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The Myth of Digital Democracy Featured on NPR's On The Media |
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Written by Matt
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Tuesday, 29 September 2009 |
 About a year ago, driving home from Tucson, I heard one of my grad school professors on NPR talking about his latest book. Boy, I thought, wouldn't it be great if I could go on NPR to talk about my book once it comes out?
Be careful what you wish for. A couple weeks ago I got a call from James Hawver, a producer for On the Media, NPR’s weekend media affairs program. He had read Ben Carlson's piece in the Atlantic, and so he ordered a copy of the book. Long story short, this Monday I went down to KJZZ for a half-hour interview with Brooke Gladstone.
In part, the interview was a lesson in humility. Brooke is very good at what she does. Naturally enough, the hosts of OTM often adopt a skeptical tone and press their guests hard on points of disagreement. And I have very little experience in front of a microphone or a video camera.
This made for a couple of awkward moments. Early on in the interview, after I talked about online news readership being more concentrated than print readership, Brooke said that she doubted that this was the appropriate comparison. Shouldn’t we compare Internet consumption to television broadcast audiences instead? I've heard this question before, and I think the answer is no: Newspaper readership and newspaper economics have been hugely impacted by the Internet, while changes in television viewership have been far more modest. But instead of saying that, I got nervous and mumbled something incoherent.
Which is not to say that all of the interview went badly. Much of it went well. Parts of it were even fun. But it is with trepidation that I am waiting to hear the final broadcast. Mercifully, On the Media interviews are highly edited for broadcast. Of the 30 minute conversation, only about 5 minutes will end up on the air. Whether I come off well, or come off like a idiot, depends largely on which 5 minutes get chosen.
But no matter what, it was a privilege to be invited on the program. Thanks to James, Brooke, and the folks at KJZZ for making this happen. |
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 03 October 2009 )
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Written by Matt
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Monday, 21 September 2009 |
 That was the entertaining title of my panel at the Oxford Social Media Conference. In my opening remarks I strenuously disagreed with other presenters’ claims that the Internet provides for “low barriers to entry.” Different barriers to entry? Sure. Low barriers in 1995? Of course. But low barriers today? Not in any of the mature part of the Web, and certainly not in the niches that I study. Most online news remains the product of print or TV or radio outlets, and new outlets like the Huffington Post and Politico and The Daily Beast have required millions in venture capital. Even political blogging, which is something of a special case, has become highly professionalized, with few new bloggers rising to prominence over the 2008 election cycle.
Moreover, just gaining “entry” doesn’t mean very much, if a broader class of entrants don’t really expand the pool of winners. Any golfer able to win a regional qualifying tournament can gain entry into the U.S. Open, while other events (such as the Masters) are strictly invitational. But cheesy Kevin Costner movies aside, the folks who win the U.S. Open are full-time pros, not guys who play a few rounds on the weekends.
Still, an edifying conference filled with smart people doing interesting things. Thanks to the Said Business School’s Center for Entrepreneurship and the Oxford Internet Institute for inviting me.
PS: One fun part of the trip was being put up in the Malmaison Oxford, a hotel that is a converted prison. Not for the claustrophobic! But a brilliant and entertaining reworking of a historic building. |
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 03 October 2009 )
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Written by Matt
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Friday, 11 September 2009 |
 For those of you interested in political blogging -- and who among my readers isn't? -- it's worth checking out Ben Carlson's new article on the professionalization of online political commentary. I had a long talk with Ben about the piece, and he was kind enough to quote me in it. Any day where I’m quoted alongside Nick Carr, Ezra Klein, and Matthew Yglesias (who might be my favorite political blogger) is a good day.
My lines: "The era when political comment on the Web is dominated by solo bloggers writing for free is gone," and “There is a difference between speaking and being heard.” The first quote comes from the article I presented at Penn’s Democracy Citizenship and Constitutionalism seminar this spring, titled “The Closing of the Frontier: Political Blogs, the 2008 Election, and the Online Public Sphere.” Click on the title to read the full piece. The second quote comes from my book, which of course you should all buy and read if you haven’t already. |
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 03 October 2009 )
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Review in Political Communication |
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Written by Matt
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Thursday, 20 August 2009 |
 Diana Owen has a very, very kind review of the book in the latest issue of Political Communication. The review even goes so far as to call the book a “landmark work in political communication.” That is hard praise to live up to. |
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 03 October 2009 )
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Netroots Nation: Who's Left Out? |
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Written by Matt
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Monday, 17 August 2009 |
 I was lucky enough to attend the Netroots Nation conference at the invitation of Campus Progress. The panel title was “Who’s Left Out? Taking a Critical Look at Online Organizing .”
To be honest, I wasn’t quite sure how my book would be received. I had a testy email exchange with one prominent blogger about the book, and I have often had audiences get upset when I suggest that there are limits to the online meritocracy. But it ended up being one of the most interesting and enjoyable panels I’ve been on.
Click here to view video of the panel.
Much of the credit for the way the panel went goes to Erica Williams (also from Campus Progress), who did a great job in directing the discussion. But I was also blessed with excellent co-panelists: Eszter Hargittai (whose work many of you know), Biko Baker , Xavier Lopez-Ayala , and Jenifer Fernandez Ancona . Thanks also to Katie Andriulli for organizing the session. |
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 03 October 2009 )
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My book