - one of the reasons I like Twitter. But I still value expertise.
The web enables me to get connected to individuals who really do know a lot. For instance, the man who runs the music department at Nicholas Hoare’s Book Shop in Toronto is a genius who seems to know everything about serious music - I would love to have him talk online about what he knows and to be available to host a chat.
by Rob Paterson
December 13, 2007 at 9:37 am · Filed under
Apple, CBC, Enterprise 2.0, PBS, Public Media
Finally TV is here in Canada. The CBC are making a push in the iTunes space. You can download Rick Mercer for $1.99 a pop.
What I would really want to see however is largely on Public TV in the US. I want Masterpiece Theatre, Nova, Ken Burns…. I will pay.
It could be so easy - split the fee between the producer and my designated station.
Try it guys - try one good show ….. Please!
by Rob Paterson
December 7, 2007 at 5:49 am · Filed under
Enterprise 2.0, NPR, PBS, Public Media, Relationships, Social Media, WOSU
As I talk to many public TV and Radio stations, I hear the same fear - “If we allow the bloggers in, we will lose the trust of our audience - How can we control them - We have to control them”
The issue is of course Trust - on both sides. So using Open Space, a good invitation, and pizza, WOSU is working to establish the trust that is required. It’s working and their peers are seeing that they are making progress. The Current is THE industry magazine who have just run a lead on this process.
The two parties are formally dating now - next week they decide where to live and how with each other
Current, the industry newspaper for public radio and television, has devoted an extensive article in it’s most recent edition to the first Columbus Social Media Cafe.
For a full size view, go here for the 1st page and here to continue reading the article.
Remember, the next Columbus Social Media Cafe is this Monday, December 10th at 6:30PM at WOSU@COSI.
by Rob Paterson
November 29, 2007 at 7:44 am · Filed under
2.0 Design Thinking, Business Model, Culture, Economics, Enterprise 2.0, Facebook, Messy World, Nato, Public Media, Secretary Gates, Social Computing, Social Media, Taliban, Terror, User Revolution, War, Web 2.0, Wisdom of Crowds, videos
Secretary Gates made this statement in a recent speech:
It is just plain embarrassing that al-Qaeda is better at communicating its message on the internet than America. As one foreign diplomat asked a couple of years ago, “How has one man in a cave managed to out-communicate the world’s greatest communication society?” Speed, agility, and cultural relevance are not terms that come readily to mind when discussing U.S. strategic communications (My post at Fast Forward yesterday)
I am starting to see something here. War has been the agency that accelerates the development of key new technology.
In the 1860’s the civil war put the train on the map. Post the war, an enormous track laying boom exploded around the world. The military made the train the backbone of the industrial approach to war.The same with flight. In Europe, the military saw the potential of flight immediately. But the US did not - that is why Rickenbaker flew a Spad.
The Wright Company in particular and American airplane companies in general continue to lose their technological edge to the Europeans. This is due in part to the U.S. Government’s failure to support the fledgling airplane industry. While the governments of England, France, and Germany are buying hundreds of airplanes for their armed forces and supporting aviation research, the United States is spending roughly the same amount of money as Bulgaria. (First to Fly)
By 1918, the future of flight was assured. There were no doubters - and like the adoption of the train, this new way of connecting people has transformed our world.
So back to social software. As impressive as Facebook is, as impressive the growth of blogging - this is all personal. Organizational life and how we all live has not been changed yet. There is immense resistance in the key institutions of our time to its introduction. Leaders in business, education, healthcare etc all fear the outcome of adoption.
The big money is all based in an advertising model. If you can form a large group, you get rewarded. But the true potential of the tool set is not being invested in.
The true potential of social software is that it allows many to many to meet in real time at low to no cost. This means that you can see what is really going on - the business intelligence aspects are immense and transform research as it is conducted today. It enables you to get your message out in a real time and precise way - will transform marketing. Most of all it enables people to have very different relationships. Large, central capital based organizations are no longer needed. So everything that we do now such as how we educate, provide healthcare, provide services will be radically transformed.
Our large institutions can no longer do anything properly. The military is no exception. It is too big, too slow, too ponderous, too expensive. It cannot deal with war as it is waged today. The military are themselves full of resistance to the kind of change that social software implies.
