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Public Media 2.0 Showcase
WITNESS Creates Sophisticated Evaluation Tools for Video Impact
Posted by Katie Donnelly on Mar 12, 2010
Last month, Jessica Clark and I explored how various Public Media 2.0 projects are measuring their level of success in informing and engaging publics. We found that many public media organizations are struggling to measure impact — and some are relying only on traditional indicators of reach, as opposed to other elements of impact such as relevance, inclusion, engagement or influence. Some projects, however, are taking a more holistic approach that is matched closely to their mission. The international human rights group WITNESS, which provides training, support and visibility for local groups producing documentaries about human rights issues, has created a… more
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Flu Portal curates trusted H1N1 content
Posted by Katie Donnelly on Feb 5, 2010
In today’s noisy and often confusing news environment, a central role for public media is to provide credible, reliable information to a broad range of citizens. FluPortal, a CPB-funded project, led by PRX in collaboration with NPR, is designed to do just that. A centralized hub of reputable content that “provides public media with news, information, and web tools to respond to the H1N1 flu outbreak,” the site has been active since August 2009. The FluPortal team collects and curates content from across public media as well as from trusted government sources, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the… more
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Joshua Berg highlights civic engagement, influence of Web video in political campaigns
Posted by Katie Donnelly on Jan 27, 2010
Every year, the Center for Social Media supports selected graduate students at American University in producing research that pertains to the future of public media. One of the past year’s students is Joshua Berg, who received an MA in Public Communication from American University in 2009. He now works for PBS Interactive, helping with the inaugural nationwide launch of the Comprehensive Online Video Ecosystem (COVE). He is also currently implementing PBS’s first ever monetization plan for locally produced video (which he designed) and serving as the key liaison in the areas of analytics and user support. In his study, Impact Outside… more
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Why Youth Media Projects Should Link Up with Public Media
Posted by Katie Donnelly on Jan 21, 2010
“The issues that we tackle in our films are very powerful,” said youth filmmaker Lenah Perez in a newsletter from the New York-based youth media organization, Global Action Project. “I should say the way we tackle the issues is powerful, the issues are important — to look at the world as the big picture and to fight for this world.” As Perez’s quote suggests, there is often tremendous overlap between youth media and Public Media 2.0 projects. While we describe public media’s core function as “generating publics around problems,” youth media projects often accomplish the same goal by addressing issues such… more
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ColorLines transitions from print to mobile
Posted by Katie Donnelly on Jan 15, 2010
ColorLines, the national racial justice magazine, has made a major shift — moving from a print publication to a primarily Web and mobile-based system. How might this shift the outlet’s relationship to its users, and influence the impact that it hopes to make? Founded in 1998, ColorLines addresses race and politics by “tell[ing] stories from communities of color while focusing on structural solutions that advance racial justice.” Published by the Applied Research Center (ARC), a think tank that addresses racial justice through media, activism, research and policy analysis, it is explicitly designed to shed light on often overlooked cultural and political… more
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Reflecting on public media 2.0 in 2009 and looking ahead to 2010
Posted by Katie Donnelly on Dec 22, 2009
This year, we’ve featured some truly innovative projects in the Public Media 2.0 Showcase. As described in our white paper, Public Media 2.0: Dyanamic, Engaged Publics, public media 2.0’s core function is to generate publics around problems. Public media 2.0 projects are multiplatform, participatory, and digital. They incorporate features such as digital video, powerful databases, locative media, and open source tools, providing powerful platforms and tools for users to act as informed citizens. Trends in 2009 Many of the projects that we profiled took took advantage of low-cost audio and video production/distribution to address social issues. For example, The 1000 Voices… more
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KETC’s mortgage crisis project brings public into public media
Posted by Katie Donnelly on Dec 15, 2009
