New media can be potent, emobodied versions of unsettlement.

- Lisa Gitelman, Always Already New

Poll: How will you watch the Inauguration?

I’m interested in the results of  the How will you watch the Inauguration? poll from flipthemedia.com. The larger, more diverse audience that responds could launch a dialogue on the relationship (if one exists) between the value events hold for us and our consumption choice.

So think about it. What does our choice say about us? What factors come into play? Is there a relationship between the perceived value and significance of events and the way we choose to consume? And what might it say about the next era of convergence?

Are we really clamoring for the ultra-portable, all-in-one device? Will we log off GTalk for one hour to watch what is, for sure, no matter your political views, a historical event? Is there still room for watching TV on the TV after all?

Personally, the only thing I’m certain of is I won’t watch it on TV at home because of the lack of TV at home. My guess is I’ll be in a public setting because it seems so silly and too significant to, in 30-years, be saying, “Hells yeah, I watched the most historical Inauguration of my generation on my crockety 13-inch MacBook in my bedroom in Lake City.”

But, see, I waiver. I can’t make up my mind. Because when I think about it, really focus on the historical signifigance, maybe it doesn’t matter if I’m alone in Lake City, witnessing history, connected to millions of people that will view the ceremonies from across timezones on the Internet because that is the only medium available?

News consumption habits, linking drive future of journalism

In early October, I wrote about The Washington Post’s launch of its Political Browser. In attempt to capture the attention of political junkies and the growing number of Americans regularly consuming news online, the Post created a site rich with content from rival media outlets. In the heat of the election cycle, it drew on its stellar reputation for political reporting to bring readers “what’s good on the web.”

News site screenshots from Nov. 4, 2008

Where politics live

Politics land on front porches each morning. They are blasted through car audio systems and iPod earbuds and sent to inboxes via RSS feeders. They play out in the background endlessly and relentlessly on the small screens of our homes.

Politicians make decisions on Capitol Hill but politics arrive, thrive and die in the media. As Manuel Castells points out, newspapers, radio, podcasts, blogs and television are the privileged space of politics in America.

This presidential election season is more of a testament to this than ever before. But politics dwelling in the media isn’t a novelty, as Castells points out in “The Crisis of Democracy.”

Help NPR fact check tonight’s VP debate on Twitter

Got Twitter?

National Public Radio is calling on you to help fact check tonight’s vice presidential debate.

Use #factcheck in your Twitter feeds if you find any questionable claims from either candidate.

It’ll be hard to beat this debate, but I think this experiment might steal at least some of my attention away from the debate tonight.

Follow nprpolitics during the debate for updates as well.

Washington Post can set new standard for online journalism

Washingtonpost.com’s recent launch of its Political Browser is not just an attempt to get in on the game of link journalism and news aggregation but an insightful way at wooing 36 percent of the American public that now regularly consumes news online. Perhaps more importantly, their nontraditional approach will be important in the future in capturing the attention of the young and currently disengaged to whom technology is second nature.

That the public is turning away from traditional media in lieu of online news isn’t news. But as the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press reported last month, a third of the public has reached a crossroads in which online news consumption blends with traditional media outlets. Many newspapers haven’t taken well to the trend, and The Post is in a position to lead the way.