Citizen journalism ranges from a person recording an event on their phone and then releasing it publicly to a person watching something happen and then writing about it. One positive thing about this is that the information is typically a first-hand account, which is good because it is very accurate. In addition, because the articles are written by average people, they tend to be easy for other average people to understand. However, there are some downfalls of citizen journalism. One such downfall is that because the information is written by average people, it doesn’t follow certain rules. For example, if a person has never written professionally, it is unlikely that they will write a literarily good piece on a drastic event they saw happen. Even good writers sometimes find it hard to about events that happen directly to them.
The difference between traditional media and cyber media is how the media is seen. Traditional media is media found through newspapers and radio stations. Cyber media is media found over the internet. While traditional media does have its benefits, cyber media has the benefit of being a fast way of communicating. Yet, cyber media is still held on a lower level than traditional media in terms of accuracy. Newspapers and such are counted on to be completely accurate all the time. Cyber media, however, is thought of to be biased towards one side of the story.
I personally can not imagine a world without “traditional” media because it has become such an integral part of society. When you think of a morning for the average American family, you think of the kids eating breakfast, the mom getting ready, and the dad sitting at the table reading the paper. This part of the life of society just doesn’t disappear. Although newspapers are losing profits because they aren’t as popular, I feel that they will always be part of our society.
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It is interesting that you pointed out both that cyber media is generally more accurate and that cyber media is still being held at a lower level than traditional media. Why do you think that paradox exists?
ReplyDeletePersonally, I think it is due in great part to the fact that when people seek information they do a web search, or rather Google. Googling has replaced the word searching over time and I myself am guilty of that as well. However, I only google for general information (how to fix computer problem).
However, the issue with news and other more serious forms of media is the credibility associated with them. Performing a Google search will bombard users with many irrelevant and misleading webpages, with few credible sources (sort of like a bathroom wall).
If people knew to go straight to websites like Huffington Post or CNN, they would experience less problematic stories. However, it is difficult to create credible cyber media sites because by making its presence known to the public and involving more parties, the information presented may slowly shift towards that of traditional media venues,