Thought news : a quest for democratic communication technology

Pinter, Andrej (author)

This paper presents an analytical framework for a reading of the Thought News project as an attempt to democratize the means of mass communication. The project was a creative endeavour of a former journalist Ford, and the Americanpragmatists, Dewey, Park, and Mead to set up an accessible newspaper about complex social processes. Because of its emphasis on the conditions of information diffusion as integrative and on the possible social bearing of theoretical knowledge, the project represents a typical nineteenth century reflection on mass communication. In this sense, it is comparable to the contemporaneous theories of Tarde and Schäffle, who similarly sought to improve the performance of the press. Arguably, central concerns of the project have not been obliterated by the new communication technologies, but persist instructively for our present uses of them.

• Language: English
• Keywords: časniki
• Work type: Not categorized
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: FDV - Faculty of Social Sciences
• Year: 2003
• Number of pages: Str. 93-104
• Numbering: Vol. 10, no. 2
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-75237
• UDC: 659.3/.4
• ISSN on article: 1318-3222
• COBISS.SI-ID: 22324061
• Publication date in RUL: 21.12.2015

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Javnost = The public
• Shortened title: Javnost
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis, European Institute for Communication and Culture
• ISSN: 1318-3222
• COBISS.SI-ID: 40119808

Secondary language

• Language: Unknown
• Title: Thought news in iskanje demokratične komunikacijske tehnologije

Abstract

Članek predstavlja analitično ogrodje za interpretacijo projekta Thought News kot poskusa demokratizacije množičnih medijev. Thought News je bil izviren načrt časopisa, ki so ga med leti 1889 in 1892 pripravljali ameriški pragmatisti Dewey, Park, Mead ter novinar Ford in naj bil na dostopen način analiziral kompleksne družene procese. Kot tipična refleksija množičnega komuniciranja iz 19. stoletja je izpostavil dileme o pogojih integrirajoče difuzije informacij ter o praktičnih potencialih teoretskega znanja. V tem smislu je projekt primerljiv s teorijami Tarda in Schäffleja, ki sta si na podoben način prizadevala izboljšti delovanje tiska. Osrednja vprašanja, ki jih je odprla priprava časopisa Thought News, se še vedno postavljajo tudi ob delovanju sodobnih komunikacijskih tehnologij.