2009 Not Good for Journalists vs. Censors

Censors got the best of many journalists around the world last year, according to an alarming analysis by Reporters Without Borders reported today on MediaShift:

For the first time since the Internet emerged as a tool for public use, there are currently 100 bloggers and cyber-dissidents imprisoned worldwide as a result of posting their opinions online in 2009, according to Reporters Without Borders. This figure is indicative of the severity of the crackdowns being carried out in roughly 10 countries around the world. ...

The number of countries pursuing online censorship doubled in the past year -- a disturbing trend that suggests governments seek to increase their control over new media. In total, 151 bloggers and cyber-dissidents were arrested in 2009, and 61 were physically assaulted.

It might seem easy to dismiss reports such as this because it's happening "someplace else," such as Iran or China. However, in the wired world of today, around the world might just as well be around the block.

The next journalist/blogger/newscaster to feel the brunt of censors may live in the democracy next door. As the story notes, several European nations along with Australia are looking at ways to "control the Internet." Beware ...

-rp-

Update:

• See Mashable: "Zen and the Art of Twitter"
• Mashable: "How Social Media Has Changed Us"

Exploring the Media's Twitter Obsession

Why are journalists falling all over themselves trying to figure out Twitter? Because the social network is growing at epic pace, from alerting the world to breaking news to providing sources and a media audience.

In a MediaShift story, journalist Alana Taylor, a student at New York University, reports on a recent panel discussion, "Journalists and Social Media: Sources, Skills, and the Writer." MediaBistro organized the event. She writes:

"Journalists are obsessed with Twitter. Obsessed. They use it, talk about it, analyze it, deconstruct it, reconstruct it, love it, hate it, capitalize on it, become experts on it, monetize it, argue about it, and become micro-famous on it. They are mesmerized with what it is and they are as giddy as Tom Cruise on Oprah just thinking about what it could be."

She goes on to share what panelists had to say about Twitter as a reporting tool and its place in the evolving media.

Attached to her story is this MediaBistro video featuring the panelists discussing social networking and the future of journalism.

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Bloggers Excel Where Other Media Won't

Where newspapers and other media neglect to cover issues important to readers, bloggers are filling the void, according to a Simon Owens on MediaShift.

He chronicles several places where bloggers have taken on a particular topic -- politics, crime, land-use planning -- and gained a significant following. Why? Because people passionate about those issues see that bloggers share their passion and often are better connected than those in the media.

Another attraction? Bloggers aren't afraid to call it as they see it. And why shouldn't they if they've built their credibility by providing readers with the most timely, accurate and extensive coverage. Owens notes:

"As city daily papers continue to strain under the pressure of massive reporter layoffs, hundreds of knowledgeable and independent local bloggers are rising up and finding themselves with small, niche audiences that sometimes provide massive political sway."

The rising ability of bloggers to better serve these "niche audiences" is one of the reasons we're teaching young journalists this valuable skill.

-rp-

(Photo credit: "Moo cards..." by Mexicanwave, courtesy of Flickr.com)

Newspapers 2.0: Reinventing the Media

Newspapers, it would seem, are rapidly coming to the end of their press run. It's shocking to many just how fast the bottom has fallen out of the industry. (Penny stocks, anyone?)

As they struggle to continue their print editions, newspapers are joining in the scramble for the elusive online business model that will keep them the premier information providers in many markets.

In today's edition of MediaShift, Mark Glaser surveys the alternative business models that newspapers are trying in order to survive into the next decade.

Obviously, newspapers spent way too much time counting their profits and not protecting their information franchises over the past decade. Now faced with reality, most still don't get it. It's not just about making the transition from print to online, but evolving to become the go-to source of information and related services in their markets.

Which brings me back to Charlie Beckett's notion of "supermedia," where journalists and consumers collaborate through a variety of evolving media, including Facebook, e-mail, Twitter, and whatever comes next in the social networking revolution. I don't think it's enough for newspapers to evolve into and create local "portals," which just look like another place to hit readers with ads.

Media entities -- for-profit and non-profit alike -- have to find new ways to add value for some next-generation audience of media consumers. A daunting challenge, indeed.

Other industries have had to reinvent themselves, and not everybody has survived. Why should newspapers be any different?

Note: This just in ... study shows just how cautious newspapers are toward new media. See Reportr.net.

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(Photo credit: "The Newspaper on the Press" by Vin Crosbie, courtesy of Flickr.com)

Status Report: Online Campus Media

Thank you, Bryan Murley, for your MediaShift update on one of my favorite journalism topics, the evolution of online campus media. In "College Media Has Come a Long Way Online" Murley provides links to a number of innovative online operations on campuses nationwide.

It's instructive to see what the next generation of journalists is doing out there. What surprised me was that 36 percent of college newspapers are not yet online, according to a sampling done by Bob Bergland, a professor at Missouri Western State University. What are they waiting for?!

As our own students at the Commuter have discovered since launching their improved Web site this past summer, having an immediate and seemingly limitless outlet for their journalistic and creative endeavors is not only strengthening their skills as journalists but building a new and exciting "community of interest" at Linn-Benton Community College.

It's exciting to see students engaged in trying new forms of expression and discovering that journalism is alive and well, despite what they've been led to believe by some of the old-timers in the profession.

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(Photo credit: "Media Training" by noodlepie, courtesy of Flickr.com)