Modern Journalism

Imagining The Future Of Journalism

2011-09-08T21:29:00.003+05:30

By Len Lazarick

Just imagine if the victims at the World Trade Center or on the planes on 9/11 had been able to send video from their cell phones to YouTube, post statuses on Facebook, or tweet to their loved ones as the towers came down. What kind of horrific images and anguish from that day would be floating around the Internet?

But none of those technologies or websites existed that sunny September day 10 years ago. That's how fast technology is changing for those of us in journalism, Washington Post? publisher Katharine Weymouth reminded us at a conference Wednesday at the Newseum in Washington honoring innovations in journalism.

You can't get more "legacy media" than Weymouth, who has the title once held by her grandfather Philip Graham, her grandmother Katharine Graham and her uncle Donald Graham, who is currently the newspaper's CEO and chairman of the board. If there's anything that protects the legacy business bought by Weymouth's great-grandfather Eugene Meyer in the Depression, it is that the family still runs the show at the public company.

Legacy media takes a lot of abuse these days, but Weymouth rightly points out that the old news organizations still have more boots on the ground than the others. And she correctly notes that the Post was an early adopter of online news, making heavy technology investments. She also points out studies that show that most news still comes from links to legacy sites.

The Post has integrated its print and online news operations while downsizing its staff in recent years.

"We have to adapt," she said. "Competition is coming at us from all sides," whether it's craigslist offering free classifieds ("They're not going to come back" to the print newspaper, she said) or bloggers and citizen journalists stealing the news audience.

The Post is giving up the leases on some of its local news bureaus to save on rent. "We have to cut our costs like everybody else, except Bloomberg," Weymouth said. (The Baltimore Sun closed its bureaus a couple years ago when Tribune Co?. bankruptcy allowed it to break long-term leases.)

"Our local coverage is as important as it's ever been," Weymouth insisted. But while the Post has dozens of local reporters in the counties that ring the Washington Beltway, the Metro section of the Post is thinner than it's ever been, and would barely exist some days if not for obituaries.

Weymouth is most proud of the Post's "regular daily beat reporting," but if you relied just on the print edition and failed to read the staff-written blogs and columns online, you'd be missing half of the paper's metropolitan coverage.

For instance, in our daily Roundup on Tuesday we almost linked to the same Post story on U.S. Senate candidate Dan Bongino that had run online since Thursday - five days before it showed up in print (though perhaps that was a mistake).

Weymouth wouldn't predict what the print edition might look like 10 years from now. She said the paper is still a good read on Sundays, but the future is "up to our consumers."

Weymouth was the keynote speaker at a conference bestowing the Knight-Batten Awards for Innovation in Journalism run by the J-Lab at American University. The top prize of $10,000 went to the creators of Storify, a social media publishing platform that lets users create visual stories from social network posts on Twitter, Facebook, Flickr and YouTube.

Bloomberg Government won $1,000 for its new D.C. operation that meshes interactive data, analytics, white papers and traditional reporting with a paywall - just $5,700 a year to subscribe. They donated their award check to the Committee of Concerned Journalists. ("Wouldn't it be nice to have so much money that you could give your $1,000 back?" Weymouth joked.)

The about 200 folks who attended the conference were congratulated for embracing the future of journalism, but it's more like we are swimming ahead of the storm surge.

Is the future of journalism a paywall? Or the nonprofit model like MarylandReporter.com and public radio? Or the commercial model of the Post? The hyperlocal version of Patch.com?

Who knows? We're all just trying to keep our heads above the waves. Got a better idea? Come on in. The water's fine.

How to make career in journalism

2011-03-16T13:53:00.000+05:30

-by Jake Barrett

Journalism is the best choice of career and highly paid career option as compare to other industry. Mass communication courses are the best way to pursue career in journalism, TV, Films industry. This will provide lot of opportunities to all the mass communication students. Many courses available in mass communication like Diploma, certificate & Degree courses in journalism. Journalism is classified into two categories on the basis of media- - (1) Electronic media (ii)Print Media . Journalism provides endless opportunity for journalist in tv, radio, news papers and film industry.

Career option in electronic media:
* Production Workers: Good organizational skills and the ability to work independently are necessary for this job. Confidence to deal with crisis situations and sensitivity too are requirements.
* Reporters: To be the primary source of news, you must have good communication skills and the ability to search and elaborate on all that is important.
* Camera workers: Artistic sense and technical knowledge are vital for this job. The ability to work in difficult and depressing circumstances and adaptability too are necessary.
* Presenters: Good communication skills, skilled command over speech, diction and language, general knowledge and intelligence and the ability to be articulate and composed in stressful conditions are vital for this job. A presenter must also have a control over words and a good quality of expression.

Top institute in India to pursue career in journalism:
* Masscomedia Institutes Noida
* Mudra Institute of communications- Ahemedabad
* Asian college of Journalism- Chennai
* AJ Kidwai Mass Comm Research centre, Jamia – New Delhi
* IIMC – New Delhi * Xavier Institute of Communication – Mumbai
* Film and Television Institute of India – Pune

Personal Websites For Journalists

2011-03-16T13:38:00.000+05:30

-Madison Lockwood

Traditionally, journalists have more or less worked alone. Journalists in both the news business and feature writers for magazines typically will develop their stories, dig up their leads, conduct their interviews and draft the final product themselves. In the newspaper business, major stories will sometimes become collaborative efforts where several reporters are working on aspects of a story and their work is edited into a single piece, published under multiple bylines.

Communicating with a journalist was generally a haphazard affair, placing a call to a switchboard or desk and leaving a message. Today, major newspapers all have websites and provide email addresses for most of their journalists and nearly all of their columnists. People who write columns and opinion pieces are generally more open to communicating with the public because their work is often designed to generate controversy and feedback is important. Occasionally columnists will find ideas for new topics in the email traffic they receive, or will write about the heavy response they received on a particular piece.

A journalist with some initiative can take this communications process one step further by setting up a personal website. That site can serve several purposes: all of them require some work. The function of the site depends, to some degree, on the amount of time the journalist is willing to devote to it. A working reporter may also have to negotiate permission to engage in some online publishing of his own with the editorial staff of the paper or magazine that employs him.

Internet blogs have made some opinionated people in this country powerful and well known, just by virtue of their daily journaling. A working journalist could set up a blog for which he could provide occasional entries, relating to his work or to other news stories or totally unrelated subjects. The value of a blog is that it provides the opportunity for open dialogue among all who wish to log on and participate. Name recognition can be meaningful to some journalists and blogging is one way to develop "viral" recognition by inviting communication. Many people will be attracted to the opportunity to communicate with someone who gets paid to publish.

Blogs can develop story lines for topics for journalists, particularly columnists and feature writers. They can help a professional writer build a persona that doesn't enter into the straight journalism he produces on the job. A personal blog is a way to build a public and well rounded profile that the constraints of a traditional journalism job don't usually allow.

A personal website can also provide the journalist an opportunity to showcase a "profile" of work that is unrelated to the job, or at least has gone unpublished by the employer. Here again, there is a fine line between what the journalist can do online – which is essentially public exposure – and what the requirements of exclusivity on the job may be. But if a journalist has ventured into fiction, a personal website is a great way to put it out there for exposure.

If the goal is a publishing opportunity for fictional work, the website may be a way to short circuit the formal submission rules for fictional work that magazines and book publishers maintain. An established journalist is already a professional writer. Asking a book publishing editor or potential agent to look at product posted on a website is much easier than engaging in the formal process.

