Today we recognize that we have a different relationship to media technology--and to information more broadly--than we had even five years ago. We are connected to the news media, to our jobs, and to each other, 24 hours a day. But many people have found their mediated lives to be too fast, too digital, too disposable, and too distracted. This group--which includes many technologists and young people--believes that current practices of digital media production and
consumption are unsustainable, and works to promote alternate ways of living. Until recently, sustainable media practices have been mostly overlooked, or thought of as a
counterculture. But, as Jennifer Rauch argues in this book, the concept of sustainable media has taken hold and continues to gain momentum. Slow media is not merely a lifestyle choice, she argues, but has potentially great implications for our communities and for the natural world. In eight chapters, Rauch offers a model of sustainable media that is slow, green, and mindful. She examines the principles of the Slow Food movement--humanism, localism, simplicity, self-reliance, and fairness--and
applies them to the use and production of media. Challenging the perception that digital media is necessarily eco-friendly, she examines green media, which offers an alternative to a current commodities
system that produces electronic waste and promotes consumption of nonrenewable resources. Lastly, she draws attention to mindfulness in media practice-- "mindful emailing" or "contemplative computing>," for example--arguing that media has significant impacts on human health and psychological wellbeing. Slow Media will ultimately help readers understand the complex and surprising relationships between everyday media choices, human well-being, and the natural
world. It has the potential to transform the way we produce and use media by nurturing a media ecosystem that is more satisfying for people, and more sustainable for the planet.
Today we recognize that we have a different relationship to media technology--and to information more broadly--than we had even five years ago. We are connected to the news media, to our jobs, and to each other, 24 hours a day. But many people have found their mediated lives to be too fast, too digital, too disposable, and too distracted. This group--which includes many technologists and young people--believes that current practices of digital media production and
consumption are unsustainable, and works to promote alternate ways of living. Until recently, sustainable media practices have been mostly overlooked, or thought of as a
counterculture. But, as Jennifer Rauch argues in this book, the concept of sustainable media has taken hold and continues to gain momentum. Slow media is not merely a lifestyle choice, she argues, but has potentially great implications for our communities and for the natural world. In eight chapters, Rauch offers a model of sustainable media that is slow, green, and mindful. She examines the principles of the Slow Food movement--humanism, localism, simplicity, self-reliance, and fairness--and
applies them to the use and production of media. Challenging the perception that digital media is necessarily eco-friendly, she examines green media, which offers an alternative to a current commodities
system that produces electronic waste and promotes consumption of nonrenewable resources. Lastly, she draws attention to mindfulness in media practice-- "mindful emailing" or "contemplative computing>," for example--arguing that media has significant impacts on human health and psychological wellbeing. Slow Media will ultimately help readers understand the complex and surprising relationships between everyday media choices, human well-being, and the natural
world. It has the potential to transform the way we produce and use media by nurturing a media ecosystem that is more satisfying for people, and more sustainable for the planet.
Acknowledgements
Preface: The Bearable Lightness of Slowing
1 Introduction: Alternative Visions of Sustainable Media
2 Slow Media: Lessons from the Food Revolution
3 "Good, Clean, Fair": A Sustainability Framework for
Journalism
4 Toward Green Media: New Directions in Environmental Citizenship &
Scholarship
5 Mind Your Media: Moving From Distraction to Attention
6 We Are All Post-Luddites Now
7 Conclusion: Toward a Sustainable Media Future
Notes
References
Index
Jennifer Rauch is an award-winning writer, educator and researcher
whose work focuses on alternative media, media activism and popular
culture. She is author of the Slow Media blog, two book chapters,
and a dozen scholarly articles. She has talked about Slow Media,
digital detox and unplugging in the press worldwide, including
NPR's Marketplace, The Huffington Post, Medium, Radio National
(Australia), The Daily Beast, and
La Presse (Montreal). Dr. Rauch serves as Professor of Journalism
and Communication Studies at Long Island University Brooklyn, where
she is a judge of the Polk Awards for excellence in journalism.
"In a landscape where infinite acceleration has become the default
way of developing technology, doing business, and running an
economy, Jennifer Rauch sees a growing number of people pushing
back against the mandate to scale. Here is a compelling argument
for why less is more, and how media can once again promote human
existence more proportioned to human beings."--Douglas Rushkoff,
Author of 'Program or Be Programmed,' 'Present Shock,' and
'Throwing Rocks at
the Google Bus'
"In this insightful book, Jennifer Rauch prompts us to reflect on
mediated communication and digital media through a critique of
speed in daily life. She persuasively argues that slow media enable
deep thinking about technological progress, contemporary
'connected' culture and online relations. This is a powerful
corrective to media scholarship that increasingly takes the online
world for granted."--Chris Atton, Professor of Media and Culture,
Ediburgh Napier
University, and author of 'An Alternative Internet' (2004) and
'Alternative Journalism' (2008)
"In this spirited, sane, and savvy manifesto, Jennifer Rauch shows
us how to forge a better relationship with digital media. A book to
be devoured -- slowly." --Carl Honoré, Author of In Praise of Slow
and The Slow Fix
"We can long for glue pots and wire tickers that tick away in
newsroom corners, or we can read books like Rauch's and come to
grips with a new philosophy on how to do things differently, and
maybe better and smarter before the news biz dies." --J. Marren,
Buffalo State College
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