Fact:
We have already understood that the internet can be a place where reality can be altered but in the last 5-10 years, we have also seen the rise of the internet: web-based news organizations like Slate.com and Salon.com, the use of websites for both newspapers and TV stations to break news and the broadening of media to include more internet-based sources, such as blogs. We can now receive news from all over the world in real time 24 hours a day. The major change have been the rise and dominance of the Internet as a source for news and the slow, but steady decline in newspaper circulation and even viewership of Prime Time news on Television.
Trigger News Article:
Thursday January 1, 2009
How the news media has changed
WIKIMEDIA
By joel
Every news organisation has woken up to the importance of new media, and all are still seeking the right combination of news feed and interactivity.
I’VE been watching the changes that have been taking place in the news media industry since 2000 when I left traditional media to venture into new media. To say that the industry has been through an upheaval would not be an exaggeration. A lot has happened between then and now. It’s definitely better for the consumer. Whether it’s better for the industry is harder to say, but it’s definitely a challenge for the industry.
> New sources of competition
The obvious source of new competition would be the online-only news sites. But an unexpected source of competition comes from the audience. Yes, I’m talking about the bloggers. The socio-political bloggers have made a serious impact, regularly providing a different perspective, sometimes providing some really interesting insight and occasionally even breaking news.
> Multimedia
From a purely technical standpoint, blogging has always been an easy thing. All you do is type and press “publish” and voila, you’ve got a blog! No wonder blogs have mushroomed in recent years, so much so that it’s unusual these days to find a young person who doesn’t have a blog.
Audio podcasting and videocasting are less common because recording, editing and hosting such content are much more difficult to do. But even that is changing. These days, you can even make audio and video recordings on your mobile phone. Editing can be done on free, open-source software, and sites like Odeo and YouTube offer free hosting for audio and video, respectively.
> User-generated content
Time was when user-generated content meant letters to the editor. What Web 2.0 has brought about is the concept of the audience becoming part of the content creation process.
Another, perhaps, more radical, approach would be to encourage a discussion among readers about the content found in the news organisation’s website as well as those of other news sites and blogs. In other words, provide a platform for discussion of hot topics of the day.
> New distribution methods
Traditional print media is distributed physically. New media is distributed online but the old way was to passively wait for readers to come to the site and click on content that catch their eye.
Social media like Facebook, Twitter and Flickr are not just a place where many young people network and share content. They are also a distribution opportunity and a great way to reach target audiences.
Another useful tool is RSS, which is vastly underestimated as a distribution channel. It facilitates very specific consumption of news, as readers would be able to subscribe to just one section of a news site or even to a specific columnist – very handy in the age of information overload.
> More accountability
Since bloggers like to comment on news items they find on news websites, it’s not surprising that they also act like self-appointed watchdogs. At the most fundamental level they can highlight factual mistakes. On another level, they can point out cases of plagiarism (which does occasionally happen). And of course, bloggers are more than happy to point out bias (although bloggers themselves have their own bias, newspapers are not supposed to, at least not for news reports).
Self-appointed watchdogs may be an irritant but viewed positively, they keep journalists and editors on their toes. More importantly, they keep us in the news industry more accountable, and that can’t be a bad thing.
http://thestar.com.my/columnists/story.asp?file=/2009/1/1/columnists/wikimedia/2905766&sec=wikimedia
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