Perhaps its just like the article indicates, to me anyway, that the 24/7 impact of the news on everyone might not be good. That truth and the news always don't mesh.
I'm in a pause mode though. Like, now what?
Quote:
Obama Says iPad, iPod Threats To Democracy
Wait – the very same man who won his presidency at least in part by leveraging digital ways of information mass distribution now claims what? The iPod is a threat to democracy? No, of course he did not say that. He hinted to it and warned of headlines like the one above this article and millions of others that are published every day – information that is just entertainment and is in danger of losing its true purpose – education.
President Barack Obama’s Commencement Speech at Hampton University earlier today had a very serious, critical tone to it, but he may not have known how much he has spoken from the heart of so many journalists who are concerned that the current media and information landscape is devaluing information.
The key quote from his speech: “With iPods and iPads and Xboxes and PlayStations, – none of which I know how to work – information becomes a distraction, a diversion, a form of entertainment, rather than a tool of empowerment, rather than the means of emancipation.” While we know that Obama does know how to use an iPod, I personally believe that it is good to know that he apparently has a critical eye on the media, and not just because he does not like what journalists may write about him.
“You’re coming of age in a 24/7 media environment that bombards us with all kinds of content and exposes us to all kinds of arguments, some of which don’t always rank all that high on the truth meter,” Obama told students. It is a somewhat blurry way to point to the fact that the Internet has turned virtually everyone into someone who is able to publish and distribute information, whether it is true or not – in a full article on a blog or just a silly Facebook status message.
While this can surely be seen as a form of democracy, we also know that publishing information involves understanding the necessary responsibility involved. Journalists learn how to weigh the potential damages that are being caused by publishing certain information, how to protect their sources, how to determine how much research is necessary to be able to stand behind potentially questionable and vulnerable information and publish it in a responsible way. Many of those who are publishing information today lack that kind of education. Obama said that “some of the craziest claims can quickly claim traction” and we all know just how true that is.
Conceivably, we all are at fault for this scenario, as information is effectively devalued in today’s media landscape. Publications are businesses and they will go where the money is. That, of course, means they will go where the visits, page views and ad-clicks are. And if we believe current trends, there is a certain laziness in many of today’s general readers on the Internet – a laziness that prefers information to be delivered in a pre-digested way and that simply does not require serious thoughts to be put into it. In a euphemistic way, you could call this scenario the age of entertainment information. It may be tough to get out of this dilemma as reader needs need to change to prompt a change in media. Once we are tired of information that is worth less than the entertainment factor that comes with it, it is just a matter of time until media change as well.
“All of this is not only putting new pressures on you, it is putting new pressures on our country and on our democracy,” Obama said. Calling the information landscape today a moment of “breathtaking change” he noted that “we can’t stop these changes… but we can adapt to them.” According to the president, education is key to adaption. He said that education “can fortify you, as it did earlier generations, to meet the tests of your own time.”
In a way, the headline that may have lured you into reading this article directly relates to what Barack Obama is criticizing – and what I have described above. There is an entertainment value in information today – and it is entertainment value we are attracted to. That has a serious note to it and we all should remember from time to time how important it is to question the information we receive today and not take general information we read somewhere on the Internet at face value.
So, of course, Obama did not specifically say that the iPod and iPad threaten our democracy. But they are easy to understand images for how we retrieve information and how much we have turned into passive information consumers. In Obama’s words, they are tools of entertainment, and not empowerment. Let’s think about that.
http://www.conceivablytech.com/895/products/obama-says-ipad-ipod-threats-to-democracy/
Wait – the very same man who won his presidency at least in part by leveraging digital ways of information mass distribution now claims what? The iPod is a threat to democracy? No, of course he did not say that. He hinted to it and warned of headlines like the one above this article and millions of others that are published every day – information that is just entertainment and is in danger of losing its true purpose – education.
President Barack Obama’s Commencement Speech at Hampton University earlier today had a very serious, critical tone to it, but he may not have known how much he has spoken from the heart of so many journalists who are concerned that the current media and information landscape is devaluing information.
The key quote from his speech: “With iPods and iPads and Xboxes and PlayStations, – none of which I know how to work – information becomes a distraction, a diversion, a form of entertainment, rather than a tool of empowerment, rather than the means of emancipation.” While we know that Obama does know how to use an iPod, I personally believe that it is good to know that he apparently has a critical eye on the media, and not just because he does not like what journalists may write about him.
“You’re coming of age in a 24/7 media environment that bombards us with all kinds of content and exposes us to all kinds of arguments, some of which don’t always rank all that high on the truth meter,” Obama told students. It is a somewhat blurry way to point to the fact that the Internet has turned virtually everyone into someone who is able to publish and distribute information, whether it is true or not – in a full article on a blog or just a silly Facebook status message.
While this can surely be seen as a form of democracy, we also know that publishing information involves understanding the necessary responsibility involved. Journalists learn how to weigh the potential damages that are being caused by publishing certain information, how to protect their sources, how to determine how much research is necessary to be able to stand behind potentially questionable and vulnerable information and publish it in a responsible way. Many of those who are publishing information today lack that kind of education. Obama said that “some of the craziest claims can quickly claim traction” and we all know just how true that is.
Conceivably, we all are at fault for this scenario, as information is effectively devalued in today’s media landscape. Publications are businesses and they will go where the money is. That, of course, means they will go where the visits, page views and ad-clicks are. And if we believe current trends, there is a certain laziness in many of today’s general readers on the Internet – a laziness that prefers information to be delivered in a pre-digested way and that simply does not require serious thoughts to be put into it. In a euphemistic way, you could call this scenario the age of entertainment information. It may be tough to get out of this dilemma as reader needs need to change to prompt a change in media. Once we are tired of information that is worth less than the entertainment factor that comes with it, it is just a matter of time until media change as well.
“All of this is not only putting new pressures on you, it is putting new pressures on our country and on our democracy,” Obama said. Calling the information landscape today a moment of “breathtaking change” he noted that “we can’t stop these changes… but we can adapt to them.” According to the president, education is key to adaption. He said that education “can fortify you, as it did earlier generations, to meet the tests of your own time.”
In a way, the headline that may have lured you into reading this article directly relates to what Barack Obama is criticizing – and what I have described above. There is an entertainment value in information today – and it is entertainment value we are attracted to. That has a serious note to it and we all should remember from time to time how important it is to question the information we receive today and not take general information we read somewhere on the Internet at face value.
So, of course, Obama did not specifically say that the iPod and iPad threaten our democracy. But they are easy to understand images for how we retrieve information and how much we have turned into passive information consumers. In Obama’s words, they are tools of entertainment, and not empowerment. Let’s think about that.
http://www.conceivablytech.com/895/products/obama-says-ipad-ipod-threats-to-democracy/
