Samuel Kay, Natasha Patel and Tom Conry

The Digital Newsroom – “Threat or Opportunity?”

Introduction The Digital Newsroom is the ability to mould different journalistic skills and technologies into

one piece of multimedia journalism, which provides the target audience with a variation of sources to give it an in depth account of breaking news.

With the constant introduction of new technology , it gives a vast range of people a chance to break news in various forms of multimedia. However, this could be perceived as a threat to the traditional journalist and news package because of the ever growing number of citizen journalists. This has revolutionised the way the public receive news, as we the audience have a greater selection of sources to access at any time.

This gives the news consumer a choice to remain with the traditional journalist or opt for alternative sources of news.

The aim of this presentation is to analyse and evaluate different sources and arguments and conclude overall whether the digital newsroom is a threat or an opportunity.

Citizen Journalism Citizen Journalism is the concept of members of the public, playing an active role in the process of collecting, reporting and analysing news and information.

Mark Glaser, a freelance journalist who frequently writes on new media issues, said:“The idea behind citizen journalism is that people without professional journalism training can use the tools of modern technology and the global distribution of the Internet to create, augment or fact-check media on their own or in collaboration with others.”

Citizen Journalists all have the opportunity to break the news or even be part of the news for example, with incidents like natural disasters, where news crews can’t get to the scene on time, citizen journalists can record material on their phone.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ik3xsBjxlk&feature=related

However with the rise to prominence of the citizen journalist members of the public may well endanger themselves, trying to encapsulate the atmosphere in the desire to get the exclusive shot.

Social Networking SitesTwitter and Facebook are two of many primary social networking sites, news institutes have used this as an opportunity to post their news to the masses through this form.

Many media organisations and journalists are either linked to a social networking site or have joined up to one themselves. It is clear to see that these sites are becoming more and more popular with the traditional journalist, as it is a way they can collect and collate material and post it within an instant.

A great opportunity from these sites is that there is no deadline, news can be published instantly at any time of the day or night to a community of interest with a possibility for feedback.

http://twitter.com/#!/ABC

On the other hand, this can be seen as a threat to journalists, particularly in the print industry as it easier and quicker to access news from the comfort of your own home while your socialising with your friends.

BloggingBlogging gives anybody the chance to post about the latest news topics or post their opinion on a certain subject and is used by people worldwide as a form of self expression.

Access to blogs is free which means blogs may be preferred to some websites of newspapers who charge for viewing.

With the uprising of blogging it means news institutions have to invest more money to expand their multimedia dimensions, which in turn could be very costly.

If bloggers track down sources and details they can provide an effective alternative to traditional journalism.

Some well known journalists have made negative statements about blogging such as Andrew Marr who made the statement "A lot of bloggers seem to be socially inadequate, pimpled, single, slightly seedy, bald, cauliflower-nosed young men sitting in their mother's basements and ranting. They are very angry people" This shows that journalists may see blogging as a threat to journalism and believe it is undermining their profession.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/tone/blog

However, this link shows that the print press are using blogging to their advantage.

Video Journalism Video Journalism is a form of broadcast journalism, where the production of video content in which the journalist films, edits and often presents his or her own material.

Michael Rosenblum developed a unique vision for broadcast journalism news based on the concept of “video journalism.”

This method makes it possible to document any event while it is still occurring.

An increase in video journalism runs differently to changes in video technology and a decrease in costs.

With the invention of quality cameras and editing systems that have become smaller and available at a fraction of their previous prices, these changes have made the single operator method has spread rapidly.

Many argue that video journalists can get more out of a story as they have the opportunity to get closer to it, avoiding the impersonality that may come with a larger film crew.

It is next generation television: story telling in which you are not be bound by the many constraints of traditional news production.

ADD VIDEO

Process Journalism Process journalism is the practice of reporting a story as it is developing.

It allows a news event to be quickly broken to a mass audience with depth, analysis and reaction able to be added afterwards as it becomes available.

This is particularly utilised by mediums such as online and 24-hour TV news.

By being able to break the story immediately, even in an incomplete or rough form, the broadcaster or journalist is able to claim ownership of the story and gain an exclusive. This can be done through blogs, mobile alerts or email.

Later, a full news package can be added when full details emerge or develop, adding context, analysis and reflection, as well as adding interactive elements which help to make the article a long term resource.

Bradshaw’s ModelBradshaw’s model for the 21st century newsroom perfectly illustrates process journalism.

It highlights the two main strengths of the digital newsroom: speed and depth.

While these two attributes are essentially contradictory, they are the two keys focuses as a story passes through the newsroom and is reported.

Stories are initially broken as quickly as possible through various forms of multimedia with the sole intention of reaching the broadest market.

Later, depth can be added to create a more detailed, quality piece which can form a long term resource.

Distributed Journalism Distributed journalism involves creating a network of contacts or ‘community’ to aid the newsgathering and reporting process.

By managing this community, a journalist is able to collate vast amounts of information from numerous sources, crowd sourcing stories that they would otherwise not have access to.

Through using various tools and collaborating with other journalists the reporter is able to investigate stories in great depth and allowing others to add value to the news package.

A potential downside to this approach is the opinion that content is sometimes neglected or compromised in the process of building a community.

There is also the problem of trying to connect with the ‘silent population’, those who may well be useful contacts but do not have access to technologies such as the internet.

Bradshaw’s Model Bradshaw’s model on distributed journalism highlights the network of contacts a modern journalist must cultivate and the tools and systems they must be familiar with.

Due to the model not being arranged into a hierarchy, it illustrates how the distributed journalist must carefully manage their community to ensure the contributors, tools and systems utilised are the most appropriate for each piece.

Backpack Journalism Backpack journalism is another form of journalism that requires the journalist to be a reporter, cameraman, editor and producer of the stories.

These backpack journalists must do the work of an entire crew however, still deliver results as they would have been intended, had an entire crew been there.

The skills required to become a “backpacker” is heavily due to technological advances which are allowing reporters to produce more with less.

Some of the equipment that would likely be found with a backpack journalist would include satellite phones, a digital camera, and a lightweight laptop.

This demonstrates how journalists need to be multi skilled and are able to use a variety of techniques and technologies.

Print JournalismWith the constant updating of new technologies it is increasingly important for print journalists and print organisations to adapt to this ever changing environment. The rapid fall of newspaper sales has meant that a large amount of newspapers and magazines have expanded into online sites.

However, there is still a threat posed to these print organisations as many of them charge for full access to their websites whilst there are established sites such as the BBC which offer free exposure to news.

Developing these websites for print organisations can be very costly and also time consuming, whilst bloggers can collect their sources from free news sites and post the information in an instant. This sparks the argument of quality vs. quantity as people want to receive news as and when it happens with the raw details, rather than an in depth account given the next day on a deadline.

To Conclude...

ReferencesWebsites

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/jan/07/pressandpublishing.digitalmedia

http://www.digitalnewsroom.co.uk/

http://www.guardian.co.uk/tone/blog

http://onlinejournalismblog.com/

www.youtube.com

www.twitter.com

BooksWeb Journalism:// a new form of citizenship