(ArticlesBase SC #60504)

Tomoko Oji wins journalism prize for coverage of war on terror

2011-03-08T21:03:00.000+05:30

Mainichi Shimbun reporter Tomoko Oji has been chosen as a co-winner of the 2010 Vaughn-Ueda international journalist prize, the prize's selection committee announced on March 7.

Oji, a reporter in the Mainichi's Foreign News Department, shared the prize with Kenji Minemura, an Asahi Shimbun correspondent in Beijing.

Oji, 45, was honored for her reporting in a series on the United States and the war on terror that started in February 2009. In the series Oji covered the front lines of the war from various angles, including work as an embedded journalist with U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

In awarding Oji the prize, the selection committee said that the long-term news project that she had completed had shed light on the darker aspects of war. It also lauded her for an ongoing series in the Mainichi Shimbun titled "Media wars in an Internet age," which started in November 2009, saying she had delved into aspects of the U.S. media in a rapidly changing Internet era.

Minemura covered China's security policies, including the Chinese military's project to build an aircraft carrier and maritime strategies, as well as media restrictions. The prize committee said that he actively set about reporting on information relating to undisclosed government policies.

Oji entered the Mainichi Shimbun in 1989. After working at the Mainichi's Hanshin bureau and in the Sunday Mainichi Editorial Department, she joined the City News Department at the Mainichi's Tokyo Head Office. Between October 2006 and September 2010, she worked in the paper's North American Bureau, before moving to her current position in October 2010.

While Oji was in the City News Department, she produced scoops in 2002 and 2003 on the Defense Agency's illegal investigations of people who had requested the release of information, and the agency's illicit collection of personal information when seeking Self-Defense Force recruits. In both years she was awarded the Japan Newspaper Publishers and Editors Association prize -- Japan's top journalism award.

Online Degree in Journalism

2011-03-08T01:08:00.000+05:30

Online Journalism Degree: People have many different courses in online journalism that they can take in there own choice and get the degree completed b them. People are now days choosing online journalism courses because of its easy pattern and easy understanding, people don't even have to go outside of there home to learn. You can gain various varieties of knowledge in journalism without traditional school setting. People who are motivated to learn journalism are benefited by this kind of courses.

Online Journalism Degrees: You can choose the best options out of the list and select the field in which you want to do journalism. You have to think about getting into the field of online journalism or public relations in media position; you will have to choose a degree which is capable of showing multiple paths in order to start with your dream job. You have to make the best selection in choosing the online journalism institute or school.

Online Journalism Degree: The school in which you are going to do journalism course is not an important. But when you go to an interview, the interviewer first watches your school from which you have earned your degree. It may impress him or obscure that is purely based upon your school. You have to make perfect decision in choosing the best school which has excellent reputation especially in Journalism which you are intended to do.
Online Journalism Degrees: In order to choose the online courses you have to make online search by getting the all the details about best journalism tutor courses. After selecting the best tutor for your journalism, you have to register with them for your online journalism course. You should be capable of doing online courses by yourself by creating a group with your friends or profession to send and receive periodically about journalism. Don't ever think that online journalism is just a breeze. You have to work hard similar to traditional classes. You can also make the best decision in choosing the right instruction with whom you are going to learn about journalism. They should be capable of making you interactive and get interested in knowing about journalism and not get irritated, bored or uninterested while they are explaining about journalism to you.

You will also be able to get your degree in fast paced. It will make you comfort from your home. Students from different part of the world are taking there online courses daily. People who have internet access in there finger tip, they are capable of understanding it easy.

Degree in journalism: This program is capable of developing the following qualities within you:-
•   It is capable of develop your analyzing power;
•   Interpret in a dispassionate, objective manner.
•   Facts in Marshalling support arguments;
•   Average ability for reasoned criticism
•   Self expression by people

Selection such a program will let you utilize your hidden potential in full.

Journalism Jobs in India

2011-03-08T00:55:00.002+05:30

Courtesy: ArticlesBase SC #2833180

The world around has become a den of fast growing changes and evolutions. With the transforming social trends, and progressing economic fashions, the global scenario has indeed become a spectacle of profound involvement.

The Various Types of Jobs available in marketing are Journalism Jobs, Education Jobs.

The field of journalism, which firmly and aptly reflects the transforming social scenario across the world, has also immensely redefined itself. Formerly concerned only with informing people about the prevailing situations, Journalism Jobs has now elevated to becoming a global platform for creating news, rather than depicting just the plain truth.

The press industry has undergone a significant revolution with the influx of several new ways of communication coming up. Journalism now comprises of multitudinous forms of spreading news. Newspapers, media, online news bulletins and web pages have effectively turned the face of journalism into a renewed domain. There is a huge pressure on the news agencies to stand up to the transforming social scenario by reflecting it correctly and suitably.

The field of journalism is exploring new trends to spread news to the readers/viewers. The multimedia options available today, such as online videos, blogs, mobile alerts, online/ web news articles/search engines, offers a wide range of choices for today's readers to choose from. Journalists today are putting best efforts to cater to the vibrancy of the present day generation as well as the simplicity of the older generations for whom the factual information is the supreme truth.

Indian journalism which was earlier fueled by a missionary verve is today led by a commercial intent that wholly circumscribes the essence of this field. With the advent of 24X7 news mediums and channels, this commercial core became more profound. Journalism therefore became a glamorous profession abandoning its somber and sedate characteristics. There is thus a growing demand for competitive and innovative workforce that can cater to the contemporary demands of Indian journalism.

Ranging from live reporting to interviewing, from analyzing the factual representations to the digitalization of the analyzed news reports, this profession has now transposed into becoming one of the most demanding fields. Employment vacancies in journalism in India are therefore increasing and turning into a demanding arena.

A career in the field of journalism is a reputable occupation, which also promises a high wage and profitable returns.

Various kinds of Journalism Jobs are:
1.)    Business Journalism
2.)    Broadcast Journalism
3.)    Investigative Journalism
4.)    Alternative Journalism

Journalism can also be classified into Print Media, that comprises of magazines, newspapers and journals, and Electronic Media which includes mediums like radio, television, web, audio and video.

The pre-requisites that guide the employers for recruiting prospective Job seekers in Journalism are:

1.)    An unconventional bent of mind
2.)    An invincible approach and interest in current affairs
3.)    Ability to develop and present information in a concise and cogent manner
4.)    Effective organizing and comprehending skills
5.)    Flexibility with odd working hours
6.)    A penchant for studying new trends/changes in places and people
7.)    Ability to welcome criticism

Indian journalism has undergone significant transformations over the recent years. With increasing demand for consumer-friendly content, the fine distinction between fact-driven and commercial specific has blurred consequently. With round-the-clock news channels pouring into the media industry, as well as developing print mediums, the face of Indian journalism has metamorphosed into being a reflection of the revolution that is piercing through the global scenario in the present day world.

Journalism in India thus provides endless opportunities for prospective professionals. The job has however become more demanding and challenging. With the world that knows no boundaries and is expanding socially, economically and politically, the job of journalists requires them to walk in pace with the changes that are taking place in leaps and bounds. Specializing in diverse arenas within the broader field of Journalism, the employees engaged in this profession are therefore expected to be an active part of the country's transforming face.

Responsible journalism ignored?

