Week 10 Articles

It's the Audience Stupid!

• What is the new approach to storytelling and how is it being used to broaden audiences?

The new approach to storytelling is by writing more stories about global issues. This is used to broaden audiences because they found that there were more people interested in these kind of topics. Another lesson they are using is to not “dumb down” the writing for their audience. Not doing that prevents from the audience being insulted in any way.

• How is digital media being used to engage audiences?

Digital media is being used to engage audiences because digital media makes it possible for people to have easier and faster to access to news. This gives people the chance to be informed at any time and moment that they want. Media convergence also helps the authors who are writing these stories. Like it says in the article “We can call on their expertise; we can facilitate international debate; we can use crowd sourcing techniques to have them participate in deciding which stories to cover.” This gives the authors to know what the audience wants and provide it for them as effectively as possible.

• Give three specific examples of how you can incorporate storytelling into an article you write?

One way to incorporate storytelling into an article you write is by using real life examples. Like talking about your own experience and other individuals experiences as well. Another way is to use examples that could relate to your audience. Lastly it is a good idea to simply be entertaining when you write your article. People do not want to read a plain boring article. They want to read something entertaining that they can relate too.

All the Aggregation That's Fit to Aggregate

• What does aggregation mean?

In the article aggregation is defined in two ways. The first definition is “smart people sharing their reading lists, plugging one another into the bounty of the information universe.” This definition basically refers to people sharing their ideas, thoughts, and projects with each other. The second definition is “taking words written by other people, packaging them on your own Web site and harvesting revenue that might otherwise be directed to the originators of the material.” Basically what we would consider as piracy.

• Why does the author describe Arianna Huffington as “the queen of aggregation?” Go to the Huffington Post and provide an example.

Arianna Huffington is described as the “queen of aggregation” because she is a blogger who has used unique ideas to make her blog popular and attractive to large audiences. In the article she is described as the person “who has discovered that if you take celebrity gossip, adorable kitten videos, posts from unpaid bloggers and news reports from other publications, array them on your Web site and add a left-wing soundtrack, millions of people will come.”

• Is aggregation a threat to professional journalism? Why or why not?

The article states that it can sometimes be hard to determine what attracts more people to read the Huffington Post. If it the more serious stuff or the entertaining stuff. They do not think that it will hurt professional journalism in any way but they hope that it will only help it in a positive way.

Photojournalism in the Age of New Media

A professional journalist receives a photo captured by a citizen journalist….

• What are the positives?

The positives of getting a photo captured by a citizen are first you don’t have to worry about taking a picture anymore and second of all a picture captured by a citizen has more of a sense of the real experience. If a reporter takes a picture from the outside of a scene it will be much different then a picture taken by a citizen from inside the scene. This allows viewers to understand the situation better.

• Why does the professional journalist need to be careful?

The professional journalist needs to be careful because they need to make sure that the photo is really coming from the source they are getting it from. They have to make sure it is really their photo to avoid copyright issues.

• Why might the content of the photo be called into question?

The content of the photo might be questionable because it needs to be proved that the photo is real and that it is not photo shopped.

• How does citizen photojournalist impact the job of the professional photojournalist?

Citizen photojournalists impact professional photojournalist because it is easier for citizens to get more photos from inside a scene and post them online faster and easier then it would be for a reporter who might not be able to get inside a scene.