Kony2012 and the digital challenge to the public sphere (new research paper)

This is a short early draft extract from a much longer paper I am writing for the International Broadcasting Trust on the future of the ‘public sphere’ in the digital age. In other words, how does our ability to communicate about international issues around development, human rights and justice change in the Internet era? In this short extract I look at the viral Kony2012 video camapign as a challenge to mainstream media – in a similar way that I analysed WikiLeaks as a harbinger of media change in my new book about news in the networked era.