Citizen Journalism

Citizen journalism is members of the public playing an active role in the process of collecting, reporting, analyzing and disseminating news and information. This type of journalism is becoming so much more popular because it is so easy to get started. You can look anywhere on the Internet to find a site where you can start your own blog. With all this ability to get started, that is the reason citizen journalism is becoming so popular. In the section of introducing citizen journalism there is a sentence that supports this thinking, "Low barriers to entry provided by the Internet and computer networking technologies, as well as new genres, such as blogs, offer a new media landscape for twenty-first century journalists." Not only are these ways to be a citizen journalist, but also there are Web sites that allow this. An example is Wikipedia. Wikipedia is one of the best things ever. Anyone in the world, can write anything they want about any subject. This can be a good thing or a bad thing. If people take it seriously then you can get some of the best information, but people can also just put in anything they want, and it doesn't have to be factual. I feel that if it taken seriously, then citizen journalism is a great thing that can help many people.

Ecology

When I read this article on ecology, I couldn't help but feel that an ecological model reminds me of a hybrid paper. With these hybrids you can receive news (either online or in the delivered paper), and put your opinion in the comment boxes on the Web site. It seems that the ecological model only exists if people can interact with one another on a certain topic at hand. The article states that, "When viewed as an ecology, news is not a product to be consumed but a conscious act to engage and produce shared information that has value in a community: this is how cultures and societies create their histories. Thus news is not an economic transaction but a social and cultural practice involving knowledge generation, information creation, and public distribution." I agree with this statement. I think that sharing information is the best way to help gain more knowledge. The ecology model wants you to do this, to engage with others and share information. It is a way to gain knowledge from another perspective, and, in turn, help you to grow in knowledge. It helps you to think in way you may not have before.

Citizen journalism

After reading the article written by Steve Outing, I feel that citizen journalism isn't too bad of an idea, and reading these 11 layers of Journalism really helped to change the way I think about citizen journalism. I never really had a problem with citizen journalism. I feel that as long as the information is truthful then there is nothing wrong with it. The one problem with this is citizen journalists don't have to be truthful. In this regard to this you need to be careful with what is actually truthful. Also, with the fact that you can comment on almost any article now many people can put their own opinion in about news. This is a great way for knowledge to be shared between authors and readers. The fact that knowledge can be shared this way definitely takes away editorial control. With no control though people could post anything they want. There needs to be a balance between the two. I feel that a good balance can be found in the hybrid models. An example of a hybrid newspaper is annarbor.com. This newspaper is predominantly online, but it also produces a printed publishing. This hybrid model has the editorial control so that facts are published, and it has the citizen expression because people can comment on it. Also, if annarbor.com doesn't like the comments they can remove them. Tony Dearing, the chief content officer for annarbor.com, came in to talk to our journalism class, and he said how the position of editor is not used as much anymore. Most journalists now know how to edit their own writing so they don't need editors, but they are still there to make sure the sources are accurate.

Taking a stand

There is so much information that can be found on the Internet now. The trouble with that is how can you find something that is truthful, or even relevant? It is like I have seen in the Bing commercials, what has search overload done to us?
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To make digital stories more relevant it can start with the truth. I have seen so many articles, and news stories that stretch the truth to get more viewers coming to the site. I feel that this style of trying to get viewers can backfire. Sure a more interesting story will gather more viewers, but what happens when it gets out that the truth was stretched or even lied about? I feel that viewers will not support a business that does this. I feel that a true story may not be as exciting as one that can be stretched or made up, but it certainly can attract more viewers because you are getting the truth. I also feel that writing about things people want to hear can get more viewers. Writing about politics or sports can be a big boost because of how much people get into them. Bottom line, to make digital stories relevant they have to be truthful, and about what people want to read.

Digital journalism: new and improved

Digital journalism has changed so much over the past few years. There is so much more interaction between a writer and the public now. So many papers have online sites as well as the printed paper. The news can be put on the Web sites so much faster. With print news you cannot get the same stories as fast. The other benefit to online stories is the insight that people can give. People can comment on the news stories, and interact with the writers. The writers can tell the people that comment why they feel the way they do. This interaction can help keep the writers sharp, and also can give them different points of view. This can help them in their later stories.

While the interaction between the writer and consumer is new, the practice of recovering the news is still the same. As a writer you want to make sure that the information is correct. As it states in the lecture notes, "The central purpose of journalism is to provide citizens with accurate and reliable information they need to function in a free society." Even though speed is now a factor in publishing news stories, they still need to be accurate.

Random Thinking

One piece of news that has gotten a lot of publicity lately has been the earthquake that occurred in Haiti. I feel that this story show how the coverage of news has changed, and how the expansion of technology has allowed people to help. This earthquake has gathered a lot of. It was the headline of the Sunday paper I received the week it happened. It was also on all of the news shows. This incident could be seen everywhere, news, television, and the Internet. Not only has the huge publicity of this been amazing, but I have also seen many things that even a couple of years ago I would not have seen. I have seen many commercials that are designed to offer help. These commercials allow you to text a word to give a certain donation to the people of Haiti. This charge will be sent to your phone bill. I have also seen Facebook groups that allow you to either donate to the cause, or if you join someone will donate to Haiti. I just find all of these new ways to help out fascinating. The televised news, and Internet is a great way to watch a bunch of different people come together for a common cause. I do not remember seeing this much help go out, even a few years ago. With technology changing at such a rapid pace, I’m sure there will be new ways to help support a cause in no time.

Democracy and Journalism

In Ecology and Democracy: Citizen Journalism in the Digital Age, I read that James Carey said democracy and journalism are intertwined, historically variable, and greatly dependent upon the affordances of current communicative technologies. I could easily see how the last two relate to democracy and journalism, but I could not see how they were intertwined. It wasn't til later that I figured out how they are intertwined, and I do agree. The changing of the outside world in terms of technology, or popular ideas changes the ways of both democracy and journalism.

These changes can be seen just by looking around. Technology has changed, and it is still changing. Every new TV or computer that comes out has to be better and more advanced than the next. The changes can also be seen in the current environment system versus the legacy system. The legacy system moved news in basically one way, from the producers to the consumers. This system is being replaced by the current environment system that allows producers to produce news and also consume it. This interactive style can be seen online, where at most news sites you can comment on a story, and provide your own input on the matter. The new environment allows a person to not only read the news, but also hear it, see it, and talk about it. Because of the advancements in technology, news can be delivered to mass audiences. A story that takes place in Ann Arbor can be read by someone in Phoenix.

There are a few keys to the digital environment. These keys are they have to be decentralized (distribute the power), unfiltered (not censored), many-to-many (people can input information to and receive information from the Internet, they will also be able to connect and communicate with other people), and egalitarian (equal). There has been quite a change in the media environment over the last few years.