BUT, people in the military who are losing the war of public opinion - who know now that Human Terrain is the new battlefield - are weighing the idea of loss of control with losing the war. My bet is that they will seek to win the war. This is what Gates is starting to say.
The greatest irony is that their enemy is showing them how to do this. Here is a CNN report on why NATO is now getting behind a Social Software approach to war. (Posted yesterday- sorry about the repeat but this makes sense)
CNN interviews a NATO Official in Afghanistan who echoes the Secretary and insists that we better get good at this or risk losing the real war - which is all political.
The strategy aims to counter years of propaganda video posted on the Internet showing Taliban attacks on NATO forces which fighters use to claim that NATO’s position in the Afghan war is deteriorating.
“The Taliban, who are literally cave-dwellers, are doing better than we are on a key battleground — and that’s video,” said NATO spokesman James Appathurai. “They deploy with videographers. We don’t. They have DVDs out in an hour, we don’t.”
Wielding video cameras like weapons, fighters quickly upload images of their attacks and create a valuable morale booster for their supporters.
Now, after much internal debate, NATO has begun declassifying and posting top secret combat video on YouTube and other Web platforms to try and beat the Taliban at its own game.
“We’re, in a sense, winning the tactical battles, but we’re not focusing enough on the strategic battle, which is public opinion,” said Appathurai.
The link to the excellent report and video is here.
In 1918, America could see for itself the power of flight. The nation adopted it like no other.
So here is my prediction. The first institution that will really invest in developing Social Software to radically improve how it delivers will be parts of the military. As with the train in the civil war and WWI, as with flight in WWI and WWII, how we deploy, how we fight and what victory is will be redefined.
The greatest irony will be is that the lesson for this change will have been taught by Al Qaeda.
This will not be an all or nothing adoption. Even in the 1920. and 1930’s Billy Mitchell fought an uphill battle with his superiors about the value of aviation. But the wedge was in.
The first flight was in 1903. By 1945, aviation was the new dominant military power. By 1975 aviation had captured the civilian world.
I think that history will look back at Facebook and smile.
Well done Mark - but look at what this technology really did!
by Rob Paterson
November 26, 2007 at 7:18 am · Filed under
ABC News, Enterprise 2.0, Facebook, New Realities, Public Media, Relationships, Social Media, barriers
ABC News are getting deeply involved with Facebook - their intent is to have a more interactive relationship with the “audience” and to allow their audience to have a relationship with each other. (NYT)
ABC News and Facebook have formally established a partnership — the site’s first with a news organization — that allows Facebook members to electronically follow ABC reporters, view reports and video and participate in polls and debates, all within a new “U.S. Politics” category.
To underscore their collaboration, the two organizations will announce today that they are jointly sponsoring Democratic and Republican presidential debates in New Hampshire on Jan. 5, three days before the primary election there.
“Through this partnership, we want to extend the dialogue both before and after the debate,” said Dan Rose, Facebook’s vice president for business development.
The announcements are another sign that news organizations are looking to capitalize on the potential power of Facebook, which began as a database of college friendships, and other social networking sites. Media companies like The New York Times and The Washington Post have produced pages for use on Facebook and some newspapers, magazines and television stations have recently invited users to join special pages that are set up to follow reporters’ political coverage. But ABC’s new relationship is intended to be deeper.
“There are debates going on at all times within Facebook,” David Westin, the president of ABC News and a new Facebook member, said. “This allows us to participate in those debates, both by providing information and by learning from the users.”
The collaboration between ABC News and Facebook started quietly several weeks ago, with personal pages of network reporters like Rick Klein, the author of ABC’s widely read political newsletter The Note, and Sunlen Miller, who has been covering Barack Obama.
Encouraging users to interact with reporters is a significant step for a news organization like ABC News. Until recently, a viewer wanting to respond to Mr. Klein’s daily essay could only write a comment or send an e-mail message to a generic address. Now, they can send private messages directly to reporters or can post them on the reporters’ public Facebook pages. For now, while the number of comments remains relatively small, reporters engage in dialogues with viewers.
Mr. Westin and Mr. Rose said that no money changed hands in the deal. For ABC News, the collaboration puts political content on a site with 56 million active users. For Facebook, it adds an authoritative source and fresh content for the site’s political section.
