March 25, 2008
Ford Foundation Publishes The Public Square in the Digital Age
The New Public Square
How an unheralded network of organizations is making room for diverse voices and true public space in a digital era.
Ford Reports
2007, Volume 37, No. 2
THE PUBLIC SQUARE IN A DIGITAL AGE
http://www.fordfound.org/impact/fordreports/publicsquare
Ear-budded Americans listen to podcasts on virtually any imaginable topic and text message friends and colleagues about everything from grocery lists to leveraged buyouts. This constant connection and limitless expanse of fact and opinion would seem to be the perfect incubator for democratic involvement and participation. Yet as the media sector reinvents itself, there are real questions about how citizens learn about the issues affecting their lives, make choices, and take part in the governance of a continuously changing media environment where enormous sums of money and power are at stake. Over the past five years, the Ford Foundation has renewed its longstanding commitment to the media field. Our objective is to ensure that diverse voices are heard and that citizens have access to media that enrich the way we practice democracy.
