My friend Jeff just came over for dinner and brought up NBC’s role in the Olympics.  NBC controls which events to televise, and thus which events most Americans know about.  As an example, the network has seriously emphasized beach volleyball this year.  Meanwhile, sports like crew have received litte coverage.  Show me some fucking table tennis!

In fact, NBC’s influence goes beyond scheduling.  According to Jeff, NBC played a huge role in moving the IOC to ditch one or two track cycling events and replace them with BMX.

We see the same phenomenon in the news media.  Newspapers, news networks, and news radio stations have complete control over which news we get to hear about.  This is no subtle role! It fundamentally affects our understanding of the world.

Adrian and I agree—there must be a better way. But what is it? Even with on demand television (for example) or the Internet, there is some provider deciding what is available.

There is at least one answer, at least one unbiased group that can provide unfiltered content.  What is this great, omnipotent, honest source?  It’s you; it’s me.  You, me, and everyone else who is connected to the Internet.

Can it be done? Would the world accept a radically different mechanism for information distribution? Am I (is anyone) brave enough to try? Open questions, for now. I’ll tell you this: it is most definitely an intriguing challenge.