Tim McLaughlin
4/13/2010
019:169:002 Introductory Topics Mass Communication
Qingjiang Yao
Reaction Paper 1
Citizen (Participatory) Journalism Movement
Summary of Readings
Ryfe-The Future of Media Politics
In this reading, Ryfe discusses what the future holds for media politics. Ultimately, he says, media politics will remain largely unchanged. He lists two different reasons for his opinion. First, Ryfe believes that elites will continue to attempt to set the nations agenda and as a result issues will be framed in a mass-mediated way. Second, he believes that the frames will define aggregate public opinion such that the American mainstream news organizations will continue to be the premier source for political news. However, Ryfe does admit that the advent of blogging may very well diminish the ability of the mainstream media to frame issues and increase the news system in America.
Fanselow-Community blogging
In this article, Fanselow discusses blogging—how to do it, who’s doing it, what formats are they utilizing, and some common issues that bloggers struggle with. For example, as Fanselow stated, all bloggers struggle with whether or not to remain anonymous as well as what content they should include. Fanselow says that the best blogs are civic in nature, discourage anonymity, and are done without any compensation for the author.
Leigh-Citizen Journalism Here to Stay
In this article, Leigh takes a unique stance on the evolution and expansion of news reporting entities. He says that as the entities increase in number, the impact and effectiveness of the news reporter will decrease due to his/her inability to be heard over the “cacophony of a thousand other voices.” He even goes so far to say that, because of the great influence that major news outlets have on the public policy, when politicians stop fearing the news outlets it will be “the end of the reporter.”
When the Audience Does the Reporting
In this article, Fred Brown discusses old media and new media. He says that the only way for old media to survive is to maintain credibility and an authoritative voice. He also goes on to say that new media relies on old media by providing links or quotes from an old media source. This is why, Brown says, that the old media must maintain their ethics and continue to insist upon “accurate, fair, and reliable reporting.”
Sambrook-Citizen Journalism and the BBC
Sambrook discusses three examples of citizen journalism and how the BBC’s editorial endeavors are becoming increasingly dependent on citizens. Sambrook says that it is required of journalists to really focus on how to add value and that one way, in particular, is civic journalism. Finally, Sambrook emphasizes that in order to continue to retain the public’s trust, there needs to be transparency in selecting the news and all editorial procedure.
Point to Agree/Disagree With
Fred Brown mentioned that new media relied on old media when “reporting” stories and news. I agree with this. However, it is very evident that many times the story or the news breaks unofficially, based on vehicles like Twitter, Facebook and message boards, before it ever is made official from an old media source, as Brown calls them. For example, in sports, many times a trade or a coaching change is “reported” to be true on a message board sometimes even days before a local newspaper announces it. As a big sports fan, I have recently started to seek out these sources that “report” the news well-prior to sources like the newspapers and broadcast news media because, obviously, I want to be in the know. Although I seek out the news from these unofficial sources, I never actually believe it until I see it reported by an official outlet, or as Brown calls them, old media.
Supporting Poll Story
Princeton Survey Research Associates International conducted a telephone interview survey of 1,502 adults, 18 years of age or older, from February 1-13, 2007. One of the sections of the survey dealt with which news source people utilize most. Local TV news came in first place with 71% of the vote, local daily newspaper in second place with 54% of the vote and network evening news with 46% of the vote. This only reaffirms my personal process when it comes to seeking news. Although many people probably go to unofficial sites like I do, as the survey depicted, clearly they come back to official, old media outlets to at least confirm their news. I believe this will continue to be the way in which people seek out their news. One possible situation that could alter the way people get their news is if newsmakers begin to report news themselves. Technology like Twitter makes this a good possibility and it could change the landscape of news reporting all together.
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