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Presentation: Blogs and Online Journalism

One needs not look too far for evidence of how life is becoming increasingly more digitized by the day. Social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook have users in the millions who constantly update and check the profiles of their peers. Libraries, newspapers, and academic journals are digitizing books and articles to post on the Internet in greater numbers (refer to an earlier March 1 blog entry of mine that discusses this issue). Even right now, I am using this blog to communicate with anyone who happens to navigate to this page.

Amid this growing digitization of American culture, a fundamental conflict has arisen between Old Media and New Media. Old Media can be defined as the traditional forms of news dissemination—paper newspapers, magazines, journals, etc.—while New Media encompasses the new user-oriented, digital forms of news diffusion like blogs, Wikipedia, and podcasting. I recommend watching this video called EPIC 2015, which paints a very satiric and Orwellian picture of the future of news media. I will not speak too much about this video in this post because I plan to use it as a discussion point in my presentation in class on Thursday.

The rise of citizen journalism—defined by Wikipedia as “the act of citizens playing an active role in the process of collecting, reporting, analyzing and disseminating news and information”—has made many traditional forms of media worry about the future of their existence. You can view the statistics for the downward trend of Sunday and daily newspaper readership over the years at this website. This kind of participatory journalism has evolved from the time of William Randolph Hearst’s New York Journal and accusations of yellow journalism during the Spanish-American War in 1898 to the personalized, always-evolving medium we have today.

It is now possible for anyone with access to a computer and the Internet to create blogs or write news reports. Case in point, a South Korean online newspaper called OhmyNews a website where online users can submit news articles to be published and their motto is “Every Citizen is a Reporter.” With each citizen having the ability to be a reporter, everything is under closer scrutiny. During the CBS “Rathergate” scandal, for example, Internet forums and blogs challenged the authenticity of the Killian documents used to discredit President Bush’s military record and it was eventually determined that the documents were forged. Likewise, a blog named Little Green Footballs exposed doctored Reuters photos from the Lebanon-Israel conflict of Summer 2006 (click here to view the blog entry).

Blogs give every person the opportunity to take an active role in the public sphere and also increase the likelihood of exposing scandals and inconsistencies on all sides of the spectrum. While traditional news organizations worry that the rise of citizen journalism will have an overall negative effect on the nature of news, could it be that this is just what the news world needs? Or does citizen journalism lack the objectivity that many traditional news organizations claim to have? I look forward to discussing these questions and more on Thursday.

Nintendo Wii and Retirees

It's not every day there's a story that highlights the positive effects that video games can have on people, so that's why this article about the Nintendo Wii becoming popular in retirement communities is interesting. Retirees are praising the system for things like its social aspects, competition factor, and the exercise that is involved. It is somewhat ironic that these retirees, mostly aged 65 and above, are taking a liking to video games but that shows that there are definitely positive benefits that go along with video games and especially more interactive video games like the ones provided for the Wii. Games on the Wii give people a chance to do things that they may not be able to do as much anymore due to old age or other factors, and it gives them a much-needed sense of enjoyment. Of course, if it is possible, they should really get outside and play tennis, but if something is preventing them from doing that then the Wii seems to be and acceptable alternative.

Reducing Anonymity on Wikipedia

This CNN article discusses a recent move by Wikipedia to ask a writer who claims to be an expert for their credentials before they can post or edit an article. The move comes after it was discovered that a "high-ranking member of Wikipedia's bureaucracy" who was really a college dropout pretended he was a college professor and claimed to have a Ph.D. in Religion. Wikipedia recognizes that anonymity is a huge reason for the website's success so they were explicit in saying that this new move does not mean that regular users cannot remain anonymous. Jimmy Wales, the creator of Wikipedia, says that it is intended to "give a positive incentive rather than absolute prohibition, so that people can contribute without a lot of hassle." This must add more substance to the argument that Wikipedia is not a valuable source of information since virtually anybody can post or edit articles. The actions of this high-ranking member only prove that given the veil of anonymity, there is a high chance for fraud since there are really no penalties. If this man could so easily lie about his life, what's to stop him from being wrong about certain topics or posting incorrect information? Do you think Wikipedia is correct in taking steps to force people who claim to be experts on a certain subject to provide proof of their claims? Or does this go against the user-oriented philosophy that has made Wikipedia such a huge success?

Online Book Browsing

Book publishers like Random House and HarperCollins are using a new service called Insight to post up more than 5000 of its books on the Internet. These companies are hoping that the ability to browse various titles online will raise interest in books and drive people to read more of the books it publishes. They are also adding a feature that allows people to add information to their profiles on social networking sites. It looks like these publishers are trying to increase their revenue by delving deep into the market where young people are most likely to be. It's better for people to be reading books even if they are doing this electronically, and I think this move to post up more books for preview can help boost revenue and interest in book reading. It enables people to preview many different kinds of books and if they find it interesting, they can buy the book to read the whole thing. When searching for books on Amazon.com, I came across a book that was not required for a class, but after reading the first few pages I found it interesting enough to buy so there is a good chance this marketing scheme can work well. I am under the impression that this move by Random House and HarperCollins will provide more comprehensive and numerous previews of books than on Amazon.com, for example, where limited previews are available.

Can the Internet Help Erase the Global Divide?

The Internet has the potential to be a powerful tool in helping to erase not only the global digital divide, but also the so-called North-South divide that sets apart the wealthy nations from the impoverished. Nations that are left behind in the dust of technology are essentially being left behind altogether. This is because of the overall increasing reliance on technology that countries all over the world are experiencing. For those of you who say that technology doesn't play a big role or doesn't matter at all when it comes to a nation's prosperity, consider this following example.

Country A is a place that utilizes the power of computers, the Internet, advanced weapons systems, and where each individual has the opportunity to learn about or make better virtually anything they please. Country B does not have the capability to use computers or the Internet. Which country do you think is going to be more prosperous in today's time? Clearly, Country A will be the stronger of the two. The fact of the matter is, the Internet does have the potential to erase this divide or at least make the problem better because conditions will get better as more individuals and companies take the initiative (like a farmer researching online how to make his growing process more efficient or Intel pledging to connect 1 billion more people to the Internet). The Internet provides a way to transcend the troubles of life in third world countries and enables the user to connect with people and information all over the world (as long as it's not censored by the government). It will not yield immediate results; it will be a gradual shift towards prosperity. The problem is providing these people with Internet access. It will be difficult, but it is certainly not impossible.

MySpace Shipping out to Japan

Apparently, Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. is planning to provide a Japanese version of MySpace but will face stiff competition from the most popular social networking site currently in Japan, Mixi. Mixi has about 8 million users and has a significantly different appearance from MySpace. You can view the original article here. The main difference between the two is said to be representative of the clash of cultures between America and Japan. America's MySpace is known for its flashy and "teen-magazine-like" layouts while Japan's Mixi is known for its clean, organized design. Tony Elison, senior vice president at Viacom International Japan, argues that "In Mixi, it's not all about me. It's all about us." As opposed to MySpace where the dominant impression is that the complete opposite is true. Do you think these differences in design are representative of the different cultures, Japan being viewed as more refined and the U.S. as more flashy and full of teenie-boppers? Or is this view invalid and making a broad generalization that may not neccesarily be true? Just some things to think about.