"The rise of the press led to the development of an independent institution: the Fourth Estate, central to pluralist democratic processes. In the digital age, the internet and related information and communication technologies are enabling a network power shift - empowering a Fifth Estate. Networked individuals are becoming an independent and highly distributed force for accountability in politics and society. By connecting diverse strands of decades of research with a wide range of case studies, this book explains how this emerging Fifth Estate has been empowered by the ability of ordinary people to search, originate, network, collaborate, and leak information in ways that enhance their informational and communicative power. The Fifth Estate compliments the existing distribution of power in pluralistic societies. It is not a substitute for other estates and more established bases of institutional authority, such as the press and governments, which the Fifth Estate can hold more accountable. However, threats to freedom of expression and privacy online could undermine the promise of the Fifth Estate power shift. To meet this challenge, the book concludes by discussing approaches to the governance and security of the internet and social media that that take advantage of the empowerment of networked individuals and help ensure the vitality the internet can bring to pluralistic processes in democratic politics and across all sectors of society"--

The Fifth Estate, social networks and user-generated content, has changed how businesses need to operate now and into the future. The book offers a guide for corporations and non-profits to develop a social media strategy that aligns with overall communication and marketing goals. Includes case studies.

First published in 1978. Britain’s unions were blamed by many people for the country’s post-war economic decline. Portrayed as greedy wreckers who wanted to run the country, they had become scapegoats for the state of the nation. This anatomy of Britain’s diverse and complex trade union movement sets out to question that widespread opinion. The main argument advanced in the study is that unions in Britain were too weak, not too strong. From the 1940s until the 1970s, Robert Taylor believes, they had failed to achieve the constructive influence over British society that union movements elsewhere in western Europe had managed to gain. Considering the major and medium-sized unions separately, he examines the sudden and rapid growth of unionisation in Britain, the structure of the unions, their effectiveness, the influence they had, their international record, and the nature of trade union democracy.

Two hundred years after her death, Mary Shelley is still alive. She has been granted immunity from death by the Fifth Estate: a vampire-led organization that has kept the world from being overrun by sentient zombies. She is the first of many human storytellers employed to reveal the presence of undead inhabitants on this planet. Others included: Bram Stoker and George Romero. Their works have been used to prepare society for the impending judgment day. Even government organizations such as the CDC have unknowingly joined the effort by issuing contingency plans. However, the world changed, and people are no longer afraid of what goes bump in the night. We are desensitized. In our state of ignorance vampires have become our guardians and zombies have become more menacing and thoughtful. Only faced with the possibility of extinction has humankind come to embrace the reality of a zombie apocalypse. However, it is too late because the attack has already begun. Zombies, like other creatures on Earth, have evolved over the centuries. No longer shiftless and slow, they now rely on guile and science to attack humankind. Their most recent invention is a vaccine for H1NI that will turn its receiver into a full-fledged zombie. The books and movies had it wrong from the beginning. A zombie scratch or bite won’t turn you because zombies don’t leave anything to turn. They are the ultimate predator. Like Shelley’s Frankenstein, the first fictional zombie, only science can make one into a zombie and once humankind labeled the latest flu a global pandemic, the fight was over before it even started.

The Fifth Estate: Think Tanks, Public Policy, and Governance is a comprehensive look at think tanks and the important role they play in shaping public policy and public discourse in the United States. Author James G. McGann illustrates the lasting impact of think tanks in today’s civil society. A survey that McGann conducted among all the leading think tanks in the United States highlights the progress that think tanks in the United States have made and the challenges they have yet to face. McGann clarifies the correlation between think tank research and the policies enacted by the past three presidential administrations by looking at case studies in both foreign and domestic policy. He also describes a phenomenon known as “the revolving door,” where think tanks provide former government officials an opportunity to share insights from public service, remain involved in policy debates, and continue to provide advice and commentary. Based on the history and the level of involvement seen today, the influence of think tanks is unlikely to diminish in the coming years.

Creating Space in the Fifth Estate explores what is new and valued about the digital media environment. The deep and far-reaching changes that are being wrought by the digital revolution are as radical in their effect as the impact of the industrial revolution was in the nineteenth century. While the long-term significance of these changes is uncertain, the nature of the power of differing forms of media offers interesting possibilities for research, as does the potential for a new mainstream space that shares characteristics with older loci of power. This space is not, as this book suggests, merely a space for journalistic endeavors, as shown by contributions here examining a diverse range of communication practices and forms including blogs, journalism, social media, digital literary magazines, disruptive twitter campaigns, and online music production. The book asks a number of questions. What exactly is the fifth estate? What are the power structures that exist there? What is the relationship between the fourth and fifth estates? What do we lose and what do we gain in that transition? How does the fifth estate change various forms of communication? How does the fifth estate constitute new communities and social movements? What about traditional forms that are still finding their niche in the new world? What actions do we as communicators and communication scholars now need to engage with? Why is it important? Creating Space in the Fifth Estate is accessible to scholars and students in a range of academic disciplines, including communication and media studies, sociology, cultural studies, and the arts. It will also appeal to those who work in the media and communication industries.

