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.