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Just as in the 16th century, when the production of printed books and the efforts to read codex type required a fundamental shift of political perspective, so today, in the emergent world of communicative abundance, a whole new mental effort is required to make sense of how democracies are being shaped and re-shaped by the new tools and rhetoric of communication, and to see why our very thinking about democracy must also change….
A Day with Assange
ABC 24 talks to Professor John Keane about Julian Assange’s bid for Senate. Professor Keane spent a day with Julian Assange at the Ecuadorian embassy in London. 3 April 2013. Original Link here -> Lunch and dinner with Julian Assange, in prison
Lunch and Dinner with Julian Assange, in Prison
Everybody warned this would be no ordinary invitation, and they were right. Three hundred metres from Knightsbridge underground station, just a stone’s throw from fashion-conscious Harrods, I suddenly encounter a wall of police. I try to remember my instructions. Look straight ahead. Avoid eye contact. If asked my name, reply with a question. Ask who [...]
Silence and Catastrophe
New Reasons Why Politics Matters in the Early Years of the Twenty-first Century. Bernard Crick was revered and respected for his writing against anti-politics and his dislike of intellectual timidity. So he might well have found the following risqué observation both politically relevant and intellectually satisfying. Look around: we’re living in an age marked by [...]
Murdoch’s appearance before the Leveson Inquiry
John Keane remark’s on Rupert Murdoch’s appearance before the Leveson Inquiry ABC 24, April 27, 2012
Insights 2012: Silence, Power, Catastrophe
New Reasons Why Media and Democracy Matter in the Early Years of the Twenty-First Century Insights 2012: Inaugural Lecture Series, Thursday 31 May 2012 Listen to Audio
Mediacracy: Rupert Murdoch’s “Toxic Shadow State”
When Rupert Murdoch gives further evidence to the Leveson Inquiry this week it will mark another turning point in his public disgrace. The legal noose around the neck of News International, on both sides of the Atlantic, will also tighten, thanks to fresh revelations detailed in Dial M for Murdoch, a new book by Westminster [...]
Prologue to Monitory Democracy in the Era of the New Media Galaxy
John Keane’s prologue to Ramón A. Feenstra, Democracia Monitorizada En La Era De La Nueva Galaxia Mediática: Based En La Propuesta De John Keane (2012) Read PDF version of prologue Vivimos en una era revolucionaria de la abundancia comunicativa en la cual numerosas innovaciones de medios y herramientas de comunicación –desde conexiones de banda ancha [...]
The China Labyrinth
James Madison famously remarked that a popular government without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a prologue to a farce or a tragedy. The present government of the People’s Republic of China has set out to disprove this rule. Rejecting talk of farce and tragedy, its rulers claim their authority is [...]
The Hidden Media Powers that Undermine Democracy
When recently ploughing through Tony Blair’s autobiography, I hit a rare rock of truth. On the last night of the second millennium, when the government’s extravaganza spectacles were faring badly, Blair recalls with special horror his discovery that a pack of top journalists invited to attend the midnight Millennium Dome celebrations had been left stranded [...]
Murdoch, mediacracy and the opportunity for a new transparency
Schadenfreude is the tough-sounding word that wins my vote for describing accurately how millions of people around the world are feeling about Rupert Murdoch’s media empire. For those who were long resigned to accepting its arbitrary influence, or who loved or loathed its products and style, something unprecedented is now happening under the noses of [...]