BOOK REVIEW: Dan Gillmor's "We the Media"

In We the Media, journalist Dan Gillmor applies his knowledge of the promises and pitfalls of current technologies and applies them to the burgeoning field of citizen journalism.

Originally published in the summer of 2004, Gillmor's work emerged during the first presidential election in which digital media, created by both campaigns, traditional news sources, and voters themselves, played a significant role. There was, and still remains, a general optimism about the power of blogs to shape and influence at the same rate as traditional corporate media sources, and Gillmor embraces that sentiment heartily. Whether it comes in the form of resistance to oppressive governments (such as the cases of bloggers in China and Iran) or unwillingness to swallow corporately-funded "objective news", the message found in We the Media is clear: if you don't like what's being said, say something yourself.

Gillmor's focus isn't limited merely to blogs, however. He takes into consideration how tried-and-true online communities like discussion groups and bulletin boards have taken on new significance in the age of media without borders. He also looks past the sensationalized coverage of peer-to-peer networks and identifies them for what they really are: the best way to transmit ideas and materials anonymously online. While that may not seem like an important distinction in the United States, its potential for use in areas of state-sponsored oppression is limitless.

There, perhaps, is the problem with all of these wonderful new mediums: with limitless potential comes limitless chance for misuse. Gillmor spends a fair amount of the latter half of his book popping the techno-utopian bubble by pointing out the inherent danger of a powerful media tool like the internet. One of the best sections deals with what happens to false information once it is released into the media world. While Gillmor's examples are engaging and illustrative, I could've used even more coverage on this topic. There are still people out there who believe everything they read on the internet, and any insight on how to increase society's critical barometers would've been appreciated.

in the end, We the Media serves a vital purpose, acting as a primer on new media, a llaunchpad from which further, in-depth study may spring. Gillmor's enthusiastic embrace of online, independent reporting is tempered by a sense of caution, but his general point holds true: in the right hands, grassroots cyberjournalism is the future of media.