The changing media

Jim Brady says he expects new hires to understand how people are consuming media. Brady is the executive editor at washingtonpost.com. He had an interview on the Mediashift Web site with Alfred Hermida, who is an assistant professor at the Graduate School of Journalism at British Columbia. One of the topics they touched on was job interviewing. Brady says he first asks in a job interview: assess the changes in media in the last five years and where do you see it going?




In the past five years the media has changed drastically. People are used to receiving the news instantly. News organizations are in a race to report the news first. They are in competition with each other and also with other non-traditional outlets. The social media has played a big role in the past five years. Traditional news organizations are starting to fall behind. The You Tube's, Facebook's and Myspace's are taking over the attention of Internet users. Myspace.com has been taken over by the corporates. They provide links to news, sports, jobs and other options, just like traditional news.

Citizen journalists plays a key role in reporting news. They provide an alternative to the traditional news, who usually filters out stories that are not as important. Even on the Internet there is still gate keeping by traditional news organizations. News organizations are beginning to decrease their staffs, which means there will be even less news coverage. Citizens doing their own reporting allows for more issues to be brought to life. Also, in some cases these stories can be brought to the attention of traditional news organizations as apart of their agenda. Usually citizen reporters are experts of their community. They bring a hyper local aspect to news, which is an advantage for small traditional newspapers. Small newspapers need to take advantage of citizen journalists in their community.

Blogs of course are the new alternative for newspaper coverage. Once an article is published the blog can be used for additional information and allow for reader comments on a story. The blog has provided a new way for people to get their voice heard. This is a good device to connect with small communities. Traditional media is consumed by the blog world right now, which has picked up over the past five years. Anyone can start their own blog.

The downside to these new forms of media is that they allow ordinary people to do their own reporting. They do not have to follow rules of concrete journalism. They are not held to the same standard as traditional news organization journalists. Bloggers do not have to worry about fact checking or providing sources. This will lead to inaccuracies of course.

The election coverage is beginning to pick up. I think there will be some inaccuracies in reporting, just as there was in the past couple of elections. People will turn back to the traditional journalists for their concrete reporting. News organizations have to continue keeping their audience involved in their work. Even if it is just providing a forum for people to discuss. Interactivity is the root to driving readership.