[CIMC-work] (f.y.i.) Fw: [Imc-strategies] Fwd: <<strategies>> BBC follows indymedia

[Chris Kaihatsu]

----- Original Message -----
From: "sheri at speakeasy.org" <sheri at speakeasy.net>
To: <imc-strategies at indymedia.org>; <imc-alternatives at undymedia.org>
Sent: Tuesday, December 16, 2003 10:34 AM
Subject: [Imc-strategies] Fwd: <<strategies>> BBC follows indymedia


> -----Original Message-----
> From: eveline lubbers [mailto:evel at xs4all.nl]
> Sent: Tuesday, December 16, 2003 12:16 PM
> To: strategies at lists.myspinach.org
> Subject: <<strategies>> BBC follows indymedia
>
> November 10, 2003
> The Guardian
>
> A portal for the people?: A new BBC site hopes to transform politically
apathetic members of the public into single-issue
> activists. But will it just be a magnet for net heads and moaning nimbys.
>
> Owen Gibson
>
> The BBC's review of its political programming almost two years ago threw
up few surprises. Young people felt disengaged
> from the political mainstream, single-issue politics was on the rise and
most licence-fee payers thought that the stream of
> news coming out of the Westminster bubble had little to do with them.
>
> Thus far, the review has produced some fairly inedible onscreen fruit. A
tie-less Jeremy Vine presenting the Politics Show,
> Michael Portillo making a decent fist at political punditry on The Week
and an unsuccessful attempt at engaging "yoof"
> viewers with the Rod Liddle-fronted Weekend are all we have to show for
the much-trumpeted initiative. In the light of the
> Hutton inquiry and widespread cynicism in the run up to the Iraq war, the
BBC has been fighting a losing battle to re-
> engage a sceptical audience with the business of politics.
>
> But a major online initiative that also sprang from the review could yet
have a more lasting impact than any number of
> revamped current affairs shows. Dubbed iCan, it claims to be an attempt to
connect the public with the political process by
> engaging them in local issues. In development for more than a year, the
site allows users to easily set up mini-sites on
> issues that affect them, from speed cameras to bullying, and attract
like-minded folk from their areas and around the
> country.
>
> By combining this facility with an extensive online database of local MPs,
councillors and pressure groups and cross-
> referencing with a vast library of BBC online resources and external
sites, those behind the site hope it will emerge as a
> "glue" to bind together users who have real concerns but are unsure how to
make a difference within the strict confines of
> local and national politics.
>
> "The original research showed up two main points. People don't know where
to start and they don't know who to talk to. So
> everything starts from that premise and it runs through the core of
everything we've done," says Sian Kevill, who heads the
> project with Martin Vogel. "People don't approach politics through party
allegiances any more, they approach it through an
> issue, and this (site) makes it easy for people to connect into politics
through an issue."
>
> The care, attention and budget lavished on the development of iCan is a
reflection of its potential importance to the BBC.
> Since the web became a mass medium, people have talked of how it can act
as a tool for democratic good. But up to now
> we've seen little real evidence of how it can bind together disparate
voices, beyond one-off, single-issue examples such as
> the Stop the War coalition and the ongoing Stop Esso campaign. Overall,
the web is still more about porn than politics.
>
> Kevill says: "Whenever you talk about the site, it has a massively
positive effect. Everyone's got something that gets them
> going, whether it's local schools or speed bumps or whatever, but where
does that tip over into people taking action? The
> whole point of iCan is to lower those barriers so people find it easier to
take that step."
>
> Vogel says "People don't tend to see themselves as campaigners," but he
believes that because of the amount of thought
> and research put into the design and content of the site, people will be
drawn in. "It's very much in its early stages and it
> will be shaped by how people want to use it. The exciting, and
nerve-racking, thing is that no one has any idea how it will
> grow and evolve."
>
> Existing sites that also rely on user-generated content, such as the noble
Open Democracy and the more militant
> IndyMedia.org, have tended to appeal to only a small section of the online
population and concentrated on global politics
> rather than local issues. Meanwhile, the government's attempts to empower
the population has led to millions being wasted
> to little effect on costly experiments like UK Online.
>
> Ultimately, the idea is that iCan could become part of the BBC's news
gathering operation, getting closer to the things that
> local people are interested in. A pilot project involving local television
and radio news teams in Sheffield, Bristol, Leicester,
> Cambridge and Clyde is under way and, if successful, will go national.
>
> "There'll be iCan reporters who will go out and find grass-roots stories
and cover them and say: 'If this issue concerns you
> then go on to iCan and do something about it.' That's very important
because it will extend its appeal beyond net-heads.
> They'll also be able to pick up stories from iCan, so you get a virtuous
circle and enhance the news agenda," says Kevill.
> Each of those areas will have their own iCan reporter who will liaise with
users and news reporters in the area.
>
> "It could also introduce a new section of stories that we haven't covered
before. And it could link in with a host of
> programming, like the themed NHS and crime days and even Comic Relief,"
she adds. "There's also no reason why it can't
> link into drama and soap storylines, Radio 1, Radio 5 Live. At that
moment, when people think 'I'd like to do more', they
> now can."
>
> Although iCan has been spoken of in hushed tones by BBC executives ever
since the idea of building a community portal
> was raised (director general Greg Dyke has taken a keen interest), those
involved try to play down its potential. At present,
> it is little more than an elegantly designed empty vessel, waiting to be
filled with user-generated content. And Vogel and
> Kevill insist they are under no illusions about how fickle web audiences
can be. "It's very difficult to get communities going
> on the web. We haven't got a God given right to attract people. It's
harder than a lot of people realise, it's very organic and
> ongoing and we'll have to learn a lot from the next few months. We won't
know until people start using it," says Kevill.
>
> There are other dangers in handing over editorial control to your
audience. At one extreme the site could be clogged up
> with nimbys moaning about litter on their pavement or it could attract
controversy by inadvertently giving a platform for
> insensitive rants. But the BBC believes that the house rules, combined
with the clever design of the site, will enable the
> iCan team to strike a balance between freedom of expression and
censorship.
>
> But if iCan takes off, its value could go far beyond providing news
material. For the corporation, it could be the perfect
> expression of its public-service ideals. And with both a government review
of its online activity under way and a stormy
> charter-renewal period in the offing, it will be campaigning pretty hard
to make sure it does. "Participation in democracy is
> a value in itself and it's at a very low level at the moment. There's been
a shredding of the civic fabric and this could be a
> way for the BBC to restore some of that civic fabric in a new way," says
Kevill.
>
>
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