Ushers

One of the latest developments in technology are the tablets that everyone wants to have one.  And these device, alongside with mobile phones,  paved way to an easier access on the web, making online journalism work on the game of immediacy better.

Tablets and mobile phones are handy, a good characteristics that caters for someone's convenience.Mobile phones with video/camera, and with access to the internet are of great help in "reporting events as they happen." 

Our online class activity last Saturday is an example how these gadgets could be very helpful. 

The Twitter-class-activity was a challenge. But with the aid of a fast Wifi connection, three gadgets, and a teammate you could work with gleefully, it was easier to execute things.

The "looking for event" flowed easy for us because there's an ongoing preparation for a Fashion show in Porta Vaga Roof Deck, which in our favor, was the first place we went. 

It was hard gathering for data, harder that the participants do not want to be interviewed. They told us to wait, and interview him, or her, and we need to have a formal letter and everything but we were not discouraged. With our mobile phones and a tab in our hands, we said we can look for another angle of the story. As journalism majors, we know that two could play the game, so we did not settle on waiting for the participants' responses. We looked for another interviewees, went online to gather more information about the event, and brainstormed together in the event's place. 

With the help of our internet connection, we were provided more data because of the event's Facebook page. The publicity online were so overwhelming that we knew we could make reports out of it without sacrificing the ethics of good journalism. 

It was a great experience to report ongoing events using limited characters. It made us think of other ways to report what was happening during the moment. Pressure was there but it was also a big help because it made us think more effectively.

Mobile phones and other handy-gadgets that have internet connections are ushers of online journalists today. Because as our Online Journalism always say, "News are online before it could be on the television or radio." No questions asked. 

Filling the Gap

History can tell the world on how media, particularly how people disseminate information, evolved- from ancient stone carvings, to books,  then publication of newspapers, the radio and television, and here came the world wide web or what they call the electronic media, which offers moving objects and visual materials. 

And again, with the advent of technology, information dissemination became faster in the online community. People, who have access to the internet, can post news or information directly on their blogs and social media accounts while journalists writing in a certain media outfit, still need to verify information, submit the article to the editor, and the process goes on, making readers to wait for hours and even days (in the case of newspaper outfits that publish weekly). 

[This Youtube video is David Carr's story- telling on how he thinks Journalism essentially changed over time. 

To further the argument, it really is always real time vs. batch processing. By batch processing in print journalism, meaning, the way how an article is chosen to be published. That it involves many process, from the writer to the editor, and so forth. 

But it's not really about the competition of Online and Print Journalism. It is how they work together in filling the gaps that the other one cannot provide. 

One difference is the immediacy of the information, and the time. Because articles can be published online in just a click, but offline publishing takes more time. Also are the audience, because online publications can reach people anywhere, anytime, may they be in different time zones as long as they have internet connection while newspaper outfits cannot. 

Print is good at the things the Web is not good at - watchdog, explanatory, enterprise, narrative storytelling. The two media complement one another. One is the flowing river, changing constantly; the other is the rock on the shore, fixed and solid.- Charlotte Hall, Editor, Orlando Sentinel

I AGREE. Because the print media can always perform its duties as watchdog of the society, that it provides verified information to the readers, it continues to educate the public about matters concerning the society and the nation at large, and is safeguarding the interest of journalists and journalism. While we cannot assure that the online community can provide all, if not some, of the mentioned established duty of the print media, it still helps in providing real- time and relevant information that people, not only in a certain area, but in the world, need to know. Because newspaper outfits also have their online counterparts now.

Online journalism makes it possible for concerned citizens to address unexpected happenings instantly, like that of earthquakes, fire, accidents, other dangers and live events- for online users. But then again, there are still places in this country that still don't have the fastest access to information but their radio and TV, and they are still willing to read the daily newspapers because it provides the relevant details of the news. 

The multimediality of the online medium paved way to readers' interactivity, and instant feedback. In just a click of the link, people online can now voice out their opinions and comments on certain issues while people reading the news can, likely, talk to themselves alone or whoever they are with during the time they read about the news. 

However, the two media differs in censorship. 

In online media, the people have the power to choose what to include on their stories while journalists have the guiding principle, the ethics and standard to choose only the important facts and figures on their news stories. But today, journalists can also testify that these real-time information from online users are big help for them to look for a better angle of their news stories. That they can make an article out of the news from ordinary individuals online. 

Who says print media is dead? No, because the online media, as its counterpart, makes it possible for this century-old source of information be more relevant and equally important as other forms of media in the world. 

To end this post, this video can provide a clearer insights about these two media. Theories and concepts are also provided here.:

 

Originality

Where are we going to draw the line? When everyone today with the aid of technology can present themselves as information disseminator? When people online can present real-time information while “trained” journalists are still busy gathering beats to verify the information presented online?

