Kenneth Harwood seems to have a romanticised view of journalism in this piece.  It seems that journalism cannot be taught or learnt and it is only possible to nurture skills that are already present.  Journalists can be considered watchdogs for society and uphold their duty to the masses by reporting events and scandals as they happen.  A journalist, in its purest form, does not work for  personal gain and only reports the truth.  Every code of journalistic ethics speaks of honesty in reporting.  It is possible to see journalists who go that extra mile in order to report what needs to be reported.  For example, journalists in war zones are putting themselves in highly dangerous situation everyday in order for the masses to know of what is going on.  This does not seem like the kind of job that someone does simply because they can, they have to have a love for their job and a love for journalism in order to place themselves in this position.

An enquiring mind and a hunger for news and truth are all important elements for a journalist.  Blogger, Lianne McKoewn, disagress with this in part and says that journalists have to have an initial talent but its a career that is part nature and part nuture.  She states that potential cannot be realised until they are brought out in the person with additional training.

The Online Journalism Review deals with all aspects of the world of online journalism.  Robert Niles is a regular contributor and argues that the age old code of ethics laid out for the traditional media are the same ethics that modern journalists in online journalism should adhere to.  His article, What are the Ethics of Online Journalism?, states clearly a few simple and basic rules that should be stuck to.

• No plagiarism:  In more simple terms, don’t steal others work.

• Disclose, disclose, disclose:  Tell your readers how you got your information.

• No gifts or money for coverage:  Don’t accept money from sources and don’t ask for it.

• Check it out, then tell the truth:  Truth is the basis for trust in the media.  Help regain dying trust in the industry by being truthful.

• Be honest:  May seem like the same as telling the truth but in this case it can be taken as don’t have ulterior motives and be clear about why you are reporting.

Trust in journalists can always been low and according to this journalist rank even lower than politicians.  Journalists stand at a mere 19% in the trust stakes.  The only journalism that people seem to have in faith in is local journalism.  This may suggest that the type of news coverage is just reaching out to people and people feel alienated from news.  Is there anyway to salvage what is lost.

From the above video it seems that journalists have to go back to grass roots and be reminded of their role in the world.  Perhaps this article, Six Roles or Job Duties of Modern Journalism, should be read by everybody who calls themself a journalist and could act as a reminder of what journalism should be.  According to this, the roles of a journalist are;

• The Ethical Role:  Swifter and more transparent dealings with ethics must be put in place in order for the public to regain any level of faith in journalism.

• The Guide/Filter Role:  This means to guide people to the best news coverage that is out there and take the journalism out of the story.

• The Understanding and Context Role:  Journalists should be able to get the bigger picture across and do so in a way that allows people the best understanding.

• The Conversation Leader Role:  Journalists need to define what it is that makes news and bring about something meaty for readers/viewers/listeners to chew on.

• The Aggregator Role:  Journalists should know as much as possible from as many sources as possible in order to be able to bring their message to the people they serve.

• The Straight News Role:  Journalists have to be able to bring the most important news to the communities they serve as soon as possible.

A list of links to various sites that deal the journalism industry is available here and offers several place to read on new technology and changes and even a few places to go and complain about the job.

10,000 Words is a site that discusses innovative happenings in the industry and feature some articles on technology that has been used to a great advantage in the newsroom.  This video stood out and is a fantastic example of how far we can go to drawing in the most uninterested viewer even just to marvel at the technology.  CNN really raised the bar here to elevate themselves and stand out from a overflowing market.

The Online Journalism Blog is exactly that.  A blog dedicated to the happenings in the world of online journalism.  Blogging about blogging and journalism about journalism perhaps but brings some useful points to the fore.  A similiar site is BeatBlogging which as it claim itself: ‘looks at how journalists can use social networks and other Web tools to improve beat reporting, with an empahsis on “pushing the practice” and spotlighting innovation.’

Television news allows viewers to get accustomed to a familiar face and this enables people to build trust and familiarity.  Newscasters in Ireland are household names and viewership figures that are only beaten by the Late Late Toy Show.

RTE offer viewers the chance to catch up on shows that they missed be they either entertainment or current affairs.  However, as a television licence is necessary in Ireland, access is only available through an Irish IP address.  The same stipulation is in place for the BBC iplayer.

No TV Licence?

IPTV or Internet Protocol Televion is still in its infancy and will take time, effort and money to improve and promote.  In 2008, it was reported that industry expert Neil Anserson said that IPTV is failing to deliver to its customers and that the service will remain a niche product in the markets.

On demand TV though has proven to be rising in popularity.  More and more people are opting to watch television at their own times and when it suits.  Statistics from a survey conducted to examine the viewing habits of people showed some surprising results.  Despite television being the most advanced form of media, people are not fully embracing the technology that is available with a massive 27% of those surveyed still recording using VHS.

The major factors holding back internet TV is the amount of free programming and the quality of the viewing.  It seems that those offering IPTV have a long way to go before IPTV meets the ever increasing standards of the consumer.

Radio broadcasting is no longer confined the ‘wireless’  and content from all over the world is readily available through online streaming.  The difference between the death of traditional print and the death of traditional radio is that radio will still be viable in the future.  The same process will take place but online usage will grow.  If anything listenership should be on the increase.  BBC Radio published its online radio listener figures and it shows just this.

Listener figures

Stateside, online radio usage numbers are growing weekly and rense.com commented on a study done by Arbitron and Edison Research.  The study showed that during a week on April, 17% of Americans aged 12 or over listened online radio which is equal to roughyl 42 million people. With a listernship this large, radio is on the incline and seems to be embracing new technology that is avilable.

