Mixing television, politics, and interactive electronics could be a formula for either new public enlightenment or a country run by push-button impulse. It all depends on how the concept is executed. No doubt, it will run into some opposition.
Predictor: Schwartz, Evan I.
Prediction, in context:In a 1994 article about digital democracy for Wired magazine, Evan I. Schwartz writes: ”Mixing television, politics, and interactive electronics could be a formula for either new public enlightenment or a country run by push-button impulse. It all depends on how the concept is executed. No doubt, it will run into some opposition. Big Media hates the idea of giving the public too much of a voice because that would diminish its own role as arbiter of opinion. Fully half of registered voters don’t even bother to show up to pick their president, press veterans argue. Why would anyone think the public would be interested in, not to mention capable of, wading through complex issues? When the idea was broached on his Sunday morning talk show a while back, David Brinkley’s lips crinkled. ‘What do we do with all the senators and congressmen?’ he asked. ‘Send them home?'”
Biography:Evan Schwartz was a 1990s journalist with a computer science degree who covered information technology. He was a former editor at Business Week, where he covered software and digital media and was part of teams that won a National Magazine Award and a Computer Press Award. He also wrote for the New York Times, Wired, and MIT’s Technology Review. His books include “Webonomics” and “Digital Darwinism.” (Author/Editor/Journalist.)
Date of prediction: January 1, 1994
Topic of prediction: Global Relationships/Politics
Subtopic: Democracy
Name of publication: Wired
Title, headline, chapter name: Direct Democracy: Are You Ready for the Democracy Channel?
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/2.01/e.dem_pr.html
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Anderson, Janna Quitney