Media changes

In the last chapters of “We the media” Gillmor talks about the current problems journalist face due to the new technology.  Not only journalists are more exposed to being sued because someone posted material that is not accurate. (Especially in forums)  Moreover, he talks about the misrepresentation of journalist stories, in which it has been found that  some journalist including the one from  USA Today, Jack Kelly had “fabricated some information in which he became a finalist to the Pulitzer Prize” (200).  Among other things it has been know that other journalist have been copying other journalist materials. 

He also, talks about how the big media and big business lobbied Congress to pass stricter laws and punish those who don’t use their material in a “fair way”.  Gillmor says that Congress is deciding to listen to big media thus allowing them to expand their monopoly. He gives the example of copyrighted work that protects author’s creative work.  Although I agree that if one creates a piece of art, music, or writing the author must be entitled until his death because that is product of his creativity.  But he mentions how Disney Corporation managed to take away the rights of his cartoons from public domain and continue to make profit after the copyrights had expired.

Gillmor says that the old media is being responsive towards new technology, but they are being responsive, because they are afraid of losing money; and the new techniques they are adapting is done to intimidate the audience.  For example at the end of the book he mentions how he and his publisher decided to have “We the media” Online for free. That is something that other publisher would not do because they know that somehow they would lose money. The only way publishers allow readers to download material is when the material is public domain.  They don’t publish Online books for free because they are afraid of losing money. 

  

Whose information do you trust!

On chapter eight, on page 171, Gillmor, writes about “whose information do you trust” he talks about how Google decided not to post any Blogs on its news sites even thought some of the best Bloggers post really interesting information about the current news and events and Bloggers are doing a good job covering those events.  In my opinion Google should allow the best Bloggers with relevant information about news or events to be searchable in “Google News”.  Thus however, Google could put a disclaimer informing people that the Blog is not a news website but it has relevant information about the topic being searched.  Thus readers can have more options and they would decide how to interpret the comments being posted Online.   

On chapter nine Gillmor also, talks about the new changes in technology, has changed the way news are being presented to the public he explains how pictures, stories and videos can easily be manipulated to take advantage of something.  Gillmor gives the example of the 2004, presidential campaign in which someone posted a fake photo of John Kerry with Jane Fonda.  “Kerry and Fonda in a photo that turned out to be doctored were show “together” at a 1970s rally protesting the Vietnam War.  It was unclear who crated the fake picture, but the willingness of many people to trust this picture spoke volumes about how easy it is to manipulate public opinion”.  (Gillmor, 177).

As Internet users, we have to keep in mind that not everything we see online is trustworthy, especially if the information found in not from a trustable source. Blogs can be trustable if they are at least being cited by other people.  The lesson to be learned is to be suspicious when information being post online does not have a reputable source. This does not mean that we have to rely on the traditional media to deliver the news. It just means we have to be a little more suspicious about the way news are presented and question who presents the news and why.     

Citizen Journalism: “We The Media”

In chapters, 4,5, and 6 Gilmore talks about the necessity people has in writing the stories the traditional media is not covering.  Some citizen’s journalists write with a great passion about certain topics, and eventually they become to be experts in topics such as politics, law or even economy.  These writers see the necessity to post this information on the web so that people more can see it.  Moreover, Gilmore also, says that although the traditional media has the economic resources, sometimes they don’t want to invest too much time in investigative reporting because it costs too much money to do an in-depth reporting. And the stories especially on TV have to be really short.

People who has great passion for any topic will write in-depth because they care about the topics and they wonder that Online, there must be some people who are also hungry to learn more about it.  One thing is true: citizen journalism is uncontrollable growing.  More voices are being heard, and less people are being ignored by the big media companies, thus allowing more people to join in the conversation, something of course that traditional media does not like it, but this is a democracy and when more voices are heard, people will have a broader perspective of the issues that affect them and that the media should be covering, if they don’t, well, citizens journalist and bloggers will start the conversation themselves, because now the tools to start a conversation exist and those tools are cheap or even free.