class 05 - cyberjournalism and criticism

Writing for Online Media Professor Nicholas Leshi

Definition of Journalism Journalism is defined as the occupation of reporting, writing, editing, photographing, or broadcasting news or of conducting any news organization as a business.

Journalists “You don’t need a particular degree or license to call yourself a journalist, as you would to call yourself a doctor, (a lawyer), or a psychologist. Instead, you call yourself a journalist if you work as a journalist. Until very recently, that meant that you published your writing in a newspaper (or a magazine) or that you worked in television or radio. Today, this may also mean that you are a blogger.” – Jill Walker Rettberg

History of Journalism 1456 – Johannes Gutenberg invents the movable type printing press that allows for mass printing and distribution of published content. 1594 – the first printed periodical, a publication that is issued at regularly recurring intervals, is distributed in what is now Germany, Mercurius Gallobelgicus, written in Latin.

History of Journalism 1623 – The earliest example of a “news book,” published in 8-to-24 page quarto formats, The Continuation of Our Weekly News, appears regularly in London. 1665 – The first newspaper published in English, the Oxford Gazette (later named the London Gazette), appears in England.

History of Journalism 1702 – The first daily newspaper, the Daily Courant, appears in England. It later merged with the Daily Gazetteer in 1735 and lasted under various names until 1797.

History of Journalism 1721 – The first American colonial newspaper, the New-England Courant, published by James Franklin (Benjamin Franklin’s brother), is distributed. 1729 – A year after moving to Philadelphia, Benjamin Franklin takes over the Pennsylvania Gazette.

History of Journalism 1750 – In the six largest American colonies, 14 weekly newspapers were published, the most popular and successful appearing up to three times a week. 1770s – In 35 American/colonial cities, 89 newspapers were published. 1800 – About 234 newspapers were being published in the United States of America.

History of Journalism Early newspapers were opinionated, blatantly partisan, and openly copied content from other publications. 1791 – First Amendment to the Constitution, protecting freedom of the press and other freedoms, is approved.

History of Journalism 1833 – The Sun, a newspaper in New York, debuts, becoming the first to popularize the idea of “human interest stories,” presenting people and their problems, concerns, or achievements in a way that brings about sympathy in the reader or viewer. Human interest stories are sometimes criticized as "soft" news, or manipulative, sensationalistic programming. The Sun survived until 1950 and was then resurrected in 2002 as TheNew York Sun. It ceased print publication in 2008 , but continues as an online edition at NYSun.com

History of Journalism As American cities like New York, Philadelphia, Boston, and Washington grew with the rise of the Industrial Revolution, so did newspapers. Larger printing presses, the telegraph, and other technological innovations allowed newspapers to print thousands of copies, boost circulation, and increase revenue.

History of Journalism 1835 – The New York Herald, the first publication to fit the description of a modern newspaper, was founded by James Gordon Bennett, Sr. It was the first newspaper to have city staff covering regular beats and spot news, along with regular business and Wall Street coverage. 1838 – For the New York Herald, Bennett organized the first foreign correspondent staff of six men in Europe and assigned domestic correspondents to key cities, including the first reporter to regularly cover Congress.

History of Journalism 1841 – The New York Tribune, the first newspaper to gain national prominence, was founded, edited by Horace Greeley. Within 20 years, it was shipping thousands of copies to other large cities, leading other major newspapers to do the same. 1886 – The New York Tribune began using the linotype machine in its printing process, which rapidly increased the speed and accuracy with which type could be set.

History of Journalism 1851 – The New York Times was founded by George Jones and Henry Raymond (originally as the New-York Daily Times).

History of Journalism Wire services were developed to meet the growing demand for more news stories by urban newspapers whose staff reporters could not keep up with the amount of news their readers were expecting to read. The first was a cooperative between 6 New York-based newspapers that shared coverage of Europe. 1858 – What became the Associated Press received the first transmission ever of European news through the trans-Atlantic cable.

History of Journalism 1871 – A famous example of the emergence of investigative journalism, the New York Herald sent reporter Henry Morton Stanley on an African expedition where he found the missing Professor David Livingstone.

History of Journalism 1887 – James Bennett Gordon, Jr., becomes the first American newspaper publisher to launch a European version, spinning off his New York Herald into the Paris Herald, which would eventually become the International Herald Tribune.

History of Journalism The competition between newspaper owners William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer leads to the development of “yellow journalism,” which relies on eye-catching, headline-grabbing stories rather than well-researched news to attract an audience. 1883 – William Randolph Hearst launches the New York Journal. 1896 – Joseph Pulitzer launches the New York World.

History of Journalism Muckraking, more investigative reporting and greater risks to advance social causes, becomes popular, especially among smaller publications competing with larger dailies. 1865 – The Nation, the oldest continuously published weekly news magazine, is launched. 1914 – The New Republic news magazine debuts. 1923 – Time magazine is founded by Briton Hadden and Henry Luce. 1933 – Newsweek is launched. 1933 – United States News magazine is launched and eventually merges with World Report, which debuted in 1946, to become U.S. News and World Report. 1955 – The Village Voice is launched in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village. 1965 – The Phoenix is launched in Boston.

History of Journalism 1920s – Radio begins competing with print as a mass medium delivering news. 1930s-1940s – Newsreels shown in movie theaters before or after the feature film offer a new, visual view of the news. 1950s - People begin to turn to television for the news. 1970s-1980s – Computers begin to revolutionize how news is gathered and reported.

