Posts Tagged: journalism

We’ve wised up! We can get the content anywhere, with social media we are able to connect and communicate with anyone so even getting news via “word-of-mout” is much more feasible. The media outlets must focus on aspects of news that we cannot control outselves. People are much mroe wiling to invenst in rare news, in-depth interviews, breaking news  etc. than the run-of-the-mill facts that are easily available.

If we are finding that the public as a whole is lowering professional training expectations in favor of “the regular Joes” or that the training “the regular Joes” have is sufficient to communicate the news… professional journalism programs need a revamp.

In the past when people we less able to find information on their own, the media (newpapers in particular) could trick us into believing that the idea was the commodity. How can media outlets change “the commodity” to something we will actually pay for?

What is the appropriate role of “citizen journalists”? With no professional training, little access to venues and people and, often, no salary… are they really competition to the pros? Should they be? Why would some people think that they are?

How has social media and new technology propelled the citizen journalism movement forward? How could future advances in technology help or hinder this movement? How could professional media outlets leverage this technology to create a better financial business model?

As a student of journalism, it’s startling to think what lies ahead on the horizon for print media.  We could be facing a world that becomes entirely digital with no forms of media on paper.  Information and communication will be made up of ones, zeros, and bits.

Although the budgets and staff of traditional print newsrooms are shrinking in today’s digital world, 60% of all news reported comes from print staffers.  Yet they are the ones that are being the hardest hit.  At first I think it doesn’t seem fair.  These are professional journalists that stock the flow of information to everyone around the world.  But who knows how much longer their efforts will be needed.  What will happen when our main source of reporters is left with no funding to continue?  The only answer is for print to find a replacement for traditional print advertising that can rake in the same amount of profit as before the digital age.  But what is that answer?

When I first jumped into the professional field of journalism in the working world, many news sites were beginning to put up subscriptions wall to their online content.  This in turn drove reluctant readers away and didn’t help bring in any new profits.  As a result this idea was abandoned and all bets were placed on online advertising, or “pay per click”.  This wasn’t much of a success either.  As the print paper shrank, online content grew.  And money woes stayed the same … or worsened.

Today we hear of media sites thinking about the online subscription model yet again.  Maybe this time it will work.  Maybe society wasn’t ready for online payments a few years back when the online media boom was just beginning.  Statistics now show that online news is the most popular source for daily information.  The only problem is, will these statistics still be true if readers are required to pay for their online news consumption.  May people enjoy online news because it can be personalized to their tastes and is convenient.  These factors won’t change.  Media outlets are only asking for some compensation to their reporting.

Keep in mind that it’s not only the reporters that are suffering.  How do you think the paper is printed each morning?  What happens if one of those giant printing press machines breaks or the paper trucker needs to make an extra run for more newsprint?  Regular human workers run all these functions at a print institution.  Usually, the staff in the pressroom outnumbers the workers in the newsroom and advertising department of a local paper.  The reporters are not the only ones that are facing layoffs and company bankruptcy.

I hope society learns that media is an industry just like any other well-oiled machine in this country.  In order to stay afloat, profits need to be made and competition needs to thrive.  I hope I don’t see the day when professional journalism is swallowed whole simply because we want to save a few dollars a year on an online subscription to news.

1. How does interactive media affect traditional journalism?

2. Will traditional media still survive in the next ten years? If everything is being replaced digitally, how long will it take for them to become completely obsolete?

3. How can journalists who make a living from traditional newspapers and such continue to exist and thrive when readers can find the same information in other locations for free?

Week 8 – Journalism

StateOfTheMedia.org

1. The biggest question facing news media in today’s changing digital world is if traditional methods (print, TV, radio) will survive.  Is it possible for people to give up ALL media for online/digital news?  Will the TV in our homes be replaced with a giant computer screen that provides everything we need to know straight from the internet?

2.  Is it possible for our society to eventually become completely paperless (no books, magazines, newspapers, printed fliers and handouts, etc) and rely exclusively on digital bits?

3.  Is it possible for journalism to die completely as an industry?  Will all news become participatory and overseen by communities?

4.  Television became an essential part of presidential elections back in the 1960s.  This past presidential election proved that an online presence is essential.  Will an understanding of online advertising and fund raising negatively impact an older candidate’s chances at winning against a younger candidate?

5. What would be the best business model for online media to adopt now that traditional advertising revenue numbers are plunging?  Would paid online subscriptions be an option?

According to State of the Media.org, there is much strife in the realm of journalism. Deciding where journalism is going and how to pay for it are constant questions. Here are some of my own to add to that list.

A current solution to the revenue question is to have advertisers pay for ad space, but many readers ignore ads which reduces the value of that ad space. What are some other potential revenue sources to explore? Advertising just seems to be the easy default and there is only so much ad space that those companies need.

My next question is about the affects the bottom line has had on the journalism institution. Yes there has been a major loss of profits over the years, but where would the profits have been if news had been focusing on relaying the news rather than making a larger profit? Perhaps the news industry is viewed not so differently than the music industry in that people are willing to support journalists, but not the corporations that employ them.

The report also touches on community news sites in relation to major news outlets. What potential collaborations could be made between the two outlets to helps support journalism in general?

