Shaking Up the Paradigms at POLC

On Monday, I moderated a panel at the Politics Online Conference titled Will Old Media Paradigms Shift into the New Media World?, which featured Steve Roberts, Garrett Graff, Amanda Terkel, Karen Tumulty and Micah Sifry.

I moderated the panel with the objective not only to discover the existing schisms between the new and old media today - but also, what is missing in terms of racial, gender and socio-economic diversity from both.

During the hour-long session we discovered many truths, but also some tensions.

Are old media paradigms shifting into a new media world? Yes. Due to the consolidation, hybridization, and the need for profitability of information - many of the same paradigms that dictated the media efforts in the past are still finding a comfortable home online.

As pointed out by Amanda Terkel - the new media world can and does offer a greater opportunity for diversity. Due to a lower barrier of entry into the online space,  the fact that new media can host a wider variety of voices through user-generated content and the ability for almost anyone to speak for themselves  can be a mechanism to ensure that diversity will thrive online. Micah Sifry and Steve Roberts both believe in the democratization of information through new media will increase diversity, despite the fact that many of the gatekeepers of online information are all male.

Additionally, Garrett Graff suggested that without a profit model, the online information environment may only thrive as the Huffington Post does - with free contributions of opinion by mostly white, elite, men. But then, Karen Tumulty pointed out that the major costs of investigative journalism prohibits the new media space from receiving the same credibility as the old media, which then counters the development of the new media world.

It appears that when it comes to the old and new media - we can't live with or without each other.

The conversation on the panel led me back to my original question: as information consolidation continues in both the old media and new media landscape,  how do we ensure a diverse set of voices?

That question still needs a little more thought.

Still, I was very pleased with all the diverse opinions and content from the panelists. It was such a dynamic group that was able to address the topic from a variety of angles and I really enjoyed seeing it happen.

Thanks for Jill Miller Zimon's live-blogging notes for this session. And if you want to help make the new media world profitable, be sure to check out Firedoglake's the support for Marcy Wheeler.