Future of Journalism with the Internet

The landscape for journalism now is very different following the introduction of the internet. Take for example, citizen journalism. Citizen journalism is most often considered to be people without journalism training reporting the news to a wide audience. Some citizen journalism occurs when people happen upon breaking news and reporting their story. Other accounts come from people who want a different angle of a story covered and take it upon themselves to do so. In what other ways have the internet revolutionised journalism?


1. Interactivity

I feel that with the advent of the internet impacting journalism, journalism will evolve from being just a one-way street to a form of interactive communication between the consumer and the provider. In the past, most people are accustomed to to the passive format of the radio and TV. However, the internet in future will find new ways to allow comsumers and providers to interact all around the world in real time, to compleltely change the landscape of journalism.

2. Customised news.

As interactivity rises to new levels, providers would be hard-pressed to meet the specific needs of comsumers. This would lead the news to be even more one-dimensional then now. The many that do not interact actively with the journalist do not mean that they are not reading the news. However, the news would be fine-tuned to the content only those with the confidence and the eloquence to speak out are demanding for.

Ups and Downs in using the Internet for Political Campaigning

In America's 2006 election, political campaigning was revolutionised and taken to a while new level. Campaigns have developed sophisticated Internet tools to enhance their communication to their target audience, targeting young and web-savvy voters. Also, it made fundraising more effective as donating was more convenient and accessible.
However, as with every new relolutionary phenomenom, there are pros and cons to it.

Pros -

1. Being interactive to the target audience.

Via social media, discussion forums and blogs, citizens can be reached and their opinions heard. This ensures that citizens feel like they are involved with the whole voting process, and that they actually matter.

2. Being engaging with multimedia.

Youtube has provided a way where political campaign videos can be accessed anywhere, anytime. Can't make the speech? Don't worry, access it on the internet from the comfort of your own home. This is convenient, and videos also make sure the speech is engaging, compared to the past where citizens had to read a wall of text of speech to figure out what they missed.


Cons -

1. This strategy might not work for every country/culture.

Not everyone in the world has access to the internet still. There is a digital divide that exists, and this strategy would obviously only be effective in countries where the internet is readily available to the population. Additionally, the citizens must also be educated on how to use the internet.

2. Senior aged voters might lose out.

By emphasizing the internet in politcal campaigning, some older voters might be missed. Majority of the internet is still frequented by teens and working adults. Hence, some of the older generations might not be educated to know how to access the information they seek on the internet.

Clean, Sharp and Consise: Google's multimedia take

Recently, I tried out Google buzz and actually listed a few key features of the new application. However, what really struck me when trying to discover more about the new application is how well Google actually explained it via website and a video. Gone are the days of scrambling through a thick black and white manual trying to figure a new gadget out, nowadays multimedia tools have given a new dimension to company advertising as well as gadget 'manual' explaining.



I'll be analysing the google buzz site and its video. Firstly, you would notice that the site is clean, sharp and concise. The overview of the application is stated clearly in big font, and listed systematically is the features one can expect while using it. It gets straight to the point so as to not confuse its readers. This is a good strategy as web browsers normally - browse. In this day when million of webpages is a click away, people scan through webpages very quickly, and having a concise approach garuntees that the readers get the point without much confusion. Google manages to do this while keeping the page looking colourful and friendly, so although it lacks cutting-edge multimedia, it more than makes up for it in its cheerful and bright interface.



Looking at the video, I noticed that it connects very well with its intended audience. It describes everyday situations that are very relevant to us, the age-group targeted by google to be the bulk of its usership. They have found an amazing way to discard alot of flashy "fluff" concerned with multimedia, and utilise multimedia in a very useful and convenient way. It also shows plenty of clips from the actual usage of the application, so interested users know exactly what to expect and exactly how they can benefit from it. A very powerful application combined with very powerful multimedia presentation would equate to Google's goal: a very powerful unresistable appeal to download and catch the Buzz.