After reading Jaron Lanier’s “You are not a Gadget,” it is interesting to see how our society really is shaped by the technology we use but not just society but all of its individuals. We are all putting so much information into technology that we are losing ourselves as individuals and what makes us because as of right now it is technology that forms our reactions.

1. Lanier wants us to become individuals and not people that are to be shaped and framed by posts of others so my question is: Are there any possible processes, software systems or internet blogs that could help a user be an individual and not part of a whole or is becoming an individual impossible with the use of technology?

2. Lanier talks about Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and he brings up many great points with the structure of the pyramid and I want to know how the hierarchy of need been altered based on the use of technology and the need for it? Have the everyday necessities been shifted based on our addictions and needs for the internet and the technology?

3.  Is this obsession with technology going to change the world of media journalism because there is such a need to have a “hand” in the media? Has journalism lost all credibility because everyone is considered a journalist?

The Birth of Citizen Journalism

The concept of citizen journalism is a relatively new phenomenon that has played a new role in how citizens interact with the media. No longer is the average citizen a receiver of nightly television broadcasts but is now an active participant in how the news is shaped. In the past few years it has become increasingly clear that the use of social networks and user generated content is now the first link in the media’s distribution of news. I wish to explore and examine the potential this new social trend has.

In the last few years I have seen how the tactics of civil rights groups adapted and changed across the globe. The change is the struggle to counteract measures imposed by governments that have little regard for human rights. In viewing the 2008 documentary “Burma VJ” I watched as how the videographer named “Joshua” shot footage from a concealed Canon camera, and uploaded edited content onto a yahoo account for Radio Free Burma based in Denmark. This method helped capture the exact actions taken during the September 2007 protests by the Burmese government as thousands of protestors took to the streets of Rangoon. In addition to the Burmese opposition using this technology as similar scenario played out on the streets of Tehran in July of the previous year.

The opposition party of Mir-Hossein Mousavi disputed President Ahmadinejad’s reelection by staging a mass protest in the Iranian capital. In response the government ordered a crackdown of all telecommunications centers to disrupt personal cell phone communication as well as text messages directed to outside sources. In a move that stunned the world, the opposition groups turned to social networking sites as well as the micro-blogging site twitter. The Iranian authorities attempted to shut down the nations web services and restart them at lower bandwidths, only to find that the very computer literate activists often used open web proxy servers to get around net sanctions. The conclusion of these examples of social unrest was that anti-authoritarian opposition was digitally mobilized, yet could not be sustained without outside help. It is here that I wish to begin my research.

I hope to examine these two instances while keeping in mind how the citizen journalist theory applies to both. In each instance I will cite the methods that succeeded, what did not succeed, and how the international community could have further assisted them in fighting for their civil rights. This topic will be a sociological case study that will be conducted through virtual ethnography. The theory of Media Determinism will be invaluable as societal norms of communication depend on the means to which individuals collaborate. Keeping in mind that the uses of social networking in these instances are seemingly a utilitarian approach, I will analyze samples of tweets and messages relayed through sites sent out by these activists. I will also examine the government responses to the actions of opposition groups. As this is a new field I hope to uncover new theories and possibilities as to how the public can further exercise its self-determination through our interconnected age.

Today’s discussion regarding journalism, biases and the idea of commodity was fascinating to me – and it also answered two of my three framing questions posted earlier this week (imagine that).

As a former journalist, it’s funny to think back about how these same ideas affected the way I wrote my own stories. It’s no secret that news organizations are owned by large media conglomerates that are driven by economical, political and social agendas. The news is no longer the “fourth estate” we might have once believed it to be. Now, it’s about advertisers, the bottom line and being the first to break a story (quantity over quality). However, when one is consuming the media (or even acting as part of it) this isn’t necessary our first reaction when reading or writing a story. Everyday I take in media that is biased and at times, I don’t even question it. Sure, if I turn on Fox News I’ve been programmed to know that it’s going to have a conservative slant or that Rush Limbaugh isn’t going to best friends with President Obama. There are certainly news symbols that I recognize or even play into to help frame my view of the outside world (hello Colbert Report), but, what about all the other times when I’m not necessary paying attention to the behind-the-scenes agenda setting that is going on? What about Twitter and Facebook, or even bloggers/iReporters that post news as if they don’t carry biases?

It’s as if we always need to be on guard and question everything that is handed to us, because the news has become a commodity, something that large media organizations are selling to us based on what fits their needs and agendas versus what is best for the public good. Of course, not all media organizations create their entire content based on the bottom dollar, but it is something we should all be aware of.

An example from my own experience is when I was an intern at a local entertainment magazine. I was compiling a story about hot fall hair fashions and was asked to find a handful of salons in the area and speak to their resident “expert.” After I had made my list and my phone calls my editor came back to me and gave me an entirely new list. There was nothing wrong with the list I had originally made – they were all great salons – but none of them were our advertisers who expected editorial space and coverage. While this may seem petty and in the grand scheme of things not a huge deal, it shows that agenda-setting and biases do play roles in our everyday lives – even in the smallest of ways.

While it may seem a bit cold-hearted, the news is a business after all, and while many stories are legitimate and news-worthy, we as viewers should recognize biases and understand the symbols we are letting shape our perspective of the world.