Thursday, August 12, 2004

We the Media

Just finished reading my reviewer's copy of We the Media (thank you O'Reilly Publishing).

Dan Gillmor's book on blogging has some interesting technical and historical tidbits, and I'm glad he wrote it, and glad O'Reilly published it as a contribution to the discourse. (Curiously, Gillmor said he couldn't find a New York publisher--perhaps they don't read blogs?)

Strangely Gillmor's list of weblogs at the end doesn't include Glenn Reynold's Instapundit, which he praises in the book--but does include FAIR, which gives you some idea of where Gillmor is coming from. Indeed, "warbloggers" like Reynolds were a real alternative to the mainstream media at a crucial historical moment, reminding a lot of us that we were not alone.

Gillmor has some other hobby horses like the DCMA that are of interest primarly to specialized audiences, and devotes a lot of words to journalism professors.

The good news: He is giving away his book for free, with a "Creative Commons" license (another hobby horse), so you can download it, then decide for yourself whether it is worth buying.