2009-01-24T22:25:00.002+05:30

I would like to commend the media, especially the electronic media, for the manner in which they carried their professional duties to the people of Ghana during the just-ended elections.

However, inasmuch as they did their best, responsible journalism was sometimes pushed under the carpet. Some journalists ignored the ABC of this noble profession, which states that journa1ists must be Accurate, Balanced and Credible.

At times, the journalistic principle of accuracy was omitted. One would notice that as eye witnesses from various areas in the national called into our stations with reports of alleged electoral violence and malpractices, some did not bother to cross-check such reports to ascertain their veracity before airing them.

There were also hardly elements of balance in the reportage of most radio stations regarding the election results and other unfolding events. Most media houses reported one-sided stories.

Consequently, it made way for the lack of credibility in some of the news items carried.

But despite the excesses, I would like to commend Joy FM and CITI FM for standing out in their reportage during the electioneering period.

I will however, urge the media to take into consideration these journalistic principles when reporting news, especially during such momentous times as, elections. Such acts of omission and commission could inflame passions and plunge the nation into mayhem.

Again, I will urge journalists not to entrust their faith in others in order not to allow themselves to be oppressed, especially by politicians.

They should know that politicians always have their own agenda.

We must all be grateful to the Almighty God for having his hand in the affairs of our beloved country Ghana.

Writer: Scholastic Nettey, Ghana Institute of Journalism

Reinventing journalism education for the future

2008-11-18T21:00:00.001+05:30

by Christopher Callahan - Nov. 16, 2008 12:00 AMCronkite School dean

Guided by the best values of journalism past while inspired by a new vision of news in the digital age, the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University is on a bold mission: To reinvent journalism education at a time when the news media has been simultaneously never more important to our democracy and never more in danger. And in the process, we hope, we will help chart a new path for the future of news.

This week, the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication celebrates our rich past with the 25th year of the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism and the invaluable role the former CBS News anchor continues to play at the school that proudly bears his name. There will be a series of public discussions about the most important issues facing the rapidly changing news media, featuring some of the best and brightest minds in the industry. And we officially dedicate our spectacular new state-of-the-art home on the new downtown Phoenix campus.

At the core of our mission is reemphasizing the most important qualities of great journalism - accuracy, objectivity, fairness and truth-telling - while embracing revolutionary technological advancements. We are doing this through a series of programs that immerse students in model newsrooms and innovation laboratories that give them the tools to not only enter this ever-changing world of news media but help shape it in the years to come.

In research and development labs such as the Knight Center for Digital Media Entrepreneurship and the Gannett-sponsored New Media Innovation Lab, students from across the university - journalism, business, design, computer engineering - work together in teams to create new digital products to engage news consumers who are turning away from traditional media.
In our newest program, News21, two of the nation's leading philanthropic foundations - the Carnegie Corp. and the John S. and James. L. Knight Foundation - have asked us to lead a 12-university, $7.5 million effort to create sophisticated, issue-based journalism and find ground-breaking new ways to distribute that information to news consumers. And in another program in partnership with The Arizona Republic, Cronkite students serve as "backpack journalists" - fanning out across the Valley to record events with words, photos, audio and video and produce breaking news for azcentral.com.

Advanced students in Cronkite News Service are covering important policy issues on multiple platforms and creating news stories that are used by newspapers, Web sites, radio and TV stations throughout Arizona.

Cronkite NewsWatch students produce an evening newscast that reaches hundreds of thousands of Arizona households via KAET's digital station, Cox Cable, Channel 88, and ASU-tv. Twelve days ago, NewsWatch students produced more than three hours of prime-time, live election coverage.

Our students and faculty also are focusing on some of the most critical issues facing our country. With the help of the Carnegie Corp. and the Knight Foundation, we are creating a new specialization in how to cover Latinos and Latino issues. The Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism improves coverage of business and economics journalism around the country through seminars and Web-based instruction. And the school is designing a new specialization for students entering the complex but increasingly important world of business journalism.

While in many ways the quintessential 21st century communications complex, the new Cronkite building also emphasizes the most important values and traditions of journalism past. The words to the First Amendment are emblazoned- floor-to-ceiling - on all six floors. Those 45 words are our intellectual cornerstone, and we want to make sure every student, faculty and visitor remembers that each and every day.

The First Amendment Forum, the multi-level heart of the building, has quickly become the social, professional and intellectual hub that we envisioned. Students watch breaking news on the giant high-definition TV during the day and gather in the evening to talk with media leaders.
The Marguerite and Jack Clifford Gallery tells the story of the history of the news media as well displaying a special collection from our namesake and guiding light, Walter Cronkite.

Remembering the best of our past ensures the greatness of our future.
Right across the hall from the Clifford Gallery are displays of the extraordinary - and growing - number of student awards from the Hearst Foundation. Cronkite has now finished in the Hearst Awards Top 10 for a record seven consecutive years and took first-place nationally in the Society of Professional Journalist's Mark of Excellence competition for the third year in a row.
Visitors also will find a portrait gallery honoring the winners of the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism. The PBS duo of Robert MacNeil and Jim Lehrer are the recipients in this, the 25th year of the Cronkite Award.

But beyond the public spaces, news laboratories and tributes to great journalism past, perhaps the most significant part of our new building is the location, in the center of the nation's fifth-largest city. The promise of this unprecedented university-city partnership, conceived and championed by ASU President Michael Crow and Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon, is already being seen in our first months downtown. Student journalists are walking to cover major events at City Hall, county, state and federal agencies and major sporting and cultural venues in Phoenix. Our partnerships with media companies around the Valley - already strong - have grown as the distance between us in now often blocks instead of miles. And the vast professional opportunities for our students continue to grow.

With our new home now in place, our future is truly limitless.

Christopher Callahan is the founding dean of the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

Quality of journalism in the digital age

2008-11-18T20:54:00.001+05:30

The rise of rapid news delivery has the potential to damage journalism. Print or online, GNM is striving to maintain its standards across all formats

The web has radically transformed journalism, blurring traditional boundaries between text, pictures, audio and video. For newspapers, there is a particular challenge given that daily deadlines have given way to an increasingly complex rolling programme of news updates in differing formats.

Liz Forgan, chair of the Scott Trust, says that it is exactly at times of great change that it is "especially important that some things stay the same." The Scott Trust therefore asked Alan Rusbridger, editor in chief of GNM, to restate the trust's values in the digital age. This was sent to all journalists.

He wrote: "The Scott Trust exists to preserve the Guardian and its journalistic traditions in perpetuity. It also has a declared purpose to promote freedom of the press and liberal journalism at home and abroad. CP Scott wanted the Guardian to be a liberal paper 'worthy of its power and duty'. The character of Scott Trust journalism depends on its independence of ownership, behaviour and belief. Our journalists should be fierce in their protection of that independence.
"In the absence of a proprietor, our journalists' main relationships are with our colleagues and with readers, viewers or listeners. There should be a high premium on transparency, collaboration and discussion.

"Scott Trust journalists need not share a narrow set of political beliefs but should be conscious of and share the trust's general purpose and inheritance. At the same time, we should allow plurality of opinion, believing that diversity is good for the deliberative process of democracy. The papers should promote minority views as well as mainstream argument and should encourage dissent.