Facing the Mortgage Crisis, a multi-platform community outreach project spearheaded by KETC/Channel 9 in St. Louis, has become a model for public broadcasting stations nationwide. Launched July 1, 2008, with support from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the project connects financially struggling residents with appropriate resources. St. Louis was hit hard by the mortgage crisis, and this, along with KETC’s proven track record of community engagement, led CPB to select KETC as the project’s producer. Facing the Mortgage Crisis combines traditional news reporting, mortgage crisis-related video segments, and social media resources, including a blog, Twitter account, YouTube Channel, Facebook page, and… more
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Newspapers use Web 2.0 tools to keep cold cases alive
Posted by Katie Donnelly on Dec 8, 2009
One of the most intriguing examples of Web 2.0 technology is its use in citizen online crime solving. With the help of online databases, maps and other interactive tools, local news outlets (and police departments) are able to combine investigative reporting and user participation in order to publicize “cold cases” to a degree that would have been unheard of a decade ago, and harness the energy of citizen sleuths. News organizations run the gamut in how they present cold cases. At the most basic level, newspapers and police departments cooperate by publishing recurring stories featuring cold cases. For example, the Colorado… more
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Foodies, locavores and angry moms—give thanks for public media 2.0
Posted by Katie Donnelly on Nov 24, 2009
With Thanksgiving rapidly approaching, food is on many of our minds this week. Social media platforms have been a boon to foodies, with the proliferation of collective online restaurant reviews, food blogs, and online recipe sharing. Food activists—including food justice and food security advocates, proponents of organic and sustainable agriculture, world hunger activists, public health workers and school lunch reformists—are also all producing and consuming public media 2.0. For example, health activists can search for nutrition information using powerful databases such as Food Essentials, which helps users make smarter choices. Hunger activists can check out the United Nation’s World Hunger Program’s… more
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Online games address sustainability, civic engagement and community building
Posted by Katie Donnelly on Nov 17, 2009
As we’ve noted before, games can be a great way to educate, inform and inspire groups of people to coalesce around particular issues. In the past, we’ve written about some of the great work being done in this area by organizations like Games for Change and ITVS. Below are more examples of games that address topics of environmental sustainability, civic engagement and community building. Sustainability American Public Media has achieved an unlikely feat with its new game, Consumer Consequences – turning an educational exposé about our own roles in environmental degradation into a fun, interactive activity. Part of American Public Media’s… more
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Online projects honor veterans
Posted by Katie Donnelly on Nov 11, 2009
In light of Veterans Day, today we are highlighting three public media projects that honor our veterans. Until fairly recently, if you wanted to search through thousands of wartime documents, you would most likely have to physically visit Washington, D.C. Certainly, there would be no other way to visit the Vietnam Memorial. Now, Web 2.0 technologies have made both accessible anywhere, and have provided opportunities for users to not just interact with but, in some cases, respond to veterans’ stories. The Interactive Vietnam Veterans Memorial is a project from Footnote.com and the National Archives. (The Washington Times is also listed as… more
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10 Projects that Help Citizens Become Government Watchdogs
Posted by Katie Donnelly on Nov 10, 2009
With the 2010 U.S. elections coming into view, many people are looking for more information about the people running for office — and the individuals and organizations funding these candidates. Fortunately, there are dozens of initiatives that mine and share the data that influence policy and policy-makers. Many are funded by The Sunlight Foundation, which aims to use “the revolutionary power of the Internet to make information about Congress and the federal government more meaningfully accessible to citizens.” Below are 10 innovative government transparency projects that employ powerful online databases to make political data accessible (and, in many cases, fun as… more
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Monthly Showcase posts on MediaShift
Posted by Katie Donnelly on Nov 3, 2009
I’m excited to announce that from starting this today, Public Media 2.0 Showcase posts will be featured on MediaShift once per month. In honor of election day, this week’s post features 10 exciting government transparency projects that help users serve as watchdogs: With the 2010 U.S. elections coming into view, many people are looking for more information about the people running for office — and the individuals and organizations funding these candidates. Fortunately, there are dozens of initiatives that mine and share the data that influence policy and policy-makers. Many are funded by The Sunlight Foundation, which aims to use “the… more