Where do we draw the line, as student journalists, when our generation comes with easier means to gather information, while others not taking our course can also present the same things we know are worth posting and publishing?

What would we do when everyone who has access to the internet can post information about what is happening in their community, making them as our competitors?  

That is our edge. As student- journalists training for the profession, WE CAN VERIFY THE NEWS CONTENT BY TAKING BOTH SIDES OF THE STORY AND PRESENTING NEWS ANGLE S THAT COULD MAKE THE REPORTS WORTH READING BY THE PUBLIC.

The online community is always an avenue for competition on immediacy versus accuracy. But the essence of good journalism is a discipline of verification.

In school, we are trained to be competitive enough so when we go on field, we know what to do with the gathered information and how to present it guided by the principles of good journalism.  Because as our journalism instructors and professors always tell us, “Journalists have the duty and privilege to seek and report the truth.”  

With the tight competition online, journalists can still be original by:

1.       Providing news stories that are subjected to public’s criticism and compromise. The members of the news media already established their identities as carriers of public [online or not] discussions about the community, if not the country. And it is their sole responsibility to represent the different viewpoints and opinion of the mass for them to have a balance ground of presenting the news context.

2.       Making the news stories comprehensive. For different people in different culture to fully understand what people from news organization are trying to present. That they present it with such confident that people can rely on the information for them not to lag behind about the current events in the society.

3.       Adapting to changes. By changes I meant are changes in the media ecology; that everything is fleeting online. The technological advancements are so fast-changing and fast- improving that journalists must be flexible enough to go with the flow without the pressure of changing their original writing styles.

4.       Upholding the profession asked of them. That they have accepted the obligation of presenting the truth, guided by journalism standards and ethics, the time they stepped out of their personal lives creating someone out of themselves that know how to balance their interests.

5.       Knowing how to sensitive. That not everything is worth publishing. That they should be cautious about the information from their sources. That they should know what to do in times of disasters and other dilemmas. That they are sensitive about the feelings of the people around and the public at large.

There are many ways to be original. As our instructor said in our online journalism class: “ADMIT MISTAKES AND CORRECT THEM PROMPTLY.” Because journalists can show their originality by knowing when to use their pride and, of course, their accountability.

For the last note and from the eyes of a student-journalist: Trained, professional and even amateur journalists can be original by presenting their own writing styles and original works without sacrificing their credibility and by presenting balance news stories.

Why is Online Journalism imporant?

Online journalism is indeed one of the latest medium used for information dissemination today.

Obvious as it may seem, online journalism is a form of journalism practiced and utilized online. Blog entries, Facebook status updates, Tweets on Twitter, video chat via Skype and photos on Tumblr are just few of the ways netizens (people online) contribute to the rapid spread of online journalism. Applications are being made and laptop and PC features are being improved every time.

Traditionally, print and broadcast journalism are the more popular kinds of reporting news and events that are happening in the society. Even until now, but the number of people reading news online is fast increasing because in just a click of one's personal computer's mouse, news about the world can be known instantly.

Over the years, it has been proved that the online media has a great impact on the views of the people: online readers and consumers, especially those with Twitter accounts. Twitter today is widely used by different kinds of individuals like actors and actresses, politicians, newscasters and the like because it is where they publish posts about their personal lives, opinions and rants.

Until Twitter found its new calling. Records revealed that seven minutes after the devastating earthquake in Haiti last January 2010, Frederic Dupoux, published his first tweet about the scenario. Dupoux was a Haiti- based internet user. As the power supply in Haiti shut down and TV and radio stations were out of service, the only way the people and Haiti reported what happened was through their mobile phones with internet connection.

The tweet went viral and other tweets about the quake were published. There were two foreign correspondents during that time but they needed to attend their personal lives because they have their families in Haiti. The first correspondent that arrived in Haiti was CNN- journalist Anderson Cooper. Soon enough after broadcasting what happened in the place, military operations took place and other media outfits like NewYork Times and Los Angeles Times worked together with CNN to report the quake's aftermath and soon was broadcasted around the world.

These information was from Nicola Bruno's research titled, "Tweet first, Verify Later? How real- time information is changing the coverage of worldwide crisis events.

Twitter has paved its way of providing relevant information and news to its users around the globe. It is also because media organizations worldwide created their Twitter accounts, facebook accounts and even their own websites for a more on-the-go information for their readers.

Many other technological advancements are being used today to broadcast news events around the world. As these information become viral, so are the use of internet-based applications become popular.

There are many other ways to share information, it's just that online journalism is a faster way to inform the people in the world about other countries' stability.Technology is fleeting but technology is proving that it is useful in the everyday lives of people of different races and culture.