nalaka gunawardene - new media & old minds? - univ of kelaniya, 25 may 2012

New Media, Old Minds:

A Bridge Too Far?By Nalaka Gunawardene

Science Writer & Media WatcherColumnist (Ravaya, Ceylon Today)

nalakagunawardene.com

National Media Summit,

University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka: 25 May 2012

Coverage…What really is New Media today?What numbers/coverage?Perceptions vs. realityLessons from recent media history5 Survival Tips for Information Society!What’s to be done?

What does New Media mean? It depends! Many devices,

modes, systems Mostly digital Analog-digital

hybrids too NEW is a matter

of perception!

When Worlds Collide…Mass Media Sri Lanka: Analog media still

dominating SL market Digital media rising… Also: hybrid media Global media/ICT trends

take time to arrive in SL But delay is shortening…

Global invention & LK arrival…Mass media type or communications technology

Mass/ commercial start in the world

Ceylon/Sri Lanka’s commercial adoption

Newspapers printed with movable type

Early 17th centFrance, Netherlands

Colombo Journal 1832

Fixed telephone services

The Telephone Co, UK1879

Oriental Telephone Co. 1881

AM Radio broadcasting

Netherlands, 1919USA & UK, 1922

Colombo Radio Dec 1925

FM Radio broadcasting

USA, 1937 SLBC's City FMNov 1989

Terrestrial TV broadcasting

USA, 1929 ITN, April 1979

Mass media type or communications technology

Mass/ commercial start in the world

SL adoption

Mobile telephone services (commercial)

NET, Japan, 1979 Celltel, 1989

Email only Internet (academics only)

MAILBOX, MIT, 1965ARPANET, 1973

LEARN, 1990

Commercial Internet/web connectivity (dial-up)

Late 1980sWWW 1990

Lanka Internet Services, 1995

Broadband Internet connectivity (higher speeds, always-on)

Cable modem service by Rogers Comm., Canada, 1996

Sri Lanka Telecom ADSL, 2002

3G mobile telephony NTT DoCoMo, Japan, Oct 2001

Dialog Telekom2006

First compiled by Nalaka Gunawardene in 2009

A Tale of Two Worlds? This is the way

Media in Sri Lanka: Perceptions vs. RealityTRUE OR FALSE? Radio is still the most widely

used mass medium in rural SL Internet is an elite, expensive

medium accessed by less than 5% of Lankans

Average Lankan households spend 17 times more on telecom & internet services than on books, newspapers and magazines

FALSE!

FALSE!

TRUE!

Household electronic items in SL

Sample size: 22,500 countrywide (except 3 N&E districts)

Source: Sri Lanka Household Income and Expenditure Survey 2009/10 by Dept of Census & Statistics; www.tiny.cc/HIES910

Radio%

TV%

VCD/DVD%

Personal Comput

er %

None of these

%All Sri Lanka

75.4 80.0 35.9 12.5 10.1

Urban 76.5 86.9 48.7 23.6 6.4

Rural 75.6 79.3 33.5 11.2 10.1

Estate 69.4 70.5 39.8 2.2 17.4

Household expenses:More on telecom, less on print/post…

Sample size: 22,500 countrywide (except 3 N&E districts)

Source: Sri Lanka Household Income and Expenditure Survey 2009/10 by Dept of Census & Statistics; www.tiny.cc/HIES910

When different telecom related expenditures are combined, they amount to LKR 750/month (USD 7)

Average LK household spends 17 times more money on telecom & Internet services than on books, newspapers and magazines

LKR 4/month spent on postal services by average household

Full discussion on LIRNEasia blog:

http://tiny.cc/2u5uew

Internet Use in Sri Lanka (TRCSL data)

http://www.trc.gov.lk/information/statistics.html

Mobile phone subscribers in Sri Lanka: 1991 – 2011 (TRCSL data) This is the way


Fixed Access Phone Growth in Sri Lanka 1990 – 2011 (TRCSL data) This is the way


How many Internet users in LK? Answer depends on which source & analysis!Telecom Regulatory Commission of SL, at end Mar 2012: Internet & Email Subscribers (Fixed): 375,000 (provisional) Internet & Email Subscribers (Mobile) 711,000 (provisional) Total SUBSCRIBERS: 1,086,000; Total USERS? X 2? X 3?

http://www.trc.gov.lk/information/statistics.htmlInternet World Stats, quoting ITU as source: 2,503,194 Internet users as of Dec 2011, 11.8%

penetration, using ITU statistics, cited in:http://www.internetworldstats.com/asia.htm#lk

1,235,080 Facebook users by end Mar 2012

How many Internet users in LK? “It seems very probable that the number of Internet users in Sri Lanka should be between 2 – 2.5 million, but due to the inaccuracy of the available data in Sri Lanka it is not possible to narrow it down further.” - LIRNEasia, 29 Feb 2012http://lirneasia.net/2012/02/number-of-internet-users-in-sri-lanka/

See also LIRNEasia’s Sri Lanka Broadband Report for InfoDev: http://www.infodev.org/en/Publication.1113.html

New Media phases in Sri Lanka…DENIAL/REJECTION

No thanks, we can manage very well without it!

