Maybe Bob is right—maybe the big MSM outlets (CNN, NYT, MSNBC) are obsolete and no longer deserve to exist. I was certainly one of the MSM’s holdouts, believing that traditional media still has an essential role to play in covering news…and then this happens: the almost-total failure of the MSM this past weekend to report on what’s happening in Iran.

For those of you who are understandably wondering just what the hell I’m talking about, Andrew Sullivan’s coverage has been outstanding. Sullivan has even re-themed his blog in green to show solidarity with the Iranian people as they demand that their votes be counted.

I don’t know what the outcome of this story will be, but I feel that same sense of energy in the air as I did when the old-guard Soviet regime staged its death-throes 1991 coup that resulted in the end of the Soviet Union and the rebirth of the Russian Republic. Events in Iran today, I believe, are no less significant and could well be no less consequential for the world.

There are widespread reports of Iranian leadership shutting down traditional communication channels. The result? People have been using Twitter and other internet-age modes to tell their story. This has always been the ultimate promise of the internet, hasn’t it? Make it impossible for any person or government or organization, however possible, to control the information. As I say, I don’t know what the ultimate outcome will be, but we’re thinking GREEN over here too!

Is there skiing in Iran? Yes — Andrew McLean had a great visit & skied 18,000′ Mt. Damavand.

UPDATE: ARS Technica reports the US State Department has asked Twitter to postpone a scheduled system update to prevent disrupting services in Iran. Astonishing.

UPDATE:

‘I’m always a little reticent to draw lessons from things still unfolding, but it seems pretty clear that…this is it. The big one. This is the first revolution that has been catapulted onto a global stage and transformed by social media. I’ve been thinking a lot about the Chicago demonstrations of 1968 where they chanted “the whole world is watching.” Really, that wasn’t true then. But this time it’s true … and people throughout the world are not only listening but responding.’

— NYU professor Clay Shirky on TedBlog

This entry was posted on Monday, June 15th, 2009 at 5:46 pm and is filed under Politics. So There.