Conclusion: The American Way
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“We’re watching hundred of billions of [bailout] dollars being spent unaccountably to support supposedly our ‘American way.’ I think at some point we have to ask whether or not the ‘American way’ includes journalism.” – John Battelle
Do Americans view journalism as a public good that is critical to our country’s intellectual infrastructure and American exceptionalism? Do they believe that the strength of our democracy depends on a diverse and free press?
The “big thaw” of media’s old paradigm is drowning many traditional journalism outlets. If everyone—in the public, private and non-profit sectors alike—believe that journalism is part of the ‘American way,’ we need a new paradigm for it to thrive. “So how do you change paradigms?” asked Donella Meadows in Leverage Points: Places to Intervene in a System. For an answer, she pointed to Thomas Kuhn, who wrote the groundbreaking book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions about science’s great paradigm shifts. “In a nutshell, you keep pointing at the anomalies and failures in the old paradigm, you keep speaking louder and with assurance from the new one, you insert people with the new paradigm in place of public visibility and power. You don’t waste time with reactionaries; rather you work with active change agents and with the vast middle ground of people who are open-minded.”
In order to succeed, The Media Consortium must speak with assurance about its strategic vision, work with those who are advocates for a new paradigm and not waste time with reactionaries who want to save media’s old paradigm. Journalism is evolving despite journalists and often without their years of experience. If journalists do not find new ground—even if it means dramatically changing their professional roles—they may drown.
By bringing together technologists, entrepreneurs and media-makers to increase experimentation, leverage their collective power and build audiences as communities, independent media can not only rise with technological tide, but also achieve the goals of inclusivity and fairness they espouse.
This blog is an excerpt from The Big Thaw, a guide to the evolution of independent media, written by Tony Deifell of Q Media Labs and produced by The Media Consortium, a network of leading independent media outlets. Learn how your organization can use this report. For more information and recommendations from the study, click here.
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