The Editors Weblog

It seems fitting to review The Editors Weblog as my last post for the unit because of its enthusiasm for technology and convergence. Some of the issues that were discussed when I visited the website on 11th October 2008 included newsroom changes, the future model of newspaper journalism and internet advertising.

Just like other blog websites, blog entries can be searched by category. This was helpful in my own investigation because I was able to quickly navigate to the multimedia section.

What instantly caught my eye was the post titled: "Digital media must be at the centre of newspaper publishing". As the title suggests, the post argues that the digital media must be integrated into the business model of news organisations to ensure future survival. According to Sly Bailey, the CEO of Trinity Mirror, putting digital media at the forefront of business is the only way to survive the current economic downturn.

I feel that this has been the continuing message in all of the materials that I have viewed this semester (including the readings, websites and videos).

So what does the future hold for journalism? I think it is inevitable that newspapers, radio and television will move online but what about beyond that? I came across a really interesting and amusing video on Youtube that forms its own predictions on what the future holds for the media. Obviously, it is purely speculative but I am looking forward to reviewing it in a few years (on a very high speed device in my flying car?) to see just how accurate it is.

Global Voices

Global Voices is a website that networks some of the best blog posts from around the world.

Entries can be searched by country, topic or contributor and the content can be read in over 15 languages.

True to the theme of multimedia journalism, Global Voices also supports entries with photos, videos and podcasts.

I decided to answer the website’s slogan, ‘The world is talking. Are you listening?’ and I came across the post Sudan:YouTube Blocked. After following a chain of links I discovered that the blog post was written by “Drima”, a Sudanese-born university student who has a passion for media and politics. He also maintains a political blog The Sudanese Thinker.

The blog post touches on a number of issues including government censorship, cyber-activism and freedom of speech. According to some Sudanese residents, the video sharing website YouTube has been blocked by the National Telecommunication Corporation because it has become a key tool for political activism. There is also some concern within government ranks that the website’s content is inappropriate.

This reminded me of a similar issue in China where the government blocked international news websites and YouTube to censor violence in Tibet.

The internet is a valued source of communication and cutting off its access can stifle the knowledge, awareness and education of citizens. A logical effect of convergence is that this will be amplified as traditional media sources are reduced.

My thoughts on www.journalism.co.uk

While flicking through the blog section on http://www.journalism.co.uk/, I stumbled across a post with the title “Times of India: US Newspapers May Opt for Outsourcing”.

Alarm bells started ringing in my head. I have heard of outsourcing telecommunication and IT jobs to distant shores but I began to instantly question how somebody could accurately commentate on something from a distance.

Unfortunately, the article doesn’t really explain how it can be done. However, it does highlight how the proposal can be good for business. According to a study, the offshore opportunity from newspaper publishers is estimated to be worth around $3.5 billion. Furthermore, it is expected to reach $12 billion by 2012.

It's all about money. Shrinking circulations, rising newsprint prices and a drop in advertising has troubled magazine and newspaper outlets around the world. The recent sacking of editorial staff at The Age is a local example of how newspapers are struggling in the digital age. Matthew Ricketson blames cheap and easy-to-run online websites for usurping the advertising dollar that was traditionally reserved for newspaper classifieds.

I agree that it would be practical to scale down newspaper operations in favour of the online platform but I did find it surprising that The Age chose to do this after announcing an annual profit. After all, a week had only passed since The Age made it public that revenue for 2007-08 had increased 34% to 2.92 billion.

I wouldn’t call that “struggling”.

Here's my mojo

According to Global Community Editor Mark Jones, Reuters have devised a community strategy to facilitate the development of the organisation in the 21st century. Some of the objectives include generating greater identity around their people, being more open to the audience and building networks.

Mobile journalism has been identified as the means to achieve this and there are a variety of examples where "mojo" has proven itself as a capable media tool. Click back to a previous post and take a look at the visual evidence.

Most people own mobile phones and as they become more sophisticated the video, audio and picture capabilities are being used more frequently for both professional and personal use.

I find the camera on my phone very convenient because it is always with me whenever a photo opportunity beckons (like when I took the above picture!). The video capability came in handy when I went on a holiday over Christmas. I took a short clip of my family in Malta saying hello to everybody back home so without having to invest in a camcorder I was able to make short videos that I could enjoy long after my holiday had ended.

However there is enormous scope for this technology to further develop. The camera on my phone is only two megapixels so the pictures are not of high quality. However it is inevitable that time will improve this.

I choose not to access the internet on my phone because the cost of downloading content is too high (about $70 a month for 8MB of data). For the same cost, a user in America or Europe can get unlimited data!

The launch of the Apple iPhone is a step in the right direction and websites such as You Witness are trying to encourage people to use mobile phones as a journalism device.

Only time will tell…

But while you're waiting, click here to read more on how mobile journalism is on the move.

