Re: Michael Hastings vs Rich Lowry
Subject: Re: Michael Hastings vs Rich Lowry
From: Barrett Brown <barriticus@gmail.com>
Date: 7/6/10, 20:28
To: Steve Benen <sbenen@washingtonmonthly.com>

Steve-

Thanks for your interest and for getting back to me.

Below, I have pasted a short summary of our foremost effort, the Project PM Media Network. In addition to this, we are building a governing network comprised thus far of over 100 academics, producers, lawyers, scientists, journalists of the better sort, and other individuals whom we have chosen by way of various criteria to compose a dynamic online think-tank that will be taking various actions in the next few years in advance of our agenda. Let me know if you have any questions, and at any rate I will make sure you are informed of other materials we release in the near future.

***

Information flow is fundamental to the success of every manner of human collaboration. Nonetheless, the processes by which information is gathered, handled, transferred, and acted upon receive far less attention than is warranted. The purpose of Project PM is to change this dynamic by developing new techniques with which to more efficiently conduct information.
Because the great preponderance of information crucial to the success of a representative government is transferred through the media, Project PM focuses primarily on media reform. Our first and foremost effort has been to establish a distributed media cartel made up of bloggers as well as journalists who work at least in part through online media. Rather than simply assembling this group of exceptional media professionals into an online outlet similar to those currently in existence, we are instead organizing our participants into a network which itself operates under a unique schematic designed to take best advantage of the internet as a medium while simultaneously avoiding the drawbacks common to even the best online communities.

In order to seed the network, we have recruited around two dozen bloggers and journalists whom we have identified as particularly competent and intellectually honest. Each of these individuals is encouraged to bring other bloggers into the network based on their own judgment; these new participants are then connected to the blogger who has brought them in and may likewise bring others into the network,and so on . As such, the network grows perpetually while maintaining a high average quality in terms of its participants, as is explained further below.
Upon the launch of our network, each of the initial bloggers will be connected to each other via a widget which is embedded on their respective blogs, as well as connected to those whom they’ve recruited. When a particular individual composes a piece of work that he considers to be of particular merit, the individual pushes a single button which causes the article in question to be sent to all of the bloggers to whom he is connected. Each of those bloggers in turn then decides whether or not they agree that the article is worthy of greater attention; if so, they push the button and thereby send it along to every blogger to whom they themselves are connected. Thus it is that information deemed worthy of attention by some great number of erudite and honest individuals from a variety of backgrounds will tend to perpetuate through the system and gain a larger audience than they might otherwise receive.

As the network expands by way of the process described above, it is inevitable that there will be failures of judgement on the part of participants when choosing additional bloggers to bring into the network. Let us say that Blogger X, who is rather competent, brings in Blogger Y, who is only moderately so, and who in turn brings in Blogger Z, who is a giant douchebag. Blogger Z begins composing and pushing forward posts to the effect that Barack Obama was born in Tehran or that ethanol subsidies are awesome or some such thing – but these posts only initially go to Blogger Y and whatever horrid bloggers Blogger Z has brought in himself, assuming he has brough in any. Blogger Y may or may not be inclined to push forward these nonsense posts, but Blogger X will almost certainly delete them immediately and is quite likely to disolve his connection to Blogger Y for displaying such poor judgement. Thus it is that the system is defended from deterioration by the high competence of the initial round of bloggers and consequently comparable competence of those brought in gradually afterwards, coupled with the nature of the schematic itself. No supervision is necessary for the network to expand while maintaining a high level of quality.

A few other characteristics bear noting. Any participant may connect to any other participant who agrees to the connection, no matter “where” each participant resides in the network, and thus the network is likely to evolve from the shape of a pyramid to that of a web, which is advantageous in terms of ensuring that good information does not become overly “regionalized.” All participants are equal regardless of the order in which they joined. Participants are free to bring on as many other bloggers as they would like, although they will find that it is to their own advantage to be selective in this regard.

The system is capped off with another widget distinct from that used by the bloggers – the reader widget, a downloadable application which displays those posts which have been pushed forward a certain number of times (as set by the individual reader). The end result should be the best system of news and information filtration that has ever existed.
 

On Mon, Jul 5, 2010 at 7:16 PM, Steve Benen <sbenen@washingtonmonthly.com> wrote:

By all means, Barrett, keep me posted on your progress and developments. I wish you the best in the endeavor.



Best,
Steve



-----Original Message-----
From: Barrett Brown [mailto:barriticus@gmail.com]
Sent: Sun 7/4/2010 5:00 PM
To: Steve Benen
Subject: Re: Michael Hastings vs Rich Lowry

Steve-

Glad you enjoyed it. Let me know if you would like to learn more about
Project PM; we have just been offered a great deal of funding on the
strength of the general schematic, and the money men in question are in the
process of putting together a new cable news outlet and putting me in
partial charge of it. I would be in need of a great number of erudite
journalists and correspondents for the blogging network, cable outlet, and
governing network, and all participants could contribute without any
particular time commitment and while continuing with their current work.
E-mail or call if this interests you.

On Mon, Jun 28, 2010 at 6:53 PM, Steve Benen
<sbenen@washingtonmonthly.com>wrote:

>  I've been meaning to thank you for the heads-up on this. It's a really
> interesting piece and I appreciate you letting me know.
>
> Best,
> Steve
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Barrett Brown [mailto:barriticus@gmail.com <barriticus@gmail.com>]
> Sent: Fri 6/25/2010 7:10 PM
> To: Steve Benen
> Subject: Michael Hastings vs Rich Lowry
>
>
> http://www.vanityfair.com/online/daily/2010/06/why-the-hacks-hate-michael-hastings.html
>
> --
> Regards,
>
> Barrett Brown
> Brooklyn, NY
> 512-560-2302
>
>
>


--
Regards,

Barrett Brown
Brooklyn, NY
512-560-2302




--
Regards,

Barrett Brown
512-560-2302