Characters in Cyberspace

Anthony Giner’s blog explores and commentates on global social and political issues.

I think for the time poor, or people that don’t want to trawl through copious amounts of material, this blog is ideal.

As photographs speak a thousand words, the blog communicates to readers through subliminal messages in the images. Giner therefore does not provide large commentaries, as he relies on colourful and bold photographs.

Links are provided in the event that readers want more information relating to the content of the blog. For example, if a reader wants to investigate an issue further, the URL is hyperlinked beneath the blog.

The right hand side of the blog is resourceful, as further links to similar blog sites are hyperlinked.

The layout of the site was visually appealing. The white background created a sense of space, and enables the eyes to focus on the text.

For journalists and those with an interested in contemporary issues, this blog is an excellent starting point to collate information, understand an issue and form an opinion.

Giner, A. Innovations In Newspapers <http://www.innovationsinnewspapers.com/> accessed 27 September 2009

You learn something new every day, and today was no exception. I was not aware that French President, Nicholas Sarkozy contributed $800 million to fund newspapers. (1)

The money was spent to ensure that investigative journalism and print news continues to survive.

After reading the experts’ opinions on the future of journalism, I have formed my own contention.

I believe that investigative journalism will continue to thrive. This is because people actually want quality news: they want to hear about political corruption and the manner in which politicians frequently squander tax payers’ money.

The media is often referred to as a “fourth estate”, meaning that the media acts as an unofficial supervisory body of society.

As Geraldine Dooge states, “more than any other medium, newspapers have been our eyes on the state, our check on private abuses, our civic alarm systems.” (2)

I predicate that the days of hard copy news are numbered. This is because the trend of convergence where (broadcast and print) newsrooms diverge onto the internet, eradicates the need for people to source their news from hardcopy news.

Chris Anderson is a prime example of this trend: he accesses all news online and from sites such as Twitter (3). Given Generation Y’s grasp of technology, it is plausible that in twenty years time, like Anderson we will not be opening a newspaper, but referring to online news site.

(1) Future of Australian journalism, broadcast on ABC on 11 April
2009: http://www.abc.net.au/rn/saturdayextra/stories/2009/2539281.htm

(2) Same as above

(3) Hornig, F, ‘Who Needs Newspapers When You Have Twitter?’
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2009/07/28/wired/ accessed 2 September 2009

I cannot see the negative aspects of journalists using mobile phones to capture photographs while on location. Of course, journalists need to be trained on how to capture images, such as using appropriate angles.

Journalists are the people collating information and reporting news story, which enables reporters to have a good understanding of the type of photograph needed to accompany the text. As mobile phones have a large capacity for storage, several photographs can be taken, so that the journalist can have a variety of images to choose from.

Another benefit of using a mobile phone to capture images is that it eradicates the need for a photographer. Provided the journalist can take a photograph by keeping their hands still when taking the image, this is certain to cut costs.

The image quality of mobile phone cameras can vary significantly from each phone. I think that it’s important that the journalist invests in a good quality phone otherwise blurry images will render images useless.

As Quinn states, mojos are “a convergence of cheap technology”. (1)

Indeed, photo journalists can potentially take a photograph on their phone while newsgathering and post it on the internet.

With the advent of Apple i – phone (which has an inbuilt internet connection) it is plausible that the photograph can be uploaded on the internet before the journalist has made their way to their office to write the article.

(1)Quinn, S. (2009). “Mobile journalism Enables Newspapers to Provide Real-Time Coverage Online”.

I was intrigued by Stomp, an initiative by a Singapore newspaper, Strait Times.

Stomp is essentially citizen journalism, whereby residents send photographs, moblogs and vblogs, to the news site.
Quinn argues that “much of Stomp’s content represents a grass-roots kind of reporting.”(1)

When I trawled through the website, Quinn’s contention was apparent. The articles submitted by residents reflect small scale issues that are of importance to the local community.

An underlying theme of stories are societal morals and values. For example, “I’m just a Girl, I don’t Dare Confront Those Who Abuse Priority Seating” (2), was an article featured, accompanied by images of young males occupying seats reserved for the disabled on the train.

Clearly, these type of articles are not “news worthy”: the content of the articles are not contentious, but are more like personal grievances.

I think that Stomp has morphed as a “social networking” site, as the articles create discourse about acceptable behaviour within society. Singapore appears to be a conservative culture, whereby “two people smooching on a train” (3) is offensive.

Through sites such as Stomp, Singaporeans can collectively shape their culture through defining moral codes that are acceptable, and unacceptable.

In the liberal and democratic Western worlds, I doubt that Stomp would garner as much success as Singapore, where 300, 000 visit the site annually. (4)

(1) Quinn, S. (2007). “Citizen journalism gets things done in Singapore
as digital revolution moves forward” in Innovations in Newspapers 2007.
(2) < http://singaporeseen.stomp.com.sg/singaporeseen/> accessed 1 August 2009
(3) Same as above
(4) Quinn, S. (2007).

From this week’s reading, I have deduced that sites such as Facebook, Wikipedia, Twitter, Skype and Delicious are underpinned by the motif of human interconnectedness.

Quinn conceded that Skype is his choice of communication to people living overseas. (1)

Given that Skype is less expensive than an international call, the site would be an invaluable tool for reporting. The poor phone line quality associated with international calls, is a predicament that Skype seemingly erases.

I imagine that in the workforce, Skype would be a crucial tool for reporting and gathering news. For instance, a journalist can contact a person overseas and conduct an interview, without having to rush the interview due to the inexpensive nature of the tool.

