How the Information Infrastructure Has Changed in the Digital Age - Evolving Global Information Infrastructure and Information Transfer - page 77

Still another option is the “hybrid open access journal,” which provides open ac-
cess to some articles but may require a publication fee to the publisher.
New technologies enable an individual author to be an entrepreneur who can
author a topic, edit it, and publish it on paper and/or online. The author, using word
processing, can design the topic for publishing on paper and pay for the printing
at a press of his or her choosing. The author then markets the topic, fills orders,
and sends the topics to buyers. The information entrepreneur bypasses much of
the traditional publishing process. A number of companies will provide consulting
services, printing, and marketing for a fee. An entrepreneur can also publish a di-
gital topic for little cost through certain publishers that offer generous royalties; an
author can also publish on a blog.
As Wikipedia has changed the way encyclopedias are written and distributed,
so open access has changed the way new information is created in the formal re-
search process and in the everyday world of mass communications. The creator
has more control over the recording and production of his research, and the re-
searcher's sponsoring university or other organization also has choices regarding
the publication rights. In the emergent paradigm, every voice can be heard if it has
connectivity. The result is a participatory culture.
Mass Media
The mass media—newspapers, magazines, radio, and television—have been
transformed by the Internet so that the creators of information can instantaneously
record information for transmission, with the knowledge that their audience may
respond just as quickly over the Internet to the same audience. Twitter responses
to articles and blogs by readers or viewers are becoming commonplace. Television
news commentators almost immediately quote Twitter feeds, thus opening up the
communication space.
Radio, television, and newspapers are no longer single media sources of in-
formation. These traditional media use the Internet to augment their medium; all
have Web sites to supply similar information to that aired or printed. Consumer
feedback is encouraged and sometimes included in telecasts, broadcasts, or
newspaper articles. The consumer of information is involved in the mass media as
never before.
With the input of multiple creators and the restructuring of the evaluation pro-
cesses, accuracy is less certain. For example, professional editing traditionally pre-
ceded mass production of new information, but now the accuracy of information in
the public realm is more difficult to discern.