I was unable to attend the lecture by Katherine Fong; however I did take a look at Beatblogging.org to learn a little bit about the practice. The idea is to determine how valid and influential social networking and other web based tools can be in contributing to a reporters beat. Beat bloggers have been successful at getting their readers to help them further a story.
I find that Beat bloggers are even more important at the community level. It is an interesting idea that every day people can help contribute to the news. It shows how the web helps bring people together and deliver information.
On latimes.com there is a story about homeowners that are being scammed by individuals claiming to be bank officials and saying that they can stop their houses from being foreclosed. This article is an example of a story that could benefit from beat blogging. If citizens banned together they could spread the word of warning preventing others from being a victim. In addition, it is an example of a way that social networks and web tools can be used to stop criminal activity. If the news spread about the scam, those behind the scam may stop.
If citizens continue to actively participate in the news it will be more likely for news corporations to target their audience. You have to know who your public is in order to provide them with the information that they want and need. Beat blogging is a really good way for the public to get involved and stay engaged with the news.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Witnessing History
I don't believe there was a media outlet that failed to provide commentary on yesterday's historical events. Numerous outlets included up to the minute coverage, maps of the parade route in Washington and news feeds from spectators. The innovative way of covering this empowering, historical event were rather impressive -- in fact you can say that the use of various multimedia to broadcast the inauguration is historical in and of itself.
In class we took a look at the interactive tools that CNN, MSNBC, New York Times and Yahoo! had to offer in covering the inauguration. We argued that the New York Times, as a whole had better coverage of the inauguration and other news as well.
Looking back, I wanted to see what The New York Times would cover today and compare that to the LA Times. I believe both our strong online media outlets, however I am still partial to the New York Times.
The current main story for the LA Times is about Obama and the policies that he is putting in place on his first day. On the other hand, the main story on NY Times' page currently is Caroline Kennedy's decision to decline the position as NY Senator. Obviously, for New York readers this is more important and newsworthy. I applaud the NY Times for ranking stories in order of their potential relevance to their local readership. I see the overall relevance of the Obama story, which NY Times has as their second main story and I understand why LA has it as their main story. My only concern is that other more local news might be taking a back seat to the news and excitement of the new President.
This is not to say that there should be less coverage of the changes happening in American government because I am truly excited to witness what is to come in American politics. In addition, I am interested in seeing how the news continues to handle and cover Obama's presidency. I wonder if, unlike Bush, Obama will continue to receive praise and admiration from the media not because he is making history, but because he has good policies and procedures-- one can only hope.
In class we took a look at the interactive tools that CNN, MSNBC, New York Times and Yahoo! had to offer in covering the inauguration. We argued that the New York Times, as a whole had better coverage of the inauguration and other news as well.
Looking back, I wanted to see what The New York Times would cover today and compare that to the LA Times. I believe both our strong online media outlets, however I am still partial to the New York Times.
The current main story for the LA Times is about Obama and the policies that he is putting in place on his first day. On the other hand, the main story on NY Times' page currently is Caroline Kennedy's decision to decline the position as NY Senator. Obviously, for New York readers this is more important and newsworthy. I applaud the NY Times for ranking stories in order of their potential relevance to their local readership. I see the overall relevance of the Obama story, which NY Times has as their second main story and I understand why LA has it as their main story. My only concern is that other more local news might be taking a back seat to the news and excitement of the new President.
This is not to say that there should be less coverage of the changes happening in American government because I am truly excited to witness what is to come in American politics. In addition, I am interested in seeing how the news continues to handle and cover Obama's presidency. I wonder if, unlike Bush, Obama will continue to receive praise and admiration from the media not because he is making history, but because he has good policies and procedures-- one can only hope.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Mobile News
So, I just went to http://www.google.com/mobile/default/news.html#utm_campaign=en&utm_source=hussnw&utm_medium=ha&utm_term=mobile%20phone%20news&dc=gh0snw
to get News on my Blackberry. Despite the simplicity of the process I have to wonder how often I will use this new feature. I have to say that I find it thrilling and practical...after all my phone can do everything (I seriously love my Blackberry) so why can't I easily search Google News on the device..? Well, now I can. But will I?
