Audiences are becoming active participants in breaking, making and shaking the news. Thanks to computers, weblogs, digital cameras, email and the like, the flow of news is changing from top-down to bottom-up. This is a much-discussed transformation. Included here are some key introductions to the issue. Please suggest others.
Vaughn Ververs: "Opening the Internet Floodgates"
"The message from news consumers to the traditional news outlets, from the daily papers to the cable news channels and the Big Three networks, is becoming increasingly clear: "If you don't deliver what we want, we'll find it elsewhere. Ignore us at your own risk." This isn't a new message, but it's one that poses a growing risk that consumers will go elsewhere -- and not return. [...] The point isn't so much what is proper but what is available. Despite the awareness the mainstream press has of the Internet, talk radio and even e-mail, traditional media outlets have yet to grasp a simple fact of today's information landscape: They are no longer the prime gatekeepers of news. No longer can we say that if it's not in the New York Times or on "CBS Evening News," a story does not matter. When information is out there now, it's out there. Not only is it easier to find, it also can be spread instantly with a click of the mouse or a read on a radio show. To ignore what millions have heard is arrogant at best, harmful at worst. [...] Instead of acting as gatekeepers, the traditional press should become the ratifiers of news. Take on those rumors and prove them to be without merit. Show those pictures and give the consumer the kind of context that isn't so prevalent on the Internet. Get out in front and lead the way on some of these stories -- and before long, the buzz will be that what's energizing the Internet is old news. [...] Journalists who choose not to cover a story simply because "those who wish to view such things can find them on the Internet" are risking their own demise. Once "such things" are found, the people who sought them may never come back."
[National Journal]
Jeff Jarvis
"When the people can see the news for themselves and judge for themselves, what is the role of journalists' news judgment? Are we merely to become a pipeline for source material? Are we merely fellow citizens, like our readers, with opinions of our own? Do we still think we know more (and better) than the audience or do we admit that the citizens know more we do?"
[Jeff Jarvis]
If you want to start by ear, try Christopher Lyden's audio interview with journalism professor Jay Rosen
[Jay Rosen interview—mp3]
"We Media: How audiences are shaping the future of news and information": Shayne Bowman and Chris Willis, Edited by J.D. Lascia
[Available as a series of brief online sections]
[Complete PDF] [Infographic]
J.D. Lascia's soon-to-be-published "Darknet: Remixing the Future of Movies, Music and Television"
Lascia has put many pre-pub chapters online and invites readers to comment and amend. His book reads like the manifesto of a generation.
[Darknet: Introduction] [Darknet: Chapter 1: The Personal Media Revolution]
Dan Gillmor is soon to publish "Making the News"
Gillmor has put a detailed outline of his book online for comment, and there is much to be learned from looking at the blueprint. This book will be published in paper and online around August, 2004, so keep an eye peeled. Plus his August, 2004 "We the Media: Grassroots Journalism by the People, for the People"
["Making the News" outline] [We the Media]
These ordinary Americans, from Alaska to Florida, Massachusetts to New Mexico, are taking part in a project meant to bridge the distance between two cultures half a world apart. Developed by the Upper Nyack-based Fellowship of Reconciliation after the Abu Ghraib prison torture scandal in May, the Iraq Photo Project's goal is to collect photos from regular people who want to convey their feelings directly to Iraqis. While some of the signs in photos apologize specifically for the actions at Abu Ghraib, others use the opportunity to express regret for the invasion and occupation. [...] Hossein Alizadeh, coordinator of the Iraq Photo Project, said he would attempt to get the images on Arab TV channels and in Arab newspapers so they could reach Iraqis and other Muslims."
Recent Comments