The Future of Anthropology: "We ought to build our own mass media"

Maximilian C. Forte, University of Adelaide, published in Anthronews(2000)

Should anthropologists continue to behave as if Anthropology’s most important market consists of anthropologists themselves and their students? I believe that, beyond a very limited degree, this behaviour can be an impediment to the fullest realization of Anthropology’s potential.

We do not have to depend on the mass media to call on our expertise and bemoan every occasion that they fail to do so. We can become our own mass media -- that is the freedom and independence offered by these new technologies.

We should aim to place ourselves on the same footing as any of the better cable television broadcast networks, via the Internet. We could produce our own documentaries and news reports, an Anthropology-focused “open university,” present the expertise of noted anthropologists, and have all of our willing fieldworkers act as “correspondents.” Wide international coverage and multi-lingual programming should be relatively easy for us. Our own audiences would see and hear us both on regular computers and on WebTV >> continue

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Building Anthropology’s Global Future: Via the Internet? (long version)