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Dan Gillmor on His Move to "Citizen Journalism"
tct25 writes "Tech journalist Dan Gillmor gives OhmyNews International his first interview since announcing that he will leave the San Jose Mercury News next month in order to start a citizen-journalism venture. Many insiders are scratching their heads. Why is the much respected tech writer leaving what he described as 'greatest gig in the world' for the perilous journey of developing an entrepreneurial idea in citizen-journalism? He spoke to OhmyNews at Harvard Law School in the middle of the final day of the College's Berkman Center-sponsored 2004 Internet and Society Conference last Saturday."
"Why is the much respected tech writer leaving what he described as 'greatest gig in the world' for the perilous journey of developing an entrepreneurial idea in citizen-journalism?"
I can think of two reasons...
1. almost all big media is corupt these days, and spin the news to their liking just for ratings with the readers, or to get money from the sponsors. Maybe he's just sick of it.
2. MONEY...he has a chance to "get rich quick" with his entrepreneurial venture. Why not take the risk? If he fails, he can always go back to something similar since he'll still has his good rep (unless he does something really terrible between now and then)
Read his stuff. They're not just "tech columns". They are often political writing well informed by a knowledge of technology. Dan is one of the best columnists around, "tech" or not. I'm sure whatever he does will be worth watching.
In the last year, his column has become a bit more activist and strident. And it seems that he is likely unhappy talking about computers and the Net, when there are more mundane social affairs occurring with which he would rather be involved.
I also miss the days of cold and clinical reporting of facts in journalism. I hope that he can avoid the pitfalls of many alternative news outlets who bemoan unfairness in the media, either from the left or right. It is so common in the many conservative blogs, or at the liberal end of the spectrum at FAIR or Indymedia, to complain about the biased media when they perceive a lack or fairness to their own side of any given issue. And it is the almost universal remedy given by them to balance this perceived unfairness, not by giving both sides of a story, but by balancing the pool of thought by only promoting their side of an issue. So in reality they are not battling biased media but supporting it.
One quote I heard once (sorry if I get it wrong) is that impartiality in a journalist is not a character trait, but a professional skill. I like that idea. Of course newspeople have opinions like everyone else, but that should not be a factor when striving to create a quality product.
More power to him, if he can make this work.
I had an opportunity to interview Dan Gillmor this year on camera. He was genuinely concerned about where Outsourcing was headed, especially what happens to the US economy if all tech jobs migrate from the Valley to India. He placed the whole situation in a proper historical perspective, a comparison with NAFTA & how it was different this time around, a rundown of the actual numbers of people who were laid off, the impact on the valley, mountains of idle cash sitting on Sand Hill Road, and so much more...I came away with a feeling I had spoken to someone who felt quite strongly about where this country was headed, not your average journo who cooks up a spin so he can pay his bills. Here's his picture he's 5th from the bottom.
...liberal mainstream media...
If we had one of those, the President would have been impeached and exiled to Siberia long ago.