I already get all of my emails, organize my life, navigate through unknown places, send and receive texts, go on facebook, play games...and of course make and receive calls on my phone...but read the news? I can't say that I have. Sometimes I enjoy the, dare I say, simplicity, of using the computer for certain things and using my phone for others but technology has fused the two so easily. While I was abroad I saved myself thousands of dollars making calls to my boyfriend via Skype on my laptop after the initial shock of my cell phone bill from my first few weeks of my foreign immersion. Afterall, if a computer can act as a phone, I guess I don't see why a phone can't act as a computer.
To be honest, I see great beauty in the joining of technologies. However, I must say that I have uttered a sigh or two of annoyance when the notification of emails on my phone far out numbers my texts. But I suppose being a card carrying member of the millennial generation forces me to welcome yet another opportunity to multi-task.
to get News on my Blackberry. Despite the simplicity of the process I have to wonder how often I will use this new feature. I have to say that I find it thrilling and practical...after all my phone can do everything (I seriously love my Blackberry) so why can't I easily search Google News on the device..? Well, now I can. But will I?
I already get all of my emails, organize my life, navigate through unknown places, send and receive texts, go on facebook, play games...and of course make and receive calls on my phone...but read the news? I can't say that I have. Sometimes I enjoy the, dare I say, simplicity, of using the computer for certain things and using my phone for others but technology has fused the two so easily. While I was abroad I saved myself thousands of dollars making calls to my boyfriend via Skype on my laptop after the initial shock of my cell phone bill from my first few weeks of my foreign immersion. Afterall, if a computer can act as a phone, I guess I don't see why a phone can't act as a computer.
To be honest, I see great beauty in the joining of technologies. However, I must say that I have uttered a sigh or two of annoyance when the notification of emails on my phone far out numbers my texts. But I suppose being a card carrying member of the millennial generation forces me to welcome yet another opportunity to multi-task.
Ethics and Credibility
The topics of ethics and credibility can, in part, be explored by looking at the layout and construction of each site. By examining how the site illustrates the difference between news and opinion, news and advertising, how it handles anonymous material, whether or not comments are monitored or if links run rampant and how errors and corrections are handled the audience can determine the care and responsibility the creators put into the web page.
I think it's fair to say that the difference between news and opinion is more difficult on blog pages. Blogs are meant to provide the audience with the opinion of the author, however, some blogs also provide the audience with news. For example blogs such as Pajamas Media, Think Progress, Latino Politico and Jack&Jill all provide their readers with posts that are directly related to relevant news. Yet, contained within each post is the opinion of the author. At times the opinion is subdued but at other times the author is extremely forthcoming with their thoughts. Check out http://pajamasmedia.com/ and look through the posts to determine which ones push their own opinion.
Mainstream news sites such as NY Times and the LA Times have distinct sections separating what is news and what is opinion much like they do in the hard copy of the paper. This limits any confusion. A reader knows for certain which article is a news article and which is an opinion article.
Nytimes.com, for example, separates the opinions from regular news with a box around the blue linked articles labeled OPINION. The Opinion page has the word "opinion" marked at the very top.
In regards to comments, all of the pages seem to include an opportunity for individuals to post comments. This contributes to the interactivity of the web page and the Internet as a whole. In terms of monitoring, I believe that would be handled on an internal level. I can not determine if the page monitors delete obscene or inappropriate comments but I imagine that they do so. Freedom of Speech is not dead, however, when a company's name is on a site, I imagine that they feel responsible on some level for what is displayed throughout the site...this includes comments posted by readers.
Ads can often be a problem on web pages. The sites must have advertisers in order to pay for the matinenance of the web page. The LA Times provides ads at the very bottom of the article in a box labeled "Ads By Google." In this way, readers aren't overwhelmed by ads that sit in the middle of the screen or clutter up the side of the page. Ads can be distracting; however, the LA Times seems to have devised a plan to rid their readers of ad overload.
Each site has different ways of handling certain aspects that contribute to thier over all credibility. These tactics differ from web page to web page; however I have found that these web pages are true to their name. A blog produces opinionated content, a main stream news site focuses on news but provides their audience with articles of all types (just what you would and should expect from a newspaper).
I think it's fair to say that the difference between news and opinion is more difficult on blog pages. Blogs are meant to provide the audience with the opinion of the author, however, some blogs also provide the audience with news. For example blogs such as Pajamas Media, Think Progress, Latino Politico and Jack&Jill all provide their readers with posts that are directly related to relevant news. Yet, contained within each post is the opinion of the author. At times the opinion is subdued but at other times the author is extremely forthcoming with their thoughts. Check out http://pajamasmedia.com/ and look through the posts to determine which ones push their own opinion.
