Sustaining Democracy in a Digital Age

With the budget cuts looming in the United Kingdom, it is interesting to look at the future of both wide-scale broadband policy and the possible changes to public media institutions there. On Oct. 20, the Westminster Parliament announced the first of several budget cuts in its Comprehensive Spending Review, totaling to £81 billion ($128 billion) that affects nearly every aspect of public spending except for education and public health. (For an in-depth look at the recent budget cuts in the United Kingdom, please see the BBC’s breakdown by Ministry.) As George Osbourne, the current Chancellor of the Exchequer, stated while announcing the cuts, “Today is the day that Britain steps back from the brink.”

Plenty going on this week.

• On Sept. 29, Fellow Jessica Clark published a blog post on behalf of American University’s Center for Social Media, “Making the Case for Public Media at the RIPE Conference.” The RIPE conference (Re-visionary Interpretations of the Public Enterprise) in London early last month was the site of a discussion on the role of public media, specifically public service broadcasters (PSBs), in the digital age. 

Austin, TX — Forty-eight hours after reports hit the wire of a shooting on the University of Texas at Austin campus, the scurried and anxious rhythm of that day has slowed back down to a steady pulse. Just as quickly as the news swept through Austin and the nation, the news cycle snapped back to its regularly scheduled programming. Yet, despite returning to campus and feeling more informed about what had happened, many questions remain.

• Today through tomorrow, Michigan State University College of Law is hosting a conference with an intriguingly global title: “Bits Without Borders: Law, Communications & Transnational Culture Flow in the Digital Age.”  With immigration as an integral element of American culture, it is easy to see that such “transnational flow” of all kinds of information is both active and growing within the U.S. MPI fellow Phil Napoli will be joining a panel on “Diversity in Digital Global Age” and has submitted a paper entitled “Persistent and Emergent Diversity Policy Concerns in an Evolving Media Environment: Toward a Reflective Research Agenda.