History of Journalism 1960s-1970s – The power of the press emerges as media impact presidential elections, the civil rights movement, international policy, and other major events.

Modern Concept of Traditional Media “The values that anchored modernity were reflected in journalism: a sense that reality could be observed and documented from an objective viewpoint, an emphasis on constant change and timeliness, and a belief in being able to represent reality accurately.” – Melissa Wall

Birth of Modern Journalism The profession of journalism and our idea of “news” developed as recently as the nineteenth century, becoming a commodity that could be sold and resold.

Evolution of Modern Journalism During the twentieth century, journalism further developed in order to reach the largest number of people. One strategy was that of presenting the news as objective – a detached, neutral report that usually included a counter point of view to any controversy so as to offend the fewest people possible.

Challenges of Modern Journalism In reducing discussions to two binary points of view, alternative perspectives would often disappear. Traditional media became businesses motivated by profit and the need to reach the largest audiences possible, so a gatekeeping system was established to determine what “stories” would be worth printing and broadcasting, limiting the variety of choices available to the usually passive public.

“Although freedom of speech was recognized as an important human right in the twentieth century, in practice only a tiny percentage of the population in twentieth-century democracies could easily share their ideas with more than the people immediately surrounding them.” – Jill Walker Rettberg, Blogging

Emergence of Postmodern Journalism New Media have altered the perception of what journalism can and should be. Classic modern characteristics of journalism are being replaced by postmodernist ideas seen in blogs and other online writing and creation of user-generated content, such as personalization, audience participation in content discussion and creation, and new story forms that are fragmented and interdependent with other stories (whether online or from traditional media).

“The Internet changed one of the greatest obstacles to true freedom of the press by eliminating or greatly reducing the cost of production and distribution. Blogs provide a means of publishing and distributing that is cheap and simple enough for everyone in the Western world to use directly, whether from home, school, the library, or even a mobile phone.” – Jill Walker Rettberg, Blogging

How the Internet Changed Journalism News is less of a commodity.

How the Internet Changed Journalism News can be accessed anywhere.

How the Internet Changed Journalism News can be accessed anytime.

How the Internet Changed Journalism It is easier to provide commentary on the news.

How the Internet Changed Journalism The general public can report the news.

“This new freedom to publish at will has caused journalists and editors to reevaluate the role of mainstream, professional media. As blogs became a familiar genre, the mainstream media began to discuss whether blogging was a threat to journalism and to the media as we have known them throughout the twentieth century. Journalists began to ask a question that kept recurring: Is blogging journalism?” – Jill Walker Rettberg, Blogging

Ways in Which Blogs Intersect with Journalism Blogs can give first-hand reports from ongoing events, whether wars, natural disasters, or crimes.

Ways in Which Blogs Intersect with Journalism Some bloggers set out to tell stories that might just as well have been told by traditional journalists, filling in where mainstream press have failed or provided insufficient coverage. (In some cases, blogs provide independent-minded journalists with a printing press of their own, free of any editor.)

Ways in Which Blogs Intersect with Journalism Many bloggers follow mainstream media and other blogs and filter stories according to their interests, or they carefully monitor every news item about a particular person or issue. These writers are often called filterbloggers or gatewatchers.

Gatekeeping in Traditional Media Traditional media act as gatekeepers of information, a regime of control over what content is allowed to emerge from the production processes in the print and broadcast industries. The controllers of these media control the “gates” through which content is released to their audiences. Gatekeeping effectively keeps traditional journalism a closed process.

Different Stages on Gatekeeping in Traditional Media Input Phase – where news is gathered, only by staff journalists hired by the traditional media outlet

Different Stages on Gatekeeping in Traditional Media Output Phase – where news is published, a closed editorial hierarchy that restricts the content

Different Stages on Gatekeeping in Traditional Media Response Phase – where the audience comments on the news, but there is an editorial selection of which comments to make public, and often tedious hurdles to get comments to reach the appropriate gatekeepers in traditional media

Gatekeepers vs. Gatewatchers The closed system is collapsing in today’s world of participatory media. Bloggers represent a turn, from the gatekeeping that the mass media has traditionally performed, to gatewatching. Mainstream media filters the type of news that professional journalists, producers, and editors deem worthy to publish or broadcast, and now blogs filter the types of traditional news that online writers deem worthy to share, discuss, criticize, and/or build upon.

Traditional Journalists vs. Cyberjournalists Mainstream (print, TV, Radio) New Media (blogs, podcasts, Web video)

Traditional Journalists vs. Cyberjournalists Mainstream Professional Standards New Media Amateur Perception

Traditional Journalists vs. Cyberjournalists Mainstream Professional Training New Media Self-Taught

Traditional Journalists vs. Cyberjournalists Mainstream Career Advancements New Media Personal Interests

Traditional Journalists vs. Cyberjournalists Mainstream Professional Hierarchy New Media Peer Review

Traditional Journalists vs. Cyberjournalists Mainstream Reliability New Media Reputation

Traditional Journalists vs. Cyberjournalists Mainstream Authority New Media Transparency

Traditional Journalists vs. Cyberjournalists Mainstream Objectivity New Media Subjectivity

class 05 - cyberjournalism and criticism