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Mere 'information' og mindre 'news' men stadig journalistik
Af Helle Nissen Kruuse, hnk@djh.dk
Det, der var fremtidens nyheder i 90'ernes begyndelse, er blevet
dagens nyheder og dermed passé for en af verdens førende
forskningsinstitutioner inden for anvendt IT. Derfor har det prestigefyldte
projekt »News in the Future« på Media
Lab, Massachusetts Institute of Technology i Boston, ændret
kurs, og samtidig skifter projektet navn til »Information:
Organized«.
Navneskiftet signalerer ikke et farvel til journalistikken
men til en bredere måde at anskue den på. Det stof,
som journalistik skabes af, er informationer, og det reviderede
projekt skal fokusere på, hvordan informationer organiseres,
præsenteres og bruges.
I:O manifest
Projektets hidtidige leder Walter Bender, er blevet chef for
hele Media Lab, og i hans sted er udnævnt Brian Smith, som
netop har lagt et 'I:O
Manifest' på nettet. Heri skriver han bl.a.:
»We are no longer a collection of researchers who focus
on news. Instead, we are a group of faculty and students who see
digital information as a medium that can provide new ways for
learning and expression once we develop techniques to tame and
manage our current information overload.
In a sense, the new concerns are:
- Description: What are the processes involved in human understanding
of news and information? How can machines be equipped with similar
understandings to enhance their capacities as information organizers?
- Design: How can we encourage the development of new forms
of digital expression? How will a new, digital aesthetics change
our relationships with data and information?
- Debate: How can we provide new ways for people to challenge
and critique information, to learn from and with it? What sorts
of tools and activities can we create to increase public discourse
and debate?
While the word 'news' has disappeared, our commitment to journalism
is still alive and well because it keeps us 'human'. By placing
journalism at the core of our work, we are able to keep sight
of the human side of information production and delivery while
also exploring technologies that may not come to fruition for
10-15 years.«
MIT Media Lab oprettede sidste sommer i Dublin sin første
europæiske filial.
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