What Challenges do new online news sites face?
While it is great to use the internet for its easy accessibility and convenience, online news sites still face many challenges. One challenge is sustainability. Newspapers were in decline due to cost and relied heavily on advertisements. Online news sites are no different. As stated in our Media & Culture text, "New York Times began charging readers for access to all online content in early 2011." This is also known as a paywall. Over 150 newspapers of all sizes began doing this. However, they quickly realized that readership declined because many do not believe that they should have to pay for a subscription online. New York Times had to compromise, and "in 2014 began allowing readers free access to ten articles a month, as as free access to articles via a search link." The paper seems to still be having some serious cutbacks. This issue is quite similar in the music industry, where the audience does not feel that they should pay for music. The internet is a free world, sometimes it can be very beneficial and other times create more problems.
What is the current state of Citizen Journalism?
With this decline in readership, and difficulty keeping up financially with online news sites citizen journalism has become important. Citizen journalists are less expensive to hire and keep as staff, because they are not considered professional journalists. Thought it is great for money, it is still an issue for audiences. It is not professional. When thinking about the past election and politics probably from now on we have this constant idea of "fake news". It makes you wonder how much citizen journalists play a role in this. It is not enough to simply circulate news as quickly as possible. The "pro-am" idea would most likely be helpful, where citizen journalists are taught by professionals how to do more than just spread the word. Citizen journalism is a large part of what changed our news, its content, and how quick we get it.
Do newspapers today play a vigorous role as watchdogs of our powerful institutions? Why or why not? What impact will the downsizing and closing of newspapers have on this watchdog role?
Newspapers today do play a vigorous role as watchdogs of our powerful institutions. Stories that touch on injustice, and use a voice against it is still very prominent. In this digital age news online does this often. In the past many journalists have risked their lives for unveiling true stories we readers know nothing of. Many journalists around the world have died in the recent past. In 2016 CPJ made reports of killings in the deadliest countries for journalists totaling in more that 300 deaths. However, the downsizing and closing of newspapers may have a negative impact on this idea of the watchdog. There is not much of a longing for multiple styles of writing news. There is potential for the stories to have a very narrowed demographic. There may no longer be a sense of our right to speech, or independent thoughts and voice being spoken out in the news. This would change our world drastically.
While it is great to use the internet for its easy accessibility and convenience, online news sites still face many challenges. One challenge is sustainability. Newspapers were in decline due to cost and relied heavily on advertisements. Online news sites are no different. As stated in our Media & Culture text, "New York Times began charging readers for access to all online content in early 2011." This is also known as a paywall. Over 150 newspapers of all sizes began doing this. However, they quickly realized that readership declined because many do not believe that they should have to pay for a subscription online. New York Times had to compromise, and "in 2014 began allowing readers free access to ten articles a month, as as free access to articles via a search link." The paper seems to still be having some serious cutbacks. This issue is quite similar in the music industry, where the audience does not feel that they should pay for music. The internet is a free world, sometimes it can be very beneficial and other times create more problems.
What is the current state of Citizen Journalism?
With this decline in readership, and difficulty keeping up financially with online news sites citizen journalism has become important. Citizen journalists are less expensive to hire and keep as staff, because they are not considered professional journalists. Thought it is great for money, it is still an issue for audiences. It is not professional. When thinking about the past election and politics probably from now on we have this constant idea of "fake news". It makes you wonder how much citizen journalists play a role in this. It is not enough to simply circulate news as quickly as possible. The "pro-am" idea would most likely be helpful, where citizen journalists are taught by professionals how to do more than just spread the word. Citizen journalism is a large part of what changed our news, its content, and how quick we get it.
Do newspapers today play a vigorous role as watchdogs of our powerful institutions? Why or why not? What impact will the downsizing and closing of newspapers have on this watchdog role?
Newspapers today do play a vigorous role as watchdogs of our powerful institutions. Stories that touch on injustice, and use a voice against it is still very prominent. In this digital age news online does this often. In the past many journalists have risked their lives for unveiling true stories we readers know nothing of. Many journalists around the world have died in the recent past. In 2016 CPJ made reports of killings in the deadliest countries for journalists totaling in more that 300 deaths. However, the downsizing and closing of newspapers may have a negative impact on this idea of the watchdog. There is not much of a longing for multiple styles of writing news. There is potential for the stories to have a very narrowed demographic. There may no longer be a sense of our right to speech, or independent thoughts and voice being spoken out in the news. This would change our world drastically.
And that would really be a shame. Hopefully the masses don't get duped by this talk of the press as 'enemy of the people' where it's clear that the hardest hitting, most fact-finding watchdog presence is coming from those newspapers and media entities finding the most damning truths about those in power and not being afraid to report it. Hopefully we'll haze out of this 'fake news accusation' era as dumbfounded as we hazed into it, hypnotized by the over-saturation of images and sensationalism, products and visual effects all jumbled into one with news and images which make focus and depth a challenge. Citizen journalism, real people recording the news as it happens (called breaking or spot news), taking the photos where they are on the ground at the scene and self-distributing online on social media, has become the real watchdog, of course. Police brutality and lynching has always happened, now we have photo evidence of it. But investigative journalists at the NOT failing NYT (whose readership is up not down) and others are doing the real leg work of finding out what's true with those in power: corporations and the government stewards taking their lobby money. Hopefully we can endure through this coup on the first amendment and money-grab time. Thanks for a thorough and well-written post, and the citation is the icing on the cake.
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