Next Monday, Russell Brown is coming to talk to us. As I said, Russell writes an influential blog (http://publicaddress.net/hardnews), presents Media7 on TVNZ7 which is a media analysis programme and in addition, runs Public Address radio a Sunday night programme on Radio Live.
By chance (and reflecting the importance of the news story), Russell has written in this week's blog about the meltdown of the Murdoch empire. So lot's of issues relevant to our class coming up.
For Week 2, please read the assigned readings (Bird, Flew, Rusbridger and Allan) but also Russell's post on Murdoch (http://publicaddress.net/hardnews/). Be prepared to discuss in class what the central argument about the impact of "network society" is on traditional journalism and also speak from your cultural perspectives whether this debate is relevant to you.
I'm going to be easy on you this coming week. Just one thing for you to blog here:
a) What I would like you to do is post below a discussion on how YOU get your news -- is it through newspapers, television, online, through the blogosphere, FB or all of the above?
Am going to do a test. A student said he had posted a comment but it had failed to publish.
ReplyDeleteAnother test by Annie
ReplyDeleteand again
ReplyDeleteI get my news from all the above. Although it is highly dependent on time and geographical factors. For instance, when I am outside, i will either buy a newspaper or just read it off my iPad news apps or my iPhone news apps. And when I am at home I will just watch the news on tv.
ReplyDeletea) I also get my news from all the above. However, I happen to rely on three main sources on a day-to-day basis: www.tvnz.co.nz and FB (online), ONE News at 6 (television), and Newstalk ZB (radio). I also find myself uploading various sporting and celebrity news links onto my FB page for my friends and family who don't necessarily have the time to flick through websites to find out the latest sporting and/or celebrity news for example. Although I get my news feeds on the TVNZ website throughout the day, I still enjoy watching the 6pm news on ONE obviously to get the full scope on articles that I've read online as well as any breaking news that may come in during the bulletin. Lastly, I always find myself going to bed listening to overnight talk back on Newstalk ZB because any news items or issues that I may have missed throughout the day are normally raised and I like to feed off the opinions of fellow listeners of the show. Breaking news stories are also broadcasted throughout the night so I find radio as still being an important source of information and communication in receiving news on a day-to-day basis.
ReplyDeleteI second Joe and Sio. I get the Herald at home and those news items that intrigue me I look it up online to get a more complete view. Curiously I find that reading newspapers and watching television (the conventional forms of news reporting) does not satisfy me anymore. I simply have to visit news websites, blogs and newsfeeds to satiate my thirst for information. Also the timeliness of Twitter ensures that it always is my first port of call for international news.
ReplyDeleteI think one of the major reason why I use online news sources is because of the fact that i can instantly forward, comment and share it with other people on social networking sites. Traditional news sources such as newspaper does not provide that sort of instant and up to date feel in comparison to online news sources. And I think online news are a good way to see how people react over a particular piece of news with the comment tab down the bottom.
ReplyDeleteIn regarding to watching news on tv and reading newspaper, the whole process to me is more like I am a passive reader where I get spoon fed with all these information and have no control over the content myself, and I have not been given the chance to express my view instantaneously to the particular piece of news item.
And given thenfact that we actually have to be at certain place (news stand to buy newspaper and etc) and time( home before 6 or 10 to watch the news) to be able to get news, Internet news sources are more favorable and desirable with the widespread technology such as wi-fi and 3G. ( at least for me)
I think the forward, comment and share tabs benefit us immensely in circulating breaking/news stories on social networking sites.
ReplyDeleteImmediacy and easy accessibility to news is a huge factor here - we are anxious to recieve news, anxious to give our views on it and equally anxious to share it. 'Impatience' is what characterizes us and the online environment largely facilitates this need. So in a sense we all engage in some form of citizen journalism or another courtesy of blogs, facebook and twitter.
ReplyDeleteSpot on Aalia!
ReplyDeleteI receive a lot of news, strangely enough, from music-related message boards. I first heard about the NOTW scandal from a message board post titled, "Murdoch is getting a kicking right now." Due to the fact that I've been frequenting this message board for years (www.strangefamousrecords.com/forum) and have become familiar with all the regular posters, I know immediately which posts will have some actual substance and which ones will just be filler.
ReplyDeleteFor most entertainment news, I go to The A.V. Club (http://www.avclub.com/). It's written in a very humourous way, which makes it quite easy to read.
I do go to the CNN website regularly, just because it was my preferred choice in the states, but I believe I should check the Herald more often now to have a better grasp of what's going on locally.
I tried to post a comment here yesterday but I see that it has gone. Not too sure what happened there but I agree with the majority on here. Online sources are the way to go for me. The speed and accessibility are the main reasons as to why I head online (nzherald, stuff) for my daily news. The 6 o'clock news isn't really ideal for me as I'm usually busy.Plus, I find that they are just reiterating facts that I've already read online.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteBasically, I get everyday news online -- fast, easy, convenient, up-to-date, and almost costs nothing if you've already paid your fees for Internet access and devices used for surfing the Internet. Everything you want to know is just one-click-away on this "Information Highway". Moreover, rather than printing things out and using tons of papers and ink every day, getting news online could be a little bit more environment-friendly, I guess, although newspapers are also recyclable.