"All our journalists should operate to high ethical standards in searching for the unclouded face of truth, including the prompt admission of error. Editors should strive to differentiate factual reporting from commentary. Our journalists should argue the causes of free speech and freedom of information. We should behave fairly and allow our opponents a voice."

These principles are the bedrock of our journalism but Rusbridger acknowledges that in the age of the internet, we need to be watchful that quality does not get sacrificed for speed. This is a difficult balancing act because we are having to be many things to many people but with the same resources, in a declining newspaper market.

"There is a tension between the need for speed and producing journalism that we are proud of," Rusbridger said. "Part of what readers want is a rapid delivery of information. But if we only did quick journalism and did not produce in-depth, contexualised journalism we would also be failing our readers.

"We must find ways of making sure staff do not drop dead from exhaustion or feel they are on a treadmill where they do not have the time and resource to think and find things out."

The issue of the quality of journalism was raised in a recent book by Guardian investigative writer Nick Davies, Flat Earth News, which argues that the quality papers do not give their journalists the time to develop stories and accused them of "churnalism," relying on copy from wire services and PR companies.

Davies, with the help of researchers from the journalism department of Cardiff University and the Guardian newsdesk, chose two random weeks and analysed every domestic news story from the Times, Guardian, Independent and Telegraph. His study concluded that the papers were routinely recycling "unchecked second-hand material" from news agencies such as the Press Association or PR-driven copy.

The highest quota was in the Times at 69% with the Guardian lowest at around 50%.
Nick Hopkins, head of news at GNM, says the most important issue is that we are transparent about the sourcing of our stories. He says agencies such as Reuters and the Associated Press are highly respected and it is therefore absolutely right to be using their copy as our journalists cannot cover all stories.

"We have been reviewing our policy on this," says Hopkins "and decided that if have added real value to a story, with for instance, additional comments and facts or specialist background information, then it can be published with a staff reporter's byline. But if we are just replicating it, we should make clear it as coming from the agency."

Rusbridger points our that "Nick's book found the Guardian was least guilty. Without being complacent about it, that was an encouraging finding. But he identified a trend in journalism which is alarming and which we need to keep our eye on."

Rupert Murdoch Defends People Who Hate Old School Journalism

2008-11-18T20:46:00.001+05:30

Somewhere, Jeff Jarvis is cackling maniacally right now. It was only a week ago that the new media guru chastised all his former colleagues in print journalism for whining about the death of ink. And then bipartisan author Ron Rosenbaum got involved, and it became (sort of, not really) an epic analogy of those willing, eager even, for changing the medium, and those who still believe the paper industry isn't quite dead yet.

But now, Rupert Murdoch unwittingly has taken sides in this argument, blaming newspaper and magazine editors for their own inability to connect with their audiences (instead of the crappy economy) for the now-daily firings and closings in the journalism spectrum.

"My summary of the way some of the established media has responded to the internet is this: it's not newspapers that might become obsolete. It's some of the editors, reporters, and proprietors who are forgetting a newspaper's most precious asset: the bond with its readers," said Murdoch, the chairman and chief executive officer of News Corp.

And the thing is, you are more inclined to trust Rupert's assessment here than Jarvis', because Murdoch, at least, is still working in the industry. He didn't cut out because of some bad blood and then started writing only online with an obvious axe to grind.

Citizen journalism: Bringing democracy in media

2008-11-18T20:41:00.001+05:30

The very idea of venting their grievances or reporting what mainstream media often ignores is acting like intoxication for people. Citizen journalism is like taking the democracy a step further — news of the people, for the people and by the people..

LITTLE DID the officials in Punjab know that a common man would expose their laxity on duty. Nor did the village council of Boraj district in Rajasthan anticipate that a common man would blow the lid off their vile act of stripping 1000 odd men. And if you are still wondering, what a common man has to do with exposing the system, then it’s time for you to wake up to a whole new breed of journalism catching up in India.

Citizen Journalism or simply put a common man’s view or take on what’s happening around him is the best thing to have happened to the nation. Empowered with technological advancement and high Internet penetration the trend seems to be catching up with the people.

However, this revolutionary mode of journalism evolved in a rather unique way. Citizen journalism chose to take birth amidst the mayhem of 2004 Tsunami. For when the disaster took place there were no reporters around to break the news apart from the holidaymakers, who where busy capture shots for memory sake.However, what was amazing was their presence of mind to keep the cameras rolling even when they happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. And they happily shared the amateur footages with the seasoned reporters, who reached the spot later. And while some provided footage to the media some chose to give the world a first hand view or data related to the Tsumani victims via their blogs. These taken together gave the world the first taste of Citizen Journalism.

Citizen journalism (CJ), today in its fifth-year has matured and in India is helping strengthen the fourth estate of the Indian Democracy. And guess what? Indian mainstream journalism is accepting it with open arms. Today in India, you have numerous CJ portals that keep accepting news related to anything happening in the country from the ‘common man’.

Realising the power and worth of the news from the citizens have made even news channels have come up with exclusive programme on citizen journalism. Not only news channels but also several dailies across India have weekly sections, where they ask the citizens to write in order to bring the neglected condition, malpractice or recent happenings to the forefront.

The very idea to vent out their grievances or happenings that reporters are failing to report is perhaps acting like intoxication for the common man. CJ is like taking the democracy a step further — news of the people, for the people and by the people.

And with more and more people waking to the call of bring the happenings in their locality to the limelight may pose a trouble for the conventional media to scrutinise the authenticity of the news. But lets not a hint of doubt dampen the new spirit of journalism.

And with CJ catching on with people, the day is not far away, when officials will quit acting cheeky with the common man. And why not, for at last the citizens have got a platform to expose the culprits. And this active participation of us with mainstream journalism will help the democracy survive. And so for all you readers reading this piece there is just one appeal — Jaago re!

Career Opportunities In The Media

2008-05-09T05:42:00.002+05:30

Tony Jacowski

In recent times there are more opportunities in media in highly coveted positions. There is a demand for new types of cultural knowledge and experiences that candidates are expected to bring to media organizations.

Education
Education for a job in the media industry depends on specific career choices. There are many jobs that need a bachelor's degree. Some technicians require specialized training to operate the different technical equipment that is utilized in production and broadcasting. Anchors, correspondents and reporters usually have to possess a degree in journalism or broadcasting. There are times employers have to consider people who have a major in college. Writers are expected to possess a degree in English journalism, literature or communication. Experience in the respective field as an internship or job is an added qualification that employers are also on the look out for.

Salaries
The media career that a person chooses is a decisive factor in determining the income within the field. There is a varied range of salaries in the media industry. Jobs range from average pay to those that have a very good income. Editors and writers make $25,000 to $60,000 each year, and a few make somewhere around $100,000. Correspondents and reporters usually make $20,000 to $50,000 every year, whereas news analysts and anchors make about $25,000 to $70,000.

Occasionally, anchors are paid as high as $100,000 every year. Broadcast, video, and sound technicians make $20,000 to $50,000. This depends on the company that they work for and their experience.

Excellent Employers
Irrespective of the job they choose, people always want to work for employers who are fair and offer good salaries and benefits. There are companies like Fox News, CBS, Cumulus Broadcasting and National CineMedia, who are considered to be good employers.

The media industry has always played an ever-increasing central role in contemporary societies. These have expanded through the 20th to the 21st century in terms of influence and range. These now affect different aspects of life and the demand for media "content". This has increased the possibilities for a career in the media industry.

