Category Archives: CFCM

Beyond “The Crisis in Civics” – Notes from my 2013 DML talk

Posted on March 26, 2013 by Ethan

Two weeks ago, I gave the opening keynote at the Digital Media and Learning conference in Chicago. The conference, which explores how digital media is and could be changing education and learning, focused on the theme of “Democratic Futures: Mobilizing … Continue reading →

Posted in CFCM, ideas, Media | 7 Comments

Corporate America and the Harlem Shake: Perfect Together

Posted on February 18, 2013 by Ethan

When we’re not doing more serious work like documenting geographic and gender biases in media, or helping provide information to domestic workers about their rights, we at the Center for Civic Media like to talk memes. The other morning, over … Continue reading →

Posted in CFCM, Just for fun | 6 Comments

Is civics in crisis? Or just changing its shape?

Posted on February 12, 2013 by Ethan

In late January of 2012, Austin Oberbillig and Evan Ricks, students at Olympia High School in Olympia, Washington made a video called “Lunch Scholars“. The video was meant to be a high school version of “Jaywalking“, a sketch Jay Leno … Continue reading →

Posted in CFCM, ideas, Media | 4 Comments

What Ancient Greek rhetoric might teach us about new civics

Posted on November 19, 2012 by Ethan

The Omidyar Network, DFID and Wired Magazine hosted an event in London last week, titled “Open Up“. It brought together pioneering organizations in the open government space for a conversation about what was, and what wasn’t working in using information … Continue reading →

Posted in CFCM, ideas | 5 Comments

Steven Johnson’s Peer to Peer Politics at MIT Media Lab

Posted on November 6, 2012 by Ethan

(Nathan Matias, Matt Stempeck and others at Center for Civic Media have put together an excellent blog post on this event as well – I encourage you to read their post as well.) Election’s eve at the MIT Media Lab … Continue reading →

Posted in CFCM, Media Lab | 5 Comments

Understanding digital civics

Posted on August 30, 2012 by Ethan

Earlier this week, I gave a lecture titled “The Emergence of Digital Civics” at Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia. I was in South Austalia to give another lecture, a joint lecture with Dr. Genevieve Bell of Intel in memory of … Continue reading →

Posted in CFCM, ideas | 8 Comments

How do we make civic crowdfunding awesome?

Posted on August 10, 2012 by Ethan

Ten people each contribute $100 a month into a pool. They meet once a month and discuss possible projects to support. Each month, they give a grant of $1000 to a project that meets a simple criterion: it’s awesome. That’s … Continue reading →

Posted in CFCM, ideas, Media Lab | 30 Comments

The Passion of Mike Daisey: Journalism, Storytelling and the Ethics of Attention

Posted on March 28, 2012 by Ethan

I am telling you that I do not speak Mandarin, I do not speak Cantonese, I have only a passing familiarity with Chinese culture and to call what I have a passing familiarity is an insult to Chinese culture—I don’t … Continue reading →

Posted in CFCM, Human Rights, ideas, Media | 24 Comments

What is Civic Video? A Center for Civic Media brainstorm with Howard Blumenthal

Posted on February 27, 2012 by Ethan

Howard Blumenthal knows a few things about TV. His father produced Concentration, a famously long-lived game show on NBC, and Blumenthal grew up, in part, on the set. Concentration, with Hugh Downs, 1968 Blumenthal went into the family business, working … Continue reading →

Posted in CFCM | 3 Comments

My new quest – replacing QR codes with tartan

Posted on December 16, 2011 by Ethan

Center for Civic Media meetings start with an icebreaker question: you introduce yourself, and tell us whether you prefer pirates or ninjas, homemade or canned cranberry sauce. You offer your favorite protest chant or tell us what percent (“I am … Continue reading →

Posted in CFCM, Just for fun | 10 Comments