ReplyDeleteI almost couldn't recall the "old times" that we held a newspaper in hands, smelling fresh printing ink and looking for the latest news with curiosity. Facing big challenges from digital media and more flexible ways of news reporting, newspapers/magazines really have a hard time these days. It is sad to say that newspapers today are used mainly for other purposes such as wrapping things up, but it is true, at least for some people. Personally, I don't have the desire to pay for newspapers any more since I can find everything on the Internet. Last year, I could get free newspapers every week in the campus of my university, but I never really read them. They were just sitting in my room and waited to be recycled.
However, it is interesting to think about the relation between online and traditional news reporting...
(To be continued...)
(Further to my post above)
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting to think about the relation between online and traditional news reporting. Loads of websites still use newspapers as reliable sources of news. It is a temporary phenomenon, or things just work that way? If traditional news coverage media really disappears, could those websites run their business of news reporting completely on their own? Or, should I say, if websites could report news 100% by themselves without any kinds of support from traditional media, would newspapers disappear in the future? Lots of newspapers nowadays put their news coverage online, so when we check the latest news on their websites, are we getting news online or just reading the newspaper in a different way? I believe they're interesting questions to be looked at and discussed.
Sorry I'm a little off topic. I guess I just get excited easily when sharing my ideas with others. My apology and I am going back to the topic.
Although I think getting news online it's the best option, I should admit that there're also certain risks/difficulties. Back in where I came from, strong Internet control/monitoring, web filtering/blocking, or online censorship are applied. Some politically sensitive news, no matter domestic or overseas, are banned or "partial banned". Let alone Facebook, Twitter, and some other websites which can be used by citizen journalists have been banned for years in my country.
(To be continued...)
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete(Further to my post above)
ReplyDeleteJoe said "online news are a good way to see how people react over a particular piece of news with the comment tab down the bottom", but in some of our webpages, you just couldn't find that "comment tab", or it's no longer available after one or more "politically incorrect" comments has been posted. That's typical self-censorship and that's what I mean when I mentioned "partial banned" -- you can read the news, but you can't discuss it with others online.
When you turn to Internet and think you could find out what's really happening at home and abroad, sometimes you still find nothing. Under this circumstance, some advantages of online news coverage no longer exist, if you can't figue out something from TV/radio/newspaper, you could not do it online either.
Here my point is, at least in some countries and areas, getting news online is still not good enough for everyone. Maybe you could get your news faster on the Internet, but what you get is almost the same with what you could get from TV or newspaper, and sometimes you can't talk about it or get to know others' opinions on the Internet. Some Online social networks can be regarded as good news sources for us and wonderful places to exchange our thoughts, but dut to some factors, sometimes they don't work well. I enjoy getting my news online, but I think it would be better if we could come up with some ideas to make sure it works well anywhere for anyone.
I talked too much. Sorry. >_<
I don't know if I'm a huge fan of the comments section on news websites. I find that they're filled with mostly uninformed opinions and failed attempts at humour. I know participatory journalism is here to stay, so I'm learning to deal with it. I do find gems of knowledge every now and then. I guess it's just a matter of sifting through the nonsense to get to the intelligent remarks.
ReplyDeleteMy sentiments exactly, Ed! Seeing 2,880 comments for a particular news item just defeats me. I guess online participatory culture is a double edged sword.
ReplyDeleteI agreed that the comment tab is not that useful most of the time. But I do like the option of having a designated space for people to express their perspectives. It might not be useful at all time but nevertheless, it is a form of participatory expression, and sometimes a good way to exchange ideas as well. But like what Aalia said, too many comments under one tab is not going to be enjoyable to scroll through. I think participatory journalism is not just about ordinary citizen writing their perspectives on news and hot button issues, but it is a reciprocate process, where the reader also participate and respond to the piece of news.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Joe. I think a key fature of participatory media culture is the interactive process: how readers/viewers response to news content and how they interact with each other. Comments section could be interesting or boring, that depends. But it does provide one more option for netizens' participation. Of course not every comment helps with developing a new idea or "finding gems of knowledge" (like Ed said), but it would be quite disappointing if you can't find a comment tab after a piece of news.
ReplyDeleteIt becomes more apparent how useful a comments section can be when reading through a thread on publicaddress.net. The comments are civil and insightful, and they enhance the perspective of the main topics being discussed. I frequent many sites where there is no sense of community, which is clearly not the case with Public Address, so naturally my views of participatory culture may be slightly cynical. There are clearly positive aspects that I would definitely enjoy seeing more often.
ReplyDeleteGreat lively conversations all -- good to see. I think Public Address is an interesting and progressive model and Russell combines the best of traditional journalism within the online environment. I'm someone who is "time poor" so find it hard enough to keep up with comments.
ReplyDeleteNext stop though film culture, so I will post discussion questions shortly.
Ka kite ano
Bingo，I can post comments by installing firefox, I am so sorry for my late
ReplyDeleteIn my habit , I prefer to get news via internet ,both official media and SNS,you know ,in China ,the message is not always totally true from the official media ,so for me ,I always put all news and comments from official and SNS and put them togerther.
ReplyDelete