The media industry is challenging and exciting and a good education in a related field prepares individuals for the various challenges. People who want to excel in their job in the media field should enroll in degree courses which give an in depth knowledge in the field.

The career potential for the media industry is on the rise. There might be slight changes if there is a dip in the economy. However, the media industry is very flexible, and continuous convergence and conglomeration will ensure steady growth in the coming years. On the whole, the media is a welcome environment for anyone who enjoys interesting and good career prospects along with meaningful work.

Opportunities in Freelance Journalism

2008-05-09T05:38:00.000+05:30

Adam Boulton

The scope for journalism jobs in the world is more and it can as well be done from home as a freelancer. The main areas of job opportunity are in magazines and newspapers and these two are considered to be a main source for journalism even after the internet has happened to prevail a lot in the economy.

Mostly all the local and national newspapers use freelance journalists, on an improvised basis or on standard basis. In most of the meetings or any major events we can find more number of journalists all around. By taking into account the newspaper selling capacity, we will be able to arrive at a decision that still it is a promising industry and this is a suitable place for the journalist to promote their skills and to earn good money. So in this case freelance journalism has started to become popular, which in turn helps the people who have the passion for this job. Only fixation necessary for journalism are hard work and determination.

In the world of internet, most of commercial websites cover almost all the areas. The scope for journalism is more in this field as a good website always look for the content. List the specialty and skills in the websites which will help to make a path in the individuals' career. Editor or a webmaster is the deciding authority in this field and it is necessary to show the sample works and make them impress.

Some of the ways through which the journalism can be explored, are as follows:
First and fore most is to begin freelancing from the school, college or university journals.
Gain knowledge and work experience by working in a local newspaper or television channel or radio channels. This may depend on the choice of the individual whether to go in for print journalism or broadcasting.

Form a network with other professional in the same field, to discuss things and be in touch with today's economy. They can also join online websites or any discussion forums, or freelance groups.

Check for any opening through job portals or newspapers on a regular basis and subscribe to any of job magazines.

Register the profile and sample writings in job portals and ensure to update often. Be specific to enter the interested or specialized area of work.

Be a member of journalists associations. Most of the associations hold a website which will be helpful for the members and they charge a minimum amount of fees for it.

Work as a freelancer to any of the news agencies to gain experience and before doing so, check whether they pay for it.

Often try to attend workshops or seminars, which will help to meet many people and help to get to know things and will get exposure to those kinds of meetings.

The resume of a journalist must be in such a way to explain his skills, specialized field, ambition and suitable for this kind of job etc. which make an impact on the employer or the client. In this field it is necessary to be careful about the copyright, as many of the publications assign the journalists rights only to them, which will not allow the journalist to work with any other publications.

Master's Course In Journalism

2008-05-07T19:34:00.002+05:30

Ranchi, May 5: Ranchi University vice-chancellor A.A. Khan announced a two-year master’s course in journalism.

The course will begin from the new academic session. Head of the department of journalism department, Ranchi University Rita Shukla, said it would be a one-year degree programme.
“Now we will have a two-year master’s degree instead of a one-year bachelor’s course,” Shukla added.

There will be 100 seats for the course and 16 faculty members will be appointed. “All formalities are complete and we would start the course very shortly,” Shukla said.

One of the students, Manisha Singh, who plans to opt for the course, said that she was planning to move to Delhi for higher studies. “But now since the VC has given us an assurance, I will complete my masters and then apply for a job,” Singh said.

Journalism, which is considered to be the fourth pillar of democracy, is now ruled by technology. “The basic principle of journalism is getting lost day by day. We have confined ourselves to report on corruption, crime, celebrity and cricket,” said Achyutanand Mishra, vice-chancellor of Makhan Lal Chaturvedi Rashtriya Patrakarita Evam Sanchar Vishwavidyalaya, Bhopal, at the journalism department of Ranchi University today. While addressing a gathering of teachers and students, Mishra said that the field is changing. “Even editors are unable to write on social issues,” he said.

Nowadays journalism institutes are also mushrooming in all the corners of the city. “During my days there were no such training institutes. If we had something on our mind, we took out our pens and wrote,” said Mishra.

He said that journalism was all about principles.

“In Allahabad there was a magazine Swarajya and its eight editors were put behind the bars for speaking their minds. But they still wrote even though their families faced hardship,” Mishra said.

There was a time when one used to remember the principles of journalism and also remembered the work of the long gone writers. “But today even the renowned editors of the country are unable to justify journalism,” he added.

The Future (We Hope) of Journalism

2008-05-07T19:08:00.004+05:30

John S. Carroll, former editor of the Lexington Herald-Leader, the Baltimore Sun and the Los Angeles Times, gave the annual Creason Lecture at the University of Kentucky on April 1, 2008. He spoke from notes, from which he adapted the following text.

The author wrote this article based on notes he made for a speech he delivered last month at the University of Kentucky.

It's a pleasure to be here at the University of Kentucky -- and especially to be among people who care enough about journalism to attend this, the annual Creason Lecture. I'm proud to be delivering it.

Tonight we remember Joe Creason, whose death in 1974 left a void in the Commonwealth. At the time Creason was writing his column, the Louisville Courier-Journal was a force in uniting Kentucky, reaching all 120 counties. For the most part, the C-J covered government, politics and other such weighty matters, but Joe Creason saw Kentucky through a different lens. He covered the common people, and through him the common people saw themselves in the pages of the newspaper. For that, among other things, he is remembered with affection.

I'd like to say, also, in these introductory remarks, a kind word about the Bingham family. The Binghams made the Louisville papers a bedrock institution of the state and a pillar of journalism nationally.

By now, nearly all newspapers have gone through the same transition, passing from family owners to corporate owners. At first, when this trend started, it wasn't so bad. It's been said that corporate ownership made bad papers better and good papers worse, which was certainly true of the Lexington Herald-Leader and the Louisville Courier-Journal, respectively.

Since those days, money has gotten tighter in our business, and the relationship between the corporation and the newspaper has grown less benign. What was an occasional friction between corporate and journalistic values has become a daily collision. Today, in some companies, journalists have come to see the corporate CEO as a spiritual cousin of the repo man who just won't stop banging on the door.

And now we face yet another transition, something even more daunting than the passing of newspapers from local families to corporations. That change is the subject of tonight's Creason Lecture.

How it will all turn out, we don't yet know. But let us hope that whatever form journalism takes in the future, and whatever form the business model takes, that we will have leadership in the spirit of the Binghams – people who see themselves not as mere extractors of money but as stewards of something more important.

Having been a newspaper editor for many years, I'm well aware that every editor is peculiar. Every editor has his or her fixations, which are well known to -- and sometimes ridiculed by -- the staff.

I had my share of fixations, one of which was hucksterism. We live in an age of hucksterism, and quite a bit of it seeps into the writing of journalists. It concerns me to see routine stories presented in language that would be more appropriate in describing, say, the Fall of Rome. Almost reflexively, I delete certain words and replace them with other words that are less dramatic but, to my eye, more precise.

An event described as "historic," for example, is almost always better rendered as "interesting," or perhaps "noteworthy."

In political writing, "firestorms" have become frequent phenomena of late, but the events referred to are usually more accurately described as mere "disagreements" or "criticism."

And a person characterized as "legendary" is almost always, when examined, merely "well known."

