This week POLIS has the latest in its Future of News seminars with a group of cutting edge online journalists. We are finishing early so that football loving digital journalists can watch the European Cup Final. In fact our session is heavily female this time. This may be because the competing attraction of Milan and Liverpool has trumped our discussion of the politics of online journalism but it
may also be a sign of a trend I have detected. I think that as broadband uptake increases and computers become part of our daily lives, women are realising that the internet can’t be left to the men. Increasingly, the internet is not about the technology but what you do with it. For example, how do you get the public to contribute their material to your outlet or how do you use the internet to build communications in local communities? I get the impression that women are becoming increasingly interested in this and are rather good at it. Of course, any mention of gender raises all sorts of sexist stereotypes. It’s quite possible that it will be the women who rush off to the bars to watch the football after our seminar. As a West Ham fan I have had enough football-related excitement for one season and I won’t be joining them. Not until the second half anyway….
Charlie, thanks for a great evening, football was the last thing on my mind. I have just added your link to my site and I hope to be in touch soon to arrange an interview for the project I mentioned.
Have a good weekend.