Internet

I recently had the opportunity to contribute to the Impatient Optimists blog, sharing my observations on the role of rural public libraries in supporting the families of migrant laborers. What follows are my thoughts as they appear on Impatient Optimists.

From May 1 to 3, for the first time, the United States hosted World Press Freedom Day, an event inspired by African journalists. Every day around the globe free expression is under threat.  For the champions of a free media, the dates, places and people may change but not the objective. Twenty years ago it was the Soviet Union’s dictatorship and South Africa’s apartheid that was disintegrating; today another revolution is transforming the Middle East.  Courageous journalists, advocates, and new media pioneers proclaimed a single persistent message at this year’s event: freedom of expression is indispensable to democratic growth.

As World Press Freedom Day approaches and interest in ongoing popular uprisings in the Middle East garner well-deserved attention in the press, we should not forget how the digital revolution continues to upend traditional notions of media (and traditional notions of state control over the media) all over the globe.

At church on the morning of January 28, 2011 the pastor joked that “Thanks to the Egyptian government we will not be interrupted by cell phones.” But on that Friday despite the cutoff of Internet, cell phones and SMS messages feeding into Twitter, the largest demonstrations blocked downtown Cairo causing the police to close the square.

News coverage in the immediate aftermath of the bombing at Domodedovo airport came not from the television, but from blogs and tweets. Television news was slow to react to the terrorist attack. However, it did eventually switch to live coverage which dependended heavily on using YouTube footage and twitter feeds as primary source material.

Michael Mirny, the Chief of Party of IREX's International Media Partnerships Program in Russia, offers a summary of a roundtable on old and new media in Russia at the annual AAASS convention.

A survey of the latest discussions in the library blogosphere quickly reveals that public libraries in many parts of the world are struggling with an identity crisis. But in the countries where I work – Romania and Ukraine – where more than 65% of the population lack access to the internet, there’s no question about the ongoing relevance of public libraries.