I recall a story in one of our most esteemed newspapers that glibly described Karl Rove as the most influential White House aide in American history. Who knows -- it might even be true. But I had a feeling that the reporter, in the forty-five seconds or so he lavished on this particular paragraph, might not have researched every single White House aide in the previous 42 administrations and calibrated his or her influence against that of Karl Rove. Just a hunch.

The resident wit when I was at the Herald-Leader was David Holwerk, a graduate of this university. It was David's self-appointed role to bell the cat – that is to say, to put the editor in his place – when the editing got too heavy handed. "Chief," he would say to me, usually in front of a cluster of smirking staff members, "you've done it again. You have crushed the fragile flower of our creativity under the harsh boot heel of arbitrary and capricious authority."

I mention all this for a purpose: to establish my bona fides as an enemy of overstatement -- and therefore to stake out some credibility, I hope, in saying that the current period in journalism is, in fact, historic. It is epochal.

It is remarkable, perhaps even unprecedented.I'm speaking, of course, of the passage of journalism into the digital age.

Let us go back, now, to the eve of the digital age, specifically the 1980's at the Lexington Herald-Leader.

When I was editor of the Herald-Leader, we made millions and millions and millions of dollars. Each year we made a bundle, and the next year we'd make even more. I wish I could to tell you that this reflects the cleverness of the editor. What it reflected, in truth, was crude pricing power.

Advertisers so desperately needed the Herald-Leader that we could jack up advertising rates almost at will. It was something close to a monopoly – not an illegal monopoly, but an amazingly lucrative near-monopoly.

Most of the loot in those days went to the bottom line, enriching the corporations that by then owned nearly all the papers in the country. But there was also some left over for journalism.

We spent more and more money covering the news. Journalists got hired and salaries went up. At times it took creativity to get all the money spent. The high water mark of the prosperity, as I witnessed it, was early 1991. That was when I left the Herald-Leader to join the Baltimore Sun. At the Sun, I was somewhat surprised to learn that the newsroom softball team had recently returned from a tour . . . of Russia.

Our world has changed since then. Hardly anybody goes to Russia to cover the news anymore, much less to play softball. Times are tight, and our rollicking little monopoly is turning to dust. An economist would say that monopoly is a bad thing and that for a monopoly to crumble is good. In principle I agree, but I sure do miss the easy-money days. We thought they'd go on forever.

Today, the so-called mainstream media are decommissioning journalists every day, and newspaper owners are watching in disbelief as their investments vanish into the abyss. Occasionally an investor or speculator still comes along, figuring to catch newspapers at their low point and ride them back up. Sam Zell is one. So are the last two buyers of the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

For them, it's been a chastening experience. No, this is not just another turn of the business cycle.

As was mentioned in the excessively kind introduction, I left theLos Angeles Times in 2005. Soon after, I had the good fortune of spending the year 2006 at Harvard, sponsored by the Knight Foundation.

This gave me an opportunity to interview many people in the newspaper business, trying to figure out what was going on.

I found them even more bewildered and demoralized than I was. A few of them said bravely, "This is an opportunity, let's make the most of it." But in fact they were simply submitting to large forces that they understood only hazily.

To them, the arrival of the digital age was like an invasion by space aliens.The space aliens were attacking from all angles.

They took away readers. They took away advertisers. They ripped apart each day's paper and redistributed it -- piecemeal and free -- to the entire world.

Before the arrival of the space aliens, newspapers made money in two ways. They made money by selling ads to advertisers and by selling news to readers.

The space aliens had a different idea. They said: No longer will you sell news, which they called "content." In the online future, your content will be free.

This was greeted by a few meek protests from those who saw journalistic content as a newspaper's only distinctive product. But soon the free-content decree was the law of the land, and the only remaining way to make money was selling ads.

Selling ads had always been a good business, and the Web offered vastly larger audiences. But it also obliterated our secret ingredient, monopoly pricing.

With the Web came hundreds of thousands of new advertising businesses. In a crowded field, newspapers became just another player. And they were handicapped by high costs. The New York Times spends hundreds of millions of dollars a year on journalism. That may be good for readers, but it's a drag on business because the Times' competitors can assemble huge audiences for ads without all that spending.

So, we've lost the content money, and the ad money isn't all that hot. True, it's growing. But it will be years before it can support the kind of journalism that journalists want to produce and that the public expects and needs. And we may never get there at all.

This is what ails the old media today.Now some of you, I know, are students who want to have careers in journalism. And some of you are probably nudging each other and saying, "Hmmm. This year's Creason Lecture isn't exactly turning out as a pep talk.

"Don't leave. It'll get better. It will get better because there is, in addition to what's dying, something being born.At this point, I'll cite a single example.

Over the last several years, as I'm sure you've noticed, the national conversation has changed. Millions of people who previously had been excluded were suddenly allowed to join in. Who ever saw it coming? For those of us who believe in free speech and free press, this is an unexpected gift, a First Amendment miracle, bestowed by the same space aliens that are laying waste to our newspapers.

Before expanding any further on this and other digital-age miracles, let me get a few worries off my chest -- specifically, the following three questions:

Question Number One: Who, in the digital future, will do the reporting?

If journalism has a mainspring, it is the reporter. The reporter performs the elemental task of finding things out. The product of a reporter's labor is news – news that is originally reported and then verified.

News is as crucial to America's democracy as oil is to its economy. Without a robust flow of news, bad things happen. Public discourse withers. Crooks and charlatans get a free ride. Citizens know less and less and become less qualified to govern their nation.

What, then, are the prospects for reporters? Well, here at the dawn of the digital age, the media are divided, like ancient Gaul, into three parts. Let's visit each of the parts and assess their civic value – not in terms of dollars made, but in terms of reporters employed.

First we have the familiar: the old media. Currently, the vast majority of the nation's reporters are on old media payrolls. You may get your news on your Blackberry, you may get it on the Web, you may get it from a talk show. But if you trace any given story to its origin, you'll almost always find that it came from an old-media reporter, usually writing for a newspaper.

But the old media are shedding reporters rapidly, which raises a question: where will the reporting of the future come from?

Let us turn now to the second province of modern journalism, the new media.
When the blogs were invented, there was euphoria. "Ding dong, the witch is dead!" the bloggers sang lustily – the witch being the old media, who were about to get what they deserved.
But blogging turns out to be a hard business. The money is generally lousy, and there's a constant struggle to get and hold an audience.

Bloggers don't get much time off. When I was teaching, I recruited a successful West Coast blogger to speak to my class. He came, but only after fretting that his audience might wither if he abandoned the keyboard for a flight across the country.

It's tough in other ways, too. There is a centrifugal force in blogging. If you are a moderate and portray the world in thoughtful shades of gray, your audience will abandon you. The loneliest place in the blogosphere is the middle of the road.

Although blogs have contributed much to the national discussion, they offer only a rare flash of original reporting. For fresh information, the blogs remain deeply dependent on the old media, which they simultaneously deplore and utilize extensively.

Perhaps someday the blogs will make enough money to employ reporters in significant numbers. But that day is not in sight.

Which brings us to the third and last element of media today, the portals: Google, Yahoo, MSN and others.

Overnight, these ingenious businesses have become primary sources of news for millions. And overnight they have made billions of dollars.

Rich as they are, though, the portals employ few reporters. Last I checked, the most successful of them, Google, had no reporters at all. Why originate news when news is free?

The trend here is evident. The trend is that a tide of money is flowing decisively away from those who employ reporters and to those who don't.

