18 May Interview Boxed: Discussion on WorldCompass.org about the “Arab Spring” and social media’s impact

This was fun: Boston-based public broadcast company WGBH has added semi-regular brief conversations between several people on specific topics on its World Compass website. I was included on a recent “Interview Boxed” segment which was conducted via web video with me in Colorado, author, artist and host Damali Ayo in LA and journalist/activist Simba Russeau in Cairo, discussing the democracy movements in the Middle East and social media’s impact on these tumultuous changes.

This segment was actually the second one I was involved in. A month ago, WGBH videotaped a conversations between me, Ayo and New York-based spoken word artist Kelly Zen-Yie Tsai, about the Japanese earthquake and tsunami, and the world’s reaction to the disaster. For whatever reason it was never posted on the site (there were a lot of technical problems because it was the first time they attempted the show).

I like this because it’s a harbinger of a new form of broadcast media — low-fi “talk shows” with people scattered all over the world weighing in on issues. It’s like a more democratic, low-budget version of cable news networks trotting out their expert talking heads every hour.