Post on 27-May-2015
description
Why wikis can savelocal democracy
Recent changes to the economicsof civic information
(by Michael Andersen of PortlandAfoot.org)
the main problem with local news
the main problem with local news(especially government news)
Nobody cares
the main problem with local news(rephrased)
Everybody cares a little
so what's the solution?
in a minute!
first we need to talk about
INFORMATIONECONOMICS
What did a personcare about in 1951?
my personal family & friends
my personal job & career
my personal garden
my favorite sports team
my city council
BUT
in 1951, profit =
VOLUME
What dideverybody in town
care about in 1951?
my city council
Everybody cares a little
my city council my city council
my city council
my city council
my city council
my city council
my city council
my city council
my city council
$$$$$$$
$
What does a person care about in 2011?
my personal family & friends
my personal job & career
my personal garden
my favorite sports team
my city council
my personal family & friends
my personal job & career
my personal garden
my favorite sports team
my personal family & friendsmy personal family & friendsmy personal family & friendsmy personal family & friendsmy personal family & friendsmy personal family & friendsmy personal family & friends
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$$$
What's changed?What's changed?
1951 2011
my city council Not how much I care about things.
Nor the number of hours in my day.
my personal family & friends
my personal job & career
my personal garden
my favorite sports team
my city council But my available media options.
the main solution for local news
(drumroll please)
Minimizing time investment
This is where wiki(finally) comes in
A traditional local news story
Built for people who read the news every day
Built for 1951
A wiki version of the story
Built for people who read news when it's important
Built for search
Built for ordinary people
Other popular pages onPortland Afoot's wiki
Facts and statistics
Election information
Task-oriented pages
Service cut information
Profiles of local newsmakers
the moral of the story
It's 2011.
It's 2011.Information is cheap.
It's 2011.Information is cheap.
Local news needs to be cheap, too.
We can do this with wikis.
It's 2011.Information is cheap.
Local news needs to be cheap, too.Wikis are the cheapest way
to share information.
The end.
Michael Andersen(503) 662-2871
michael@portlandafoot.org