You don't need a degree in economics to see what this implies for journalism. And you don't need a degree in political science to see what it implies for democratic self-government.

That's what we know at this point about Question Number One, a quantitative question about how many reporters we will have in the future. In contrast, Question Number Two is a qualitative one.

Question Number Two: What principles, if any, will guide the journalism of the digital age?

A friend mine was in Mississippi recently campaigning for Senator Obama in the primary there.
The African-American voters in Mississippi were already enthusiastic about Obama, but the whites were not. Her job to was to knock on doors of white families.

The people were polite, she said, but when she probed them on the subject of Obama, they responded: "Oh no, I could never support him. He's a Muslim."

Or: "I could never support him. He refuses to use the Bible when he takes the oath of office."
Or even this one: "I could never support him. He's a terrorist."

In general, the marketplace of ideas is enriched by the addition of new voices. But not all new voices are journalistic. Some are decidedly un-journalistic, aimed not at serving the public but at manipulating it.

Imperfect as the old media are, they are imbued with deeply held ethical convictions. At the Los Angeles Times and New York Times, the betrayals of the Staples and Jayson Blair scandals provoked insurrections. In both cases, feelings in the newsroom were so volcanic that calm could only be restored by dismissing the top leadership.

This sense of ethics – this sense of what a journalist does and doesn't do – is built into the old media. But among much of the new media, it is a foreign language.

So, in answer to the question -- what principles will guide journalism in the digital age? -- we don't yet have a clear answer. Will journalism – real journalism – triumph over propaganda? Over marketing? Over disinformation?

We'll see.

Question Number Three: Will we have journalistic institutions that are strong enough, and independent enough, to serve as a counter-weight to big government and big corporations?

The advent of the lone blogger has touched something in the nation's collective memory.
Bloggers see themselves as heirs to the pamphleteers who were prominent in the American Revolution. I think they're right. If Thomas Paine were alive, no doubt he'd be blogging away.
But one important thing has changed since those early days: Institutions have grown. Government has become huge. Business is huge. The tools of spin and of deception are huge and sophisticated. And, likewise, institutions of journalism have grown, too.

It seems to me that big, institutional journalism – not just a din of individual voices -- is still needed.

Consider the story in The New York Times that exposed the wiretapping of American citizens by the National Security Agency, which was done without court warrants as required by law.
Wiretapping has a long history in our public life. To those in power, unregulated wiretapping is like catnip.

We all know the about J. Edgar Hoover. What is less appreciated is that some of our presidents couldn't resist Hoover's dark arts. Currently I'm reading Tracy Campbell's admirable biography of Edward F. Prichard of Kentucky. Working as a young man in the Truman administration, Prichard was wiretapped by Hoover. He was not suspected of any crime, only of remaining loyal to the New Deal while serving a more centrist president. Harry Truman, a president now widely admired, was perfectly happy to receive the fruit of Hoover's criminal acts.

The sordid history illegal wiretapping by American officials, national and local, tells us why electronic surveillance must be regulated by law – and by law that cannot be wiped off the books secretly.

To me, the Times' decision, despite its detractors, was a patriotic act. It was patriotic because it reflected concern for historic American values: the rule of law; the role of Congress as a co-equal branch of government; and the citizen's right against unreasonable intrusion by government.
But the administration and its claques on the talk shows smeared The Times as unpatriotic, even traitorous, and demanded that it be criminally prosecuted for sedition.

Think, now, about what a blogger would face in attempting what The Times did.

First of all, it is unlikely that a blog would have the reportorial horsepower to break the story. The two Times reporters, both of whom I'm acquainted with, represent decades of investment. Their professional development included years of cultivating of national security sources in Washington and abroad.

Blogs generally don't have reporters, and they certainly don't have reporters as well trained and proficient as these two. So it's doubtful that a blog could have broken this story in the first place.
And if a blog did manage to break the story, it would likely be crushed in the aftermath. The opprobrium from the talk shows and the administration would devastate all but the toughest of individuals, and the legal bills could be a ticket to bankruptcy.

A blog, valuable as it is, is simply not an institution with enough heft to stand up to big government and big business. We need institutions of journalism, muscular institutions, not just individual voices.

Let's turn, finally, to the students in the audience, particularly those of you who are drawn to journalism.

There are many reasons to be a journalist. Perhaps you have a curious nature, and journalism gives you license to scratch that itch. Maybe you get a craftsman's satisfaction from working with words. Maybe you enjoy the company of journalists and share their outsider's perspective on the orthodoxies of business and government Maybe you'd like to expose the next Enron scandal -- or thwart some future president's plan to invade the wrong country.

Well the good news is that all those opportunities are open to you today. And, beyond that, there is better news.

There will be journalism in the future. And the journalism of the future will have tools unlike any imagined by earlier generations.

You will have new tools for finding things out, and tools to send your stories to the entire world at the speed of light.

Journalism has always been a one-way bulletin from journalist to public. Now it is a conversation with millions of participants, which gives us access to new facts and new ideas.

Thanks to hyperlinks, you can write accordion-like stories that can be expanded to match each reader's degree of interest. One person might give your story ten seconds; another might spend a rewarding half day with it.

The journalism of the future will be flexible, making fluid use of video, audio and text to tell stories as they can best be told.

I won't attempt to list all the new forms journalism is taking. A noteworthy example is YouTube, which is playing an important role in the current presidential election campaign.

Among many promising experiments is a nonprofit outfit called ProPublica, which is assembling a cluster of high caliber investigative reporters to take up the slack from the old media.

There are many other exciting new ventures in journalism -- far too many to enumerate here.
And we still have the old media.

The other day I had occasion to re-visit the Herald-Leader, and I wasn't exactly sure what I'd find in my old newsroom. Lo and behold, it looked pretty much like a newsroom. Exactly like a newsroom, in fact. People were tapping at their keyboards, talking on the phone, gossiping, telling jokes, and no doubt complaining about heavy-handed editors.

They, too, are fretting. They feel they don't have enough staff. But the staff of the Herald-Leader today is almost exactly the size it was when I left in 1991, which isn't bad. You can do a lot with such a staff.

So, among the old media, the game is far from over.

My hope is that the new media, these wondrous vehicles for individual self-expression, will continue doing what they're already doing: enriching the national conversation, keeping the old media honest and creating entirely new languages of journalism. I also hope that they'll find ways to make more money and thereby to employ reporters in meaningful numbers.

At the same time, I'm hoping that the old media will continue to employ large teams of professional journalists, to propagate their traditional definition of ethical journalism, and, when necessary, to stand up decisively to the government and other big institutions.

With the combination of the two – the old media and the new – we, with a little luck and hard work, could be embarking on something quite wonderful. Something a jaded old editor might even acknowledge as unprecedented, even historic. I'll go further, unveiling perhaps for the first time, the fragile flower of my own creativity, by saying that possibly -- just possibly -- we might live to see a new age, a golden age of journalism.

Let us all hope.

What's your view of the future of journalism?