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Public Media Camp Round-Up
Posted by Katie Donnelly on Oct 24, 2009
Innovative public media projects were in abundance at Public Media Camp 2009 last weekend, a public media “un-conference” co-hosted by NPR, PBS and the Center for Social Media, in conjunction with iStrategyLabs. Over 250 public media stakeholders gathered here at American University to share their thoughts about public media and strategize about its future. This week’s Showcase features a brief overview of just a few examples of the many exciting projects we encountered at PubCamp. Stay tuned for more information about these projects (and the many others we learned about last weekend) as we may be profiling some of them more… more
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News21 initiative continues to help journalism schools innovate and adapt
Posted by Katie Donnelly on Oct 13, 2009
Now in its fourth year, the News21 project has learned something about innovation in journalism. News21 is a multi-year initiative, funded by the Carnegie Corporation and the Knight Foundation through 2011, that aims to breathe new life into schools of journalism at 12 American universities, including eight “incubator” sites: Arizona State, UC Berkeley, Columbia, University of Maryland, University of North Carolina, Northwestern, University of Southern California, and Syracuse. Each incubator offers 10-week journalism seminars based on a common theme. This year, participating fellows created 60 in-depth multimedia news packages based on the theme of “American Tapestry: Exploring the Demographics of a… more
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Environmental Working Group (EWG) harnesses the power of databases to publish vital information
Posted by Katie Donnelly on Oct 6, 2009
In some cases where the government doesn’t keep track of data, citizen groups have stepped in to report and disseminate information. For example, The Environmental Working Group (EWG), an environmental awareness and activist organization, serves as public media 2.0 by publishing a host of reports, databases and interactive tools. The nonprofit organization’s mission, according to their website, is “to use the power of public information to protect public health and the environment.” The Environmental Working Group’s site contains a host of environmental information, including many large-scale research reports on topics such as agricultural subsidies, mining, pesticide use and toxicity in consumer… more
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Thousand Kites combines art, activism and public media 2.0
Posted by Katie Donnelly on Sep 30, 2009
Art and advocacy have long gone hand-in-hand, but now public media 2.0 is making it easier for users to collaborate on creating artistic projects that promote dialogue around issues of social justice. For example, Thousand Kites is a media arts collaboration focused on prisoner rights. The project was conceived in 1998 when Nick Szuberla and Amelia Kirby, hosts of a hip-hop radio program in the Appalachian region, began to receive letters from inmates that described racism and abusive treatment. In response, Szuberla and Kirby launched the Thousand Kites project, which uses radio, film, theater and multimedia storytelling to address issues of… more
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Hyperlocal news aggregators grow in sophistication
Posted by Katie Donnelly on Sep 23, 2009
The range of “local” broadcast news used to be determined by two things: transmitter strength and the ratio of available advertisers to eyeballs. Now, with cheap digital production and anywhere/anytime distribution, “hyperlocal” projects can target clusters of users, block-by-block. Such granularity opens many new possibilities for public media 2.0. Two years ago, MediaShift’s Mark Glaser wrote an excellent introductory guide to hyperlocal news initiatives. As Glaser described, there are many (often overlapping) categories of hyperlocal projects, including citizen journalism, mobile journalism, aggregators, annotated maps, online forums and proprietary blogs. Since then, there have been some significant advances in the area, including… more
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The intersection of media literacy and public media 2.0
Posted by Katie Donnelly on Sep 16, 2009
Media literacy – the ability to access, analyze, evaluate and create media in a variety of forms – can often overlap with the production of public media 2.0. With school terms starting around the country, we decided to step away from showcasing a particular project and to take a broader look at how educators are introducing students to social media tools. Many media literacy educators encourage students to use new technologies to collaborate on grassroots solutions to shared issues, although there are varying perspectives on striking an appropriate balance between learning new media tools and applying media literacy concepts. I recently… more
