Press releases

We the Media: Now in Paperback--Citizen Journalists Reinvent the News

Press release: February 14, 2006

Sebastopol, CA--"When people can express themselves, they will," says award-winning newspaper columnist and blogger Dan Gillmor. And with today's readily available, inexpensive tools of modern digital communication--things like laptops, cell phones, and digital cameras--average folks are indeed expressing themselves, in real time and to a worldwide audience. These readers-turned-reporters serve as a global fact-checking posse and lend a uniquely personal and powerful perspective to world events that is changing the way we make and consume news.

Now available in paperback, Gillmor's highly acclaimed We the Media (O'Reilly, US $16.99) explores the undeniable media shift that is taking place as grassroots journalism--by the people, for the people--grows in strength, complexity, and power.

"Gillmor argues persuasively that Big Media is losing its monopoly on the news, thanks to the Internet--that 'citizen journalists' of all stripes, in their independent, unfiltered reports, are transforming the news from a lecture to a conversation. He's onto something."
--Bill Moyers

Gillmor shows how anyone can produce news coverage using personal blogs, internet chat groups, email, and a host of other tools. He sends a wake-up call to newsmakers--politicians, business executives, and celebrities--and the marketers and PR folks who promote them. He explains how to successfully play by the rules of this new era and shift from "control" to "engagement." And he makes a strong case to his fellow journalists that, in the face of numerous internet-fueled news vehicles, they must change or become irrelevant.

Additional Resources:

We the Media
Dan Gillmor
ISBN: 0-596-10227-5, 336 pages, $16.99 US
order@oreilly.com
1-800-998-9938; 1-707-827-7000

About O’Reilly

O’Reilly Media spreads the knowledge of innovators through its books, online services, magazines, and conferences. Since 1978, O’Reilly Media has been a chronicler and catalyst of cutting-edge development, homing in on the technology trends that really matter and spurring their adoption by amplifying “faint signals” from the alpha geeks who are creating the future. An active participant in the technology community, the company has a long history of advocacy, meme-making, and evangelism.

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