Raise the Hammer
Yesterday, I had the honour of giving a talk on the role of community media at Mohawk College as part of their speaker series for the Active Citizenship program. (Nothing like a mandatory course to drum up attendance. :)
For anyone interested, here's a copy of my presentation slides. It's in HTML + Javascript rather than Powerpoint, and it should work in any reasonably modern browser.
Summary:
To produce social change, citizens need to care, to have access to information, and to have the means to collaborate.
We need both mainstream and community/alternative media to form a more complete picture of what's going on and what we can do about it.
There's a role for advocacy journalism, which serves a political or social purpose, is open about having an agenda, and is fact-based but not neutral.
Online technologies (internet, email) have collapsed the cost of publishing and distributing content, which dramatically lowers the barriers to entry for community media.
A major gap remains in Hamilton between information and action: there's still no easy way for people to collaborate, organize, and advocate effectively for change.
Online technologies could change this if we understand the importance behind the fact that a few people care a lot and a lot of people care a little.
When people are free to contribute as much or as little as they want, you end up with a power law distribution of effort.
In a power law distribution, the long tail of many people contributing a little collectively adds up to at least as much as the "short head" of few people contributing a lot.
Right now, barriers to participation shut out all the people who care a little and would be willing to do a little bit of work toward a goal.
If we eliminate those barriers, we could benefit from the participation of all those mildly dedicated people.
At the same time, many people are willing to help out if someone else is willing to lead. If we make it easier for highly dedicated people to start groups, we also make it easier for others to join those groups.
Raise the Hammer is working toward creating new applications that will make it much easier to form an organization around an issue. More to come in the near future - we'll definitely need lots of help!
By highwater (registered) | Posted January 29, 2009 at 16:18:14
Can't believe you used our little gardening project as an example! Now I feel all pressured to make sure it's all fabulous and transformative.
When I get my act together, I'll blog about the Churchill Park Master Plan process, a truly citizen-driven approach to planning public space. The only reason I mention it now is because one of the pieces missing from your talk I feel, is the role our elected officials have to play in fostering citizen initiatives. The Churchill Park process is happening because we have the good fortune to have a ward councillor who actively supports and fosters citizen engagement and activism. We need to demand the same level of trust and responsiveness from the rest of our representatives.
By @LL (anonymous) | Posted January 30, 2009 at 13:49:02
Hey, great work with Churchill Park. I don't live in the area, but I visit often and have always thought it would be a great place for a community garden. Some of that area should also be naturalized, if my opinion counts for anything.
Ryan: presentation sounds pretty relevant. Have you or any RTH folks looked at the issue of internet neutrality and how it might affect the alternative media? I'd imagine you'd have the technical background to write a pretty informative article on that issue.
By highwater (registered) | Posted February 01, 2009 at 22:17:10
Hi LL,
Pro-naturalization opinions always count in my book, in fact the RBG may be looking at that.
If you're interested in Churchill Park plans, contact me via Ryan.
By MohawkMike (anonymous) | Posted February 02, 2009 at 19:03:13
Hi Ryan..
Enjoyed your discourse on Thursday and some of us were discussing your comments during Sooper Bole. Really !!! The beer maybe?
I finally am recognizing that students and young people have to get involved in their communities and the politics / governance/media etc. I don't know how to transfer a newspaper article to this forum but the Mountain News ( JAN 30)had a great guest column by a Mac student,, Maybe , Ryan , you could do that. Besides going to Mohawk, we live off Paradise on the Mountain and I have watched how a few rich folks on Scenic have tried to slow down what I think is great for the mountain,,ie utilizing the vacant Chedoke hospital lands for residential condos.
My pal in the planning course here tells me that will save over 100 acres of farm land and use the existing sewers and hydro etc.. A bunch of the students got involved in a class project last year, on this re-development to bring their ideas forward . They thought it was great because they were actually doing something that was in our immediate area and addressing sprawl. Not sure of the results.
We ( students )will and can get involved but sometimes you have to find our "ON" buttons,
Keep the spirit!
Mike
By Grassroots are the way forward (registered) | Posted February 07, 2009 at 19:28:39
WRCU2: While I agree that networking is important and the connections between groups is essential, I wonder if you are missing an important part of the process.
While the donation to foodbank is nice, how are these groups actually benefitting those who struggle when they are only raising funds for foodbanks and not advocating for sustainable wages or amounts from social services?
Would not their voices be more beneficial if they were actually speaking out against the system that puts people into dire straits, instead of the feel good, pat on back, raising funds? Just asking!!!!
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