Posts Tagged: Goode

In my first question, I asked how gatekeeping will change in the digital age.  I thought that the article’s discussion of a “gatewatcher” as opposed to a “gatekeeper” was a very good analogy.  The word gatekeeper implies to me a sense of elitism– and this is becoming the case in gatekeeping less and less.  Anyone can affect what is news, not just an elite few in a newsroom.  A good example of this is the “60 Minutes” issue a few years ago.  The program reported inaccurate facts about President Bush, and it was the blogosphere that called the prominent news empire on their mistake.  Because bloggers were up in arms about the mistake, and could prove the inaccuracies, staffers were fired and Dan Rather ultimately resigned.  These bloggers were gatewatchers– paying attention to what was reported, and making sure that it was accurate.  I think that a combination of gatekeeping and gatewatching is good model for journalism, specifically political journalism.  It keeps everyone honest, especially in topics where people are passionate and opinions can easily masquerade as facts.

In his article Lilleker says that audiences are becoming harder and harder to reach.  In my second question, I asked how audiences can be so hard to reach.  I want to expand on my point of view here.  I can see how audiences could be harder to reach purely because of the magnitude of options viewers have.  The drastic fragmentation of audiences could lead to people being harder to reach.  However, I think that with all of the technology available to us, people are just a click away.  It has never been easier to get feedback from users on stories and opinion.  And, this feedback often shapes the news.  When what I tweet shows up on the bottom of the screen on CNN– that is visible, that is making me very easy to reach as an audience member.  Thus, even though audiences are greatly fragmented, it is much easier to reach out to the audience you do hold.

In my last question, I asked if there was a link between citizen journalism participation and political participation in Iceland.  This political participation could come in the form of running for office, helping to campaign, or simply taking part in the democratic process by voting.  Indeed, it did create more interaction of citizens.  Ordinary citizens took to the web to discuss issues facing their country.  Political initiatives entered the national arena by people who did not have direct political authority.

1. The Goode article calls for a new form gatekeeping.  How can gatekeeping be monitored when there is a large number of people setting the agenda for the news?
2. In the Lilleker article, he states that audiences are getting harder to reach.  I would argue that this is incorrect.  With the rise of the Internet, social networking, and citizen journalism, people are easier to reach than ever.  How is it that people can be so involved and yet so hard to reach out to?
3. With all of the articles, there is a common theme of  citizen journalism and politics.  Specifically in Iceland, is there a link between high citizen journalism participation and high political participation?