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.
Showing posts with label Facebook. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Facebook. Show all posts
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
On the Rise
Last month, people-press.org posted a study done by the The Pew Research Center about internet usage. One of the first and main point from the report is that online usage has increased and this means the internet is not going anywhere in the near future.
The report stated, "Overall, 37 percent of the public - including more than half of those who go on the internet (55 percent) - say they regularly get news online. A decade ago, just 13 percent of the public, and 35 percent of internet users, went online for news at least three days a week."
Commentary: These stats prove the internet is still a growing outlet. There are still many places around the world where there is no internet access. Eventually these places will have to get with the program. News is becoming so fast paced with the use of online as an outlet. Newspapers are becoming out of date because they can only report yesterday's news. The internet allows the opportunity to report up to the second news. The internet outlet can be changed and modified, before a newspaper can print one story about a topic. Once everyone has access to the internet, then more people will be knowledgeable at a faster pace.
One of the most important statistics would have to be the amount of African-American users. The amount of users have tripled, but white users of the internet still dominates compared to black users. Whites use the internet for online news consumption 38 percent of time compared to blacks use for online news 24 percent of the time.
Commentary: The amount of broadband usage in personal homes for blacks has increased according to the Pew Research. Even though there has been an increase, whites still have the advantage because their internet usage continues to grow. African-Americans started out behind on this outlet. Ultimately, they will never be able to out grow their white counterparts. Blacks are still lacking on the concept of using the internet for news and they are more interested in watching videos, listening to music or checking out their social networking profiles. They do dominate whites in the aspect of using social networks.
The use of social networking is one the biggest things on the web right now. From the report, "Fully 65 percent of people 18 to 24 - 82 percent of those who go online - say they have a profile on MySpace, Facebook or another social networking site." Another point about the social networking is that blacks are more likely than whites to have a social networking page. Blacks use the internet for social networking 44 percent of the time compared to whites who use it 29 percent of the time.
Commentary: Social networking is popular because people are able to keep up with friends and make new friends. They are able to connect with people around the world and promote themselves. Blacks use these social networks to promote them self as an artist. Myspace allows people to post original music and expression and people all over the world can view their page.
The report stated, "Overall, 37 percent of the public - including more than half of those who go on the internet (55 percent) - say they regularly get news online. A decade ago, just 13 percent of the public, and 35 percent of internet users, went online for news at least three days a week."
Commentary: These stats prove the internet is still a growing outlet. There are still many places around the world where there is no internet access. Eventually these places will have to get with the program. News is becoming so fast paced with the use of online as an outlet. Newspapers are becoming out of date because they can only report yesterday's news. The internet allows the opportunity to report up to the second news. The internet outlet can be changed and modified, before a newspaper can print one story about a topic. Once everyone has access to the internet, then more people will be knowledgeable at a faster pace.
One of the most important statistics would have to be the amount of African-American users. The amount of users have tripled, but white users of the internet still dominates compared to black users. Whites use the internet for online news consumption 38 percent of time compared to blacks use for online news 24 percent of the time.
Commentary: The amount of broadband usage in personal homes for blacks has increased according to the Pew Research. Even though there has been an increase, whites still have the advantage because their internet usage continues to grow. African-Americans started out behind on this outlet. Ultimately, they will never be able to out grow their white counterparts. Blacks are still lacking on the concept of using the internet for news and they are more interested in watching videos, listening to music or checking out their social networking profiles. They do dominate whites in the aspect of using social networks.
The use of social networking is one the biggest things on the web right now. From the report, "Fully 65 percent of people 18 to 24 - 82 percent of those who go online - say they have a profile on MySpace, Facebook or another social networking site." Another point about the social networking is that blacks are more likely than whites to have a social networking page. Blacks use the internet for social networking 44 percent of the time compared to whites who use it 29 percent of the time.
Commentary: Social networking is popular because people are able to keep up with friends and make new friends. They are able to connect with people around the world and promote themselves. Blacks use these social networks to promote them self as an artist. Myspace allows people to post original music and expression and people all over the world can view their page.
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