Journalism 'Next'

Image from www.thompsonfoundation.org

Since the inception of the world wide web in 1991, its popularity has grown immensely over the years, and has exploded in the last ten. It has changed the way people receive and send information, shop, research, network and much more;moreover, it has changed the face of journalism, allowing professionals and amateurs alike to post their content almost immediately to the world wide web, which also allows for instant access to a large reader audience.



In regards to journalism, it has also changed the way current and future journalists do their job. Breaking news can now be posted within minutes of the occurence, and can be linked to many networking sites in which the vast public can have access to. Applications such as Google Reader and Twitter are part of the immense Mark Briggs coined 'Journalism 2.0' movement. These sites allow people to subscribe to their favorite news sites (via RSS delivered feeds in Google Reader) or subscribe, or 'follow' various entities (whether they be singular celebreties, politicians, or news organizations such as The L.A Times, N.Y Times, Edmontion Journal, etc;) via Twitter and receive instanteous updates from whomever they are 'following' on Twitter. Journalists can also keep readers informed by having their own blogs, as well as maintaing a strong web prescense so that they can develop a sort of 'brand'. This helps to build a solid credibility online, directing more reader's eyeballs towards their own content as opposed to other 'fluff' on the internet.

Technoligical advances such as the iPhone, and other alike 'smart' phones are also a big addition to the working journalist's tool bag. Reporters caught unprepared in the middle of a breaking story can quickly use their iPhone, for example, to capture a news scene on video, edit it, post it to their respective news sites for people to read and view, all within minutes. Having tools like these can allow for immediate news consumption, making it truly as 'new' as possible, for it can be posted within mere minutes of something happening, increasing newsworthiness and relevance. People can also access applications on such phones anywhere, anytime, anyplace (service permitting) to gather news and other relevant information, making journalism as a whole a much more instantaneous process.

In a recent example, reporters and journalists are on scene at Port-au-Prince where mutliple, devestating earthquakes have occured, is documented by reporters using nothing but their iPhone, capturing as much news as possible, and posting it online within mere minuteres for people to view. Here's the link to the story: http://www.capmac.org/iphonesig/?p=3112

Video was also shot by the reporter, aiding in helping to tell a story, using visuals, which is another aspect of Journalism 2.0, along with anything else that helps tell a story, apart from the paper its written on or the blog its located in. It can be visuals ,audio, video, interactive flash sites, and much, much more. All of this is located on the Internet, and as technology progresses the access to the Internet is becoming much more widespread and accessible. With people being able to access the web just about anywhere, anytime from their mobile phones or computers, journalism is being taken to a new level as both reporter and reader can both upload and access information in a much more intuitive and dynamic interface. As the internet is made more and more accessible, and the devices that harness the power of the internet made more attainable, the face of journalism, news gathering and news consumption is changing as rapidly as the news that happens. The line between citizen journalist and career journalist continues to blur, but solid writing will still be the basis of all the writing that is out there, and will seperate the casual reporter from the serious career journalist.