What Stephen suggests reads like Spot.Us, self-described pre-alpha community funded reporting:

'Spot Us' is a nonprofit that allows an individual or group to take control of news in their community by sharing the cost (crowdfunding) to commission freelance journalists to write important, or uncovered news stories.

Tip of the hat to Julie.

If you heard Danah Boyd when she was here then the Bebo-haviour Russell describes won't come as a complete surprise. There is, however, an opportunity to educate (rather than regulate) here and as Don says, we need to give up a bit of control.

Instead of leaving Beebo and Blogger at the gates of our schools let's use these participatory media tools to guide our kids towards developing their own style of public address. What Howard Rheingold calls public voice. With this comes the beginnings of a public conversation and ultimately civic engagement. Isn't that the purpose of education?

Lofty goals indeed, but at its heart there's a real skill that might have saved the English household some embarrassment--but not if Rory has to wait for Year 12 Media Studies.