Around 250 users have signed up to follow Ms. Miller, an off-air reporter, making her the most popular to date. Ms. Miller believes her popularity is tied to the strong backing for Mr. Obama among Facebook users, with 164,000 declared supporters, more than twice as many as any other candidate.
“If you’re ABC News, your content can spread virally through all these friend networks,” said Steve Outing, an interactive media columnist for Editor & Publisher magazine.
For example, Eloise Harper, another off-air reporter, used a digital camera to record a 50-second clip of flags falling down behind Hillary Rodham Clinton at a campaign appearance in Iowa. The clip has been viewed over 350,000 times on ABCNews.com and Facebook.
Yes the walls between us and reporters are coming down as are the walls between us as we seek to talk about things that are important. I wonder what all of this will be like in 2 years time?
by Rob Paterson
November 12, 2007 at 4:05 pm · Filed under
BBC, BBC Manchester, COSI, Enterprise 2.0, Flickr, Hyper Local News, Jeff Jarvis, NPR, Ning, PBS, Public Media, Robin Hammam, Social Computing, Social Media, Social Objects, Twitter, WOSU
This Wednesday, Nov 15th, the guys at WOSU will meet with may of the leading local bloggers in Columbus to see if they can find things to talk about and to do with each other. Here is the invitation:
We at WOSU and COSI have been wondering how we could do more to help our community cope with some challenging issues. We asked ourselves:
What if we — your local public broadcaster and science museum — and those of you who are the local blogging experts got together and learned how to use Social Media to bring back that great American tradition of the community taking charge of its own problems?
Here’s what we’re wondering:
Could we use social media and our many talents and resources to breakthrough the bureaucratic barriers that seem to block so much local reform?
Could we gain enough support and understanding to shift our education system so that our children are equipped to face the sometime harsh realities of the world?
Could we start to make sense of what our aging population, our health care system and even our food system may mean to us?
What other issues should we be discussing with an eye toward change?
Many local bloggers have deep subject knowledge and are also part of existing communities that also care and know a lot.
We have a big megaphone—radio and web site—and some great resources—a centrally located facility with cutting-edge technology (studios and a mediaLab) that we could add to the mix.
Can you imagine what we might be able to do together?
Interested? We would like to invite you to the first meeting of the Columbus Social Media Cafe — a “Town Hall” Open Space Meeting — on Thursday, November 15 at 6:30 pm, to see if we can find an agenda that we can all get excited about and to see what will emerge if we get together.
The meeting is at WOSU@COSI inside COSI at 333 West Broad Street in downtown Columbus.
Tim Eby, retiring Chair of NPR, will be blogging here - see the picture above - and he will be Twittering here. Scott will be vidoing some of the participants and WOSU will put the clips up on their site soon.
There will be pictures here on Flickr
This is a look at part of the amazing space at COSI.
The hope is that this may be the beginning of a new approach to Hyper Local Coverage - where the bloggers and the public TV/Radio - can combine their talents and efforts.
Many thanks to Robin Hammam at the BBC and to Jeff Jarvis for inspiring this efort.
by Rob Paterson
November 7, 2007 at 9:26 am · Filed under
Change, Culture, Enterprise 2.0, Hylton Joliffe, NPR, NPR Music, New Realities, Public Media, Relationships, Social Media, Wisdom of Crowds
Hylton sent me a link today that discussed the relative values of a range of social technologies in helping shift organizations to become more cooperative.
My experience is that in organizations and between organizations that trust has to come first.
I wrote earlier this week of the pre-work that occurred at NPR leading to the the brilliant new Music site.
Here is a reprise of the post I made at the conclusion of that work. I offer it up to show you how hard this is - even after all of this - even after it was clear that 300 stations saw the same predicament, saw the same threats, saw the same things to do - ONLY 12 could cross the chasm and try and work with each other on this - a project that EVERYONE has said that they thought was a good one. It also took a year longer to pull of than any had imagined.
Have you ever given up a lifetime habit? Say smoking, fast food, sugar, alcohol?
Technology such as the Patch, gum, diets are useful tools - but they don’t drive the change. Why should we think that social media will drive change in organizations when control is the main cultural habit?
This is why we are finding that UFIT works so well - on the surface there is a tool - the exercise - but it is wrapped in the key to cultural change - a supportive social network of peers
