Longtime readers of this blog may recall that I’ve done a couple of Q&As with the Media Watch unit of PBS’ Online NewsHour on the subject of online journalism, back in 1999 and 2001. (I’ve archived them on my site.)
A producer there approached me a month ago to do a reality check on the state of online journalism today. Because it’s not certain whether they’ll be doing a story or posting a report, I thought I’d post the interview here.
Journalism and the Internet have had an uneasy relationship right from the start. What dynamic is in play today?
It’s important, I think, to distinguish between the craft of journalism and the business of journalism on the Internet. On the financial side of the ledger, online journalism remains something of a black hole. While a handful of companies, such as the New York Times on the Web, turn a profit, most online news sites continue to thrash about for a sustainable business model. Just today, Business Week laid off six staffers from its online division. Stand-alone news and culture sites like Salon will continue to have a tough go of things until online advertising makes a U-turn. Times are extremely tough for news publications.
But the craft of journalism on the Internet has never been more robust. And by that I mean the type of amateur journalism we’re seeing with the explosion of web logs, community news sites and small, independent sites devoted to a niche subject. Internet journalism is alive and well, but it’s no longer confined to a select, narrow priesthood of professional reporters and editors.
What have blogs done to the traditional journalism model? Is the definition of journalism changing?
Journalism is undergoing a quiet revolution, whether it knows it or not. Readers will always turn to traditional news sites as trusted, reliable sources of news and information — that won’t change. But the walls have fallen. The scope and mandate of journalism have expanded.
A great number of people on the Net have taken on some of the trappings of journalist. You don’t need to write or work for a professional publication with a slick million-dollar Web site to be an online journalist. All you need is a computer, Internet connection, and an eye for the truth. A journalist is anyone who is an eyewitness to or interpreter of important events and who reports it as honestly and accurately as possible. Period.
Much of that is happening through web logs. Blogs, for the uninitiated, are a kind of scrolling personal journal of fact, opinion and personal experience, with frequently updated entries and links to other sites. A handful of professional journalists have taken up the form, such as Dan Gillmor of the San Jose Mercury News, Sheila Lennon of the Providence Journal and Eric Alterman of MSNBC. Understand, most bloggers aren’t practicing journalism. But some clearly are. They may engage in the editorial function of selecting newsworthy or interesting topics, report on events first-hand, provide nuanced context and background information on a subject, or offer analysis, commentary and opinion. In the process, they build up a publishing track record and establish a loyal following.
This form of Internet journalism eschews some of the pieties of traditional journalism. “Objectivity” usually goes out the window; the idea behind blogs is that you’re part of a network of ideas and won’t get a complete, unvarnished encapsulation of a story or idea at any one place. First-person writing is celebrated rather than shunned. Colorful writing and emotion are welcomed rather than filtered out, because the lowest-common-denominator of mass media doesn’t apply. A writer’s reasoning and reputation count more than one’s pedigree, status or the shingle you hang on your door. Participation by and feedback from peers are part of the process, while in mainstream news operations, after you’re done with a story you’re on to the next thing.
It sounds like the traditional conventions of journalism don’t apply to the Net.
Journalism should adapt to the medium, and the Internet celebrates voice, interactivity, independence. But web logs and amateur journalism need to absorb lessons from mainstream journalism as well. For decades journalists have built up a time-honored set of values, standards and ethical rules of the road regarding matters like conflicts of interest, separation of editorial material from business concerns, trying to get all sides of a story. And lone-wolf bloggers will never be able to replace the fact-checking machinery of a daily newsroom. Whether it’s done by amateurs or professionals, online or offline, journalism at its core is about getting at the truth.
Where are you seeing the greatest impact of the new forms of journalism?
In several places. Large community news sites like Slashdot and Kuro5hin — which are both considered group web logs — bring together thousands of users at any one time who can bring their own expertise to a subject.
When dozens or hundreds of people attend conferences, speeches or trade shows, more than a few bring along laptops with a wireless connection and report live from the event on their web log. I just attended a conference in Camden, Maine, where those doing real-time blogging included a newspaper reporter, a lawyer, an author, a student and a photographer. And they all linked to each other.
Small niche-focused sites bring another form of amateur journalism to particular topics. The Car Place provides straight-shooting auto reviews that place a premium on readers, not advertisers. ThemeParkInsider deputizes its users into serving as consumer watchdogs who are on the lookout for unsafe amusement parks. Some of the earliest eyewitness reports of 9/11 appeared on Metafilter, another grassroots news site. All three sites are operated by a single individual who has built up a reputation for trustworthiness.
What’s next?
As broadband becomes more widespread, look for amateur journalism to expand from the text world to the video world. A high school freshman videotaping a faculty strike and uploading clips to the Internet with his commentary on the situation is, for all intents and purposes, an amateur news journalist. A college student who maintains a smart, informed web log about the latest doings in the tennis world is an amateur sports journalist. These “amateurs” have just as meaningful a role in the future of news on the Net as do the professionals.
In three to five years users, as video tools become cheaper and easier to use, we’ll see everyday citizens take up their camcorders to publish news and views about their lives, communities, sporting events, and offering cultural commentary about politics, movies, television and more. Look for 30- or 60-second video snippets coming to a computer screen near you.
As for the major news organizations, I hope they’ll grasp the potential of the wireless Internet and offer on-the-fly news coverage and mobile services for the wired power users in their audience. That’s not likely to happen until late in the decade, however.
This entry originally appeared Dec. 13, 2002, on my Manila blog.
JD Lasica, founder of Inside Social Media, is also a fiction author and the co-founder of the cruise discovery engine Cruiseable. See his About page, contact JD or follow him on Twitter.
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