The beauty of online radio is that listeners are not confined as they are with a simple AM/FM radio.  Suddenly they can listen to radio from anywhere in the world and with such mass movement of people the facility was never going to be a disaster.  Local news often is neglected with online newspapers with many regional papers not having a website or one that is poorly updated.  Local radio, on the other hand, seems to be well maintained and caters for their catchment.  Irish regional newspapers don’t seem to hold the same internet presence as Irish regional radio.

A list of community radio which broadcasts online show extensive availability.

Traditional print media cannot compete with the interacitivty of their online counterparts.  Discussion debate and argument are available raeadily with other people on many online news services.  It begs to question why someone with an interest in news would bother reading a newspaper and not go online in order to scratch below the surface of a story.

A comment page on the Guardian

Falling sales results in falling revenue from both investment and advertising and many wonder how it can be possible to make money from online journalism.  Subscription may be an option but Google News has started to place advertising on their pages.  Online news can be profitable and newspaper bosses need to realise the window or opportunity open to them.  Newspapers must realise that they too can offer online advertising to those that already advertise on paper.

Many people still prefer traditional print but there are so many arguments for why this practise will inevitably die out.  You cannot carry a laptop with you everywhere you go and if you want to read your paper on the bus online news is not really a option.  Hand held device the Kindle has opened up a world to world to newspapers that was never available before.  Newspapers like the New York Times is available to download to the Kindle and with already well over 10,000 subscriptions at less than $14 a month.  The Kindle could save newspapers once the device becomes as commonplace as an iPod.

The Future?

Could the Kindle replace the newspapers and will it be the same as simply reading off a screen?  Many people blast online news for its lack of ease of reading.  Decide for yourself.

Reading a headline can very often allow the reader to jump to their own conclusion.  Intending to be a teaser for an article many people take the headline as the news itself.  This can happen more often than not with online news and their is just endless amounts that we can read and hunger for news means that we try to consume as much as possible.  However, this can lead to us skimming and scanning articles and infact coming out with less information.  Traditional print media is confined with space thus limiting the amount they publish but cyberspace allowing broken down this barrier.

Online news also brings greater distractions to the reader.  In theory, the more information that is out there, the more we can comsume but in reality it is quiet the opposite.  Text heavy site are easier to click past and a study has revealed that: ‘users will have time to read 28% of the words if they devote all of their time to reading. More realistically, users will read about 20% of the text on the average page.’  The fact is that people will spend more time perceiving the page layout and how to navigate.  It almost seems that as soon as page appears we are trying to find a way to get away from it.

Look how many articles are just a click away and to quote Oscar Wilde, ‘the only way to get rid of temptation is to yield to it.’

How far would you read before you click away?

The New York Times has realised that most people skim online news and has created a prototype to faciliate this form of consumption.  Based on the power of the headline, the New York Times has created the closest online equivalent of having the paper in your hands.  Knowing how to use the facility properly can enhance the productivity of our swift news comsumption.

When it comes to humour writing you would think that the Irish could do this with ease but instead the award for best humour blog went to The Swearing Lady at the Arse End of Ireland.  Call it old fashioned but bad language should not be hailed as humourous.  Does it really earn the accolade when there are more observant, intelligent and genuinely funny blogs out there like this.

Many of the blogs which recieved awards are tales of rambling minds but the news and current affairs blog written by Maman Poulet seems to be well updated and deals with issues that are hot in the news.  With well thought out links and plenty background information offered, the blog is a pleasure to read.  With her A-Z topic list starting with abortion and ending US election, it seems that nothing is really missed.

Shortlisted for Best Blog Post was interestingly enough a post about how to blog.  Beautifully written and down to earth, the post made some excellent and helpful points about the basics of web logging.

For more on Irish blog, this could be worth a look.

For more on the basics of blogging, the video below can help with explaining and understanding things that make a blog work and work well.

]]> http://sabrinaonlinejr.wordpress.com/2009/08/02/whats-the-irish-for-blog/feed/ 0 sabrinaonlinejr blog award http://sabrinaonlinejr.wordpress.com/2009/08/01/twits-everywhere/ http://sabrinaonlinejr.wordpress.com/2009/08/01/twits-everywhere/#comments Sat, 01 Aug 2009 17:35:34 +0000 Sabrina http://sabrinaonlinejr.wordpress.com/?p=17 ]]> A social networking site or a news site?  Both in fact.  Twitter has revolutionised how people use the internet and obtain information.  With the number of users rising by 1382% in just one year (Feb 08 – Feb 09) it makes perfect sense to use it as a medium for news.

Considering the sheer size of the ‘tweeting’ population news organisations can reach a huge audience and people are really catching onto the phenomenon.  With the ability to link Twitter to sites like Facebook means that people need never miss a single piece of news if they so choose.

Twitter has moved from being about the user and their need to tell the world exactly what they are doing at any given moment in time in 140 characters or less.  Instead, Twitter is allowing people to access what is happening anywhere in the world that interests them.  If you want Irish news Twitter provides with the likes of The Irish Times or even more interestingly The Clare People and The Mayo News serving the local aspect of news.  Well almost.

For the lighter side of news, Twitter also hosts tweets from E Entertainment and TMZ.  The fact that you can choose exactly how you use you twitter is what makes it unique.  Buying a newspaper you are buying all the sections…news, sport, entertainment, business, travel etc.  Twitter is like taking a newspaper that caters only for what you want to know and find out about.   Several cases have been made for Twitter claiming that it is an invaluable news source to find out what people are talking about and are interested in.  For instance in this article, Twitter is hailed as extremely useful for sourcing news and also publicising.  The way of the future perhaps.

And what do you know, Twitter makes news itself.