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Economy Story serves as hub for public media economy collaboration
Posted by Katie Donnelly on Sep 8, 2009
Both the proliferation of new platforms and the shrinking pool of funding for media outlets has driven a boom in collaborative journalism projects, which combine the strengths, skills, and resources of the partners in order to increase the depth of coverage and reach new audiences. Last year, public media organizations successfully collaborated in covering the election. This year, they’ve turned their attention to the economy. A CPB-funded coalition of public media organizations is working towards providing comprehensive, wide-ranging coverage of the economy from local, national, and global perspectives. Project partners include: NPR, The NewsHour, PBS, PRX, PRI’s The World, American Public… more
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The 1000 Voices Archive promotes discussion about social issues through film
Posted by Katie Donnelly on Sep 1, 2009
“[G]ood stories have always been the most powerful way to engage and shape public dialogue, especially around the values that we really believe in,” notes Creative Counsel director Phoebe Eng in a podcast discussion, about the 1000 Voices Archive works with a variety of partners to widen their audience and further discussion of social issues. In addition to production and distribution, they host screenings and promote advocacy work. For example, they teamed up with the Working Families Coalition in advocating for paid family leave. To do this, they identified states where such legislation was being discussed and filmed powerful examples from… more
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SeeClickFix helps users report neighborhood issues
Posted by Katie Donnelly on Aug 25, 2009
The citizen reporting and GPS capabilities of smart phones are powering a surge in place-based government watchdog projects. Some of these hyperlocal initiatives effectively use crowdsourced information to hold government officials accountable—see, for example, New York City’s Uncivil Servants. But crowdsourcing projects can also work with government officials to facilitate change, according to the people behind SeeClickFix. SeeClickFix is a large scale, “free mobile phone and web tool that allows citizens to report and document non-emergency issues to communicate them to those accountable for the public space.” The concept is quite simple: users report non-emergency 311 issues, which SeeClickFix record on… more
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Deproduction applies open source practices to cable access
Posted by Katie Donnelly on Aug 18, 2009
Open source practices have worked well for group production of free software, but how do they work with media projects? The Denver-based Deproduction aims to find out. Deproduction is a nonprofit organization that “exists to put the power of media and technology in the hands of the people in order to enable every person to actively engage their community and bring about the change they wish to see in the world.” In order to achieve this goal, Deproduction relies on a four-pronged approach that includes affordable media and technology equipment access and distribution services, Web and technology development and consulting, professional… more
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Kaiser Health News represents a new source in funder-supported investigative journalism
Posted by Katie Donnelly on Aug 11, 2009
As the crisis in the traditional news industry has worsened, foundations have become increasingly interested in supporting reporting projects that provide users with in-depth, well researched information. Kaiser Health News, a new initiative from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, is designed to provide both deep and wide coverage of U.S. health care policy and related issues. According to their website: KHN’s mission is to provide high-quality coverage of health policy issues and developments at the federal and state levels. In addition, KHN covers trends in the delivery of health care and in the marketplace. Among our goals: provide new opportunities… more
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GroundReport partners with media organizations to promote citizen journalism
Posted by Katie Donnelly on Jul 7, 2009
NOTE: We’ve started to ramp up our publication schedule for the Public Media 2.0 Showcase, but will be taking a few weeks off for summer vacation in July. Check back in August for weekly updates on innovative media projects for public knowledge and action. GroundReport is a global news site that "combines digital reporting tools and a selective human network to power the most sophisticated networked journalism coverage on the web." Launched in 2006 by former U.N. reporter Rachel Sterne, the site publishes original news reports from a global network of contributors. According to Sterne, the network is comprised of 5,000… more
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Public Media 2.0: MiND in Philadelphia
Posted by Micael Bogar on Jul 6, 2009
