Give people control of the media and they will use it. Don’t give them control and you will lose it.
Technology and social media have brought power back to the people.
The function of a newspaper in a democracy is to stand as a sort of chronic opposition to the reigning quacks.
Twitter is the people’s tool, the tool of the ordinary people, people who have no other resources.
The increasing diversification of media ecosystems after decades of state control, along with new digital tools that allow for greater citizen engagement, have led to a dramatic reshaping of the dynamics between citizens, media, and government.
I think the era of access journalism as we've known it is over.
The most dangerous thing a member of Congress could do is to ignore the citizenry who have taken up the mantle of reporting since they weren't getting the truth from the co-opted mainstream outlets.
You can't have a free democracy if you don't have a free media that can provide vital and independent information to the people.
I'm worried about the traditional media, but I think the new media is a plus for democracy.
People know the facts of a story just as well as the people on TV do, and they have more platforms to hold the media accountable when they don't get it right. We are a world full of media experts. That's a great thing.
Cinema ceases to be passive and becomes active: you, the audience, are now, in some senses, in charge of the filmmaking process. You have all got mobile phones, you have all got cam recorders, and you've all got laptops, so you're all filmmakers.
While mainstream media is led by profit, ratings and popularist culture and filtered by the current political climate, Alternative Media is lead solely by the convictions of the campaign and film maker.
The media helps keep government honest.
There is nothing more important to a democracy than an active and engaged press.
Thanks to Twitter, I learn about the revolutions in the Middle East via Arab activists and writers, not just from American foreign correspondents.
On the social media front, governments may attempt to monitor and repress citizens’ postings or discredit incriminating reports with misinformation, but such efforts buck technological trends that are empowering consumers, such as strong encryption.
I have been asking if I'm an activist or a journalist. And my answer is very simple. I'm just a journalist who asks questions.
Everybody has a smartphone; everyone is a reporter.
America is strong because its journalism is strong. That's how democracies work. They're only as good as the quality of the information that the public possesses. And that is where we come in.
Today we all are enjoying the fruits of the digital era. Millions of sources of information coming at us at lightning fast speed. That technology has also democratized the gathering and dissemination of news, allowing for 'citizen journalists' to make their mark, even usurping the role of mainstream news organizations at times.
Nobody will have control of the media in the future, because user-generated content is going to become the major content.
My own view, there is a need for and a demonstrated need for more journalism now than there ever has been.
I developed an interest in supporting independent journalists in a way that leverages their work to the greatest extent possible, all in support of the public interest.
What's profound and exciting is the way young people are taking advantage of the fact that the Internet enables everyone to have a megaphone. It enables everyone to stand up and say, 'I deserve to be heard, and I demand that you listen.'
Governments can no longer control 100 percent of the story. Time and geographical boundaries disappear. In places like China and all over the Middle East, social-media outlets are being used to expose and hold accountable public officials that don't want to be held accountable for corruption and human rights abuses.
