The words “self indulgent” often mar networking sites like Twitter, Blogspot and Flickr. It’s because these sites operate on the premise that the number of stalkers/ “followers” you attract, the greater your value as a writer or person.
A “nobody” can become a “somebody” via some well edited pictures, a few quirky and regularly updated 140 character liners or an effortless stream of engaging thoughts, chattily shared. Presentation (video, slideshow, sound bites etc) can beat clarity and news sense because these methods can be more immediate, accessible and entertaining, if daunting to use.
I think it comes down to confidence. To engage online you have to be prepared to spew ideas in ways that will and should provoke backlash. If you haven’t got the confidence to learn new skills and interact across multiple media platforms in this way, as Headlines and Deadlines urges, being online will be a struggle. Defeatism is not the way to start out.
At least the Internet Manifesto not only clarifies how the web intersects with society today, freeing people who had previously been muted, but it also argues internet can improve rather than dilute journalism. So there is some hope. However, the absolutist language of the manifesto, “If media companies want to continue to exist, they must understand the lifeworld of today’s users,” exposes a contradiction. In saying the future of journalism is online, the manifesto excludes those who are yet to be persuaded or inducted, and devalues print journalism.
Yes journalism must develop, but I think people are no less discerning just because they have the chance to answer back. Hopefully there will always be a market for tangible news and print and online should work together, freeing up more information just in different formats.
I agree with Alison Gow that journalists do need to be malleable if they are going to survive. Stasis is not representative of news itself, so it should not be representative of its employees, but, internet users are not the only “audience/reader”(formerly known as…) and should not be privileged as such.
So, give me some HTML skills, a video camera and some thoughts to upload, and I might just get myself a job someday, but I’m not going to give up on that satisfying turn of a page.
Ribbon and Rope 