3.1 INFORM ME! NEWS MEDIA

SUMMARIES FROM THE READINGS

In Christopher Harper’s Journalism in a digital age, he explores the media in the mediums of newspaper, radio, television and internet and discussed how they have all individually defined themselves. The way that these mediums are operated and how they broadcasted the media in differing ways depending on the era are investigated, i.e. Harper notes that this defining moment “means the way which a story or an event has defined a specific medium or brand name” (Harper, C. 2003). This article goes on to give examples of how these mediums have defined themselves such as print journalism, and its defining moment being the Vietnam War or Watergate.

I enjoyed Harpers depiction of media as one that “emphasizes specific events, ideas and social values” and Harper writes that the media “does not determine what one thinks, but rather what one thinks about”. This simple definition reflects itself in all types of media, whether that be print, radio, television or internet media.

Harper makes a point that the internet is giving more power to the amateur online journalist to produce and be in control of the way they view of news and media. I have drawn upon an example using CNN later in this assignment.

Harpers article from 2003 quotes statistical information stating that only 2% of American users gain their news sources from online methods. In 2010 a simple search of the internet revealed that approximately 61% of Americans get some form of their news via online methods (CNN Tech. 2010). Interestingly what is not noted in Harpers article is the references to social networking and the impact of this on the news and journalistic practices. CNN Tech notes that “Social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter have made news a more participatory experience. People share links to news stories by e-mail, post articles on their Facebook and other networking feeds and tweet them on Twitter” (CNN Tech. 2010).

Online media is impacting how offline business performs. An example of this is the shift from offline media to the new online format. Areas such as advertising, which print media, TV and radio etc rely on for survive, could cut back or abandon these formats to shift to the online medium. This will impact on the profit of the organisations and therefore potentially whether publications/newspapers are printed or radio/television shows produced.

In exploring differing media news sites including the examples given in this module, I drew on the case in point of Cable News Network (CNN) which I highlighted in my MED104 assignment 2 (Roberts, D. 2010). From its beginnings in 1980 as the worlds first 24 hours news organisation (www.turner.com. 2010), CNN has transformed and bridged the divide between both traditional cable television media, and online media at www.cnn.com, whilst still allowing each media format to remain credible and up to date in their own sphere of influence. As I noted in my earlier writings I discovered that “both media formats actively work together to cross promote media in the many differing formats, readily encouraging both users and producers to collaborate” (Roberts, D. 2010).

CNN has embraced user generated content to make this one of the most up to date media news services in the world. I drew upon the example of CNN’s iReport (http://ireport.cnn.com/ 2010) in “that offers users the ability to contribute to the news and to take part in the news to help shape what CNN covers and how” (Roberts, D. 2010).