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
http://www.trc.gov.lk/information/statistics.html
Fixed Access Phone Growth in Sri Lanka 1990 – 2011 (TRCSL data) This is the way
http://www.trc.gov.lk/information/statistics.html
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!
Survival Tips for Information Society #1
Get used to a WikiLeakable World!
Survival Tips for Information Society #2
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!)
Survival Tips for Information Society #3
Keep an eye on ‘Drivers of Change’ Technology Demographics Consumer behaviour
Survival Tips for Information Society #4
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
Survival Tips for Information Society #5
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.