The Future of Independent Media

It's not every week, or even every month, that I say, "Be sure to read this," but this is such an occasion. Just do it. Important work. --Dennis. | The technologies that enable us to make and consume motion media are becoming better, cheaper, and more widely available—and with blistering speed. As a consequence, patterns of media production and consumption are changing just as rapidly. The Internet continues to create new opportunities to connect with audiences. Video games are becoming a platform for critique and education. A new generation of media makers and viewers is emerging, which only increases the likelihood of profound change. Images, ideas, news, and points of view are traveling along countless new routes to an ever-growing number of places where they can be seen and absorbed. It is no understatement to say that the way we make and experience motion media will be transformed as thoroughly in the next decade as the world of print was reshaped in the last. ¶ Nowhere is this more deeply felt than in the field of independent media, which is already experiencing the rumblings of great change. The field is rapidly reorganizing, and the flow of resources and attention is reorganizing with it. But what if the people and organizations that thrived in the last era will not be the ones who thrive in the era just now emerging? How should media makers respond to the changes they see all around them, changes that represent huge possibilities and challenges for both independent and traditional media? Indeed, the reverberations will be felt across every organization that uses media to communicate, connect, and create. ¶ What follows is our assessment of the coming opportunities and challenges, as we see them, for the field of independent media, and, by extension, for any organization or individual that will be affected by the new media landscape—which is to say, all of us. The future described in these pages stems from what we at GBN learned during the research phase of a year-long project on the future of independent media, a project that—with the support of the Rockefeller Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation, the Tides Foundation, and the San Francisco Foundation—brought together representatives from six leading independent media organizations to take a deep look at their shared future. We hope that it will spark conversation, even healthy debate, about paths toward the next generation of independent media-making—a generation that faces great challenges, yet holds such promise. [links to pdf by GBN's Andrew Blau] Link: Global Business Network's Deeper News. Thanks for this to David Liroff. --Dennis

Comments

[Bob Miller]

The article while very comprehensive and good missed a major change in the broadcast field. The article talks about recording video onto mobile devices and Internet delivery of video and the possibility of receiving video on a cell phone via a 3G network or watching previously stored video on a cell phone but nowhere does it explore the new age of digital mobile.

The most compelling deliver method of the future is digital broadcasting. It will deliver video content to the mobile masses around the world. While 3g, WiMax, Wifi and other fixed broadband connection will be used to deliver video to niche markets.