by Flemming Funch
Dan Gillmor writes in 'Here comes We Media' about two-way media. Knowledgable readers don't want to just sit and read what other people are writing - they want to talk back, and add in what they know. Journalism is evolving away from a lecture mode, towards being a conversation. Weblogs illustrate that, of course. It requires that the writer has the humility to realize that his readers probably know more than he does. Or, rather, collectively they absolutely, certainly know more than you do."In 1999, Jane’s Intelligence Review, the journal widely followed in national security circles, wondered whether it was on the right track with an article about computer security and cyberterrorism. The editors went straight to some experts — the denizens of Slashdot, a tech-oriented Web site — and published a draft. In hundreds of postings on the site’s message system, the technically adept members of that community promptly tore apart the draft and gave, often in colorful language, a variety of perspectives and suggestions. Jane’s went back to the drawing board, and rewrote the article from scratch. The community had helped create something, and Jane’s gratefully noted the contribution in the article it ultimately published."
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