We Media, Whose Media?

Day 1 of the We Media Global Forum has started here in London. Click here for the live chat and live webcast. Click here for a feed of Global Voices commentary and Reuters coverage.

I have a feeling that I'm going to be banging my usual drum - the issue of inclusiveness which several people brought up at the last WeMedia conference and the conference before that too.

There's a concern here in the room that online participatory media could be creating an echo chamber of connected elites which will be less inclined to hear voices of people who don't spend time online.

Of course it's necessary for media to stop delivering a one-way lecture to audiences, and build a multi-directional conversation. But with whom? The advent of internet-driven participatory media and citizens' media alone won't make the media more inclusive of minority, disenfranchised and hitherto ignored voices. Media will only become more democratic if concerted efforts are made to bridge digital divides, build communities of conversation in places not heavily covered by the media, and then amplify the new voices.

Many of these efforts are unlikely to be financially profitable, at least in the short term, for commercial media companies. But it such efforts are needed to build a more informed and democratic public discourse.