We Want Media

So we've all been hearing a lot lately about the internet and its effects on our media culture. It's supposed to be a great agent for democratic expression, knocking down the barriers to entry and transforming Joe Everyman into a reporter, a filmmaker, an expert.

But is this really a good thing?

The BBC just this month aired this show devoted to evaluating (and in the process debunking) the self-styled "9/11 Truth movement" (video is 1 hour long):

But why did it have to? What is it that gave the "9/11 Truth movement" it's legs? More than anything else, it's been the internet film "Loose Change" by Dylan Avery.

Behind the veil of anonymity afforded by the internet, Avery seems authoritative and wise. In actuality however, he's a high school dropout who was twice rejected from SUNY-Purchase's Film School. His research was done largely from his bedroom in upstate New York.

Perhaps this is one instance in which those barriers to entry would have done some good.