Tag Archives: information

Gold or Filthy Lucre — The Politicking of Information

1 Reply

By Jay Menard,

When it comes to choosing for whom I want to vote, I take my cues from the Bard of Mersey, because more and more it’s getting harder to know who you can trust.

In John Lennon’s song “God,” he lists off a number of things in which he doesn’t believe, ranging from religions to politicians to philosophies to musicians. At the end, he quietly intones, “I just believe in me.”

John follows that up with “Yoko and me. And that’s reality.” And since Yoko’s not on my speed dial, I have to trust myself. In today’s world, that’s an even more challenging proposition.

Thanks to social media and the Internet, we have access to a wealth of information. But that wealth has vastly different values – ranging from pure gold to filthy lucre. And, sadly, there are far too many snake oil salesmen and women promising one thing, but working only in their own interests. We have access to more information than ever, but that doesn’t mean the information is better. Continue reading →

Gelding Our White Knights with Knowledge

Leave a reply

By Jason Menard

We know too much.

There’s a price to be paid for this wonderful instant-info world we live in. We literally have the world in the palm of our hands – a wealth of facts, opinion, and counter-opinion just a click away on smart phones, tablets, and laptops.

But that information isn’t free. It has cost us our ability to marvel, it’s robbed us of our sense of wonder, and it’s rendered us chronically dissatisfied. The days of wonder are long gone – and those looking for inspiration are doomed to never again find it. Continue reading →

Social Media’s Growing Up by Learning its Lessons from Traditional Sources

Leave a reply

By Jason Menard

Sure, there may still be some growing pains here and there, but there are signs that social media is growing up and it’s putting the responsibility for content back where it belongs – the reader — thanks to lessons learned from traditional sources.

Two recent examples have illustrated this perfectly. I discussed the Tori Stafford murder trial coverage, and the tribulations it caused amongst a media struggling to figure out how to balance the public’s right to know with its equal right to not know. In the end, especially on Twitter, local media chose to post key messages on their main feeds, directing them to full content on a parallel Twitter channel – with full disclaimers and warnings of the graphic content. Continue reading →

Nuclear Tragedies Show Power, Influence of Information

Leave a reply
By Jason Menard,

If there’s any question about the value of our Internet-dominated, 24-hour news cycle, look no further than the experiences surrounding the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant and a similar event a quarter of a century previous.

For many of us, Fukushima provides us with an eerie reminder of our youth — and an opportunity to reflect upon how greatly the world has changed for the better in terms of sharing knowledge. Continue reading →