From: http://www.poynter.org/

Citizen Journalism: All The News That's Fit To Blog

2008-05-04T20:13:00.002+05:30

Amidst a professional culture that shapes midtown Manhattan, the mass media industry dominates. Residing within the hovering skyscrapers are some of the nation's most renowned publishers of traditional print journalism; companies such as The New York Times, Hearst, Condé Nast, and TIME Inc have become widely known American media conglomerates. Consequent to recent innovations in Internet technology, a public that was previously dependant on professionaljournalists for news coverage has now taken the role of the reporter in contemporary online media. "Being able to see this as the advent of true democracy in what had been a media oligarchy makes it much easier to argue that Internet journalism has already achieved great things," says the dean of Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, Nicholas Lemann, in a recent New Yorker article titled "Amateur House: Journalism Without Journalists." This branch of press coverage known as citizen journalism utilizes the Internet to create a more accessible form of reporting and consequently places the future of traditional print journalism in question.

In following the course of American media set by radio and television broadcasting, citizen journalism poses the newest threat to traditional news coverage. As modernization continues to foreshadow the future of mass media, recent advances inInternet based technology have contributed to the increasing relevance of online journalism. "Societies create structures of authority for producing and distributing knowledge, information, and opinion. These structures are always waxing and waning, depending not only on the invention of new means of communication but also on political, cultural, and economic developments," says Mr. Lemann in his New Yorker article. As traditional publications are tested against the evil forces of blogging, they demonstrate a staying power where citizen journalism is greatly lacking. Mainly rooted in their practices of original reporting, printed news coverage maintains qualities of objectivity and media ethic which the Society of Professional Journalists give voice to in its Code of Ethics:

The duty of the journalist is to further those ends by seeking truth and providing a fair and comprehensive account of events and issues. Conscientious journalists from all media and specialties strive to serve the public with thoroughness and honesty. Professional integrity is the cornerstone of a journalist's credibility.

Traditional organizations greatly depend on the dedication of full-time reporters to fulfill these basic expectations. Although Americans once valued the credibility of professional journalism, it seems their standards have permitted a lesser quality of ethics in order to satisfy a more citizen based etiquette.

Infringing on a realm of professionalism, citizen journalists express opinion but often lack the skills necessary for providing credible news coverage. In taking an alternate form of dissemination, online journalism has consequently become means of unconventional reporting and, for this reason, is often a source of concern for traditional journalists. Citizen journalists often work full-time jobs and contribute to as a hobby yet are expected to deliver news as a professional organization would. In fact, it is work done by professionals that online publications depend on for original reporting and becomes a basis for commentary and opinion. While the Internet overtakes printed news coverage, it is consequently aiding in the demise of a media that greatly supports it. As discussed by Times technology reporter John Markoff in an interview with Online Journalism Review, "I certainly can see that scenario, where all these new technologies may only be good enough to destroy all the old standards but not create something better to replace them…" As citizen journalism poses a huge threat to traditional print media, it reveals the potential to eliminate not only itself, but the American media industry.

Citizen journalism provides for public control over the media through blogs, online publications, and other Internet resources. In a society that greatly values personal expression, the majority opinion can be greatly credited for shaping its every aspect. As demonstrated by popular trends in American culture discussed by op-ed columnist Roger Cohen in his NYTimes.com article titled "Is There Wisdom in Crowds?", "Zagat has proved a global winner, as has American Idol. We live in an age when people love to know what everyone else thinks and the means exist to convey those thoughts instantaneously online." As a public forum for news coverage, there is no definite line between fact and opinion.

Upon my exposure to this world of journalism where sites such as OhMyNews.com promise "Every Citizen is a Reporter," I couldn't help but wonder if I could be one too. 500 words later I found that yes, even I could be a citizen journalist. After about a dozen e-mails confirming my (free) registration to citizen journalism sites such as Huliq.com, AssociatedContent.com, and Amazines.com, I copy, pasted, and clicked the submit button. While some posted my article immediately, others took a few days to 'edit' it and then post. It was not long, however, before searching each site prompted my article and I officially declared myself a citizen journalist. My experience as a citizen journalist has confirmed that in fact "Every Citizen is a Reporter"; and while they really mean every citizen, one can't help but wonder whose work they'll be reading next.

"This is not about replacing the professionals. This is about complementing them, improving their work with additional questions and facts, doing the things they can’t do because there are not enough of them," says journalist Jeff Jarvis in his blog BuzzMachine.com. In consideration of the great lengths citizen journalism has come thus far, the potential of new media is undoubtedly there, "But none of that yet rises to the level of a journalistic culture rich enough to compete in a serious way with the old media—to function as a replacement rather than an addendum," says Mr. Lemann. With a revised approach, perhaps new media will demonstrate the ability to coexist alongside its predecessor (and not destroy it.)As traditional publications survived the emergence of news radio and television broadcasting, we have reason to believe it will again take this path.

News writing bloopers – 4 common journalism mistakes

2008-05-04T20:02:00.003+05:30

By Nazvi Careem

News writing is supposed to be the embodiment of perfectly produced prose. However, the reality is that it is the source of more grammatical, contextual and typographical mistakes than probably any other professional writing genre.

Few are spared, whether they are experienced journalists with high-quality literary skills or rookies with limited vocabulary. All journalists would admit to having certain weaknesses that are manifested in their work. None are immune to mistakes.

Some media outlets employ tougher editorial standards than others but the gatekeepers are all human and mistakes inevitably sneak through.

However, there is a difference between genuine mistakes and errors that defy the language. Unfortunately, there are still many bloopers in print, television and the Internet that are the result of ignorance.

Because no one picks up on these errors, they are allowed to perpetuate and, after a while, these words, phrases, syntax or misspellings morph into acceptable entities, while its original correctness fade.

When learning how to write like a journalist, many cadets are not taught basic language rules. Although there are plenty of examples, here are just four common mistakes that writers all over the world continue to make.

Dilemma – You see this kind of sentence quite often: “He faced a dilemma on whether he should go to Harvard or Yale”. Wrong! I’ve also read dilemma being written as synonymous with problems. Again, wrong. Dilemma is when you have only two choices and both are undesirable. So, if you have a choice between jail and a big fine, then you are in a dilemma. If you have a choice between a promotion at your current job and more money in another job, then that is not a dilemma because both paths are attractive.

Enormity – It appears the traditionalists may be losing the battle when it comes to this word. Enormity, in its original meaning, does NOT mean huge. It is not the noun for enormous, which is enormousness. Enormity actually means the quality of being outrageous, or wickedness. However, it has been so commonly used to refer to great size, it appears even dictionaries have given up because I’ve seen recent editions include both meanings.

Alternative – This is another word to do with choices. However, alternative refers to only ONE other choice. If you are unhappy with your job but you have one offer from another company, then you have an “alternative”. If you have two other job offers, you have “other choices” or “options” but NOT “other alternatives”.

Refute –At one time, the newspaper I worked for banned this word because a building full of so-called experienced journalists from Britain, United States, Canada, Asia, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa were consistently getting it wrong. Refute cannot be used as a synonym for deny. To deny something is to say you didn’t do it. To refute is to prove you didn’t do it with evidence. In addition, don’t confuse refute with rebut. Rebut means to argue to the contrary using evidence. To refute is to use that evidence to prove and win your argument.These are only four examples from many in news writing. While it is understandable for amateurs or part-time writers to get it wrong, news writing professionals should know better. Mind you, it happens to the best of us and it is simply a case of learning as you go along.

About the Author: Nazvi Careem is an experienced journalist, writer and writing coach who has written for newspapers, magazines and global news agencies such as Reuters, Associated Press and Agence France-Presse. To download a free chapter of his book on news writing secrets, check out his website dedicated to the art of news writing.