Wednesday night at the National Press Club, amongst a variety of other newsworthy events, two very solid authors, with very solid expertise and very solid followings, ventured onto some very shaky ground.
Peter Shankman, famed of late for creating HARO (Help a Reporter Out) and being a generally avid new media enthusiast – as well as honest to goodness skydiver (you can follow him on Twitter @skydiver) engaged in a debate with Andrew Keen, (twitter @ajkeen) equally as famed for being named the “Anti-Christ of Silicon Valley.” Behavoir scientists and new media experimentalist, Dr. Mark Drapeau moderated the lively debate, with some particuarly poignant points submitted from the audience.
It would have been an unrealistic expectation for those listening to find one side emerging as a winner in preliminary discussions of this topic, however, this first-ever meeting of the two personalities did lead to some interesting conclusions. One, those of us interested in the new media space do not entirely dismiss the importance and gravitas of traditional forms, and in fact, revere them for their ability to identify true experts in field, instead of allowing anyone to consider themselves an expert (Keen’s “Cult of the Amateur”). Two, the ability to share one’s voice on the internet is a right that comes with much responsibility. Anonymity is the death of credible conversation. And lastly, new media is faster/more convenient/speaks to today’s need-to-know-now society… but can’t entirely replace trusted sources of news. Trust, credibility, and network were the watchwords of the evening.
If you missed the debate, check out http://www.printvspost.com/ for links to Keen and Shankman’s books for sale. And if you are interested in more events of this nature, comment below or send your suggestions to us at K Street Kate.
Limited images available on K Street Kate’s Flickr.
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