Welcome to the blog for New Media for Social Change, a competitive section of the One World festival
Dear readers,
For 13 years now, the One World film festival has been presenting accounts of human rights abuses around the world and in the Czech Republic. It has also presented the personal stories of individuals whose fate is a long way from our idea of a normal life. These include the experiences of people whose lives were fundamentally changed by historic events, social changes, conflicts and catastrophes, or simply because they decided to make their own personal journey of courage and individual engagement.
From the outset, documentary film has proven to be a very suitable medium for this, because it tells these stories to the general public in an attractive way. Regardless of whether they were members of the wider public, teachers or students, festival audiences always appreciated this format, particularly because it was becoming harder and harder to find such stories in the media hotchpotch of news and infotainment.
In recent years, thanks to developments in information and communication technology, we have witnessed fundamental changes in how people communicate and share stories. All over the world, the accessibility of technologies and applications has begun to rapidly impact upon the traditional schemata of mass media communication, where the means of production and distribution were typically in the hands of those who had either sufficient financial resources or political power (or both of these advantages). Consequently, the individual unavoidably found himself simply playing the role of a media consumer, either as a member of the masses or as part of a group that was carefully segmented according to the needs of advertisers. This is changing, however. Anyone with a basic internet connection, regardless of whether it is via their computer or mobile phone, can potentially become a producer, distributor and active recipient of information. Frequently they are all of these things at once. Without exaggeration, we can say that this is a revolutionary change, which is completely comparable to the consequences of an idea that a certain Johannes Gutenberg once had a long time ago.
However, the mere existence of new opportunities, regardless of how revolutionary they might appear, falls a long way short of ensuring that they will actually be automatically used as much as possible to bring about positive social changes. Initial enthusiasm about new tools is often quickly supplanted by disillusionment and scepticism. A passionate debate is now raging as to whether new information and communication technologies can or can’t positively contribute to a freer and more open society, whilst also preventing conflicts. We will have to wait a while yet before we can reach any clear conclusions (assuming it is even possible to make any definitive judgement on this subject).
We’ll put this argument to one side for now, and we’ll proceed on the basis that today fundamental changes are undoubtedly occurring in how people obtain, produce and share information. This has opened up channels of communication, which did not exist previously, for victims of human rights abuses, minorities, socially excluded people, and people affected by conflict and disasters. The same also applies to people who are trying to help them. How we manage to use these resources is solely down to us. In a manner similar to how the One World festival presents powerful personal stories via quality documentaries, we now have an opportunity to get closer to those whom the films are about. We also have the option of actively and effectively sharing such stories via our own offline and online networks. Above all, we also have the possibility of more effectively organising and getting involved in campaigns.
The New Media Changes Society festival section is not being built on the popularity of new media and new technologies. It is being built on the People in Need foundation’s many years experience of working on the ground and in a world that was and still is to a large extent offline. Even the best internet application cannot replace civic engagement, personal involvement and a willingness to stand up for what’s right, regardless of what those around you think. It can, however, make sure, that one will not stay alone in it.
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