Ron Krabill – Beyond the Bright Shiny New Thing
Ron Krabill teaches media and cultural studies and is affiliated with the Department of Communication and the African Studies Program at the University of Washington. He is currently the Project Director of “My World Cup,” a transnational community media project aimed at producing and disseminating short media pieces made by South African youth during the hosting of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. He is also a recipient of the 2006 Distinguished Teaching Award.
As much as we like to think it may be so, the newest technology isn’t necessarily the best. In contrast with the speakers before him, Ron talked about the flip side of information poverty—community media.
His provisional definition of community media is one that puts media production in the hands of those who haven’t traditionally had the opportunity to create media. In an increasingly mediated world, media production and consumption spreads much more broadly. But if you’re not keeping up with participatory media trends, what happens to you? Simple. You are left vulnerable. Vulnerable to opportunities, stereotypes, the widening digital divide, political marginalization. In turn, we are all made vulnerable. After all, if we can’t include everyone’s voice in the conversation, then our entire democratic process is impacted.
Krabill named three major themes necessary in community media: collaboration, sustainability and education. These elements are not necessarily the bright shiny new things of the future. Instead, they remain the crux of the work in community media practice.
If we want to use social technology to improve communities—including those who get left behind—we need to keep these matters central not just to community media, but also to participatory democracy.
–Sophia Agtarap | @sophiakristina
[...] couple of the talks (Ron Krabill’s in particular) reminded me of a story I once heard. Ballpoint pens don’t work in space, [...]