Dan Gillmor is very optimistic about the future of journalism — whether it includes journalists or not. At the opening plenary session of ScienceWriters 2009 Oct. 17 in Austin, Texas, and just a few days away from observing the 10-year anniversary of his first journalist-blog posting, Gillmor talked about mining the great potential he sees in the rapidly morphing ways that people can get and use information.
Dan Gillmor is very optimistic about the future of journalism — whether it includes journalists or not. At the opening plenary session of ScienceWriters 2009 Oct. 17 in Austin, Texas, and just a few days away from observing the 10-year anniversary of his first journalist-blog posting, Gillmor talked about mining the great potential he sees in the rapidly morphing ways that people can get and use information.
Gillmor knows plenty about the ups and downs — and silver linings — of change. He began the plenary session by sharing some of his own story: "a college degree on the 12-year plan," playing and loving music, going to Silicon Valley in the mid-1990's ("that changed everything") and becoming a journalist covering business and technology. The weblog Gillmor started in 1999 is considered the first journalist blog, and in 2004 he published a book about citizen journalism, We the Media: Grassroots Journalism by the People, for the People. He is presently the director of the Knight Center for Digital Media Entrepreneurship at Arizona State University and has written a new book, Mediactive, to be published in 2010.
Expanding the view beyond his own experiences, Gillmor reflected on the past and swiftly evolving present of journalism. He presented a few iconic images to represent some of the milestones marking ways information has been recorded and distributed over the course of human history: cave paintings, scrolls, the Gutenberg Bible ("liberating the word of God from the priests who controlled it"), broadcasting and electronics. He acknowledged the unsettling speed of change happening today in journalism, and the uncertainties and discomforts that such change can bring. But, he said "On balance I'm very happy about the shift that's happening. We're in an amazing constructive phase. Maybe messy, but I have no doubts that it will be wonderful."
With energy and great optimism, Gillmor delineated some of the changes that he believes should be embraced and celebrated, not feared. First and foremost, he said, is that media is being democratized; effectively putting the tools of democracy — far beyond that of just voting — in everyone's hands. News used to be about manufacturing and distribution, he observed but today, the process is fundamentally different. "We create stuff and people come and get it . . . consumers are becoming creators and collaborators."
"Who is a journalist?" is the wrong question, he said. The profession would be better served instead to ask, "What is journalism?" A silly YouTube video clip — no matter how often viewed — is not journalism, he said. But a person who captures video footage of tsunami flooding outside their second story window and shares it online is "committing a random act of journalism," and is sharing important information with the world. A blogger who covers government better than anyone else is doing journalism. Some of the best information gathering may be done by an organization such as the American Civil Liberties Union, he noted. Above all, "news is becoming a conversation, not a lecture," Gillmor said. "The first rule is to listen and not all journalists understand this." These changes are something to celebrate, not fear or resist, he proposed. What's more, the transformations portend even greater and more powerful changes to come in everyone's future.
Turning his focus on what comes next, Gillmor shared some insights and guiding principles.
* Don't be afraid to change directions. Note Gillmor's own path from music to journalism to entrepreneurship to helping students.
* Work with the best people you can: "My secret is to always work with people better than me."
Journalists should also keep in mind some of the keys to successful entrepreneurship, he said.
* Ambiguity- expect things to be chaotic at first and be ready to change directions on a dime
* Focus- if you don't focus on the work, you can't succeed.
* Resourcefulness and speed- use all the resources you can find
* Ownership- take responsibility for the work
* Be innovative and take risks.
Beyond that, he said, the process has to include three steps: try it, fix it, and iterate. Test your ideas. Find out what works and what doesn't.
Most important, Gillmor noted, is that data be made openly available to all. "Put your data sets up and we can all play with it," he said, adding that journalists should "take data and make it human-readable." About perceived need to keep some information closely guarded, he responded "I don't think keeping secrets is helpful. I believe in transparency. Journalism is far too opaque a trade." He went on to say that he sees monopolies as market failures, not successes. He advocates for "letting everyone try everything and we'll see what works," and says that hoarding of information makes no sense.
Gillmor ended the session repeating his assertion that there have never been more opportunities to try new things than there are today. In the spirit of openness and information-sharing, he then contributed what may be the most important thing he has learned about what it takes to be successful: "Follow your passion. Make sure you love it. It's so much fun to try stuff. It's not fun to fail, but boy do you learn a lot."
Patricia Dineen is a freelance journalist living in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She works in the Education Department of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History and is the contributing editor for the National Issues Forums Institute (NIFI) newsletter.