SUSPICION/ VILIFICATION

HELP – This threatens our culture, religion, children, national security!!!

SLOW ACCEPTANCE

May be it has some uses after all…let’s give it a try

THRIVING How did we ever manage without this? We have tamed the medium!

HOW CAN POLICY-MAKERS MANAGE “SWINGING MOODS”?

Case Study:Parallels with Sinhala Chitra Katha? Called comic strips in English:

but not all of them ‘comical’ 1951 Oct: Lankadeepa started

Neela by G S Fernando Modelled on Tarzan stories 1952: Susil Premaratne starts

another Lankadeepa comic 1954: Lake House Group follows

with their own CKSource: Chitra Kathawe Wansa Kathawa by Sunil Ariyaratne, 2007

Sinhala Chitra Katha Evolution… 1950s: Pioneers: Adapting western

formats & styles - populist & fleeting; embedded in newspapers

1960s: Innovators: more artists & writers join & indigenise the genre; classical stories (history, religious) creative story telling

1970s: Entrepreneurs: All-CK newspapers & magazines (‘like printing money’) bubble bursts!

Who killed Sinhala Chitra Katha? Creators’ failure to adapt &

evolve with times Greed of publishers who

diluted medium Cynicism of mainstream

writers & artists Small size of Lankan market Television’s arrival (1979 )

3 Phases of a New Media in LK1. Introduction Arrival & early

adoption by young & open-minded

Old guard cries foul, cautions against it!

Policy makers & regulators caught by surprise, puzzled

Business model not clear, usually embedded in existing venture

2. Assimilation Localisation

through language & context

New creators and users emerge innovation

Some try/find ways to make money

Policy & regulatory responses (may be good/bad/mixed)

3. Survival Test Novelty wears off Uneven quality

and opportunistic entrepreneurs erode market

Some users & practitioners lose interest, drop out

Market competition eliminates some pioneers

LK Policy Response Dilemma: Quick/blundering or Slow/Measured? Policy makers & Regulators:

Struggling to keep up with technology & market Under pressure from ‘Luddite’ type social activists Fear of new, unfamiliar, unknown Having to be ‘seen’ as ‘in charge’/taking action! Tend to rush in: myopic (even comical) responses

Academics must research, analyse & advice But are LK academics thought-leaders in ICT? Soviet-style info/media control is Gone for

Good with USSR!

Information Society:Much more than mass media! Who really owns information flowing through

telecom/media networks? What safeguards for privacy? Balancing public’s right to know and state’s

need to restrict sensitive information Technology standards, inter-operability Cutting across language, gender barriers Issues of cultural identity, integrity, diversity

As Info Soc grows, so does our e-shadow: How many of us realise it?

Mapping cyberspace connections…

Visualising Facebook friendships: Map by Paul Butler, Dec 2010http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=469716398919

Go out & colonise?“When the web came around in the early 1990s, it was first seen as a place for geeks, paedophiles and the military. We had to go in and ‘colonise’ it -- to show what it could do for social justice & development. Now web 2.0 is also being dismissed by some as a place where geeks and paedophiles frequent. Maybe. But we just have to go in and reclaim it!”- Anuradha Vittachi, co-founder, OneWorld.net http://uk.oneworld.net/article/view/113231

If WE don’t ‘colonise’ Wikipedia with our content, who will?

Survival Tips for Information Society #1

“WikiLeaks Cablegate is only the latest reminder that we are living in a world where few, if any, secrets can be guarded…Whether we like it or not, welcome to the Global Glass House!”- ‘Open Letter to Sir Arthur Clarke’, by Nalaka Gunawardene, Groundviews.org; 16 Dec 2010http://tiny.cc/GGHouse

Accept the new transparent world!


Get used to a WikiLeakable World!


Harness Geek Power! Info soc created & shaped by geeks:

Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, 1,000s more! Very smart people -- but also very

individualistic, sometimes anarchic… Can we harness their genius for

society’s greater good, not just corporate profits or rebellion?

Wanted: Public Interest Geeks (PIGs!)


Keep an eye on ‘Drivers of Change’ Technology Demographics Consumer behaviour


Ease up & cheer up! Trend: Informed yet very

informal journalism… LESS hierarchical & rigid;

MORE relaxed & irreverent Funny & cheeky tone is fine I-Me-Mine first person

journalism is perfectly OK GET USED TO IT! http://tiny.cc/IMeMine


Beware of ‘New Media experts’!

Everything in ‘Beta’ mode Future: An Undiscovered

Country (but we can draw map) Can’t future-proof ourselves, but

can be better prepared. Try everything, see what works! Watch, emulate, adapt… Finders are keepers in Info Age?

Alarm & Despair: loss of cultural identity; invasion of privacy; data mining by corporations; rise of authoritarianism, death of Anonymity, etc.

-- OR -- Cautious Optimism & Hope: always-

connected, networked world presents many opportunities to do good in the public interest.

A Choice of Futures…

That’s it, folks! Now let’s talk…

Email:[email protected]:http://nalakagunawardene.com Twitter:twitter.com/NalakaG

Cartoons & illustrations used in good faith. All data sourced.