Includes a list of members.

The ultimate social media field guide for nonprofits—with 101 ways to engage supporters, share your mission, and inspire action using the social web 101 Social Media Tactics for Nonprofits features 101 actionable tactics that nonprofits can start using today, and most of the featured resources are free. Broken down into five key areas, this unique guide explains the steps and tools needed to implement each tactic, and provides many real-life examples of how nonprofits are using the tactics. With this book as your guide, you'll learn how leading nonprofit professionals around the world are leveraging social media to engage constituents, communicate their cause, and deliver on their mission. Presents immediately useful ideas for relevant impact on your organization's social presence so you can engage with supporters in new and inventive ways Features 101 beginner to intermediate-level tactics with real-life examples Offers a workable format to help nonprofits discover new ways of deploying their strategy Includes nonprofit social media influencers from leading nonprofits around the world including National Wildlife Federation, March of Dimes, and The Humane Society Nonprofits know they need to start engaging with supporters through social media channels. This field guide to social media tactics for nonprofits will feature 101 beginner to intermediate-level tactics with real-life examples to help nonprofits discover new ways of deploying their strategy and meeting their social media objectives.

It promised to be the biggest political scandal of the decade. A letter had come to light, written by officials of the government of Canada to a Swiss bank, which claimed that Brian Mulroney, former prime minister of Canada, was linked to illegal kickbacks from the sale of thirty-four Airbus airplanes to Air Canada - a 1988 deal that had cost the publicly owned airline $1.8 billion. Rumours of wrongdoing had been circulating for months, especially since a March 1995 program on CBC-TV's "the fifth estate," entitled "Sealed in Silence." On the show, it had been suggested that insiders close to the Conservative government had used their connections to seal the deal, and had profited handsomely in the process. There had been talk of Swiss bank accounts and the involvement of an international business consultant named Karlheinz Schreiber, not to mention former premier of Newfoundland Frank Moores, who had been a well-known Ottawa lobbyist at the time. Now, in November 1995, the "Financial Post" published details of the official investigatory letter, which claimed the involvement of Brian Mulroney himself. Immediately, Mulroney responded to press reports with an unprecedented $50-million defamation suit against the federal government and the RCMP, amid allegations that he was the one who had leaked the letter and thus libelled himself. As journalists circled around the story in a feeding frenzy, rumours also began to circulate that certain Liberals had taken an unusually personal interest in the case. Was the investigation politically motivated? Was it conducted in accordance with normal established practices by the RCMP, the Department of Justice, and others? Who in government knew about the letter, and when? And who leaked the letter to the "Financial Post," and why? Every Canadian is aware of the bare bones of the story, yet no full and objective investigation of what really happened in this case has yet been made. Now, in "Presumed Guilty," William Kaplan, lawyer and author - with the complete co-operation of the Mulroney team, and access to many others involved on both sides of the case - has set out to do just that. "Presumed Guilty" takes the reader behind the scenes and into the trenches, providing a fascinating insider's look at one man's fight to clear his name.

The Rise of the Fifth Estate is the first book to examine the emergence of social media as a new force in the coverage of Australian politics. Using original research, Greg Jericho reveals who makes up the Australian political blogosphere, and tackles head-on some of its key developments — the way that Australia’s journalists and federal politicians use social media and digital news, the motivations of bloggers and tweeters, the treatment of female participants, and the eruption of Twitter wars. The mainstream media’s reaction to all this tends to be defensive and dismissive. As Jericho found to his own cost when he was outed by The Australian as the blogger Grog’s Gamut, hell hath no fury like a criticised newspaper. And although journalists welcome Twitter as a work tool and platform, they have to deal with vitriolic online comments, and face competition from bloggers who are experts in their fields and who, for the most part, write for free. Politicians, meanwhile, are finding it hard to engage genuinely with the new media. They tend to pay lip service to the connectedness offered by modern technology, while using it primarily for self-promotion. The new social media are here to stay, and their political role and influence are bound to increase. The real question they pose is whether the old structures of the political world will absorb this new force or be changed by it.