Multi-media

Reading 9 Mediashift (2008), “Five videoblogs that do it right”.

Video blogging, also called vlogging, has increased the recent years. Vlogging is a form of blogging, but instead of text the user uses video to express personal or professional opinions. New tools make it easier and cheaper to make a video and publish it online. This is yet an example that everyone can be a citizen journalist.

With the vlog people can have access to information and entertainment which they can not find anywhere else. Stories such as Alive in Baghdad is a citizen journalism project which shows angles and personal stories that people want see on the news.

As opposed to the blogs with text, vlogs make it easier to show emotions and therefore engage the audience. Some people prefer to get their information by watching video than by reading.

The most popular video sharing site is Youtube where people can find a wide range of topics. Even politicians have noticed that vlogging can be a way to publish candidate’s statements and reach the audience. Political candidates for the 2008 US Presidential election have been using Youtube as an outlet for advertising their candidacies.

Reading 8 Quinn, S. (2007), “Citizen journalism gets things done in Singapore as digital revolution moves forward” in Innovations in Newspapers 2007 and youtube video.

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The reading shows how media can make changes in a community/society by writing about the bad issues. One big case in Norway at the time is about a pornographic web sites where pictures of girls, taken on the beach or by ex-boyfriend, have been published online. The police have tried to find out who the person behind the web site is, but with no luck. But a few days ago one of the big newspapers, VG, published an article with the person’s name. After a few articles several pictures got taken away from the web site. Media are the community’s watchdog.

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With the citizen journalist the dark sides of the society can easier be spotted, and some news media such as STOMP has taken advantage of this. STOMP has its similarity to OhMyNews with the citizen journalist in focus, but all stories are in the end written by the professional journalist.

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STOMP has brought the newspaper and news online together under the same platform, which can help them reach a bigger audience with variety and updated news. Quinn (2007) describes in the text that fragmented audience is one of the forces driving convergence. He goes on explaining that “people no longer go to one single source for news” (Quinn, 2007).

Reading 7 Niles, R. (2008), “Which is the best photo gallery editor? Part two”, Online Journalism Review.

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Today with the different tools Internet offers, anyone can do and create almost the same as the professionals. One of those things is making their own photo gallery. On the internet people can find free online photo gallery tools such as Picasa, Slide, SlideFlickr, Bubbleshare and so on.

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After reading the article Which is the best free photo gallery editor? on Online Journalism Review I had to test out the different slide show creations my self. As a person with bad technology skills, the Slide was the easiest and best for me.

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The photo galleries are not only good for creating the personal family album, but can also be used for building news stories online. This gives the news-groups an opportunity to publish more pictures for one story, and gives less scrolling for the consumer. People do not like too much text when they read news online and some stories can be better told with pictures. Therefore is the photo gallery a tool the news media should embrace.

My slide show: <a href=”

“>Winter in Norway

Reading 6 Quinn, S. (2008), “New tools for reporting” and youtube video.

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This week reading shows the different opportunities the internet gives. The blogs have taken over the place for the private diary, making the people want to expose themselves for the rest of the world. People can publish everything from writing, videos and pictures. The downside is that some do not understand the seriousness by putting out personal details on the internet. The information will never get completely deleted, if someone regrets.

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The new technology has made it easier to be a citizen journalist, giving the news media more competition. The availability of new technology gives the citizen journalist the opportunity to use the same technology as the professionals. The problem is that anybody can put any information they want on the Internet, which makes it harder for people to know what to trust.

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With the new technology comes bad issues, but people/companies seem to always find a way to solve some of those problems. For example the internet gives overload of information which gives the consumers a challenge to find the information and news they want. Therefore the RSS (really simple syndication) got created. This way the news and information come to the consumer. People just subscribe their favourite web sites and every time the sites get updated the new information is sent to the audience. The other thing is the Wohis sites where people can get databases checked of registered domains.

Reading 5 Quinn S (2008) chapter 7, “OhMyNews in South Korea” and a youtube video on OhMyNews.

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In Norway, where I come from, the title journalist is not protected. That means everyone can call themselves a journalist. Most of the older generation of journalists do not have an education in journalism. I know a guy that worked as a salesman, started with some freelancing for a newspaper and ended up working full time as a journalist.

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I like the idea OhMyNews has created with the citizen reporter. There are a lot of things happening in the world, and the professional reporters do not have the chance to cover all the stories. With a model like OhMyNews more stories are covered and from different angles.

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The good thing about OhMyNews is that the citizen reporters need to follow ethics and guidelines, and all stories are regulated by editors before they are published. However, the downside is for those taking an education in journalism, like myself. The journalistic world is quite competitive already, and now the rest of the people also want to interact in the creative world. Will the competition get bigger with the citizen reporter?

