ABOUT INTERACT

Welcome to Internews Interactive, the home of the CitizensChannel.

The widespread use of digital communication devices has created a nation of participants in a shared media environment that is rapidly superseding the one-to-many Mass Media model. Yet, in this time of transition, the situation is not always clear, the facts not always logical:

• This is a golden age of news readership, because free and easy access to online news coverage has brought untold numbers into the news-consuming fold–even as it threatens the creators of news, by collapsing the antiquated ink-and-paper and one-way broadcast systems on which they depend.

• While online media get all the good press coverage, the much-maligned Mass Media still command a larger number of adherents, and a greater share of attention-spans, than do YouTube, Facebook, blogs and all the rest combined.

• The much-vaunted interactivity of online media that has transformed consumers into participants has hit a glass ceiling, limited not by technology but by the cultural and economic barriers of Mass Media. Despite their suffering at the hands of participatory media, the Mass Media are unwilling to imagine that they might be saved by throwing open the gates to participation.

• Mass Media, while barring citizens from participating in the meaningful policy discourse monopolized by pundits, politicians and pollsters; have had no trouble including “the people” in reality TV shows–cast as buffoons, lotharios, witches or princesses.

We at CitizensChannel ask, how can people play their role–as Citizens? InterAct’s mission is to help Americans gain a place, as Citizens, among the experts, leaders and pundits who take part in public policy dialogue. As digital media continue to expand, a nationwide network of, by and for the people, is now possible for the first time.