Robert Paterson’s recent blog The New is not “Self Evident” - MiND in Philadeplhia - “All people can have a voice.” reviews an impressive media organization from Philadelphia — more
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One Economy Corp increases access to technology and information in low-income communities
Posted by Katie Donnelly on Jul 1, 2009
This week’s Public Media 2.0 showcase features One Economy Corporation, a global nonprofit that aims to increase access to technology and information for everyone, regardless of income. According to their website, One Economy helps to "bring broadband into the homes of low-income people, employ youth to train their community members to use technology effectively, and provide public-purpose media properties that offer a wealth of information on education, jobs, health care and other vital issues." For more about what One Economy Corporation does in their own words, see their promotional video here: One Economy Corporation hosts four distinct projects: The Beehive247… more
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Digital journalism at its best: Moz Diaries
Posted by Micael Bogar on Jun 19, 2009
The SILVERDOCS conference and festival are well under way and everyone at the Center is immersed in conversations on new innovations in the field of media and doc filmmaking. Yesterday at the AFI Digital Content Lab Showcase panel I was impressed by the innovative journalistic pursuits of Kit Carson. Kit shared his work on one of his most recent projects, Moz Diaries. In collaboration with filmmaker Tim Johnson, Kit traveled down to Mozambique to document the state of transition of the country since its recent “miraculous” success in the global economic sphere. Not wanting to complicate the already precarious situation by… more
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Opposing Views provides a forum for engagement
Posted by Micael Bogar on May 28, 2009
Next in our series of Public Media 2.0 Showcase we take a look at Opposing Views, an online discussion forum that brings together experts and publics to discuss current issues. The words of John F. Kennedy introduce the site: "Without debate, without criticism, no public can survive." In our white paper Public Media 2.0 Dynamic Engaged Publics we suggest that public media 2.0 takes place when the audience actively uses media platforms to learn about and find solutions for shared issues. Opposing Views provides the context for just that. The site affords the opportunity to engage in critical debate on current… more
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Spot.us merges audiences and funders
Posted by Micael Bogar on Apr 28, 2009
For the next installment in our Public Media 2.0 showcase, we’re taking a look at Spot.us a social media website that works to pioneer “community funded reporting.” Spot.us was founded by David Cohn in November of last year and funded by the Knight Foundation. It was formed so the, “public can commission investigations with tax deductible donations for important and perhaps overlooked stories.” This is a perfect example of public media 2.0, in which the public is placed right in the center of the media. The project invites media makers from all walks of life, both amateur and professional, to submit… more
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Questions bubbling from the ground up
Posted by Micael Bogar on Mar 31, 2009
In the coming months we’ll be exploring promising experiments in our new Public Media 2.0 Showcase, with an eye toward measuring impact. What do we mean by public media 2.0? We’ve laid out a series of parameters in our recent white paper Public media 2.0 will be built around mission, most fundamentally the ability to support the formation of publics—that is, to link us to deep wells of reliable information and powerful stories, to bring contested perspectives into constructive dialogue, to offer access and space for minority voices, and to build both online and offline communities. How can we recognize public… more
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Innovation in Focus: Native American Public Telecommunications
Posted by Micael Bogar on Feb 24, 2009
Each month, we highlight a forward-looking project by one of our partners in Ford’s Global Perspectives in a Digital Age initiative. This month we review Native American Public Telecommunication’s new website. As we suggested in our white paper Public Media 2.0, public broadcasting and radio have the potential to become centers and hubs of public media 2.0. With so much of the foundation already in place, they serve as perfect candidates to usher in this new era of public media —but only if they are fostered correctly. Earlier this year, Native American Public Telecommunications (NAPT) unveiled its new website. Already NAPT… more
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Innovation in Focus: Inauguration Report 2009
Posted by Micael Bogar on Jan 30, 2009
