Notes on Barons to Bloggers – Confronting Media Power

Lance Knobel, Jay Rosen, Eric Beecher, Guy Rundle, Margo Kingston, Andrew Clark. Introduction by Donald McDonald.

 

Each Nation its Own Free Press

Clear and open communication needed for a democracy.

Press is expanding. Online blogs means everyone can have and “own” their voice. No longer controlled by media corporations. Opinion to the news can come from everywhere.

New kinds of journalism/ press; participatory and mixed media. News as a conversation rather than the public being told what the news is. 

Weblogs – information flows from public to press.

Nullius in verba – Navigating through the New Media Democracy

Nullius in verba “Don’t trust in anyone’s word”

Media becoming more democratic – in voice and style

Current media considers us consumers or observers – with weblogs we are creators.

Four pieces of hardware helping to democratise media; blogs, wiki’s (e.g wikipedia), Google and RSS (Really Simple Syndication) where news feeds can be constructed from content on a website.

The internet provides numerous sources and while not all are intelligent and informative we can choose which we listen to and recommend to others.

Personalised media – you decide what news you want and configure your own newspaper updates. May be a dangerous ideal as it limits your knowledge of the wider world and in turn limits the stories that are produced as there are not enough people who are interested in them.

“Young people no longer need to see a need to keep up with the news”, David Mindich. They construct their own worlds through their interests and needs. Tool managers rather than tool users.

The End of Serious Journalism

Media has entered unexplored territory. Technology has provided a new platform and society now wants a new message. 

Society is no longer a consumer of media but a creator. Daily newspapers are no longer in control of news and opinions. Shifting balance of power between bloggers and mainstream media. 

Internet provides speed of delivery but how does this affect investigative, reflective, discursive journalism?

New business models needed to sustain journalism as we know it.

The Future of Fair Dinkum Journalism