roundtable: Re: Visions of the GII at t

roundtable: Re: Visions of the GII at t

Re: Visions of the GII at t

Vigdor Schreibman - FINS (fins@access.digex.net)
Fri, 17 Mar 1995 11:29:53 -0500 (EST) 

Date: Fri, 17 Mar 1995 11:29:53 -0500 (EST)
From: Vigdor Schreibman - FINS <fins@access.digex.net>
To: roundtable@cni.org
Subject: Re: Visions of the GII at t
In-Reply-To: <9503170651.AA24225@athena.capital.edu>
Message-Id: <Pine.SUN.3.91.950317105847.22541A-100000@access4.digex.net>


On Fri, 17 Mar 1995, Jeff Briggs wrote:
> 
> In reply to Marc Rotenberg - 
>      -I have heard very little about content at all, let alone
> "diversity of content, including cultural and linguistic". I support it.
> Everyone's talking about the pipes and valves and meters, but what about 
> the content of this wonderful future communications net? Will it be
> intelligent, interesting, diverse, provocative? Or brain dead? Is there
> any hope for something different than commercial thought? How about
> global awareness. I like that phrase. They teach courses in it here
> at Capital University where I teach.


  With regard to public policy making, there usually is not much 
energy left for the subject of improving the content of information-
understanding-knowledge-wisdom-communications, after the effort to 
regulate or deregulate the the infrastructure and protect privacy, 
security, copyright, and speech.   Ultimately, however, betterment of 
content isthe  only thing that matters.  That is one important reason 
why I have suggested that reliance upon the market system is so 
foolhearty, when profit pressures can be depended upon distorting the 
content of all content and communications.  Content and communications 
to serve the public good is simply disregarded by the market, for 
example, requiring an independent infrastructure to serve the paramount 
social and environmental needs and interests of a mature democratic 
nation.

  The literature on this subject, while sparce, is not entirely absent.  
I discussed the subject in my book "The Marketplace of Broadcasters' 
Ideas," citing the insight of professor Zacharia Chaffee, Jr., 

        The mere absense of governmental restrictions will
     not make newspapers and other instrumentalities play
     their proper part in the kind of society we desire.  In
     addition, affirmative action must be taken either by
     the government or by other persons with power to
     influence methods and content

Z. Chaffee, Jr., 2 Government and Mass Communications 471 (1947).  
Improving the methods employed to foster genuine dialogue has also been 
discussed in this place, from time to time.  There are significant 
opportunities when the energy directed to this important topic appears.

   Vigdor


Vigdor Schreibman
<fins@access.digex.net>

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