Can HCI shape the future of mass communications?

tion (and mass communication), as this is an area of life well-suited to the digital realm. The sharing of ideas and information is becoming more important in the developed world as skills in manufacturing are decreasingly exploited, and as people have more leisure time and are increasingly prepared to spend more time on digital media. In the following special section, we define mass communication as the presentation of editorially or creatively shaped information or entertainment, presented by an individual or organization to significant numbers of individuals. It encompasses the publishing of news, articles, papers, and books (using the Web, e-mail, SMS and syndication technologies); broadcasting of time-based media (primarily in radio and TV formats but including other modes such as phone conferencing); and the facilitation of online group interaction (through discussion, chat, or instant messaging). Publishers, broadcasters, and other mass communicators have largely failed to create and popularize new and appropriate forms of mass communication. In the early days of the Internet boom mass communicators invested extensively, following a " because you can " approach to information technology , but they also tended to emulate existing established media, or adopt the most limited new models of online communication. The fall-off in investment put a damper on any kind of substantial innovation (except in broadcasting where digital and satellite television and radio are finally taking off) and online publishers are stuck in isolated Web silos. Even there they have little appreciation of what can be achieved without substantial investment. Meanwhile a grassroots phenomenon—Weblogging—is having a substantial impact on mass media, and has become a media story itself. Andrew Zolli, forecaster and design strategist, observes in his article in this section: " The very thing that makes traditional mass communications plat-i n t e r a c t i o n s / m a r c h + a p r i l 2 0 0 4 magazines) so successful is how completely they have solved their respective interface challenges. " The achievement is under-appreciated by mass communicators , and is a key area in which people with human-computer interaction (HCI) and design skills can help these industries develop. However, as CHI2003 chair Gilbert Cockton observes, this requires HCI to go beyond its historical focus on tasks and measurement, and to also address an area of activity which is often concerned with affecting people. There are a number of basic HCI …