Scan-N-Land

Will Convergence Leave People Behind?

At the Online News Association conference last month, the BBC’s Adrian Van Klaveren showed a video that depicts a fictional bombing in London in 2010 (download video; careful…it’s large). Specifically, it depicts a tight relationship between the BBC and individuals, who are both helping to report on the event (through pictures, video, etc.) and receiving news of such events in new ways, producing a compelling news story across a variety of platforms.

In one sense, I don’t know if this is particularly new. News organizations have always followed up on newsworthy story ideas from the public or sought out eyewitnesses to major events to interview. This technology just provides a more efficient way to do so than in the past.

But, as news organizations become increasingly reliant on “citizen journalism” and the citizens who have the means to contribute to such journalism, are these organizations incorporating efforts to ensure that people who don’t have the means or who aren’t otherwise a part of the “cyber” world aren’t left out?

Although the technology is spreading and becoming cheaper, there’s no guarantee that the technology will be accessible to people of all socio-economic levels. Even today, for example, more than a century after it was invented, roughly 7 percent of U.S. households still lack telephones, according to the U.S. Telecom Association.


--Ken C.

posted by Mark H. @ 11/26/2006 08:12:00 PM