As soon as it came out, it was spread all over the net: 15 German journalists and bloggers wrote an "Internet Manifesto"
on how journalism works today. Shortly after it was announced online,
their server went offline. The reaction was overwhelming. The 17
declarations were discussed worldwide. Guardian columnist Jeff Jarvis
retweeted every declaration to his nearly 25,000 Twitter followers. The
declarations were blogged, commented upon and widely discussed. And
they even gathered attention in the newspapers.
So what is it all about? Starting with the sentence "The internet
is different", the 17 declarations might not be hot news, but they tie
together some of more innovative positions about journalism in the age
of the net. The authors believe that the internet improves journalism
if the media adapt their working methods to today's technological
reality, "instead of ignoring or challenging it". Furthermore, the
signatories claim that "copyright becomes a civic duty on the
internet". And that there is indeed a value of quality online, because
"the internet debunks homogeneous bulk goods". Therefore, there is
money in online journalism, although "tradition is not a business
model" – its business model has to be adapted to the rules of the net.
So why publish a manifesto? "We were tired of the fact that the discussion about the future of journalism
doesn't take the reality of the internet into account, but revolves
around the wishes of how the publishers think it should be," said one
of the initiators of the manifesto, Sascha Lobo. After he started to
discuss the matter with colleague Mario Sixtus, he learned that
journalist Thomas Knuewer had pondered the same issues. They formed a
group, invited more participants (I was among them) and started editing
the manifesto – and it not only spread all over the internet, but into
the mainstream media – which is rarely the case.
Most of the time when mainstream media take a stance on the future of journalism, they report, with some
exceptions, the positions of the powerful, not of the innovators. The
paid-content debate, for example, was mostly triggered on the pages and
websites of major newspapers and largely suited their traditional
opinion.
Of course all of the major media reported Rupert Murdoch's claims that the days of the free internet were over,
whereas some believe they are still to come. But the New York Times and
The LA Times, for example, even wrote extensivly about Journalism Online,
a new start up which plans to provide a tool to organisations for
monetising web content. On the other hand, innovative media experts
like Cory Doctorow, Clay Shirky or Jeff Jarvis rarely get that much attention on the big media, although they are very successful with their blogs.
"When
you see change coming, there are three ways to respond," explains Jeff
Jarvis. "One is to ignore it, one is to try to stop it and the third is
to find the opportunity in it. But the innovators are overheard. We see
this all the time: big media is giving big media attention. So the
manifesto is important, because when some of the innovators come
together, it is the only way that they get attention."
Since the servers are still not so stable, we republish the Internet Manifesto here.
Internet Manifesto
How journalism works today. Seventeen declarations
1. The internet is different.
It
produces different public spheres, different terms of trade and
different cultural skills. The media must adapt their work methods to
today's technological reality instead of ignoring or challenging it. It
is their duty to develop the best possible form of journalism based on
the available technology. This includes new journalistic products and
methods.
2. The internet is a pocket-sized media empire.
The
web rearranges existing media structures by transcending their former
boundaries and oligopolies. The publication and dissemination of media
contents are no longer tied to heavy investments. Journalism's
self-conception is, fortunately, being bereft of its gatekeeping
function. All that remains is the journalistic quality through which
journalism distinguishes itself from mere publication.
3. The internet is our society is the internet.
Web-based
platforms like social networks, Wikipedia or YouTube have become a part
of everyday life for the majority of people in the western world. They
are as accessible as the telephone or television. If media companies
want to continue to exist, they must understand the world of today's
users and embrace their forms of communication. This includes basic
forms of social communication: listening and responding, also known as
dialogue.
4. The freedom of the internet is inviolable.
The
internet's open architecture constitutes the basic IT law of a society
which communicates digitally and, consequently, of journalism. It may
not be modified for the sake of protecting the special commercial or
political interests often hidden behind the pretense of public
interest. Regardless of how it is done, blocking access to the internet
endangers the free flow of information and corrupts our fundamental
right to a self-determined level of information.
5. The internet is the victory of information.
Due
to inadequate technology, media companies, research centres, public
institutions and other organisations compiled and classified the
world's information up to now. Today every citizen can set up her own
personal news filter while search engines tap into a wealth of
information of a magnitude never before known. Individuals can now
inform themselves better than ever.
