ALJ301

This is (hopefully) a temporary blog entry. I haven’t been able to access the reading, so I’ll write a short piece on the Week 3 lecture here and then update it if I can read the e-reading.

I love the metaphor that journalists are moving from fact hunting to data gathering. It makes one visualise a bunch of journalists searching for the facts they need, until more and more information appears and they are swamped.

A common issue most journalism lecturers at Deakin have voiced is that many journalists now spend more time at their desks than out on the job. The figures in the lecture stated that the BBC established a user-generated content desk in July 2005, and in half a month was receiving 10 000 emails, SMS and pieces of video per day.

Citizen journalism is taking over the world. Various media outlets are using new ways to interact with the public and judge public opinion (E.g. an online or SMS poll, online newsletter.) The internet and mobiles are opening new outlets for people to communicate and express opinions.

I was interested to read the OhMyNews International Code of Ethics. They were similar to the journalism codes, and the ‘rules’ listed were similar to what a freelance journalist must follow.

I think the big question now is, do you want to be the person behind the desk ‘data gathering’, or the one ‘fact hunting’?

I enjoy reading the newspaper. I love reading books and papers – anything in hard copy.

Media convergence is unstoppable. The e-reading states, ‘Convergence offers a way to satisfy… to reach multiple audiences.’ The younger generation today are able to access news fast and easily, and the speeds of the internet are only increasing.

I see media convergence like this:

Pros.

• Easy access (e.g. one company website supplies all types of media).
• Quicker access
• Audiences can pick and choose what they see/read.

Cons.

• The current generation is creating a busier and more stressful environment for themselves. (No more lazy Saturday or Sunday mornings reading the paper.)
• Traditional ‘newspapers’ are becoming the past. It is generally expected they will eventually disappear.

I’m the type of person who loves both past and present. I love playing with old cameras and reading old style newspapers… but I also love new gadgets. (E.g. I just bought one of the new media phones with a five mega pixel camera.)

The e-reading states that when the Simons family was addressing convergence, they asked, ‘How can we better serve the community?’ (pp. 21). Convergence is suited to the current populations’ information needs. These people want fast and easy, not ink on their fingers.

Welcome to your brand new blog at Edublogs.

To get started, simply log in, edit or delete this post and check out all the other options available to you.

There’s stacks of great supporting material too! Take time to view our some helpful introductory videos, read through our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) or stop by The Edublogs Forums to chat with other edubloggers.

You can also subscribe to our brilliant free publication, The Edublogger, which is jammed with helpful tips, ideas and more.

And finally, if you like Edublogs but want to be able to simply create, administer, control and manage hundreds of student and teacher blogs at your school or college, check out Edublogs Campus… it’s like Edublogs in a box, all for you.

Thanks again for signing up with Edublogs!