Reply to comment

Prior to 1439, there were wooden block and movable type presses in Asia - but in 1439, a goldsmith put together something that changed the face of publishing around the world. Johannes Gensfleisch zur Laden zum Gutenberg, better known as Johannes Gutenberg, may have even been instrumental in the spread of Christianity through the world with the Gutenberg Bible. Such was the power of new publishing technologies then, where the cost of owning and operating a press made one a part of the media. This media persisted and improved over time, and reductions in the technology cost saw the press used in all manner of areas to distribute news, pamphlets and books. Old Western movies and books do not seem complete without the 'newspaperman' who will rush off to set up the press for tomorrow's news. The ability to broadcast information to people was extremely viable, and left the need for monks and academics with cramped hands to copy books in the dust. Information could be mass produced and shared - and sold.

In the last century, radio and television became major parts of the press - Tesla's invention of radio¹ was later refined by the likes of Marconi, Roberto Landell de Moura, Jagdish Chandra Bose, Alexander Stepanovich Popov and others. It wasn't long before this became a medium for broadcast. Television was much the same.

Right before the turn of the millennium, something else became a media source - you're using it right now. It's the Internet - and where once media was about broadcasting, the Internet has increasingly influenced media into discussion. All prior media disseminated news, propaganda, advertisements and the opinions of anyone graced with the ability to use the equipment. The Internet also does the same - but the number of those who are now graced to use the equipment has increased dramatically as well. But the question is now: Where can news be found? Who are the media?

Dan Gillmor, in 2006, wrote We the Media: Grassroots Journalism By the People, For the People, a rallying call for the masses to become a part of the media - appealing to bloggers and perhaps read with disdain at the time by the traditional media outlets. In it's own way, Gillmor's book became an icon - people who hadn't even read the book started talking about 'We the Media', internalizing it in their own was and regurgitating the various perspectives in streams of 1s and 0s over the Internet.

But there are issues. For one, journalists of traditional media are afforded rights in some places that the average citizen does not - such as the ability to protect sources. The second, and perhaps the most important, is who perceives who as the media.

Enter We're All Journalists Now: The Transformation of the Press and Reshaping of the Law in the Internet Age.

Scott Gant, a law partner in Washington, D.C., and former counsel for the New Republic, teases out the issues of the new media - the Internet - in the context of journalism. While public perception of who a journalist is demonstrably shifting toward weblogs and other alternate sources², the author demonstrates that the laws which protect journalists in the United States were inconsistent prior to the new media and have become less consistent and, at times, somewhat disturbing.

Filled with real examples of legal cases and a balanced approach to the perception of what a journalist is, the book brings forward many issues and wedges in a thicker definition of what a journalist is - and does so in a way that flows like a novel. It is a difficult book to put down, and is most certainly worth reading by just about anyone who publishes information in any medium, be it the Internet or otherwise.

The book scores a KnowProSE.com 8 out of 10. In an age where we all have our own digital printing presses, this book is a necessity for anyone who is considered a journalist by others, and by those that wish to be considered a journalist. It may not be accurate in the context of different nations, but the meat is there - and the issues presented are real. Gant's work is specific to the United States, which may be considered an unfair criticism - but the media being discussed is larger than one nation. It is worth reading by people in other countries to get an idea of what has happened in the United States - and perhaps extrapolate it to their own country.

If you author a weblog, or if you're interested in where your news comes from, this book is highly recommended.

¹ No, not Marconi, your history book is wrong. Tesla held the patent as well as many others.
² Unsurprisingly, the younger generations are more likely to recognize weblogs as containing journalsim, as the author mentions in the book.