On January 20th, we experienced an historic moment in not only politics but in public media 2.0 as well — Inauguration Report 09. NPR teamed up with American University’s School of Communication and CBS to bring you a cutting edge social media tool that utilizes Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, iPhone and Google Phones, and text messaging to engage the public around this exciting event. More than 35,000 user contributions detailed what took place in and around DC on Inauguration day. What makes this project “historic” is a straightforward yet multi-layered design that channels multiple forms of social media—tweets, photos, videos, audio—into one… more
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Evolving media redefines legitimate news on Gaza
Posted by Micael Bogar on Jan 14, 2009
The recent violence in Gaza has spurred yet another evolutionary surge of public media 2.0 responses. While mainstream media interpretations of the current crisis seem so one-sided, online independent and citizen news sources continue to grow in popularity and offer a myriad of fresh perspectives, many of which are emerging through social media. In Jay Rosen’s article Audience Atomization Overcome, he does a great job of explaining the shift in media legitimacy where he explains that “the authority of the press to assume consensus, define deviance and set the terms for legitimate debate is weaker when people can connect horizontally around… more
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Innovation in Focus: PRX 3.0
Posted by Jessica Clark on Dec 16, 2008
Each month, we highlight a forward-looking project by one of our partners in Ford’s Global Perspectives in a Digital Age initiative. This month, we’re checking out the new version of the Public Radio Exchange site, described by the Chicago Public Radio blog as “super swanky.” What accounts for such swank? PRX had already broken new ground by creating a convenient online marketplace that matches indendent producers with public and community radio stations across the country. The site also doubles as a community destination for fans and producers of cutting-edge audio. Now, PRX 3.0 offers new a set of new features, such… more
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The Masculinity Project aims to redefine popular notions of masculinity
Posted by Micael Bogar on Dec 10, 2008
The National Black Programming Consortium has just released their Masculinity Project—a great new public media resource. The Website aims to redefine our notion of masculinity. It combines creative and provocative media with a chance to participate (via blogs, apps and a wiki) in a discussion about issues that profoundly shape and deform culture. There is a combination of professional and non-professional talents, and invites viewers to become part of the story. One short, Byron Hurt’s Barack and Curtis, makes unlikely connections between rapper 50 Cent and Barack Obama, which reveal common challenges facing African-American men. After viewing the film you can… more
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Where hostile governments meet public media
Posted by Micael Bogar on Nov 15, 2008
How can public media develop in regions where governments are hostile to press freedoms? A look at emerging projects in the South Caucasus—a region of independent former Soviet countries linked both geographically and historically—offers some clues. We have created a list of five notable public media projects: Institute for Reporter’s Freedom and Safety, Caucasus Center of Peacemaking Initiatives, Internews, the South Caucasus blogosphere and lastly everyone’s favorite Facebook. Not quite initiated into the EU like the Baltic states, but not as far east as Borat’s Kazakhstan, the South Caucasus countries stand at the crossroads of capitalist western ideals and the good… more
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Dynamic public media: Twitter Vote Report
Posted by Jessica Clark on Nov 4, 2008
After reporting on the surge in crowdsourced poll monitoring efforts, I decided to track the development of the Twitter Vote Report Project more closely in a piece in The American Prospect. The project, which invites voters to “tweet” about their voting experiences, has come together with remarkable speed. It’s also notable that public broadcasters have been key partners in building out the project. NPR staffers have been collaborating directly on Twitter Vote Report development. “We only have so many reporters who are able to tackle voting irregularities, and they’re going to be working like mad,” explained NPR Social Media Strategist Andy… more
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Innovation in Focus: Diversity Beat Election Reports
Posted by Claire Darby on Oct 31, 2008
As this year’s election has heated up, so has attention to how related issues affect particular publics. Nowhere has this been more true than at Native American Public Telecommunications (NAPT), where they have teamed up with National Native News (NNN) to offer special incentives to journalists to cover election issues in Indian Country. NAPT, the oldest of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s Minority Consortia, is committed to developing, producing and distributing radio, television and online programming that is created for and by Native Americans. They also provide training opportunities to develop the skills of American Indians and Alaska Natives to produce… more
