The New "New Media"

Not All "New Media" Is New Anymore

A recent post on Philantopic, “Not All New Media is ‘New’ Anymore”, explores the idea that once-new media, like PDFs and email, is actually becoming “old media.” Written by the Communication Network's Bruce Trachtenberg, the post focuses primarily on the Center for Digital Information’s “Beyond the PDF” roundtable.  As described by Tratchenberg, the roundtable 

showed off some impressive examples of how think tanks, foundations, and policy institutions are taking advantage of the best the new technology has to offer -- interactive graphics and visualizations, mapping tools, online databases, multimedia, and touch-interface smartphone and tablet applications -- to do what Jeff Stanger, the group's executive director, describes as more effectively 'injecting' information into public policy debates and other social change discussions.

This fall, I had the opportunity to take part in the Strategic National Arts Alumni Project (SNAAP). A "SnaapShot" of the results, which is available here, includes a summative dashboard, a map, and interactive graphs, making it a clear example of the kind of interactive presentation discussed by Tratchenberg. Tratchenberg notes that “by embracing the power of new digital technologies, we can turn static, often dry data into useful online engagements that hold great promise for thoughtfully informing and advancing public dialogue on topics such as health, education, the environment, the economy, national security, international affairs, and global development.” Based on my experience with SNAAP, this is also true of presenting data on the arts. For example, while the comparative levels of income and debt across degrees and disciplines – while important data – is rather dry, the presentation of this information is done in an engaging way.  Imagine if, instead of a traditional research report PDF, the National Endowment for the Art’s 2008 Survery of Public Participation in the Arts (SPPA) (PDF available here), had been done in a more interactive way, similar to that of the SNAAP. As with SNAAP, much of the data is itself dry (important and interesting – but dry). Unlike SNAAP, the SPPA is traditionally presented. While the data included in the SPPA is key to a thoughtful, national diaolgue on the arts, its presentation (nor any more recent NEA research reports, all housed here) isn't likely to foster useful online engagements. 

While both the roundtable and the Philantopic post clearly focus on public policy, the idea that how work is presented digitally – to the public and within organizations – is changing is certainly relevant to arts managers. In addition to considering the presentation of SNAAP and NEA data, the digital presentation of data is important within organizations.  As seen in presentations about different CRM and donor database programs, the ability to turn data reports into visual and interactive forms is not only a promoted feature but a necessity. It is not enough to have the data; the data needs to be refined and rendered usable. The ability to manipulate, compare, and present data as more than “just” data requires sophisticated digital technologies.

-Adrienne