Be a Good Journalist!

This is one of the biggest growth sectors online at present: online journalism. As an online journalist, you have a wide range of positions to choose from if you are skilled in this field, some include: web editor, web producer, multimedia assignment editor, presentation editor, internet content editor etc. Where does online journalism take place? Here are a few examples to get us started:

-Discussion Groups (Boostcruising is one i like;)) forums, team spaces, Wiki's, IM, fileshares, sharepoint, blogs, mailing lists etc. A few more examples can be found here.

Beckett & Mansell (2008) seperate two dualistic terms: networked journalism and citizen journalism, where the "former retains essential functions of traditional journalism, that is to report, analyse, comment, edit and disseminate" (2008 'Crossing Boundaries: New Media and Networked Journalism' p.92-104). Networked Journalism focuses on the digital media platform to "gather, process and disseminate" information (Beckett & Mansell 2008 p.92-104). One example of online journalism practises are through "newspapers, e-zines and current information sites" that can be viewed online (Riley, Keough, Christiansen, Meilich and Pierson 'Community or Colony: the case of online newspapers and the Web' 1998). In this article, they use a quote from Neuman (cited in Fulton, 1996) that "networked computers in the workplace and the home will compete on an equal footing with existing news media as a news source for over 50% of the public" (2008). This will have a marked impact on political issues such as elections and significant current affairs issues that the public can then respond to. In addition, this could potentially see the downfall of newspapers in their "physical form" in the next few decades. What about the quality of information between online newspaper channels? Once, a person would stick with one newspaper because it reflected their views and ideals. In the virtual world, we can "cross over" between different news sources that deliver varying interpretations of the truth. I believe this is a bad thing, particularly when the community becomes involved, and the truth gets even more distorted, it can be hard to decipher truth from fiction.

Ridell points out that journalism is really all about 'confusing the medium and the message' and is a 'collective activity carried out by individualists' (Peter Riddell'The rise of the ranters: saving political journalism 2007: pp.70-71). The author goes on to explain that this seperates this from 'blogging' which is 'individual, unconstrained and immediate' (Riddell 2005: 71). I believe that news journalism is "immediate" in its messages and can also be unconstrained, because as Riddell points out, the author is often delivering "in-your-face" language that is not necessarily 'politically correct' and is all about bringing the attention of the reader. According to Berenger, we have to develop a "skeptical as well as discerning eye" when it comes to information ('Introduction: War in Cyberspace' 2005, pp. 176-188). I too believe that we must be careful of the information that is thrust upon us, and refuse to accept the truth from one point of view. I think that if we, as consumers of knowledge, are to give back to the online community through 'network journalism', we must not see our view as the only provider of wisdom, because this dogmatism may cause unneeded conflict in the online community.