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Open debates: linking copyright and the new public media
Posted by Jessica Clark on Oct 14, 2008
Last night’s tense exchange between presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama marked the end of an extraordinary cycle of debates. The sheer number, combined with the unusual amount of public interest, forced organizers to innovate new forms and provide more openings for interaction. Now, a bipartisan coalition of newsmakers, media critics and bloggers are demanding permanent change to make the debates more “of the people,” in part by asking the networks to release debate footage into the public domain to be used for commentary and exchange on online platforms. In a letter to the candidates, the coalition proposed two major… more
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Innovation in Focus: Link TV’s What Change Looks Like
Posted by Claire Darby on Sep 26, 2008
As the November 4th presidential election date nears, candidates on both sides have made a call for change their rallying cry. With gas prices going through the roof, the economy in turmoil and no end in sight for the war in Iraq, Americans and others from all over the world are clear that change is necessary, but less clear on how it will happen. What Change Looks Like, a new multi-media effort from Link TVThrough… more
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Update: The Hurricane Information Center
Posted by Jessica Clark on Sep 3, 2008
Thankfully, Gustav has racheted down, but with more storms on the way, the extraordinary social media community that emerged over the long weekend to provide information to storm victims and volunteers has expanded its focus. Now dubbed the Hurricane Information Center, the network currently has more than 540 members, all creating and debating communications tools for disaster response. The network demonstrates the power and flexibility of using commercial Web 2.0 platforms for the public good. Built using Ning—a “white label” site for creating free customized social networks—the site includes a tailored news feed from Google News, a Google Map displaying evacuation… more
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Innovation in Focus: ITVS’ Digital Survey Report
Posted by Micael Bogar on Sep 2, 2008
New distribution technologies such as Snag Films and social networking tools such as Facebook and Twitter could help social-issue filmmakers reach viewers and build networks of public action. But will they? And if they do, does anyone still need public broadcasting? According to a recent survey, the answers are yes, and yes. Independent Television Service (ITVS), public broadcasting’s production entity for "innovative programming for underserved audiences," has for years reliably offered filmmakers market information that helps them adapt to a changing marketplace (sometimes in conjunction with the Center: go to the New Deal report and the New Deal 1.5 report). Its… more
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Gustav Wiki: rapid-response social media for natural disasters
Posted by Jessica Clark on Sep 1, 2008
Finding it excruciating to watch Gustav creep ever-closer to the Gulf? Channel your anxiety into knowledge and action over at the Gustav Wiki, where volunteers are tracking the storm and aggregating resources for assistance, relocation, donations, volunteer housing, ham radio communications and more. The wiki was based on a similar shared resource built during Hurricane Katrina; volunteers are needed to help update info. While the Wiki hosts static content, real-time online discussions are happening over at the Gustav Information Center, a social network created by NPR’s Andy Carvin. Members are sharing strategies for tracking the situation on the ground, and getting… more
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Innovation in Focus: PBS Vote 2008
Posted by Claire Darby on Aug 3, 2008
In one of the longest and most highly-anticipated build-ups to a presidential election in years, PBS has launched a website that aggregates and highlights the best public media coverage of the 2008 election. By gathering video, news, and online tools from national programs and local stations, PBS Vote 2008 can bring in-depth election-related content from PBS’ trusted news and public affairs producers to light in a new way. Drawing on a variety of news stories, video, online tools and user comments from public television and public radio sites across the nation, Vote 2008 is a collection of everything election-related that aims… more
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Creating public media in Second Life: Virtual Bali
Posted by Kate Schuler on Jun 14, 2008
We’re excited to present the second in a series of field reports produced by the Center for Social Media as part of the Future of Public Media project, funded by the Ford Foundation. These reports examine innovative media projects designed to foster public knowledge and action. Virtual worlds such as Second Life are proliferating online, attracting millions of users and creating new spaces for creative public media experiments. Innovative non-profits have begun to establish a presence in these alternate worlds, hoping to build community and engage visitors in much more personal and visceral ways than websites, blogs, and discussion boards allow.… more