This week`s readings: “Free! Why $ 0.00 Is the future of Business” by Chris Anderson and “ Make money around free content” from Wired How To Wiki.

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Today we take it for granted that we can get news and information, and communicate for free on the internet. Why pay for a newspaper when you can get free news online? Why send text messages (SMS) to your friends when you can chat for free online? As Anderson (2008, p.4) argues “the web has become the land of the free”.

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The big question is how can free news pay for good quality journalism? The answer is offcourse through advertising. The pressure to keep and get consumers for the news media is about making money. The more audience, the more advertisers. While the advertisements in newspapers usually have a set fee, the advertiser on the internet pays for every click, view and links to their ad.

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Some newsgroups have also found other ways to earn money. For example the Norwegian newspaper VG develop pictures and have their own weight club that people can join by paying fee. I guess it should concern us that a newspaper has a club that moves far away from what we call journalism. But the development of the media world has change the way newsgroups can make money, and this is one of the outcomes. What worries me is if good journalism will survive this.

The multi media story “Drawings from the killing fields of Darfur” is a strong story. The structure of the story with pictures, text, audio and pictures-slides is a good and effective way to get through to the reader. It makes the story stronger than by just using text. The structure gives the audience the opportunity to choose which pathway to take.

A story like this is better told like a multi-media story. The picture is the strongest part in a story like this, and pictures get easier through to the audience feelings.

The strongest part of this story is the drawings done by the kids. It is heartbreaking to see what the kids experienced, and that those bad memories are still so strong for them.

For me this is a good way of telling a story such as the “Drawings from the killing fields of Darfur”. But I wish there was a bit more text for to give me more information. After I saw this story I sit with all of these questions about what happened. But maybe this is one of the effects the producer wanted; Making people wounder and think.

Reading 3 Stephen Quinn and Deirdre Quinn-Allan, “User-generated content and the changing news cycle” (Australian Journalism Review, volume 28, no 1, pp 57-70).

In one of the lectures in Multi-media journalism the professor showed us a comic-picture. The picture shows a man with many cameras standing behind a crowd of people. The guy says: “Excuse me, I am a news photographer”. The people in the front, everyone holding a mobile phone, turn around and say: “So are we”.

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This image really shows us how the term journalist has changed. Now all can be reporters. All you need is a mobile phone with camera and video, and be on the right place at the right time. A good example is from the bombing in UK where the newspaper The Sun used a picture from an eyewitness on the front page.

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By using citizen reporters the media can get breaking news faster and receive photos and videos they maybe would not have gotten. Another positive thing about this development is that journalists get easier access to first-hand victims and witnesses. However, the question is if citizen journalists understand the exactitude and ethics involved in reporting news.

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On the other hand citizen journalists give the news media competition by putting reports and photos on their own blogs. “The Pew Center in the United States reported in mid-2005 that about eight million Americans had created blogs and 32 million read them” (Quinn & Quinn-Allan). The big question is if this development will take over the traditional media?

Reading 2 Quinn S. (2005) Chapter 2: “Why and how convergence is emerging” in Convergent Journalism: The fundamentals of multi-media reporting New York: Peter Lang.

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If there is anything the 21^st century people are scarce on, it is time. Like my grandma always says: “No one has the time anymore to sit down for a coffee. They are always on the run”.

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A busy and hectic lifestyle make people want and need convenience, and convenience changes the way the public get their news. Many no longer have time to read through newspapers, or see the 6 o`clock news. The consumer wants faster and easier access to news. They want it whenever and wherever. The internet gives the audience updatet news 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and because internet is free the declining newspaper sale probably want change.

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Such development not only affects media products, but also changes the processes involved in production, distribution and consumption. This gives the journalist more challenge. They are expected to learn new skills so they are able to work in a multimedia production. This is the start of the Mojo journalist.

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Convergence of the media also changes the newsrooms. The printers, the broadcasters and the onliners inside the same platform need to stick together to make the best multiple news. As mention in the text of Stephen Quinn, same values seem to be the strength to success in a convergence world.

The Multimedia Storytelling by Jane Stevens is an interesting and informative reading about what a multimedia story is and how to make a multimedia story. Personal I think a multimedia story is a better way of presenting stories for the audience. A multimedia story can contain video, audio, photos, graphics and text. The audience are no longer just viewers; they are users because they can choose which parts to read/see.

When you want to tell a wide story like Dancing Rocks, to much text can make the audience skip the whole reading. I found it hard to follow the printed story about the Dancing Rocks by Robert Evans. While Dancing Rocks online as a multimedia story felt more interesting and fun, both to read and learn about. It was also easier to remember details.

As a journalist, in the multimedia world, it is expected more of me. It is no longer enough to be a good writer. But on the other hand multimedia stories will give me a lot more adventure than just sitting in a office writing all day.