Will Evolving Forms of Journalism Be an Improvement?

A major change emerging in the digital age has been the rise of participatory journalism. "User generated content" is a broader term for all the ways in which individuals have expanded opportunity to produce and distribute their ideas and products across the Internet.

Participatory journalism can take two forms: civic journalism and independent digital voices. Civil journalism refers tot he journalistic practice of engaging communities in dialogue. Many media outlets have tried to strengthen their ties tot he community by encouraging comment and reporting about important civic concerns. The second form of participatory journalism refers to the explosion of voices have have developed as independent news reporting and commentary. There are blogs, digital newsletters, Web sites, YouTube videos, and more, where individuals report and comment on the news.

Deuze, Bruns, and Neuberger offer case studies of three newspapers on three different continents that have adopted different approached to participatory news. Deuze et al. view these as hybrids of the top-down process of traditional journalism and the bottom-up process of grassroots involvement. On the other hand, David Simon readily admits that the industry has harmed itself with its business practices and failure to adapt to the digital environment. His point is straightforward. Journalism is a profession. It requires full-time commitment and consistent attention. It cannot become the province of the occasional commentator.

Eran Ben-Porath argues that the primary change in journalism in this era has been the shift from traditional practices to dialogic formats in which conversationally based news has become predominant. When dialogue, rather than reporting, is the format, the authority of the journalist is lessened, conversationalists are often not journalists but commentators or partisan spokespersons, and the audience changes from receivers of information to witnesses of conversation. Ben-Porath also argues for diminished authority and accountability for the news organization; the organization did not make the "claims"; their guests did. Thus the organization's accountability for accuracy is diminished.

Is Advertising Good for Society?

Professor Dllas Smythe described commercial media as a system for delivering audiences to advertisers. The creation of a consumer society, materialism, and high expectations conflict with many cultural expectations, histories, and social systems in many countries where advertising is considered a Western, capitalist construct. John Calfee takes the yes side on the issue of whether or not advertising is good for society. He thinks that advertising is very useful to people and that the information that advertising imparts helps consumers make better decisions. He maintains that the benefits of advertising far outweigh the negative criticism. Contrary to his belief, Dinyar Godrej defends the no side to this issue. He believes that advertising doesn't really tell us anything new about products, but instead, it acts upon our emotions to create anxiety if we don't buy products.

John Calfee focuses on how the information in ads benefits consumers, Advertising functions in the public's interest, and that even the controversies about ads can be beneficial because they can result in competitive pricing for consumers. A thorough understanding of how advertising functions in society, and as an industry that is responsible for billions of dollars annually, helps form a person's views on the impact of advertising in their lives, and in the lives of others. It also helps to think about what products are advertised and to whom. It should also be noted that there are many forms of advertising.

Dinyar Godrej does a great job of reminding us that there are many subtle styles of influence that go beyond the initial knee-jerk reaction to advertising as a harmless by-product of industry in the twenty-first century.

To keep the cost of newspapers down, to help deliver "free" TV and radio to the public, ad to help consumers understand what issues were important in society. Many defenses of advertising relied on helping consumers make more informed decisions about how to spend their money. But over the years, the real impact of advertising has been more critically considerate. Since the growth of technologies that are more individually used, like the Internet, the advertising industry has responded with a far more complicated structure to attract attention, and a far more complicated system of appealing to audiences they consider are most easily persuaded.

Hate Speech Recorded Oral Presentation

Lyrics: 

The media is fueling the fire,
Causing ideas of hate to transpire,

Exaggerated stories and wrong information,
It's inflating our minds with a false allegation,

The media is putting influence into their words,
If the story sells, it's abused until it's heard,

It's a virus that's spreading a terrible threat,
It's on your t.v, radio, and especially the Internet,

Reports of political figures being slandered,
Personal attacks to win elections, today, look standard,

It's tearing our communities apart,
The media is careless, it doesn't have a heart,

So, you can't believe everything on the news,
They side with the stories, that are juicier to use,

Societies are suffering, they need to be fixed,
The social anxieties need media reform from post conflicts,

This can be a important element for prevention,
The media-empire of influence needs intervention.

Music, politics and society

The songs on the list posted on our media, politics and society class website, were not current songs. These songs were written during times of political upheaval, gathering, and change. All of these artists may not have intended to present a political standpoint. The artists' vision is conveyed through their song. Songs become political because they convey a message. The viewer or listener has a better connection to the song because of the message. Each viewer looks at the lyrics and message differently.

For an example, I will talk about the song, imagine by John Legend. One of the main lyrics that is repeated and emphasized is the statement, "I am a believer." It may be viewed today as impractical, but being a believer is timeless. Looking forward instead of dwelling on the past is what this song really focuses on. John Legends imagines the world where there is no trouble. He emphasizes how people will have peace, no greed or hunger, and no killing your brothers and sisters. Living life is peace.

Is Hate Speech in the Media Directly Affecting Our Culture?

"Hate speech" often means different things to different people. Although the First Amendment to the Constitution ensures freedom of speech, in general, hate speech is exempted from the First Amendment. The term is meant to convey the deliberate bias toward and discrimination against persons that could be incited because f the form of speech. Hate speech is almost always evaluated based upon the context in which it is presented. This definition becomes more unclear when we think of the political ideology behind criticizing others, or the levels to which persuasive tactics may hide the actual intention of hate. Information and entertainment media normalize a culture of cruelty by discussing meanness and power in entertaining ways.

Georgie Ann Weatherby and Brian Scoggins, who represent the no side to this issue, investigated how four white supremacist Web sites present information that may appear benign but mask the ideologies of the groups they present. By presenting their ideas to the mainstream society, these groups attempt to gain compliance from persons who may be recruited to the extremist group's side.

Our history in the US of hate speech legislation often is targeted toward groups that exhibit bigotry or contempt for racial, ethnic, religious, or gender groups. We have had a long history of extremist groups of all kinds, hoping to se the media to defend their positions and recruit new members.

I think that we should have the freedom of speech, but to a certain extent. The issue of free speech has become even more extreme in the case of the Internet, where there is so much freedom to post information. In both mainstream media and on the Internet where extremist Web sites exist, we can see how hate speech is sanctioned, practiced, and in some cases, endorsed by the public.

Are People Better Informed in the Information Society?

There are tons of people who feel that as we move toward a more technologically oriented lifestyle, as participants in the new information society, are inevitably moving toward a better quality of life. It almost seems logical that better technology is the result of moving from more primitive forms of communicating to more sophisticated, faster, and efficient means. New technologies challenge us to think of new practices, nee values, and new structures.

Linda Jackson et al. found that youth who use the Internet more had higher scores on standardized tests f reading achievement and higher GPAs. This work supports the optimism surrounding the Internet as a tool to level the educational playing field. To contrast, Mark Bauerlein found that the youth spend much of their leisure time in front of computer and television screens, but the information age has failed to produce a well-infomred, thoughtful public.

Jackson and her colleagues demonstrate the potential of the Internet to enhance educational outcomes for low-income children. The Information highway and the Digital Age stimulated hopes for generation able to multitask, plumb and depths of digital information, and create a sophisticated synthesis. Bauerlein states that despite the numbers or sources and technologies available, people are not better educated or more informed today. If he is correct, there is much evidence to support the idea that as time goes by the public's knowledge of basic civics and politics becomes even weaker.

I personally think that people are better informed in the Information society. To use one example, you retrieve news and information so much more efficiently and faster from the Internet, rather than newspapers. I feel as if there is a lag time with newspapers because they have to be written, edited, and then published. We can achieve more, but have become more dependent on it.

Oral Presentation

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNmGOY8tYoY