SUMMIT

Most people use convergence to refer only to the technological process, which brings
together – and makes possible – these mulple media plaorms. But convergence also
represents a cultural shi as consumers are encouraged to seek out new informaon and
– more importantly – to make connecons. We are changing the way we think and
interact.
That’s where parcipatory culture comes in – a stark contrast to the passive way most of
us learned to consume media – watching the TV or listening to radio, with no way of
talking back. Now rather than saying media producers and consumers occupy separate
roles, we are starng to see them as parcipants who interact with each other according
to a new set of rules we are all just defining.
Convergence occurs within the brains of individual consumers and through their social
interacons with others. Each of us finds our meaning and creates our interpretaons and
personal myths from the informaon we consume. But none of us can know everything
about any given topic, so there is added incenve for us to talk about the media we
consume. Yes, we may fragment and there will be niche markets, but that is why talking to
others becomes more important. This conversaon creates buzz that is increasingly
valued by the media industry.
That is our collecve intelligence. None of us can know everything; each of us knows
something; and we can put the pieces together if we pool our resources and combine our
skills. A great example is Wikipedia – which is really the product of collecve intelligence
on the web. Or the Survivors spoilers…
So how can this – convergence, parcipatory culture and collecve intelligence - change
polics? Well, in the Philippines, as early as 2004, surveys showed that 90% of Filipinos get
their informaon from television. That was part of the reason I wanted to come home:
given our polical situaon and the unfulfilled promise of our democracy, I thought television
journalists could take an acve role in naon building using the power inherent in our
medium.
Add to this the internet, which is changing polics all around the world. In the 2004
elecons in the US, a presidenal candidate Howard Dean used the internet to raise
campaign funds, to call for support, to trigger rallies, to create a more inmate relaonship
with his supporters through blogging. For the 2007 elecons, look at the difference in
the way Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are running their internet campaigns. Obama’s
website has become a cult hit, and the results are financially tangible for him. In February,
he raised $55 million - $45 million came from the internet. Here in Malaysia, the internet
played a crucial role in the past elecons – forcing mainstream media groups to go
through major soul-searching.
Tradional broadcast – or old media send out a mass message, but new media now give
viewers the chance to answer back. That is user-generated content … also known as cizen
journalism. Gone are the days of tradional gatekeepers, partly because of a clamor to
provide non-mainstream views free of corporate and polical vested interests.
It started in the US aer the 1988 US presidenal elecons – a reacon to the loss of trust
in the news media and the polical process. A decade later, acvists in Seale – disgusted
with the broadcast news coverage of the WTO – created the first Independent Media
Center. These alone wouldn’t have changed the landscape.
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