The Internet and traditional newsmakers

BY Jaya Uttamchandani| IN Digital Media | 13/09/2006

Jaya Uttamchandani

2043.

The year pundits foresee the last physical copy of the newspaper printed. [i] This means they see every global citizen wired up and connected to the Internet. They also see every global citizen geared with a high-gadget portable device to access and read the news over coffee in perhaps the veranda. Fair enough - it isn¿t my prediction.

Currently, not all have access to a computer or the Internet. In fact 16% of the global population uses the Internet  [ii]   However, figures of ownership and log-ins are escalating. It is a platform for discussion, debates and opinions to get published. It works as an avenue for just about anyone and everyone to have a say. The Internet is turning into an increasingly popular mouthpiece and does raise some important social problems, articles on civic issues and development. Some of which don¿t make it into the daily papers.

With its rapid growth and the Internet debate being hot on heels, the question in command is: Is the Internet making a shift possible in who gets to make the news? Is professional journalism turning amateur? At the end of the day, is everyone a journalist?

In Singapore mainstream media continues to be the dominant source of information. A survey by the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) here after an election showed that newspapers and TV were overwhelmingly the main source of information for campaigning news, with the Internet coming in last, even after word of mouth, notes IPS senior research fellow Tan Tarn How.[iii] Also, newspaper publications and broadcasters are using the Internet as an added medium. Thus, this article states that the Internet is not triggering a shift in who gets to make the news. It is an added medium for existing journalists.

It is a platform to access established news, but isn¿t an autonomous body establishing news. ?Even newsgroups and Weblogs are considered as additional sources for information retrieval, rather than new avenues for new kinds of journalists to develop and publish new kind of news.?[iv] This essay argues that the Internet has not broadened the sphere of newsmakers, however, the speed, immediacy and global access of information on the Internet has legitimately brought about such debates. But as much as the Internet hasn¿t proven to be a news producer, it has in minor ways affected traditional journalism due to the Internet being a medium through which a message travels through out the global in a matter of seconds.

IndyMedia Issues

Indy Media sites and stories (independent and autonomous of any broadcast/print medium) shift the boundaries of who gets to speak- from journalists to readers. Meikle quotes Arnison concept of ¿open publishing¿ that means the process of creating news is transparent to the readers. They contribute, see it published and face minimum filtrations. However, as much as it allows readers a feel of the news creating process; the feel of being published and read; it does not make the information news (important or interesting new happenings  [vi] or in anyway advocate journalism (writing in or editing of newspapers and magazines. [vii]

Credibility is a very precision commodity, a quality we have that you don¿t find much of on the Net. - Mr Cheong Yip Seng (Editor-in-chief, Singapore Press Holding)

The other challenge that the Indymedia websites are facing besides being credible and enhancing click-rates is the money-raising factor. Survival isn¿t easy. ?An open, representative form of media may be a worthy ideal, but in reality is often a messy thing.? [viii]

The IndyMedia is idealistic, not realistic. It started off with a refusal to have ?capitalism rule content.? Currently, sites that survive have the backing of print and broadcast journalists or organizations - volunteers.

Traditional journalists are moving towards this alternative media to forego the editing and commercial obligations. To say it as it is. Journalists write for either established newsmakers online (BBC, CNN, IBN, NDTV, ESPN STAR) or for other websites where they may not get paid, but get to delve into complex subjects. Nonetheless, the reader (surfer) still looks out for credibility, names that he / she has spotted in print or broadcast.

IndyMedia Influence

• Media organisations and broadcasters are increasingly seeing the Internet as a useful and important medium. IBN CNN news channel, for instance, isn¿t available abroad and uses their website to put up all their news stories. Not just in text, but using videos as well. Their advertisers are lured through their broadcasting credibility and people all across the globe can access the news. The newsmakers remain the same, with simply a greater reach.

• Feedback on the Internet is instantaneous. WorldSpace satellite radio came up with a 24-hr sports channel that allows listeners to call in anytime (directly) during LIVE shows. Many television channels have increased the means and methods of feedback. Newspapers have a forum and a toll-free number. Some as disclosing e-mail addresses to contact the journalists directly.

• ESPN STAR Sports has turned ?mobile? - venturing into mobile phone content and games. One of the main broadcast producers decided to head this project. It reiterates the fact that it is the same people, but a new medium. Same sales team, same and new clients.

Conclusion

The medium indeed is the message. The Internet is a medium and as informative as IndyMedia sites and stories may be, it has yet to establish itself as a reliable source. People still log on to CNN, BBC, NDTV, Indian Express and ESPN for their daily dose of news. They still look out for the familiar names that they relate to through other mediums- print and broadcast. The medium is indeed bringing about change journalism; it is indeed a challenge for journalists and newsmakers to deal with that much more feedback and criticism, but it is not (yet) a challenge to the entity of journalism. If at all, it has proven to strengthen it by offering another platform for exposure- another medium. Your newspapers, radio channels, and TV channels are all accessible through the Internet.

Information sourced through the Internet generally seeks verification and it takes a jiffy to change what appears online. You, the readers online, seek more credibility.  How many times have you stumbled upon a new piece of information and ¿google-ed¿ or ¿yahoo-ed¿ it to verify the information as news through established newsmakers? The answer lies there. 

Reference

1)     Meikle, Graham, 2003, Indymedia and the new net news, www.wacc.org.uk

2)     Collins Dictionary, 2001, Harper Collins Publishers, Great Britain

3)     Beckerman, Gal, 2003, Inside the Indymedia Collective, Passion vs. Pragmatism , www.cjr.org/issues/2003/5/anarchy-beckerman.asp

4)     Hanrahan, John, 2004, If the FBI works to shut down independent journalism websites that are critical of U.S. policy, isn¿t that news? http://niemanwatachdog.org

5)     Bruns, Axel, Reconfiguring Journalism : Syndication, Gatewatching and Multiperspectival News in Australian Onine Journalism, Queensland University of Technology

6)     Sarracini, Lisa, Rabble, Straight Goods, Indy Media - How grassroots news site rate, http://www.rrj.ca/online/517/

7)     Collective IndyMedia Santiago, 2004, For a Real Independent Journalist: Criticism to the IndyMedia Network, http://www.indymedia.no

8)     Halleck, Dee Dee, 2005, Indymedia: Building an international activist internet network, www.wacc.org.uk

9)     Hyde, Gene, Independent Media Centers: Cyber-subversion and the Alternative Press, www.firstmonday.dk

10) Autti, 2004, Indy or Anti-media? Against ANY journalism?, www.alter.most.org.pl

11) Anderson, Chris, 2005, Grassroots Journalism on the Web: An Overview

12) World Internet Usage and Population Statistics, http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm

[ii] World Internet Usage and Population Statistics, http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm

[iii] Chua Mui Hoong & Peh Shing Huei, 2 September 2006, Looking the Media Storm in the Eye, The Straits Times Singapore, Pg. S11

[iv] Meikle, Graham, 2003, Indymedia and the new net news, www.wacc.org.uk

[v] Beckerman, Gal, 2003, Inside the Indymedia Collective, Passion vs. Pragmatism , www.cjr.org/issues/2003/5/anarchy-beckerman.asp

[vi] Collins Dictionary, 2001, Harper Collins Publishers, Great Britain

[vii] ibid

[viii] Beckerman, Gal, 2003, Inside the Indymedia Collective, Passion vs. Pragmatism , www.cjr.org/issues/2003/5/anarchy-beckerman.asp