Thursday, November 4, 2010

Information Please


My burning matter today: Information Dislocation
First: Identify the problem
Problem: Finding decent unbiased information in a world of biased information overload

I know this question intersects strongly with two other areas I'm interested in: journalism and WikiLeaks. Reminder folks: this blog is a two-year exploration in issues that matter leading up to an important USA election in 2012; I can't give you the easy answer today.  I invite you to be part of the discussion; Email burningmatter@gmail.com with your thoughts and suggestions. We are making a journey together in order to reset our thinking. Here's some supporting information on why we need a mass "reset" from Joe Keohane's Boston Globe 2010 article titled "How facts backfire. Researcher discover a surprising threat to democracy: our brains"  http://bit.ly/cCQXS4

Let's talk journalism. Not to be pedantic, but let's revisit the ten commandants of journalism. The following is from Wikipedia  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journalism: "In order for a journalist to fulfill their duty of providing the people with the information, they need to be free and self-governing. They must follow these guidelines:
  1. Journalism's first obligation is to the truth.
  2. Its first loyalty is to the citizens.
  3. Its essence is discipline of verification.
  4. Its practitioners must maintain an independence from those they cover.
  5. It must serve as an independent monitor of power.
  6. It must provide a forum for public criticism and compromise.
  7. It must strive to make the significant interesting, and relevant.
  8. It must keep the news comprehensive and proportional.
  9. Its practitioners must be allowed to exercise their personal conscience.
  10. Its the rights and responsibilities of citizens."   
Just writing this post is giving me question overload! And yet, I will be expected to be an informed citizen so I can make important informed choices. And I can't make informed choices without information.  Journalism tends to be one of the touchstones for our information and yet journalism has changed dramatically in the past few decades.  Here's just a few examples with important ramifications:
  • USA foreign news bureaus reduced by more than 50% so Americans are out of touch with the rest of the world
  • No USA new bureaus in Africa, India and South American where more than 2 billion live reside
  • Most stories are AP wire and Reuters rehashed without context and connections to news importance
  • The rise of journalism as entertainment as we follow Lindsey Lohan into court then rehab, and watch Charlie Sheen tumble through restaurants and wives
  • Political parties attack with crafted 20-second elevator statements devoid of content
  • Major USA news outlets are corporations with political bias, just look at GE (not to mention the obvious completely biased News Corporation which owns Fox News, New York Post, Wall Street Journal, SKY News, TV Guide Network and many many more media outlets.)

In the face of all this, what steps do I need to take to become an informed decision maker?

So I continue to ponder the matter of information dislocation matter (in other words, those trusted, seemingly ethical bound sources that formerly supplied news are now displaced by a plethora of unhinged corporate interests, blogs, wires and outlets with hidden--and not so hidden--biased agendas).

By the way, let me list the media sources I use to moderate each other's information (not including blogs and topic specific sites such as www.opendemocracy.net and www.transparency.org

New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Aljazeera English Edition, BBC News, Der Spiegel International Online, Salon, Hacker News and Huffington Post.
    Tomorrow, I want to explore the whole WikiLeaks topic again.

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