Thread by @davekarpf

Even though it’s just a one-page column, this @lessig Nov ‘03 piece marks a turning point in @WIRED politics coverage. It’s indicative, I think, of a much bigger shift in digital politics. (1/x)

Prior to this piece, traditional politics has been absent from the magazine’s coverage, sometimes surprisingly so.

No mention of Clinton/Lewinsky, except a brief mention in an article about Matt Drudge.

No mention of the anti-globalization movement. (2/x)
#wiredarchive

Mid-90s @WIRED covered internet-related legislation, and had a regular column from the @EFF. And there was a “Netizen” column in ‘96 by John Heilemann. And there were occasional libertarian-tinged “here comes the Internet public” essays over the years. (3/x)

But there’s barely any coverage of the broader use of the Internet for politics and social movements up until late 03/Howard Dean.

Nothing on @MoveOn, nothing on the anti-war movement.

With the Dean campaign, that all changes.
(4/x)

I have some hunches about the reason why, though they aren’t fully-formed yet.

(1) 90s @WIRED was willing to imagine a radically new society, but avoided politics. Best on the LTE section, I think the editors wanted to avoid alienating readers by talking politics (5/x)

(2) 90s @WIRED also featured prominent conservative thinkers like George Gilder. Despite the counter-culture origins, it’s a very business-friendly magazine.

(3) up through the dotcom crash, the magazine is very-pro globalization. Whistled last battle of Seattle. (6/x)

But also (4) up until Dean, it really wasn’t clear how/when/where/why the Internet would matter for politics.

There’s a ton of uncertainty in 90s @WIRED, as digital advertising is nascent and no one is actually sure if the tech boom is a bubble.
(7/x)

Post-dotcom bust, the magazine gets a new Editor-in-Chief, then Sept 11 *immediately* occurs.

The whole society was shook, and the tech community was already pre-shaken.

@timoreilly won’t coin “Web 2.0” until 04. From 01-03, tech news is a haze of (...) (8/x)

(...) Linux-v-Microsoft, RIAA-vs-filesharing, etc.

Google was getting popular, the iPod was gaining ground, and Wi-Fi hotspots were popping up everywhere, but the web as we know it is still flimsy during these years.

(9/x)

The Dean campaign becomes a focal point not just for tech-in-politics, but also for digital networks having real impacts.

The dominant metaphor of web-as-social network starts to take hold, even as the campaign itself falls apart.

(Fin) #wiredarchive