This week’s reading demonstrates that a journalist must always be proactive about the tools of reporting.
Last week, I discussed the relatively new tool, Twitter. This week, I have discovered that Twitter is outdated: fresh on the scene today, are the tools of Twhirl, TweetDeck, TweetGrid and Tweetscan. (2)

Watch this video to further your knowledge of Twitter

The fact that new tools are continuously surfacing on the internet, shows that journalists cannot be complacent about the technology that they use.

Instead, journalists must adapt to the tools available, as it can only make for more efficient and informed reporting.

(1) Quinn, S. (2009). “New Tools for Reporting”
(2) Same as above

Through surfing the net on a daily basis, I have been exposed, to the technology that is referred to in the Week 6 reading, such as Twitter, podcasts and delicious.com.

Ingenious methods of journalism storytelling, such as moblogs and voblogs are often more visually appealing than reading an article online. Personally, I think that multimedia features are founded on the premise that “a picture speaks a thousand words.”

Not only does a multimedia feature break down the text, readers are more likely to feel connected or involved to the event. This is because the viewer becomes an instant participant through viewing the multimedia feature: information that may have been overlooked in a text article, are likely to be etched in the readers mind.

This reading has helped me understand why the social networking site, Twitter has a mass following. We are suffering from “information overload”. We are bombarded with a copious amount of information relating to news through the broadcast medium of television, radio and online, such as blogs and news sites.

Sites such as Tweetscan attempt to make our job of searching for information easier, as we can search for “keywords” and sift through information relating to our search. As characters on Twitter are confined to 140 words or less, the crux of information can be ascertained, without sorting through hundreds of pages of material. (2)

Credibility of information is always an issue when accessing information online. The information “hierarchy” as developed by Steve Miller was insightful (2). I’ll be deploying Miller’s techniques, such as recognising the endings of websites’ URLs as a guide to the quality of the information on the site.

(1)Quinn, S. (2009). “New Tools for Reporting”
(2)Same as above

Oh Yeon-Ho, the mastermind behind the online news site, OhmyNews is founded on the premise that “every person is a journalist” (1).

OhmyNews is a shining example of “citizen journalism” whereby ordinary citizens are held in the same regard as qualified journalists that have a wealth of knowledge and experience.

As a journalism student, this reading has invoked a tinge of envy and cynicism. Tertiary degrees which generally take three years to complete, endow students with the art of writing. We are indoctrinated with the ethical codes that govern our prose and the all important details, such as spelling numbers from zero to nine.

Yet, the honour of publishing one’s name alongside an article penned, which is generally reserved to qualified journalists in the mainstream media, is a privilege that OhmyNews affords to 60, 000 ordinary citizens. (2)

In fact, 70, 000 articles are updated on a daily basis. (3)

While the credibility of stories is checked by editors, and potentially defamatory material is removed, these measures fail to quell my conviction that the site is at times amateurish.

At times the articles fail to be erudite, and are peppered with information that the more initiated would deem irrelevant.

For light hearted articles such as movie reviews and opinion pieces, this is acceptable, given that entertainment pieces are inherently subjective.

The flaws of the news site pale into insignificance when compared to the benefits: citizens are empowered to contribute to a changing society, where their input is valued by a large audience.

Stories that the mainstream media do not have the space to cater to, such as debates on the tensions between North and South Korea, is an issue that is of importance to Koreans.

For the 98% (4) of Koreans that have access to the internet, citizen journalism has become a source of vital news.

Watch this interview with an OhmyNews director

(1) Ho O.Y, ‘The End of 20th Century Journalism’ 1 June 2004 OhmyNews accessed 24 July 2009

(2) Quinn, S. (2008). Chapter 7: “OhmyNews in South Korea” in Asia’s Media Innovators, Konrad Adenaueur Foundation, Singapore.
(3)Same as above
(4) Ho O.Y, ‘The End of 20th Century Journalism’ 1 June 2004 <http://OhmyNewswatch?v=mG2KW_aEfLw&feature=related> accessed 10 August 2009

I was nodding my head in agreement with Chris Anderson’s contention that “free is not quite as simple — or as stupid — as it sounds.” (1)

It is an oversimplification to contend that online news costs “$0” (2) to access.

Anderson correctly states that the media are “not selling papers and magazines to readers, they’re selling readers to advertisers. It’s a three-way market.” (3)

The fact that The Age nor the Daily Mail fail to charge a fee for online readers to view stories does not mean that the newspaper giants have incurred a financial loss.

This is because on every online page of The Age, I am bombarded with colourful adverts. Surely, advertising has covered the $1.30 fee I would have otherwise have had to pay for the hardcopy version?

Online news as a free source of entertainment is not a new concept. Rather, it is a logical extension of other media outlets such as free to air radio and television. (4)

Consumers passively accept that being exposed to advertisements is the “price” that they pay for “free” online content.

After all, there’s no such thing as a free lunch in the “real world”.

(1)Anderson, C ‘Free! Why $0.00 Is the Future of Business’ March 16 2009 Wired accessed 1 August 2009
(2) Same as above
(3) Same as above
(4) Same as above

“On an average day we get around 10,000 to 12,000 emails, as well as hundreds of pictures and video clips, sent to us from all over the world.”(1) Wow! Matthew Eltringham from the BBC hub is certainly a busy man.

A prime example is the involvement of the public in the 2004 London Bombings Harrowing photographs were captured by ordinary citizens on their mobiles, and sent to the BBC. Ordinary citizens alerted journalists to the catastrophic event that was unfolding before them.

As the BBC continues to be receptive to the information of ordinary citizens, I think that this shows the progression of the mainstream media. Citizens are no longer sources or contacts for interviews, but now can play a major part in contributing to the material broadcast.