May 26, 2008
· Filed under Assignments
One of the most appealing aspects of the blogosphere is the free flow of unfiltered ideas and conversation it permits; however, this same freedom can be abused and all together discarded. In the most extreme cases, blogs have been used to target individuals to the point where they fear for their own lives.
In order to protect the rights of others while balancing a blogger’s right to freedom of expression; I support the implementation of a code of ethics for bloggers.
“The aim of [a] code is not to homogenize the Web, but to make clearer the informal rules that are already in place anyway,” said David Weinberger, a well known blogger and a fellow at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard Law School, during an interview for the article “A Call for Manners in the World of Nasty Blogs.”
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May 26, 2008
· Filed under Reading
Headlines of 2010:
Man hit by car.
Bellevue fire.
The future of “witty wordplay” headlines that traditionally attracted readers to certain articles may be grim, according to Clive Thompson’s article “How Google News Is Changing The Way Newspaper Headlines are Written.”
According to Thompson, newspapers and online media news sources are beginning to change their prose style in order to be more easily brought up by search engines. Headlines based on puns or wordplays have created “the problem of synonymity,” which occurs when a machine sorts an article by simply the words of the headline, not the intended meaning of the headline or the actual genre of the story.
While technology has always affected journalism, I think we have reached a point where technology is beginning to have a negative impact on journalism. If people begin to create headlines only for the machines, I believe their readers will suffer and there will be a significant decrease in the sites popularity. This is because I personally believe creative headlines should remain a determining factor in distinguishing an article that is worth your time to read (dependent on the medium and intended audience, of course).
Fortunately, some news sites have began searching for ways to save their inventive headlines. One solution presented and used by the BBC is create two different headlines for each article, one which attracts the readers and one that is literal for the machines.
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May 18, 2008
· Filed under Reading
There are several steps bloggers can take in order to remain out of the courts. The most obvious precaution one should take to avoid being charged with making defamatory statements by simply telling the truth. Stefanac explained another precaution in “Dispatches from Blogistan” that I had never heard of before: insurance for bloggers.
“If you’re really worried about defamation lawsuits, there are liability insurance policies available, but many bloggers will find annual premiums averaging $3000 for a $1 million policy with a $5000 deductible to be a steep price,” Stefanac explained.
So is insurance necessary for bloggers? I decided that if I want to continue blogging after this class is finished, I should look further into the matter, so my quest for blogging insurance began.
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May 13, 2008
· Filed under Assignments
KC Cowen introduced the class to the idea of blogs as the “Fifth Estate” in her post titled Democracy Defended: Polibloggers and the Political Press in America. But what is the “Fifth Estate”?
Geoff Livingston explains the “Fifth Estate” and its relation to the Fourth Estate, or the media. The fifth estate was born from the media audiences ability and desire to comment, influence, supplement, augment and develop their own voice concerning information obtained through the media. Start the dramatic music — the fifth estate and blogs are one in the same.
“The Fifth Estate – citizen media – brings to bear unreported yet relevant news, and questioned stated facts,” Livingston explained.
Stephen Cooper, Associate Professor of Communications at Marshall University professor, proposed a similar, yet different, definition and use of the Fifth Estate in his book, “Watching the Watchdog: Blogging as the Fifth Estate.” Cooper explores the distinct type of media criticism that has developed in the blogosphere, which he has named the watcher of the watchdog.
According to Amazon.com: “In one sentence, the thesis of this little book is that the blogosphere is in the process of maturing into a full-fledged social institution, albeit a non-traditional one: emergent, self-organizing and self-regulating.
If you are still interested in learning more about the Fifth Estate, take some time to read this recent Washington Post article about how in some cases the media has accepted and used social media to its benefit.
May 10, 2008
· Filed under Reading
How individuals are supposed to gain credibility and distinguish themselves from the masses in the blogosphere has been a question I have personally battled with throughout the quarter. Fortunately, chapter seven of “Dispatches from Blogistan” has finally provided some form of an answer to my burning question.
“Better tools for filtering and gauging reputation are coming onboard every day,” Stefanac explained. “Individual bloggers are getting more proficient at presenting their cases in a manner that inspires confidence and action.”
By utilizing new technology and presenting arguments that are well formulated and balanced, bloggers are beginning to set themselves apart in their personal communities and the entire blogosphere.
Chapter seven also addressed another blogging issue I have expressed concerns about, the relationship between blogging and traditional journalism. In an interview with Jamais Cascio, an Internet activism veteran, Stefanac once again calmed my fears about traditional journalism surviving in the cyber world by stating.
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May 4, 2008
· Filed under Reading
J. Patrick Coolican from the Las Vegas Sun explored the dangers of groupthink in his article, “The Perils of Political Narrative: One Reporter’s Story.” Coolican explores how groupthink has evolved and become a form of narrative, which has had both positive and negative impacts on the world of journalism from personal experience.
According to Coolican, groupthink as narrative is developed when: “A bunch of reporters and editors read on another’s dispatches, talk at events and on planes, and come to a rough consensus about where things stand and what’s important.”
I think this idea of groupthink is significant because it allows reporters to gather and ultimately print the same information so that no one is singled out for printing the wrong information; however, if all newspapers print the same thing, people will no longer have a need for a variety of news sources. Not only would most newspapers go out of business, but I believe our Democracy would be put at stake because there would be less diversified information available for people to interpret and formulate their own opinions.
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May 4, 2008
· Filed under Assignments · Tagged blogging, rhetoric blogging
The Caucus has reported that Obama officially defeated Clinton in Guam by only seven votes. Obama received 2,264 votes compared to Clinton’s 2,257 votes. The results from Guam are considered especially significant this year since the Democrats are in the midst of a “delegate-by-delegate” battle.
Because of the closeness of the vote, the outcome in Guam is unlikely to have an impact on the delegate margin. However, the caucuses also determined two of Guam’s five superdelegates. Pilar Lujan, who is uncommitted, won the race for party chairwoman, and Jaime Paulino, who supports Mr. Obama, was elected vice chairman. Two of the island’s other established superdelegates are on record as supporting Mrs. Clinton, of New York.
Tip.