Mainstream news sites such as NY Times and the LA Times have distinct sections separating what is news and what is opinion much like they do in the hard copy of the paper. This limits any confusion. A reader knows for certain which article is a news article and which is an opinion article.
Nytimes.com, for example, separates the opinions from regular news with a box around the blue linked articles labeled OPINION. The Opinion page has the word "opinion" marked at the very top.
In regards to comments, all of the pages seem to include an opportunity for individuals to post comments. This contributes to the interactivity of the web page and the Internet as a whole. In terms of monitoring, I believe that would be handled on an internal level. I can not determine if the page monitors delete obscene or inappropriate comments but I imagine that they do so. Freedom of Speech is not dead, however, when a company's name is on a site, I imagine that they feel responsible on some level for what is displayed throughout the site...this includes comments posted by readers.
Ads can often be a problem on web pages. The sites must have advertisers in order to pay for the matinenance of the web page. The LA Times provides ads at the very bottom of the article in a box labeled "Ads By Google." In this way, readers aren't overwhelmed by ads that sit in the middle of the screen or clutter up the side of the page. Ads can be distracting; however, the LA Times seems to have devised a plan to rid their readers of ad overload.
Each site has different ways of handling certain aspects that contribute to thier over all credibility. These tactics differ from web page to web page; however I have found that these web pages are true to their name. A blog produces opinionated content, a main stream news site focuses on news but provides their audience with articles of all types (just what you would and should expect from a newspaper).
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Overview of my Intentions
This blog was created for an Online Journalism class at Santa Clara University. Over the next 8 weeks I will be analysing the way news is presented online.
I will be using mainstream news websites such as the NY Times, LA Times as well as news blogs such as Pajama's Media and Think Progress and finally community blogs such as Latino Politico and JackandJill. I will compare and contrast these different mediums in order to give myself and my audience an idea of what type of news is available to us on the Internet.
In class we discussed the criteria that qualifies a website as a News blog, Community news blog, or a mainstream news site. Similarly, we came up with a set of expectations that we, as news consumers, have for these various sites. In my personal exploration of online news pages I will examine the quality of information presented, the variety of topics that each site covers and the style of the web page as a whole.
With my observations I hope to become a stronger interpreter of news, a better writer and a more well informed citizen.
Keeping these goals in mind, I would first like to touch upon the issue of accuracy. As individuals coming to the news, we expect that what is being published in quality publications will be truthful and unbiased. We can expect that professional journalists will have found credible sources and shined a truthful light on the subject matter. However, with the introduction of the Internet there are many people that can report was is "news." Therefore, it is important to do research of our own, and shine a critical eye on what is fact and what is opinion.
Blogs, I think it is fair to say, are often biased and/or opinionated. If I am doing this well, my entries should have a level of opinion --for the sake of keeping things interesting if for nothing else. With this said, I will maintain my own level of accuracy and in-depth analysis and I am welcome to comment and discussion.
~*~
I will be using mainstream news websites such as the NY Times, LA Times as well as news blogs such as Pajama's Media and Think Progress and finally community blogs such as Latino Politico and JackandJill. I will compare and contrast these different mediums in order to give myself and my audience an idea of what type of news is available to us on the Internet.
In class we discussed the criteria that qualifies a website as a News blog, Community news blog, or a mainstream news site. Similarly, we came up with a set of expectations that we, as news consumers, have for these various sites. In my personal exploration of online news pages I will examine the quality of information presented, the variety of topics that each site covers and the style of the web page as a whole.
With my observations I hope to become a stronger interpreter of news, a better writer and a more well informed citizen.
Keeping these goals in mind, I would first like to touch upon the issue of accuracy. As individuals coming to the news, we expect that what is being published in quality publications will be truthful and unbiased. We can expect that professional journalists will have found credible sources and shined a truthful light on the subject matter. However, with the introduction of the Internet there are many people that can report was is "news." Therefore, it is important to do research of our own, and shine a critical eye on what is fact and what is opinion.
Blogs, I think it is fair to say, are often biased and/or opinionated. If I am doing this well, my entries should have a level of opinion --for the sake of keeping things interesting if for nothing else. With this said, I will maintain my own level of accuracy and in-depth analysis and I am welcome to comment and discussion.
~*~
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