Central media
Encyclopedia
Central media were defined in the book The IRG Solution - hierarchical incompetence and how to overcome it
and were those media which repeatedly broadcast a single identical message to many recipients such as mass media (newspapers, TV etc.) magazines and specialist technical and scientific journals. These Central media were contrasted to lateral media
where many different, non-identical messages were passed laterally by individuals in an informal social network
- such as gossip networks, grapevines and so on. The book claimed that central media created unintended and undesirable consequences which would ultimately lead in and off themselves to environmental, food, energy and water crisis and associated social problems due to innate, unavoidable and unreformable attributes and features in the kind of messages they could convey and to whom, which lead inevitably to a distorted view of the world we lived in and the potential options available.
.
Overall all it was argued, central media whilst essential to the functioning of modern society, could not alone, in general, transmit accumulated wisdom and tacit knowledge
, nor deal or model the true complexity of the issues we face as a global society, whereas lateral media could and did.
This all led to a lack of broad understanding of all complicated issues at a societal level, and the inability of specialists sectors to cooperate, leading to disjointed and wasteful processes, and often counterproductive policies.
The book argued for the setting up of lateral media
( similar to what we would now call the Internet) which would in effect be technological amplifiers to existing informal later media (informal social networks) to promote lateral communications as a counter to the negative effects of central media.
The paper reviews developments in the USA & UK in recent years, progressing beyond network analysis to explore the structure & use of networks. The paper seeks to address questions of how to construct multi-actor policy structures, & build networks for particular purposes. Contributory concepts explored included the 'Reticulist', the 'Leader/Co- ordinator', the 'Segmented Polycephalous Network' & the 'Information Routing Group'
in "CONNECTIONS", Sunbelt Social Network Conference, World Congress of Sociology, American Sociological Association, Volume IX, Nos. 2-3, Winter, 1986
The IRG Solution - hierarchical incompetence and how to overcome it
The IRG Solution is a book written by David Andrews and published in 1984.-Synopsis:The book, written in 1984, developed from a number of research papers at the Open University Energy Research Group, and an article appearing in the Guardian Newspaper which attempted an information- and...
and were those media which repeatedly broadcast a single identical message to many recipients such as mass media (newspapers, TV etc.) magazines and specialist technical and scientific journals. These Central media were contrasted to lateral media
Lateral media
Lateral media can be seen as any specific technology to promote lateral communication. A grapevine is in effect lateral communication but is not necessarily a lateral media if there is no technology. We then can consider informal help networks, email circulation lists, Information Routing Groups,...
where many different, non-identical messages were passed laterally by individuals in an informal social network
Social network
A social network is a social structure made up of individuals called "nodes", which are tied by one or more specific types of interdependency, such as friendship, kinship, common interest, financial exchange, dislike, sexual relationships, or relationships of beliefs, knowledge or prestige.Social...
- such as gossip networks, grapevines and so on. The book claimed that central media created unintended and undesirable consequences which would ultimately lead in and off themselves to environmental, food, energy and water crisis and associated social problems due to innate, unavoidable and unreformable attributes and features in the kind of messages they could convey and to whom, which lead inevitably to a distorted view of the world we lived in and the potential options available.
Mass Media
The book argued that on the one hand, mass circulation central media (newspapers, TV etc. - mass media) could only deal with very simplified concepts due to the need to create interesting, novel content for a very large number of people, thus requiring simplification and dumbing down. The need for novelty to attract readers tended to focus on generally ephemeral issues. The need for novelty prevented old, well established issues being repeated, thus they could not it was argue focus on handing on and building knowledge and experience particularly tacit knowledgeTacit knowledge
Tacit knowledge is knowledge that is difficult to transfer to another person by means of writing it down or verbalising it. For example, stating to someone that London is in the United Kingdom is a piece of explicit knowledge that can be written down, transmitted, and understood by a recipient...
.