And so a star is born...

I decided to give vblogging a go by using the recording function on my digital camera. It was so much fun to make so I hope you enjoy it :)

Edit: Unfortunately my team lost on the weekend, much to my disappointment. This means that I no longer have to fork out large amounts of my hard earnt cash to see my team play. However, I have to admit that I would have paid through the roof to see my dogs win on the last day in September. Shattered.

The rise of the vblogger

Video blogs are becoming a common addition to multimedia websites due to the rise of affordable and easy to use equipment. One of my favourite websites on the internet is Youtube and the popularity of this site has provided world wide exposure to both media and citizen generated vblogs.

I believe that the vblog has a genuine place in multimedia journalism. You only have to think about how much communication you are missing out on when only working with written communication....the tone of voice, facial expressions and live action.

A good illustrative example of effective vblogging is the political website Alive in Baghdad. This website employs Iraqi journalists to produce video packages each week about daily life in war torn Iraq, as experienced by ordinary citizens. While there are thousands of very ordinary videoblogs in cyberspace, Alive in Iraq covers unique content that is both newsworthy and visually interesting. Each video is also complemented by a written explanation. Most importantly, our normal television news has seldom reported the war from the point of view of an Iraqi citizen, so Alive in Bagdad effectively fills a gap in war reporting.

Click on the below video for an example of how vblogging can be newsworthy:

But vblogs aren't always about news. The video below, though not of the same professional quality, illustrates how vblogs can effectively be used for personal communication:

Not everybody is good at telling their story and some people aren't very good at determining whether their story is interesting to tell. Others are not very skilled in multimedia technology or don't have quality equipment. But there is also some quality stuff out there and I imagine that as video blogs become more popular and technology improves, so will the content.

STOMPing for Attention

Just like in South Korea, the Singaporean people are fanatical about participating in news media.

In 2005 The Straits Times, a daily newspaper in Singapore, celebrated its 160th birthday. In the same year the executives thought very hard about its future as there were growing concerns that changes would need to be made to secure the newspaper’s longevity in the media industry.

The following year saw the creation of STOMP, Straits Times Online Mobile and Print, which is a website that promotes user-generated content. Similar to Korea’s Ohmynews, the site regularly receives news, video footage and photos captured by the mobile phones of every day people out on the street.

However, while both websites operate to engage audiences, STOMP is run differently to Ohmynews. STOMP encourages people to email their account of a news story and it is then narrated by a staff member of The Strait Times (See post five, "Oh my gosh, Ohmynews" to compare this process to that of Ohmynews in South Korea). Hence, the case studies are an illustration of how citizen journalism websites can be managed differently, yet still achieve the same outcome of participatory media.

Nevertheless, similarly to Ohmynews there are a range of fun and interactive features on the STOMP website. This includes celebrity blogs, podcasts, competitions, video and photo galleries. In addition to this, it is not uncommon for news features on the website to be printed in The Straits Times newspaper.
Check out this explanation of Stomp by the editor of the website, Jennifer Lewis:




Or click here to read a news article on STOMP’s popularity.

The Power of Images

News websites have a number of flashy multi-media features that simply cannot be replicated by a traditional newspaper, including video and audio streaming. The Herald Sun streams news from the Sky Network and the top headlines can be viewed just like a television broadcast.

However without even having to capture footage (which can be a lengthy process of script writing, voicing and editing), news websites are able to build stories with still images. Software from free websites such as Picasa, PictureTrail, BubbleShare and Slideflickr can be used to upload pictures, which can then be stored as a file and embedded into a blog or a website. The images can then be viewed much like a digital photo album, and when used in conjunction with a news story, can play a valuable story telling role.

To demonstrate how free photo gallery editors can be used I have decided to create a tribute to St Kilda footballer, Robert Harvey. Although I am an avid Western Bulldogs supporter, Harvey is regarded as one of the best and fairest players to ever play AFL and I have still been able to admire his long career from afar. I have used Slide because after trying out a number of different programs, I felt that this was the most user-friendly.

All picture software programs have different features and people will inevitably have their personal preferences. I chose Picasa because I already had the software package downloaded on my computer and an account with Google. Hence, I had no personal preference relating to the layout or the features.

To see how my slideshow compares to a Herald Sun tribute of Harvey, click here.

You be the judge!

Moblog, vblog, podca...WHAT?

It is very exciting to be involved in journalism during a time when technology is increasing the methods available to news broadcasters. I will always look back with fondness to my first year of study where the focus was newspaper journalism.

However there is just something so thrilling about the fast-paced world of multi-media where you can clip audio and visual elements into the same news item with only a few clicks of a mouse. And if the news story develops technology also allow for the story to be edited with ease.

However, media websites do not create themselves. Likewise, journalists cannot present the news without the aid of software technology. The very sound of the words ‘moblog’, ‘vblog’ and ‘podcasting’ may freak out the less tech-savvy people of our world, but this is how the next generation want to have their news delivered.

