Kent Bye's interesting ideas

Kent Bye of the Echochamber Project has created a New Media Ecosystem Flowchart.

In the comments section of my recent post soliciting comments, he writes:

Both Jon Stewart and blogs pick up the slack of the invisible, inner depths of personality, value systems, attitudes, beliefs, motivations. Journalists are strong at the observable, external world of facts and behavior.

BOTH are important, but NEITHER do justice to both worldspaces.
...

Bloggers are strong with the Interior and Journalists are better at the Exterior. I envision a New Media Ecosystem that includes both.

The missing link is a system to tie it together.

Check out the rest of his comment. I'm still digesting his ideas - they're complex. But very interesting and I hope more people take a look at what he's doing.

Comments

[Kent Bye]

That's Rebecca. While I'm at it -- Here's some to chew on that might make what I'm saying more intuitive.

Community is built around common worldviews and values, but values are interior and invisible to people -- worldviews are
like the water that fish swim in. You can't get a full picture until you're out of the water, and move on to a more inclusive worldview.

Jon Stewart is so popular and blogs are so popular because they wear their worldviews on their sleaves.

Journalists suppress their worldviews -- Why? Because the academic communications research into worldviews is so evasive and sparse as to not be something that is legitimately considered. Political science research is focused on observable "behavior" of voting, so there is a bias towards electoral politics without real concern for how value systems drive political behavior. This was clear when looking at "moral values" after the 2004 election, but worldviews and value systems are larger than the moral aspects and still very relevant.

People intuitively know that worldviews are strongly correlated to private attitudes, public opinions and observable behavior, but there are no scientific data to represent this intuitive knowledge.

Why? Because of the gap between qualitative and quantitative methodologies of inquiry -- some things you just can't put numbers on or split into causal-free taxonomic boxes -- like something as complex and nuanced as a value system.

Lawrence Kohlberg found that the key to researching moral development was not observing someone's opinion on a moral dilemma -- It was the RATIONALE behind the opinion. The invisible rationale behind the observable behavior is the key to worldviews and value systems, and this is where blogs and Jon Stewart have been picking up the slack from journalism.

Finding out how to incorporate value systems is key, and Don Beck's Spiral Dynamics integral has done the most complete job of this that I've found so far.

All of this information comes from Adam Leonard's Integral Communication thesis where he takes the first steps towards reconstructing the splintered communications theories into one comprehensive metatheory and metaparadigm by using Philosopher Ken Wilber's Integral Approach.

I'm working with Leonard in implementing his theories into a new media ecosystem that combines qualitative and quantitative techniques for the production of my open source documentary on the pre-war failings of the mainstream media.

[Jon Garfunkel]

Very interesting. It looks like this field is entering the big leagues now-- the science of communications theory and not merely journalism. I see Brian Reich echoes that as well.

[AlbertKlamt]

Hi Kent,

great to read your considerations on worldviews, values and integral visions.As I am involved with studying Wilber work in evolution for 25 years now and Spiral Dynamics Integral for some years too I am glad to find this interest on it in the blogosphere.)

It seems up to now be dominated by Americans.):) European forms of communication maybe more conventional? Right now I saw -coincidence? - a CNN Panel of experts including Rebecca MacKinnon - discussing the Impact and Growth of this new media. I never would expect that German or French media are presenting this. But I am no journlist, maybe I see not sharply enough.

Thank you for linking the Masters thesis of Adam Leonards about integral communication.

Would love to hear more global voices from Europe and Greetings to all from Germany/Berlin!

Cheers,

Albert