Is the journalist a valiant fighter locked in a castle as he battles against dragons and knights to defend their hold and win the girl?
No.
Have the walls which once kept Fleet Street an invite only club come down?
Yes.
Peter Horrocks, Director of BBC World Service since February 2009, wrote a fascinating piece on the subject, and asked where journalism is moving.
It was part of a document called the Future of Journalism, published for the BBC College of Journalism.
Don’t just take my word for it – click here to get the full document.
A lot comes out of Horrocks’s discussion – but I am going to focus on three key issues raised when looking at on-line journalism:
1 – The Dawn of BBC Online
2 – Should News Services Act as a News Jukebox?
3 – Where Does the ‘Journalist’ Sit in Online Journalism?
1 – The Dawn of BBC Online
“BBC Online was not itself integrated. Instead the model that was generally adopted was of each division of the BBC launching separate websites related to their particular programme brands or subject genres.” [pg.12]
How amazing!
Ten years-ago when the BBC first opened its on-line wing they did not for a moment forecast how much it would take off.
All you need to do now is to jump to bbc.co.uk and you have an integratedhomepage with any genre of information you could hope for – ranging from local news to international business, and history to Shooting Stars.
Newspaper, radio and TV were the dominant forces and since 1999 the internet has changed it all!
2 – Should News Services Act as a News Jukebox?
Horrocks alludes to the fact news services are changing to suit the user and I have certain reservations over this.
The BBC homepage is a prime example – as it offers individuals the opportunity to customize it so the news or sections are there where they want them, and obsolete sections removed.
This is a great tool – as at the end of the day what is the point of wasting time and shifting through articles and features which you would not consider to take a second glance at.
However, when news editors become obsessed with the most popular stories and prioritises them, could we not fall into the trap of front pages being dominated by ‘My Pet Tiger: The Story of a Himalayan Girl who Befriended a Giant Feline’, resulting in serious, newsworthy pieces becoming hidden?
Horrocks himself arrives at the rather diplomatic position of: “Users still want clear professional editorial judgement. But the judgement can be much better informed by a sophisticated understanding of the data.” [pg.10]
I don’t think he goes far enough either way.
3. Where Does the ‘Journalist’ Sit in Online Journalism?
- Is there still a place for the Journalist online?
- Can or should bloggers be defined as Journalists?
- Should Journalists try to defend the remnants of ramparts which were once their Fleet Street castle?
The debate is long and messy, but bloggers will always be around and will often provide a better source of news than the journalists.
The case is the same and always will be – it’s about who you know.
So if a blogger gets a tip off about a death the blogging community scoops the biggest story of the Millennium thus far – as TMZ.com did when they were the first news outlet to announce the death of Michael Jackson.
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