First of all–a big OMG. Jess was interviewed by my media crush, Henry Jenkins. SO JEALOUS.

Ok-now onto the serious stuff. Jess’s white paper, Public Media 2.0, is flying around like hot cakes and is getting a lot of praise. It’s pretty awesome to watch. (Of course, she deservies it) You should read the interview the whole way through. But just in case, here’s a little taste:

Q: Can you share your definition of Public Media 2.0? How does it differ from what you are calling “legacy media”? What are the biggest factors shaping this change?

A: “Legacy media” is top-down, one-to-many media: print, television, radio, even static web pages. We’re advancing a more dynamic, relevant definition of public media–one that’s participatory, focused on informing and mobilizing publics around shared issues.

“Publics” can be a slippery term: we don’t simply mean audiences, or the general populace (i.e. “the public interest”). Instead, it’s a term based on the work of theorists like John Dewey and JÃrgen Habermas, who suggest that media are intrinsic to democracy itself. Publics are what keep the powers-that-be accountable–government, corporate or other–by investigating them, discussing them, and deliberating about how to deal with them. Publics are networks of people–often ad hoc, sometimes organized–with a shared civic purpose. Media content, tools and platforms are needed for publics to form, because face-to-face communication is too inefficient–especially now that we all operate within a global economy.