I'll write a proper post later this morning, but first I need to spread some love.
Hacking the Academy takes a novel approach to creating an academic journal.
My old academic adviser used to say that it sometimes took economic downturns to make state and local government to be make creative public policy. It's clear that the pressure is on and change is coming. The question is whether good changes will happen, such as eliminating redundant administration, or whether good services, such childcare for the needy or buses for the elder, are simply cut. The New York Times looks at state and local reforms.
According to the Pew Foundation, 99 percent of social media links are to traditional newspapers and journals. In other words, blogs and new media aren't creating new content, but are instead recycling existing information.
A new paper from researchers at NBER finds that the Internet isn't contributing to ideological segregation. This paper spurred a lot of commentary. Ethan Zuckerman does an excellent job summarizing the arguments. David Brooks responded,
This study suggests that Internet users are a bunch of ideological Jack
Kerouacs. They’re not burrowing down into comforting nests. They’re
cruising far and wide looking for adventure, information, combat and
arousal. This does not mean they are not polarized. Looking at a site
says nothing about how you process it or the character of attention you
bring to it. It could be people spend a lot of time at their home sites
and then go off on forays looking for things to hate. But it probably
does mean they are not insecure and they are not sheltered.
Apt. 11d 