Specialist journals
On the other hand, low circulation specialist central media - such as scientific journals suffered from different intrinsic drawbacks. By definition they were only accessed by a low number of people and were opaque to outsiders and were forced to focus on the particular specialisation. Thus specialist central media tended not to deal with the integration of technology or cross border issues, leaving many unresolved conflicts to occur at the boundariesOverall all it was argued, central media whilst essential to the functioning of modern society, could not alone, in general, transmit accumulated wisdom and tacit knowledge
Tacit knowledge
Tacit knowledge is knowledge that is difficult to transfer to another person by means of writing it down or verbalising it. For example, stating to someone that London is in the United Kingdom is a piece of explicit knowledge that can be written down, transmitted, and understood by a recipient...
, nor deal or model the true complexity of the issues we face as a global society, whereas lateral media could and did.
This all led to a lack of broad understanding of all complicated issues at a societal level, and the inability of specialists sectors to cooperate, leading to disjointed and wasteful processes, and often counterproductive policies.
The book argued for the setting up of lateral media
Lateral media
Lateral media can be seen as any specific technology to promote lateral communication. A grapevine is in effect lateral communication but is not necessarily a lateral media if there is no technology. We then can consider informal help networks, email circulation lists, Information Routing Groups,...
( similar to what we would now call the Internet) which would in effect be technological amplifiers to existing informal later media (informal social networks) to promote lateral communications as a counter to the negative effects of central media.
See also
- Delphi technique
- Hierarchical incompetenceHierarchical incompetenceHierarchical incompetence is the often observed inability of organisations to achieve the aims set for them. This can be due to the over-simplification of issues and the loss of tacit knowledge about issues as they ascend a hierarchical organization.There is often an inbuilt tendency for people up...
- hierarchical organizationHierarchical organizationA hierarchical organization is an organizational structure where every entity in the organization, except one, is subordinate to a single other entity. This arrangement is a form of a hierarchy. In an organization, the hierarchy usually consists of a singular/group of power at the top with...
- Information Routing GroupInformation Routing GroupAn Information Routing Group is a component of social networks consisting of a semi-infinite set of similar interlocking and overlapping groups...
- Interlock diagramInterlock diagramAn interlock diagram is a real or imagined diagram that plots the actual interactions, physical, political, social, environmental between all entities within human societies. Each node is a specific activity such as a power station, or a policy such as controlled rent...
- Interlock researchInterlock researchInterlock research is a concept used to overcome the gaps in individual or group knowledge of which they are unaware of and which would result in incorrect action being taken, or important action not taken, leading to unintended consequences. It is based on the notion that no individual or group...
- lateral communicationLateral communication-Organizational communication:In organizations and organisms, lateral communication works in contrast to traditional top-down, bottom-up or hierarchic communication and involves the spreading of messages from individuals across the base of a pyramid....
- Lateral diffusionLateral diffusionLateral diffusion is the process whereby information can be spread from one node in a social network to another, often in a selective way, and can rapidly traverse an entire population, but preferentially to those nodes likely to be interested, or needing to know. Messages or information are also...
- lateral mediaLateral mediaLateral media can be seen as any specific technology to promote lateral communication. A grapevine is in effect lateral communication but is not necessarily a lateral media if there is no technology. We then can consider informal help networks, email circulation lists, Information Routing Groups,...
- Law of unintended consequences
- LinkedInLinkedInLinkedIn is a business-related social networking site. Founded in December 2002 and launched in May 2003, it is mainly used for professional networking. , LinkedIn reports more than 120 million registered users in more than 200 countries and territories. The site is available in English, French,...
- Social network serviceSocial network serviceA social networking service is an online service, platform, or site that focuses on building and reflecting of social networks or social relations among people, who, for example, share interests and/or activities. A social network service consists of a representation of each user , his/her social...
- Relevance paradoxRelevance ParadoxThe relevance paradox describes an attempt to gather information relevant to a decision, which fails because the elimination of information perceived as distracting or unnecessary and thus detrimental to making an optimal decision, also excludes information that is actually crucial.-Definition:In...
- Tacit knowledgeTacit knowledgeTacit knowledge is knowledge that is difficult to transfer to another person by means of writing it down or verbalising it. For example, stating to someone that London is in the United Kingdom is a piece of explicit knowledge that can be written down, transmitted, and understood by a recipient...
