The Current Online News

According to Lasica (2001), the online medium gives journalists the powerful tools of context and authentication. Osborn (2001) suggested that the immediacy brought by the online environment, a medium where everyone is a potential publisher, allows for even less deliberation by the journalist and editor. Matters of anonymity, identity, access to information and protection of intellectual property impact the practice of online journalism.

Thousands of people have signed up for e-mail alerts whenever major news breaks and we usually flock to our computer screens for the latest developments whenever a big story hits. Therefore, people want news which is fast but credible.

The challenge facing online journalists is to balance the legitimate desires of the online audience for up-to-the-minute reports with the profession's traditions of fairness, completeness, balance and accuracy (Lasica, 2001).With the latest case of Michael Jackson’s death, online journalists did not do a good job in covering the breaking news. It was because each journalist was assigned to several jobs at once.

Therefore, news organizations should reexamine how they handle breaking news in a hyper-competitive, instant-publishing environment. As a start, online journalists should disclose as much as possible, check thoroughly then tell the truth and be honest (Niles, 2007).

When handling breaking news, news organizations should have many journalists on standby. Then, every journalist should be assigned to one task only, whether to publish or to report. If the information are not consistent, accurate and fast, news organizations may lose credibility.

However, in this situation, smart news organizations should acknowledge to their followers and readers that they know the report is out there and that people are talking about it, and report where the organization is with its own reporting (Niles, 2009).

Every major breaking news events offers its lessons to the news organizations that covered it. People are expecting fast news, but they also want it to be credible. Without much systematic organization in the news corporation, fast and credible news will not be achieved.

However, people must also be aware that some microblogging sites or "news publisher" do not produce credible news.



References

Lasica, JD 2001, How the Net is shaping journalism ethics, jdlasica.com, viewed on 18 November 2009, http://www.jdlasica.com/articles/newsethics.html.

Niles, R 2009, Michael Jackson’s death and its lessons for online journalists covering breaking news, OJR: The Online Journalism Review, viewed on 18 November 2009, http://www.ojr.org/ojr/people/robert/200906/1755/.

Niles, R 2007, What are the ethics of online journalism?, OJR: The Online Journalism Review, viewed on 18 November 2009, http://www.ojr.org/ojr/wiki/ethics/.

Osborn, B 2001, Ethics and Credibility in Online Journalism, The University of Memphis, viewed on 18 November 2009, http://bradleyosborn.com/z/RESUME/academic/ethics_and_credibility_in_online_journalism.pdf.

Rise of the Mobile Video Blog

According to Funnell (2009), the average mobile phone has evolved from the humble voice-box to the total media centre. As a result, the mobile video blog (vlog) has become popular almost overnight. Vlogs are beginning to infiltrate the mainstream media, part of the increasingly seismic shift in the way we get our news and entertainment.

These statements are suppored by Harnick (2009) who quoted that

“According to Nielsen’s Three Screen Report, the number of people watching mobile video increased 70 percent, from more than 9 million to more than 15 million in the last year. Findings also include children 12-17 years old spend the most watching video on their mobile devices at 6 hours and 30 seconds. Young adults ages 18-24 spend 3 hours and 15 minutes while ages 25-34, 45-54 and 55-64 spend 2 hours and 10 seconds.”

Click on the image to enlarge.
Source: http://www.thirdpresence.com/blog/mobile-broadband


Mobile vlogs already helped to create the first internet celebrities (Simmons, 2008). So if your video blog is good, you might be the next internet celebrity. Also, mobile vlogs helps delivering news to your hands faster than ever.

So what are the factors which made mobile vlog a massive trend?
According to Simmons (2008), faster mobile connections, all-inclusive data packages, and better mobile phones (Nokia N95, iPhone 3GS, HTC HD2) are the factors.

There are two new video sharing services – Qik and Seesmic. Qik is all about streaming live video from your mobile phone in real time, whereas Seesmic is all about recording video on the seesmic website via a webcam on your computer. [Hobson, 2008]

A screenshot of Qik.
Source: http://www.crunchbase.com/assets/images/original/0000/6289/6289v1.png

A screenshot of Seesmic.
Source: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2051/2189814384_4eb0761be8.jpg

The services were referred to as "a vision of the future of online video” (Waters, 2008).
In my opinion, these two video sharing services will be popular in Asia soon. People love new trends and with the presence of better mobile phones, users will enjoy recording videos then share it with their peers. Moreover, pictures are only able to capture one moment but videos can explain the whole experience.

So, keep an eye on mobile vlogs!


References

Funnell, J 2009, LTE - The Rise of the Mobile Prosumer, iTVcon.com, viewed on 18 November 2009, <http://www.itvcon.com/node/1171759>.

Harnick, C 2009, Mobile video consumption on the rise: Nielsen, Mobilness.wordpress.com, viewed on 18 November 2009, <http://mobileness.wordpress.com/2009/10/09/mobile-video-consumption-on-the-rise-nielsen/>.

Hobson, N 2008, The rise of instant movile video, NevilleHobson.com, viewed on 18 November 2009, <http://www.nevillehobson.com/2008/01/21/the-rise-of-instant-mobile-video/>.

Simmons, D 2008, Rise of the mobile video blog, BBC News, viewed on 18 November 2009, <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/click_online/7392594.stm>.

Waters, D 2008, Seesmic killed the Youtube star?, BBC News, viewed on 18 November 2009, <http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/technology/2008/01/seesmic.html>.

The Power of Photograph

Lester (1995) suggested that photojournalism is the profession in which journalists make news-editorial images for print and screen (television and computer) media. Therefore, images or photographs are extremely important in photojournalism.

Images evoke almost immediate emotional responses among viewers and images have tremendous impact (Lester, 1995). Visual messages with well-chosen texts combine to educate, entertain and persuade. Unfortunately, images can also offend, shock, mislead, stereotype and confuse.

