This webcast is for my course on Media Democracy with Judy Rebick.  For the webcast I will analyze Michael Strangelove’s chapter called, “Online Journalism and the Subversion of Commercial News” from his book on “The Empire of the Mind: Digital Piracy and the Anti-Capitalist Movement”.

Please leave your comments below and keep the conversation going.  I have included some discussion questions for my classmates, and the general public at large:

Is online journalism really not subject to corporate control compared to mainstream journalism?
How do we define margins in a networked non-linear mediascape?  Do they even exist?
Are social networks like Facebook and Twitter considered news in the age of new media?
How does crowdsourced news transform public opinion?

In this paper I outline the transformative power of new media technologies in Latin American contexts as tools for social change, comparing examples of youth digital activism from both Costa Rican and Panamanian contexts. Focusing on two types of Social Media, both Social Networks and Mobile Communication are examined as tools for Central American youth activists. In my conclusion I summarize the effects of national media policies, the situation of the digital divide and its effect on media democracy. The powerful nature of Citizen Media illustrates how overcoming the digital divide can produce democratic access to the media and societies’ larger institutions for social change.

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Social Networks have moved from being a buzzword, to an essential element of global pop culture. Social Networks are online platforms that provide users with spaces to upload and share information with others on the network. They can be accessed by a series of devices, such as computers, gaming systems, cell phones, and other mobile devices. One key aspect of Social Networks is that the value of the site is amplified as users join and share more information. This phenomenon is explained by Metcalf’s Law, formulated by Bob Metcalf, founder of 3Com and inventor of Ethernet technology. Metcalf’s Law calculates that, “The value of a network is proportional to the square of the number of users of the system (n²).” This pooling of information has a powerful effect, allowing users to exchange information rapidly, communicating with thousands of people every day.

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When looking at new media communication, it is clear that across class, race, and gender, the digital divide is still apparent. Yet everyday youth are working to bridge these gaps by seizing the means of communication, and creating alternative networks, brainstorming new functions that CEOs had never dreamed possible. Yet as innovations in Citizen Media continue to rise, many gaps still exist blocking people from self-expression and access to the digital commons. While it is obvious that both Costa Rican and Panamanian youth are using new technologies such as Social Networks and Mobile Communication, when one compares the two countries there is an obvious gap in access.

While Costa Ricans have a nationalized telecommunications network, ICE (The Costa Rican Institute of Electricity), Panamanians have to rely on private networks in order to participate in the digital commons. According to MobileActive.org’s section of International Mobile Data (See charts below), Costa Rica has way higher access to the Internet, and but Mobile phone use is higher in Panama. This data draws out the realities of the countries economic structure, with Panama having a huge gap between the rich and the poor, and Costa Rica having a more middle class economy.

The average Costa Rican cellular phone plan is $4.20, while the average Panamanian is $18.10. The Internet is on average $10 more expensive for Panamanians than Costa Ricans, even though the level of poverty in Panama is over 5% higher. While Internet use in Panama is popular in urban context, the majority of the country remains without access. While mobile phone subscriptions in Panama are at a rate of 28%, Costa Ricans are only at 22%. Yet in Costa Rica personal computer rates remain at 22%, with Internet use at 29%. In contrast, Panamanians have a personal computer rate of 0.4%, and an Internet use rate of 0.78%. (more…)