We Media: What's the word?

Issues about changing forms of journalism and the voice of citizens will be included in the discussion at the Global Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, which is hosted by the World Economic Forum. This year there is an expanded online aspect connected through the BBC, blogger Jeff Jarvis, the Guardian's Comment is Free and the Huffington Post. There is a connection with the We Media conference in London last year when the Guardian's Emily Bell and the Jarvis Buzzmachine moderated some links with the blogosphere.

Here is what the panelists had to say. I was especially impressed with Shel Israel. And it was interesting that every time the topic of big media v. little media came up, the moderators somehow redirected the conversation. It is possible that that facilitated the flow of ideas but still worth noting. (Were they trying to avoid the dominance of that debate on last year's WeMedia?)

Shel Israel

Author, Naked Conversations

His main point (to mostly journalists I assume) was that we no longer deliver media, we are media:


"People are finding each other by shared interests and geography is becoming irrelevant. The demographic is overwhelmingly young."


"What happens when this online generation comes of age and starts replacing boomers like me and how do we [boomers] communicate with them?"


"WE (traditional media) don't organize what THEY will get anymore. The community is taking its power. YOU (big Media) need to join the conversation. You should all be looking at what the world looks like in 10-20 years when the young online generation comes into the workplace and joins the conversation."

Ian Rowe, MTV

He stressed the balance between self-publishing and personal responsibility. (Specifically, he referred to the instance where someone became famous for posting a video on youtube of someone beating up a homeless person.)


"We find we have to meet young people on issues they care about."

"Total customization can actually be a danger to the citizenry."

"In 2012 we may no longer have short form programming. A lot more input from young people in terms of the creative process. We want to reward positive behavior."

Are community journalists expected to be at their desks, tied to the phone and churning out as much news as possible? Or is there still a value to being out there talking to people? Technology could actually be facilitating that return to community by allowing journalists to report more easily from anywhere.

Very busy session that flitted around between different subjects, as openers tend to do. But Shel Israel made the most memorable closing statement:


He said the religious aspect of newspapers will disappear - the addiction to the dead tree smeared with dead berries produced by a gas-fueled press. There's a media/Media split in the room and he's aggravated that the Media people in the room are talking about how "we will deliver them" new services but that's not quite the point.


"You don't organise this - it is self organising and had been for some time and you need to join the conversation. This is not about whether this is journalism or not. It's about a human, social revolution that has begun - and you should be looking at what the media world looks like in 10 years."

"The newsroom has left the building."