This interview with Ethan Zuckerman has a special place in my heart for a few reasons. First, I think Ethan's understanding of what the "second superpower" means to the developing world is one of the sharpest around. Second, I think this interview did a good job of sharing that thinking with a broader group of readers. Third, it's how we met Ethan, who has since become a contributor, the president of the board of directors of our fledging non-profit organization, and, mostly importantly, a dear friend.
Alex Steffen: You noted recently on your blog that the blogosphere has more or less failed on Darfur, that despite serious efforts to organize more blog coverage of the genocide there, there's been little change in focus.
Ethan Zuckerman: Let me temper that slightly. There has been increased coverage of Darfur in the blogosphere, but that that increase has more or less paralleled an increase in coverage in the mainstream media. The people drawing the focus on this have been a handful of courageous people like Samantha Power and Nicholas Kristoff, and the people doing the reporting on this aren't bloggers, they're human rights organizations like Human Rights Watch. People like Jim Moore have done a great job of beating the drum, but Darfur isn't a story that came out of the blogosphere, and it's not a story that was particularly amplified by the blogosphere.
Which raises the question, "In a world full of serious problems, what is this medium that we've created actually good for?"
