“Failure is the stepping stone to success” proclaimed Arianna Huffington. The co-founder of Huffington Post and visionary who has laid the tracks for a new way of sharing news and information speaks from experience. Perhaps Arianna's challenges are what enabled her to become a pioneer in the new media era as the Huffington Post now provides a platform for thousands of voices and is taking the world to the next level.
Arianna spoke to a full house on Friday February 26that the UC Davis Mondavi Center. She shared the vision of a hybrid future insisting that people will always appreciate print. “It’s the best of the old and best of the new,” she said. The reality is that interactive media is giving print-based journalism a run for its money.
The See Jane Do team has taken a great interest in Ms. Huffington ventures. Interactive media has enabled everyday people to share their story. “Self expression is the new entertainment," stated Huffington. "People are now participants in the news and the story doesn’t stop with just one article."
It seems readers, especially women, want to see the change and the solutions to the story. Arianna refers to this reason to care as the fourth instinct, empathy. She explained that people want to stay with a story until something changes. These are the stories that make us connect with each other and inspire participation. Huffington Post even partnered with, Causecast, that posts stories which requires action.
Her message reinforces the mission of See Jane Do, which through capturing the stories of everyday women doing extraordinary things are in effect providing a reason to care and a solution to do. We have taken a similar approach by sharing stories like Beth Terry of Fake Plastic Fish who not only challenged corporate America and won, but is now encouraging others to make their own mark through the plastic challenge. With the assistance of social media sites, See Jane Do fans who were inspired to do their part around reducing throw-away plastic immediately shared their results and continue to do so.
Arianna’s message confirmed that people are ready to connect, to share, and to care. It's difficult to predict what the future holds for interactive media. Whatever the outcome, this time we're all in it together.
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