The prediction, in brief:

Until very recently, George Orwell’s nightmare tale of Big Brother who utilized electronic surveillance technologies to monitor every citizen, hear every word being said, and see everything being done (‘”Big Brother Is Watching You!”) was the prevailing metaphor for the century to come. The frightening vision of Orwell’s 1984 evaporated with the disintegration of the monolithic Nazi and Communist regimes. By contrast, the 21st century’s defining image is more likely to have ordinary citizens using their personal telecommunications devices to keep Big Brother under continuing surveillance … In the “smart” media world, information no longer flows only from one to many. Instead, it flows simultaneously and instantaneously in many directions, from the bottom up as well as from the top down.

Predictor: Grossman, Lawrence K.

Prediction, in context:

In his 1995 book “The Electronic Republic: Reshaping Democracy in the Information Age,” Lawrence Grossman, former president of NBC News and PBS, writes:”Until very recently, George Orwell’s nightmare tale of Big Brother who utilized electronic surveillance technologies to monitor every citizen, hear every word being said, and see everything being done (‘Big Brother Is Watching You!’) was the prevailing metaphor for the century to come. The frightening vision of Orwell’s 1984 evaporated with the disintegration of the monolithic Nazi and Communist regimes. By contrast, the 21st century’s defining image is more likely to have ordinary citizens using their personal telecommunications devices to keep Big Brother under continuing surveillance … In the ‘smart’ media world, information no longer flows only from one to many. Instead, it flows simultaneously and instantaneously in many directions, from the bottom up as well as from the top down.”

Biography:

Lawrence Grossman wrote the book “The Electronic Republic: Reshaping Democracy in an Information Age” (Penguin, 1995). The former executive at NBC and PBS urged people to realize that digital communications had altered how things can and should be done. (Author/Editor/Journalist.)

Date of prediction: January 1, 1995

Topic of prediction: Global Relationships/Politics

Subtopic: General

Name of publication: The Electronic Republic (book)

Title, headline, chapter name: Chapter 1: Transforming Democracy – An Overview

Quote Type: Direct quote

Page number or URL of document at time of study:
Page 12

This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Guarino, Jennifer Anne