An image of a war can have a tremendous impact, positively or negatively.
Source: http://www.brusselstribunal.org/images/War.jpg

As a result, photojournalism ethics were formed to minimize the flip side of images. Although ethics are important in photojournalism, photojournalists still violate those ethics for their own advantages.

For instance, OK! Magazine published Michael Jackson’s death photo on their cover. According to Snead (2009), OK! magazine reportedly paid over $500,000 for the controversial "last" picture of Michael Jackson being carried on a stretcher, possibly dead.

The cover of OK! Magazine which features Michael Jackson.
Source: http://static.thehollywoodgossip.com/images/gallery/michael-jackson-ok-cover_365x495.jpg

Most of the readers were mad about this and thought it was an irresponsible act. Vesely (2008) suggested that ethics are overwhelmed by the power of photographs. In addition, the photo is the story, not just the texts. However, question of “Is it ethical to publish a dead person’s photo on a magazine cover?” still remains. According to Lester (1995), privacy concerns are almost always voiced by ordinary citizens or celebrities who are suddenly thrust in front of the unblinking lens of a camera because of connection to some sensational news story.

The consequences of violating photojournalism could vary from photographer getting fired (The Associated Press, 2006), threats of boycott the publisher and negative outrage of the public (Snead, 2009).

No matter how the tools of journalism change, fundamental ethical concerns still apply. According to Lester (1995), displaying violent, sensational images for economic reasons, violating a person's privacy before the judicial process can function, manipulating news-editorial pictures to alter their content, stereotyping individuals into pre-conceived categories and blurring the distinction between advertising and editorial messages were journalism concerns in 1895, are important topics in 1995 and will be carefully considered issues, no doubt, in 2095.

Therefore, it is vital that whenever and wherever possible, ethical issues should be employed by the journalism profession.


References

Altered images prompt photographer’s firing 2006, The Associated Press, viewed on 18 November 2009, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13165165/.

Lester, PM 1995, Photojournalism Ethics Timeless Issues, Fullerton.edu, viewed on 18 November 2009, http://commfaculty.fullerton.edu/lester/writings/photoethics.html.

Snead, E 2009, OK! cover of Michael Jackson's death photo stirs controversy, Zap2It.com, viewed on 18 November 2009, http://blog.zap2it.com/thedishrag/2009/07/release-of-michael-jacksons-death-photo-stirs-controversy-.html.

Vesely, JF 2008, Bringing death close, Indiana.edu, viewed on 18 November 2009, http://journalism.indiana.edu/resources/ethics/controversial-photos/bringing-death-close/.

The Kindle e-book Reader

The Kindle e-book Reader (or sometimes known as e-reader) by Amazon is an electronic book which enables users to read books, newspapers, weblogs and more (Mohns, 2008). Kindle allows users to read many books on the go without carrying several books. Up to date, the e-reader supports up to 115,000 books.

The differences between Kindle e-book reader and print books are as follow:

1. Kindle allows readers to read books on a handheld wireless device.
2. Kindle saves money and adds convenience because daily newspaper subscription is allowed.
3. Turning pages with Kindle is easier especially at crowded places.
4. Kindle has less weight if compared to most books or novels.
5. Equal to print readability and multi-device integration.

[CNET.com, 2007]

Example of print newspaper and Kindle e-book reader newspaper.


According to Geeks Are Sexy (2009), the majority of age group who uses Kindle is aged 50 - 59. But why the older generation?
The reasons are as follow:

1. Older readers particularly appreciate the relative ease of reading text on the large-screen compared with other devices such as smartphones.
2. The demographics have been swung by the Oprah effect, with her traditionally older audience following her recommendation.
3. The magazines available in Kindle form are particularly popular among older readers.
4. Older people are more likely to be avid readers and thus find the Kindle a worthwhile purchase.
5. Older people may have more money to spend on the Kindle because their ‘gadget budget’ isn’t eaten up by other devices seen as must-have by younger buyers such as smartphones or laptops.

[Geeks Are Sexy, 2009]

However, McKeown (2009) said the adoption of e-reader is slower than people think because of the value of e-reader is lower than print books, the manufacturers do not understand the book buyers' demographics, and the pricing of e-reader.

So how do e-readers and print books survive together?
First, the price of an e-reader is from $250 - $400, so not everybody could afford. Then, there are reasons print books are better than digital books:

1. Printed books are still available everywhere.
2. Books are versatile and re-usable.
3. No batteries required.
4. There are millions of books titles in print.
5. No need to upgrade e-book software.
6. Books are cheap.
7. Books do not melt or break.
8. No DRM (Digital Rights Management).

[Squidoo.com, n.d.]

Not everybody prefers to use e-book reader. Thus, print books still can survive in the market.

References

Mohns, R 2008, Review: Amazon Kindle, MacInTouch, viewed 18 November 2009, <http://www.macintouch.com/reviews/kindle/>.

CNET editor’s Review 2007, CNET.com, viewed on 18November 2009 <http://reviews.cnet.com/e-book-readers/amazon-kindle/1707-3508_7-32751890.html>.

Kindle finds a mature audience 2009, www.geeksaresexy.net, viewed on 18 November 2009, <http://www.geeksaresexy.net/2009/05/01/kindle-finds-a-mature-audience/>.

McKeown, J 2009, Why E-Reader Adoption Will Be Slower Than People Think, PaidContent.org, viewed on 18 November 2009, <http://paidcontent.org/article/419-why-e-reader-adoption-will-be-slower-than-people-think/>.

Print Books vs. Digital Books n.d., Squidoo.com, viewed on 7 November 2009, <http://www.squidoo.com/print-books-or-digital-books>.