GOVCOMORG FOUNDATION Issue Ticker Movie
The Issue Ticker, or Web Issue Index of Civil Society, may be likened to a consumer price index. A consumer price index watches price fluctuations in a stable set of goods for indications of inflation. The Web Issue Index watches the campaigning behaviour of stable sets of non-governmental organisations for indications of attention to social issues. It is a novel form of attention cycle research, as it relies on "issue people" as opposed to newspapers.
There is one source basket, "Old Europe," comprised of those organisations that participated in the European Social Forum, Paris, France, November 2003. "Old Europe," a remark made by the U.S. Secretary of Defense in reference to those countries that did not cooperate with U.S. military policy in Iraq, also may be thought of as a collection of issues. The Old Europe Web Issue Index of Civil Society is such a collection. The organizations are occasionally queried for their campaigning behavior. When they stop campaigning, the issue declines; when they start campaigning or continue it, the issue rises in attention.
The movie shows Bruno Latour explaining the Issue Ticker to journalists, during the opening of the exhibition, "Making Things Public: Atmospheres of Democracy," Center for Arts and Media (ZKM), Karlsruhe, Germany, March 2005.