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Innovation in Focus: Public Interactive’s Public Action
Posted by Bree Bowman on Jun 2, 2008
For public broadcasting stations, "[c]ommunity engagement is part of [the] mission statement," notes Chad Johnson, web producer at Salt Lake City’s KUER. Public Interactive’s new online community engagement tool, Public Action, is "a strong online tool that is helping us to fulfill [that] mission,” making it easier than ever for public broadcasting stations and producers to integrate participatory platforms on their own websites. Stations can use existing content as a basis for forming interactive communities that allow members to contribute their own original content and open dialogue on important issues that can inform future programming. After only one year since the… more
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Innovation in Focus: Link TV’s Dear American Voter
Posted by Bree Bowman on May 1, 2008
Link TV’s new "Dear American Voter" project is using digital platforms to give the global community a voice in the upcoming election, an event that will shift the policies and direction of the entire world. Individuals can upload their video "letters" to American citizens about how they would vote in the election and why, how American policies have affected their lives, and what they think the priorities for the new Administration should be. "Dear American Voter" is a vivid example of how participatory digital media can bridge communities on a global level and provide a forum for diverse voices and opinions… more
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Innovation in Focus: ITVS’s Fatworld
Posted by Bree Bowman on Apr 1, 2008
Using video games to educate the public on diet, nutrition and making informed decisions. As American youth reach unprecedented levels of obesity, ITVS Interactive and PBS’s Emmy-award–winning weekly series Independent Lens are using a new kind of media to help find a solution to this complex problem. FATWORLD is an experimental, online video game that explores the relationships between obesity, nutrition and socioeconomics in the United States. Launched in January 2008, and downloaded 53,000 times in the two weeks after its release, the project demonstrates how public media can open a dialogue on deeply rooted social and economic problems, as well… more
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Innovation in Focus: The National Black Programming Consortium’s New Media Institute
Posted by Bree Bowman on Feb 29, 2008
The NBPC’s New Media Institute, which held its second training workshop in November, is a vivid example of how public broadcasters can shape the future of public media. NBPC is training professionals in state-of-the-art digital and web tools, to tell powerful stories in new ways. This season’s workshop—held in Jackson, Mississippi, in partnership with Mississippi Public Broadcasting—focused on the culture of the Mississippi Delta region and the impact of American jazz. NBPC formed teams of filmmakers, new media professionals and web designers based on the participants’ interests and experience to work together to create games, podcasts (like ‘Sojuke,’, which integrates the… more
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Big Think serves as a global public forum for discussion and debate
Posted by Bree Bowman on Feb 21, 2008
A new project called BigThink is making it easier for the public to find reliable, credible information on the Internet, as well as allowing individuals to make their expertise heard on important issues. The digital age offers the public an abundance of information, empowering individuals to make informed decisions on important issues, but the sheer volume of content makes it difficult to discern what’s reliable and what’s not. BigThink provides users with "direct, unfiltered interviews" with thought leaders and experts on a variety of ethical, political and cultural topics and offers the public a multi-media platform to respond to what these… more
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Innovation in Focus: The Sundance Institute’s DocSource Project
Posted by Bree Bowman on Jan 31, 2008
Launched just a week ago at the Sundance Film Festival, the Sundance Institute’s new DocSource is an online hub that uses the latest digital tools to connect filmmakers, human rights advocates and publics from around the globe supporting a robust international social documentary environment. Cara Mertes, director of the Sundance Documentary Film Program (DFP), notes that DocSource provides tools and content not only for the filmmakers, but for audiences as well, making the important stories behind the program’s international documentary films more accessible and open for public discussion. "I see a new field of human rights documentary emerging, fueled by the… more
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