Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Who IS a journalist?

Who is a journalist? Does anyone even really know?

For many people, a journalist is someone who went to a prestigious communications school, received their communications degree, and has had years of experience at a journalistic institution.

For journalists, a journalist is someone with a certain sense of moral and journalistic integrity who has an innate curiosity about the world and the desire to inform the public of necessary information and to be a part of the fourth estate.

Chris Daly, BU professor, blogged in 2005 that: "Recently, for example, Los Angeles Times media critic David Shaw argued that bloggers should not be considered journalists because they have no experience, they have no editors, and they have no standards."

First of all, who is to say these bloggers have no experience? Many times bloggers are quite experienced journalists who simply do not want to work for the conglomerate media anymore. Blogging is a forum for them to maintain their loyal audience while be able to publish important information free from bias.

Secondly, is there a standard police watching the blogosphere? I think not. If someone is active enough to be blogging frequently about things that actually matter to society, it is most likely they have some sort of standard that they are following.

In a 2005 Slate article, Jacob Weisbergs says that: "Even before the advent of blogging, the issue of who qualified as a journalist was a tricky one. Were the pamphleteers of the American Revolution journalists? Was Mark Twain?...Today, a limitless number of people with no institutional backing can establish themselves as reporters, analysts, or commentators, abide by whatever rules they prefer, find audiences of varying types and sizes, and perhaps even earn a living....These days, freedom of the press is available not just in theory but in practice to an unlimited number of individuals."

Yes, there are endless numbers of bloggers with no education, and no "institutional backing." Yes, they can abide by whatever rules and standards they choose.

BUT- this is the epitome of freedom of the press: the ability for a person with an innate curiosity and journalistic integrity to discover and disseminate news to the masses in an unbiased way.

So, I ask you. Who is a journalist?


Thursday, February 17, 2011

History Truly Does Repeat Itself

On July 13th, 2009 the Huffington Post reported that the Chinese government, in reaction to the deadly riots that broke out in Xinjiang, shut down the internet and mobile phone service, blocked Twitter and its Chinese equivalent Fanfou, deleted updates and video from social networking sites, and offered traditional journalists the opportunity to come into the area.

Amazingly, this article proves that history truly does repeat itself. Not only in the case of Iran, but more recently in Egypt, where all technology communication was shut down as tensions rose between the masses and the government.

Huffington has a good point when she says that you don't have to be where the action is to bear witness to what is going on. At the same time, you could be right in the midst of all the action and the turmoil and "fail to bear witness."

There is something to be said for independent and "new technology" media that the government feels threatened enough by their coverage of certain events that they completely and totally destroy their access. Clearly, these independent journalists are pushing the envelope.

The question is, why would China have prevented this new media but allowed in the traditional media?

They thought they could spin the traditional media news.

Earth to China: once something goes online, it is there forever, no matter how hard you try to delete it. The second something goes viral, everyone knows about it. There is no spinning independent media.


Monday, February 14, 2011

A breeding ground for disinformation?

Any news article that contains the phrase "roundly denounced the Web as a breeding ground for disinformation" is cause for concern.

The article "As Web Challenges French Leaders, They Push Back" in the New York Times, discusses the lawsuit brought against a 50 year old woman who published a comment about an apparent lie a member of the ministry said.

It is never as apparent that in America we have so much internet freedom than when we compare it to foreign countries. For example, Nicholas Sarkozy "receives a nightly report detailing the day's online chatter." Well, if you ask me, this is just absurd. First of all, the entire purpose of the media, corporate or not, is to be the fourth estate, the watchdog, the check that balances every other check. With this institution, they are dissolving the the watch dog media down to obedient lap dogs.

Probably the most infuriating part of this article is the quote: "“The Internet is a danger for democracy,” said Jean-François Copé, parliamentary chief for the governing party, the Union for a Popular Movement, in a recent radio interview."

There are no words to describe how ignorant this statement is. Further, there is a quote in the story about how the transparency of the media is the "beginnings of totalitarianism." Absurdity.

This society, this world as a whole, NEEDS the media, independent or otherwise. The sole purpose of the media is to watch out for its citizens. While I will wholeheartedly agree with the school of thought that corporate media is entirely biased and not performing as it should, I will go ahead and say that we are ever so luck to have so many independent media outlets who still understand the true purpose of why journalism exists. It is these outlets that will save our democracy.

Sorry, Mr. Sarkozy, you're going to have to get used to transparency.


Thursday, February 10, 2011

Leap Frog Journalism

In this world of fast-paced, high speed everything, tensions are rising between the old media and the new in the epic battle of the corporate ladder climber versus the instant celebrity.

Throughout history, climbing the journalistic ladder from copy editor to reporter/writer to editor was the just the "way it was done." No one questioned it and journalists accepted that they would have to work their way up in order to become somebody. Flash forward to the time of bloggers and citizen journalism, and you have yourself a whole new ball game. No longer do journalists have to pay their dues and bide their time in order to be a recognized reporter. They simply set up a blog, publish their opinion and wait for the moment when they will blow up on the independent journalism scene.

Once they do, tensions rise and the competition between old media and new media flares up again.

A perfect example of this "citizen journalism over takes old media" phenomenon is the story of Tavi Gevinson, the 13-year-old author of the blog Style Rookie. In true rags-to-riches style, this little blogger has exploded on the fashion journalism scene, and ruffling a few feathers along the way. Given front row seats at the fashion shows of Marc Jacobs, Rodarte, and many others, Gevinson is not making many friends in the traditional media. For those who have work 20-plus years to secure those seats, the fact that this little girl has leap frogged her way into their position does not sit well.

For those of us who are looking towards independent media as an outlet for our journalistic talents, this is just the pick-me-up we need. For all those times that we are told there is no future in traditional media, there are ten times as many opportunities to create our own media. We simply have to look "up" to bloggers like Gevinson for inspiration.

Who knew that one day you would be able to leap frog your way through (and in some ways defeat) corporate journalism? What a great day.