The transformation of traditional media such as journalism via Newspapers and Television broadcasts to new forms such as blogging has changed the ways in which people can obtain information on topics pertaining to government, political issues, and much more. As the population moves towards the Internet to read about current topics the majority still choose to use sites, which are maintained by large companies such as AOL News. There is a certain apprehension in the shift toward online or ‘new’ media. More choices have emerged, – in the way people can attain their information – these choices have contributed in a power shift from the people who have been traditionally associated with assembling the news to those who read it.
When looking at the transformation of how information is disseminated one can only fear the extinction of the Newspaper. However as the subscriptions for tangible Newspapers has decreased, the electronic outlet of Newspapers such as the New York Times have worked to keep up with the shift from tangible Newspapers to electronic equivalents. These efforts can be seen in the layout of the websites. Users are able to comment on stories as they are posted, which enables discussions between the users all over the world, which is not possible with the traditional Newspaper. Furthermore websites such as [www.life.com] – the electronic equivalent of Life Magazine – offer links to other stories within their website that ‘you might like’. This is another example of traditional journalism's endeavors to compete with ‘new’ forms of media.
Blogs such as the Huffington Post, self acclaimed “The Internet Newspaper: News Blogs Video Community” does original reporting – in the sense that they do not belong a News broadcasting company such as AOL News, but still report on similar stories. Blogging as a source of news has allowed for breaking news to be posted on the Internet – in some cases – faster than television broadcasting. For instance the 2004 tsunami, which devastated South East Asia, people who were able to connect to the Internet were reporting of the tragedy themselves on their blogs.
Not only did blogging in this example capture first-person accounts of the tsunami, but it also allowed for the organization of relief groups to act upon the tragedy. The accessibility of blogs also allowed for the news of the tsunami of 2004 to go mobile. With the availability of ‘smartphones’ allowing you to access the Internet from your mobile device, it makes it possible for frequent updates without the requirement of a computer. Smartphones such as the ‘iPhone’ have apps, which allow the user to read the New York Times for instance, on their mobile phone. Blogging makes it possible for more voices, expressions and points of view to be posted. Blogs allow for a Cognitive surplus (Clay Shirky), which he defines as the “ability for the worlds population to volunteer, contribute and collaborate on large sometimes global projects.”
This definition encompasses the blog, for a blog is where people volunteer information – for the purpose of this essay – on news. The example that Shirky uses is Ushihidi, which takes reports, combines the information they receive and makes the information available to the public and transposes it onto a map, this mapping is called crisis mapping. Cognitive Surplus in relation to mainstream news is that mainstream news is a monopoly of the points of view that are being shown. These mainstream News companies only allow for certain points of view that have been edited thoroughly, whereas bloggers are able to express their own opinions. Hearing these voices was not possible before, and blogs have allowed for certain freedom of speech, while Television broadcasts or Newspapers censor their information and create only one point of view.
Even though blogs have opened a new arena for News, there are negative factors as well. Blogs have become a source of community where bloggers “need each other, they need the addictive build-up around rumors and news scoops.” (Lovinik 38). Without someone reading your blog there is no point for its public existence. The information provided on blogs has no requirement for authenticity. The use of blogs as a source of information relies on people without a proper journalist education for their information. Journalists have an education, which teaches them how to research, interview and broadcast, whereas a blogger can post anything without achieving this education. Bloggers do not uncover facts but rather interpret the facts. The fear of blogging as a means of legitimate News source comes to be a reality when more and more people believe that journalism is an opinion rather than the accumulation and understanding of the facts. The field of journalism requires an in-depth look at a particular topic without bias. The use of blogging is often similar to the use of a diary where “Blogs express and map micro-fluctuations of opinions and moods” (Lovinik 38), which is contrary to journalism. This does not mean that journalists do not turn to blogs for some insight on some news stories. Blogs can be a viable source of the opinions of the writer and commentators (if allowed on the blog) of the blog for a journalist. However the journalist must not rely on the information provided on a blog because of the unreliability of the source. The popularity of blogs as a news source has produced a mentality that the blogs are a legitimate news source. This creates a problem in journalistic quality, in order to avoid the issue of the reduction of journalistic quality; there must be trained journalists who maintain the integrity of journalism.
The role of media is changing because of these new forms of – in this case – journalism. The Internet has become a major source of information, which more and more people are taking advantage of. As the number of people using a traditional Newspaper for their daily news decreases, the number people turning to their Internet equivalents increases. More and more information will come from online resources as well as the News becoming mobile with the use of mobile phone.
Newspapers as a form of ‘old’ media are geographically limiting where as online sources can be accessed from anywhere. The communication between a Newspaper and its reader is one-way, where as a blog allows for comments and discussions between people who may not even be in the same country. Unfortunately because of the shift towards online sources, this has caused a decline in staff members working at Newspapers, which only lessens the number of legitimate journalists who are providing News broadcasts. The fear of the lessening number of journalists is that the coverage of government, politics, etc could be weakening. The previous blog example used above, The Huffington Post, has editors similar to a Newspaper. The Huffington Post blog is an example of old and new media converging, where an 'old' form of media (the Newspaper) meets a 'new' form (the Blog). This convergence makes it evident that blogging is not damaging our social construction, but is rather a theory, which has yet to be proven. As the demand for online sources increases, and the means in which news is distributed, there is no doubt that the media of journalism will continue to modify and transform for it's audience.
-----Bibliography-----
Lovink, Geert. (2007) Blogging, the Nihilistic Impulse." Zero Comments: Bloggin and Critical Internet Culture. Routledge, 1-38
Trebor Scholz and Paul Hartzog: Toward a critique of the social web. <http://www.re-public.gr/en/?p=201>
Shirky, Clay. (2010), "How Cognitive Surplus will Change the World" <http://www.ted.com/talks/clay_shirky_how_cognitive_surplus_will_change_the_world.html>
Vaina, David. "New Media Versus Old Media." America - Engaging the World - America.gov.
03 Dec. 2007. Web. 28 Mar. 2011. <http://america.gov/st/freepress-english/2008/April/2008513173802WRybakcuH0.6948358. html>.
03 Dec. 2007. Web. 28 Mar. 2011. <http://america.gov/st/freepress-english/2008/April/2008513173802WRybakcuH0.6948358. html>.
