My favorite part was probably the YouTube video on social media. I love random facts and that clip was chalk-full of them:) We all know that social media plays a huge part in our lives (and it's influence is growing all the time!) but to see the facts laid out right in front of my nose was pretty cool.
I'm also glad to find out that Wikipedia is mostly accurate:)
I really like trying to visualize the future of journalism. It's something that none of us can really know and no matter how hard we try and how flamboyant our ideas may be, I'm sure in five (or maybe even fewer) years the reality will shock us.
For instance, the clip on reporting crises via texting in Africa was pretty sweet. I like the idea of an interactive type of news where people can look at a map and determine which local news to absorb. I like that as journalists we can put a definite GPS location to our reporting.
I was vastly entertained by the "Smelf smart" video. I sent it to my sociology professor and asked which stage of cognitive development he thinks that guy is in;)
We did discuss citizen journalism and the affect it is having on "proper" journalistic practices. It's difficult to make assumptions about how we think citizen journalism will increase/continue to change/and impact news. As journalists I guess we just have to learn to embrace their strategies and use them to our advantage:) We will continue to provide accurate, truthful information to the masses and hope that the public will be voracious enough to select the information they need to make informed decisions.
I feel group two did a good job of presenting the information; we had discussion, excellent quotes, and entertaining videos to add variety. They seemed to try and shed a positive light on the future of journalism, perhaps so we don't have to feel hopeless about the field we are entering into:)
As to what level of development Mr. "Smelf Smart" was in... I think it's the same one I'm in when all my tests and papers are due the same week :P You know, lining up all those jail interviews must make for a pretty stressful life :)
ReplyDeleteI love all this talk about citizen journalists, because I feel like that's who we are--currently. I know that most citizen journalists don't have aspirations to become actual journalists, but they want the same thing we want-- a world where information is provided in mass quantity, just waiting for someone to care.
Citizen Journalists have definitely thrown us for a loop. I'm sure we all imagined that we would be writing for the rest of our lives, using words to convince and inform people, inspiring teenagers to swarm to news stands for more reason than a quiz. Instead, we face a callous nation that expects us to work cameras and websites. They see us as pests-- evil minions that want to throw fact into their idealized worlds. But I guess that's our challenge. We have to find a way to inspire them, find a way to change their minds.
Easier said than done, eh?