In late 2007, several members of Professor Nolan Bowie's “New Media and Democracy” class at Harvard's Kennedy School, including some Nieman Foundation Fellows, proposed that instead of a paper, they would jointly produce a video on a related topic. The resulting 9-minute film “Going On-Line to Get On-Track” profiles the creation and use of a citizen-made documentary film as part of a campaign to bring an alternative transport option to the residents of low-income neighborhoods in Somerville, Massachusetts. Berkman’s Media Re:public project provided post-production support to the video and is publishing a short narrative case about the online media campaign profiled in the film.
The Internet & Democracy Project talks to some well known digital activists about the trends and possibilities of digital activism.