6. The internet changes improves journalism.
Through
the internet, journalism can fulfil its socio-educational role in a new
way. This includes presenting information as an ever-changing,
continual process; the forfeiture of print media's inalterability is a
benefit. Those who want to survive in this new world of information
need a new idealism, new journalistic ideas and a sense of pleasure in
exploiting this new potential.
7. The net requires networking.
Links
are connections. We know each other through links. Those who do not use
them exclude themselves from social discourse. This also holds for the
websites of traditional media companies.
8. Links reward, citations adorn.
Search
engines and aggregators facilitate quality journalism: they boost the
findability of outstanding content over a long-term basis and are thus
an integral part of the new, networked public sphere. References
through links and citations — especially including those made without
any consent of or even remuneration of the originator—make the very
culture of networked social discourse possible in the first place. They
are by all means worthy of protection.
9. The internet is the new venue for political discourse.
Democracy
thrives on participation and freedom of information. Transferring the
political discussion from traditional media to the internet and
expanding on this discussion by involving the active participation of
the public is one of journalism's new tasks.
10. Today's freedom of the press means freedom of opinion.
Article
5 of the German Constitution does not comprise protective rights for
professions or traditional business models. The internet overrides the
technological boundaries between the amateur and professional. This is
why the privilege of freedom of the press must hold for anyone who can
contribute to the fulfilment of journalistic duties. Qualitatively
speaking, no differentiation should be made between paid and unpaid
journalism, but rather, between good and poor journalism.
11. More is more – there is no such thing as too much information.
Once
upon a time, institutions such as the church prioritised power over
personal awareness and warned of an unsifted flood of information when
the letterpress was invented. On the other hand, pamphleteers,
encyclopaedists and journalists proved that more information leads to
more freedom, both for the individual as well as society as a whole. To
this day, nothing has changed in this respect.
12. Tradition is not a business model.
Money
can be made on the internet with journalistic content. There are many
examples of this today already. Yet because the internet is fiercely
competitive, business models have to be adapted to the structure of the
net. No one should try to abstain from this essential adaptation
through policy-making geared to preserving the status quo. Journalism
needs open competition for the best refinancing solutions on the net,
along with the courage to invest in the multifaceted implementation of
these solutions.
13. Copyright becomes a civic duty on the internet.
Copyright
is a central cornerstone of information organization on the Internet.
Originators' rights to decide on the type and scope of dissemination of
their contents are also valid on the net. At the same time, copyright
may not be abused as a lever to safeguard obsolete supply mechanisms
and shut out new distribution models or license schemes. Ownership
entails obligations.
14. The internet has many currencies.
Journalistic
online services financed through adverts offer content in exchange for
a pull effect. A reader's, viewer's or listener's time is valuable. In
the industry of journalism, this correlation has always been one of the
fundamental tenets of financing. Other forms of refinancing which are
journalistically justifiable need to be forged and tested.
15. What's on the net stays on the net.
The
internet is lifting journalism to a new qualitative level. Online,
text, sound and images no longer have to be transient. They remain
retrievable, thus building an archive of contemporary history.
Journalism must take the development of information, its interpretation
and errors into account, i.e., it must admit its mistakes and correct
them in a transparent manner.
16. Quality remains the most important quality.
The
internet debunks homogeneous bulk goods. Only those who are
outstanding, credible and exceptional will gain a steady following in
the long run. Users' demands have increased. Journalism must fulfil
them and abide by its own frequently formulated principles.
17. All for all.
The
web constitutes an infrastructure for social exchange superior to that
of 20th century mass media: when in doubt, the "generation Wikipedia"
is capable of appraising the credibility of a source, tracking news
back to its original source, researching it, checking it and assessing
it — alone or as part of a group effort. Journalists who snub this and
are unwilling to respect these skills are not taken seriously by
internet users. Rightly so. The internet makes it possible to
communicate directly with those once known as recipients — readers,
listeners and viewers — and to take advantage of their knowledge. It is
not the 'know-it-all' journalists who are in demand, but those who
communicate and investigate.
