Two aspects of contemporary political discourse in America seem to undermine the aims of all stakeholders. These aspects are apparent on social media, orchestrated campaigns, such as via email platforms, and on most major media with the one extraordinary exception of public broadcasting. The first is civility. Too often, all parties in political debate are … Continue reading American Political Discourse: The Collapse of Civility and Commonsense Negotiating Strategies
Political Implications
Orwell’s 1984: Must Reading for the Digital Age
I have not taught an undergraduate course on the Internet and society for quite some time, but when I did, at USC, I had George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four on the required reading list. I remember one of the last classes I taught. It was in 1998. It is memorable because my students - after questioning … Continue reading Orwell’s 1984: Must Reading for the Digital Age
Society and the Internet: a new reader for courses
A new book edited by Mark Graham and myself is in print and available for courses: Society and the Internet: How Networks of Information and Communication are Changing Our Lives. It is published by Oxford University Press, and material about the book is available on their website at: http://ukcatalogue.oup.com/product/9780199662005.do How is society being shaped by the diffusion … Continue reading Society and the Internet: a new reader for courses
Financial Times Opts for Independence from Press Regulation
Hope springs eternal. Wonderful to learn that the FT has opted out of both the new Independent Press Standards Organisation (Ipso), as well as the Parliament-backed Royal Charter system, which threatens to undermine the independence of the press in Britain. The paper is creating its own self-regulatory system through a new 'editorial complaints commissioner', according … Continue reading Financial Times Opts for Independence from Press Regulation
Politics and the Internet
Dutton, William H. with the assistance of Elizabeth Dubois (2014) (ed.) Politics and the Internet. London and New York: Routledge. See: http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415561501/ Delighted to see the first pre-publication copy of the four volume set on Politics and the Internet, edited by me with the assistance of Elizabeth Dubois. It is within a larger set of … Continue reading Politics and the Internet
The Fifth Estate: Not the Movie
A number of colleagues have brought my attention to the popular launch of a movie, entitled The Fifth Estate. It is not unrelated to my work on the Fifth Estate, as it focuses on WikiLeaks, and such whistle-blowing Web sites are one of many ways in which networked individuals can hold institutions more accountable. For … Continue reading The Fifth Estate: Not the Movie
Politics and Policy of the Internet Seminar at Konstanz University
I have been spending the week keeping quite busy and engaged teaching a small seminar at the University of Konstanz, Germany. The seminar is entitled 'Politics and Policy of the Internet' and my 12 students are masters students in their faculty of politics and public administration. The first photo is of a subset of the … Continue reading Politics and Policy of the Internet Seminar at Konstanz University
The EU’s Right to be Forgotten and Why it is Wrong
The Guardian today featured two articles that bring home the risks of governmental policies and directives seeking to enforce the ‘right to forget’. One was about Britain (wisely) seeking to opt-out of EU’s data protection regulation that dictates the right for people to delete information from the Internet, such as an embarrassing photo. The other … Continue reading The EU’s Right to be Forgotten and Why it is Wrong
Independence of the Press is Key to Any Leveson Reform
It is heartening to read Alan Rusbridger's editorial in The Guardian of 25 March 2013, as he seems to have become more aware of some of the serious weaknesses in the proposed press regulation, which has changed in ways that may have undermined his early support. See: http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/rics20/current He calls attention to the private meetings … Continue reading Independence of the Press is Key to Any Leveson Reform
How Can Politicians Endorse Press and Internet Regulation that Compromises Freedom of the Press?
A classic study of public opinion found that while Americans generally supported abstract principles of freedom of expression, many would not support the application of these principles in concrete cases, such as permitting an extreme group to speak at a local school (McCloskey and Brill 1983). That the public can support concrete actions that undermine … Continue reading How Can Politicians Endorse Press and Internet Regulation that Compromises Freedom of the Press?