Change is inevitable, and it often is not easy, especially when there is a significant shift of power. As knowledge is power, Journalists, in the past, had the power and privilege of being gatekeepers in control of informing the masses.
Now that the time has come, that the ability to share knowledge and inform the masses is accessibly by all, it is not surprising that there is resistance and that adjustment will take time. However, progress is being made; as legacy journalism begins utilize the benefits of social media participation.
Many traditional news organizations now refer to blogs and other social media sites such as twitter and facebook in their reports and broadcasts, acknowledging their obvious value and the public’s desire to participate rather than be passive consumers of news.
Another example of how new media is gaining it’s place in the world of journalism is the way social media is being welcomed and utilized in this year’s Winter Olympics.
CBC’s Jennifer Hollett reported Monday on Connect with Mark Kelley that two “social media centers” are going to be set up during the 2010 Winter Olympics for “non-accredited journalists”.
Hollett reported, “Basically any one who wants to go to the games and report, but does not have an official pass can just go down, log on to a lap top at one of these centers and share their experience.”
Though the prospect of the journalist next door having such an opportunity is exciting, bloggers should be careful about what they tweet and blog.
“One of the bloggers was charged after the Beijing Olympics for something that he posted,” Hollett said.
It was also mentioned that there is confusion among Athletes as to who can and cannot tweet. However, “The International Olympic Committee actually has official blogging guidelines,” Hollett pointed out. “It’s confusing for the athletes as well as for spectators because it is a new process.”
There is also an article featured by The Vancouver Sun, that urges readers to submit their “…most convincing video pitch to Samsung’s online Mobile Explorers contest.” Winners are expected to “…demonstrate social media dexterity in building excitement over Canada’s hosting of the Games.” Here we see the corporate world getting involved in new media, another issue that is to be expected and anticipated.
New media’s momentum is gaining quickly; the challenge is to cope, adapt, and manage at the same rate.
NOTE: Image from http://www.politics280.com/
The blog report progressed and became much more fluent and confident near the end; however, there were issues with commas and some wording choices at the beginning of the blog. Too many commas in the firt two paragraphs were a real issue. Some of the words could have been cut to make the sentence more simple, or a comma simply was not needed. The other issue was the use of the word "accesibly", in context this should have been accesible. You made some really valid points about how the future of Journalism is changing, and how society is handling the change.
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