Say goodbye to the paper trail, because everything can now be stored on your computer! For example social bookmarking website De.lici.ous allows you to store all of your favourite sites onto an online database so that they can be accessed from anywhere around the world.

Convenience is also a buzz word. Bloggers are now using RSS feeders to collect snapshots of multiple web sources into one place. I have added an RSS feeder on the side toolbar of this blog so that I can conveniently find out what the Herald Sun top news stories are when I access my blog. For a simple explanation of how an RSS feeder can help you manage new information from your favourite sources, view this video:

Oh my gosh, Ohmynews!

From a historical point of view it may come as a surprise that South Korea is the home of the first online newspaper, which is sourced chiefly from volunteer citizen journalists. This is particularly unexpected considering its long history of political and media censorship.

However when restraints were loosened in the 1980s, owing largely to a change in government, South Korea soon transformed itself into a leader of world media and technology.

While it has experimented in mobile tv, online gaming and social networking sites, citizen journalism has reached new heights through news website Ohmynews.com (or for the an English version, visit the international website)

Ohmynews is a website that not only allows, but publicly encourages, ordinary members of the public to report the news in what can be described as an open source style of news reporting.

While the Korean website retains a small staff of professional journalists this is mainly for the purpose of retaining a professional news service. Hence, the majority of content published is obtained from interested members of the public with no such experience or university degree.

This is yet another example of how multi-media platforms are making the news more interactive for the media-hungry public. The website also has the capacity to publish video and audio clips, which is another demonstration of convergence in the modern world.

For more on citizen journalism, click on the video below:

$0, the cost of internet content

An old proverb suggests that when you have given nothing, ask for nothing.

But the same cannot be said for information and software which are now commonly offered to web surfers at no cost.

It is actually expected that media organisations provide news via their website. The Age provides virtually identical content to their website and it is free!

But how does this generate cash flow? While a website may affect newspaper sales, the internet is developing into a three-way market, with advertisers seeking to promote. Hence, The Age would recuperate lost newspaper sales (and some more) with money from advertisers.

A number of other business models are used to encourage a paying audience. Many software companies offer free sample versions, only to charge full price for the full version. ‘Freemium’ works because the cost of serving the majority, who opt for the sample version, is close to zero. Other websites use cross-subsidies where certain products are offered cheaply in the expectation that the consumer will buy something for full price.

In an interesting experiment in 2007, Radiohead offered their album ‘In Rainbows’ for a cost determined by the purchaser. While this affected earnings, it was good publicity and may have contributed to concert and merchandise sales.

Check out this Reuters report on Radiohead’s campaign. Convinced yet?

People Power!

The emergence of technology as everyday essentials (computers, PDAs, mobile phones etc) has had a significant impact on citizen journalism.

No longer just part of the audience, members of the public are frequently invited by media organisations to submit video footage or pictures in an effort to ensure 24 hour coverage.

Only minutes after the bombs ignited in the London Underground, train passengers sent grainy video and photo footage to the BBC, providing instantaneous news for the rest of the world to see (See image).

Wikipedia, an encyclopedia website able to be edited by ordinary internet users, has also emerged as a news source. Earlier this year, it was alleged that Wikipedia had broken the news of the death of popular American journalist, Tim Russert. The story goes that half an hour before official media organisations reported the news, a junior employee of an internet news company changed Russert’s entry, usurping the role of traditional television and radio news services.

While user participation has provided greater news coverage, consideration must be given to the implications. Wikipedia is interactive but this has come under criticism because it has been a cause of inaccuracy. It is also evident that some members of the public, unlike experienced journalists, do not have adequate legal or ethics training.

Hence, while there are many advantages of user-generated news it is clear that it needs to be closely monitored.

Living in an iPhone World

The celebrated arrival of the Apple iPhone to Australian consumers this month marks an achievement in the media industry. No longer satisfied with juggling a mobile phone, mp3 player, laptop and newspaper, consumers are encouraging media executives to think more creatively about how news is delivered.

Apple’s flashy device is also a saving grace to the growing number of people who are time-poor, as it can perform a number of tasks including playing music, web browsing and e-mail.

While I have not yet prescribed to the iPhone, it has become very clear that the level of media convergence on modern society has had an impact on my life. It would have only been about 10 years ago when a walk to the milk bar to buy the newspaper was part of my morning routine. Now it is far more convenient and cost effective to access the same version online. Similarly, if I did not rush home to catch the evening broadcast of the television news I would just have to go without. I am now able to download television-quality news clips online with my broadband internet.

While convergence is not a problem-free operation, with media organisations being forced to restructure their newsrooms and cooperate with restrictive ownership laws, it is apparent that most, like me, would view the different forms of media as a necessary part of their lives.