DSF San Francisco 2005

The end of television

I've heard him say it before and since - but it still sounds almost too big a statement. "We are witnessing the end of broadcast television." Joe Lambert also goes on to say - "Broadcasting was a mistake."
"If it was not for television we would not have George Bush." 'as president' is implied. Unless of course you think that his birth was also a mistake of broadcasting.

Joe, the Executive Director of the Centre for Digital Storytelling, was summarising the ten years of digital storytelling festivals, the first being in Crested Bute, Colorado in 1995. As I have already confessed I missed the start of his presentation because I was enjoying an afternoon in the sun and riding a rented bike across the Golden Gate Bridge. So by the time I returned he was already recalling some of the more outrageous moments of last year's festival in Sedona when two of by British colleagues, Rupert and Huw, took centre stage at an impromptu and informal storytelling event at a hotel in the town.

Back to the end of broadcasting. This is of the type that gives a lot of power to a few people who have access to the broadcast medium. Joe pointed out that there are now 4 million people who know how to use digital editing software on their computer. They have found their own voice. Joe said it was time to move from celebrity to correspondents.

There are stories to be told for which we cannot wait for grants before we go to gather them. We have to be there now - eg New Orleans.
We need new performance rituals - to stop and listen - to reflect spiritually on what is being said.

The last session of the festival was the recreation of a Next Exit event as frequently staged by Dana Atchley. Joe Lambert narrated and introduced the speakers and some of Dana Atchley's best loved films were played. They took us back to the start of the digital storytelling movement.

Reflecting on the festival I realise that now is not the time to look at how digital storytelling might be exploited for commercial purposes, or how it might revive broadcast television. We have just begun the process of giving people their voice - today it is still a whisper - one day it will become a roar.

posted by Dawnriser @ 12:24