- The IRG Solution - hierarchical incompetence and how to overcome itThe IRG Solution - hierarchical incompetence and how to overcome itThe IRG Solution is a book written by David Andrews and published in 1984.-Synopsis:The book, written in 1984, developed from a number of research papers at the Open University Energy Research Group, and an article appearing in the Guardian Newspaper which attempted an information- and...
- The Wisdom of CrowdsThe Wisdom of CrowdsThe Wisdom of Crowds: Why the Many Are Smarter Than the Few and How Collective Wisdom Shapes Business, Economies, Societies and Nations, published in 2004, is a book written by James Surowiecki about the aggregation of information in groups, resulting in decisions that, he argues, are often better...
Further reading
- Andrews, D. (1986) "Information routing groups – Towards the global superbrain: or how to find out what you need to know rather than what you think you need to know", Journal of Information Technology, 1, 1, Feb, 22-35. details of lateral referral, diffusion*Andrews, David; The IRG Solution - Hierarchical Incompetence and how to overcome it. Souvenir Press, London, 1984. Pages 200 - 220. ISBN 0-285-62662-0. Detailed description of the proposal.
- Energy Research Group, Open University. Communication Within the Agriculture, Water, Waste and Energy Industries. Discussed examples of how the industries mentioned can be integrated to a greater or lesser degree, leading to lower pollution and energy use. Discussed the need for IRGs and how they might be organized. Emphasizes problem is lack of co-ordination and lateral communication between organisations. Describes interlock research in detail, the relevance paradox and the Bilharzia/schistosomiasis issue, central media, lateral diffusion, tacit knowledge, and Lateral Access Networks, later renamed Information Routing Groups, development of private languages as a barrier to inter communication, also describes how computers can be used to speed up lateral communication, and lateral referral . DC Andrews. ERG 033. Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, England 1980.
- Energy Research Group, Open University . Information Routing Groups. DC Andrews. ERG 037. Generalisation of ERG 033, advocated development of software and automatic phone answering modem to link up private PCs effectively creating an Internet. Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, England 1980. David Andrews
- "The Importance of Knowing the Right People" (Article based on ERG 033 on Lateral Access Networks - the forerunner of Information Routing Groups). Printed in the Guardian Newspaper, London March 20, 1980. Discussed Bilharzia / schistosomiasis relevance paradox.
- Graham, Taylor; The Hidden Manager, Communication technology and information networks in business organizations. Cambridge / Los Angeles,1986. David Andrews and John Kent. Much tighter description of IRG concept and its application to business management. ISBN 0-947568-15-8, 198 6
- Library Association Record to a seminar run jointly by IEE and the LA on 'Biblionic man', held at the IEE on 26 November 1980. Covered same ground as ERG 033 and ERG 037.
- http://www.uow.edu.au/arts/sts/bmartin/pubs/95metro.htmlMartin, Brian; "Beyond Mass Media", Science, Technology and Society, University of WollongongUniversity of WollongongThe University of Wollongong is a public university located in the coastal city of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia, approximately 80 kilometres south of Sydney...
, NSW 2522, Australia. General discussion of the IRG concept] - Martin, Brian; The Power Of Open Participatory Media And Why Mass Media Must Be Abandoned. March 20, 2006. General discussion of the IRG concept
- Social Networks Meet News Aggregation And Filtering: Information Routing Groups
- Yewlett, J . L . Town Planning, Wales Institute of Science & Technology. "Networks: Developments in theory & practice".
The paper reviews developments in the USA & UK in recent years, progressing beyond network analysis to explore the structure & use of networks. The paper seeks to address questions of how to construct multi-actor policy structures, & build networks for particular purposes. Contributory concepts explored included the 'Reticulist', the 'Leader/Co- ordinator', the 'Segmented Polycephalous Network' & the 'Information Routing Group'
in "CONNECTIONS", Sunbelt Social Network Conference, World Congress of Sociology, American Sociological Association, Volume IX, Nos. 2-3, Winter, 1986