By Nicole Williams
With the slew of amateur Internet sites posing as legitimate news organizations and the validity of the blogosphere confirmed by public opinion, some see the future of traditional news sources like newspapers as bleak and soon-to-be obsolete.
For someone like myself, who has spent the last four years pining over articles, making sure leads and headlines accurately reflect the news content and training my eye to catch and eliminate unfair biases and stereotypes, envisioning a world without trained reporters
or fact-checked publications is simply frightening.
I’m aware that media need some revamping—I don’t think six conglomerates should control the majority of news organizations and I’m not a big fan of entertainment making its way onto CNN’s prime time news slot. Nonetheless, a flawed system is better than no system at all.
The solution to eradicating journalism’s imperfections isn’t to cast traditional news to the wind and replace it with citizen journalism, YouTube broadcasts, flashy extremist indy-news sites and blogging.
And that’s not to say that public opinion and independent news doesn’t have value or a credible place in news publications. The Internet has allowed reporters to really grasp both the majority
and minority views of information and happenings and supplement their stories.
It is liberating as a reporter to have the World Wide Web at my fingertips. I no longer have to merely describe the opposing views.
I can post links to other publications’ stories, information Web sites, or embed complementary YouTube videos.
So, I’m not damning the Internet or the importance of blogging and citizen journalism or deeming mass media perfect. I just find it hard to believe that just anyone would have the same commitment to accuracy and accountability as a journalism
student who’s lost sleep over a misplaced comma or questionable turn of phrase.
So, where is news-ed journalism headed?
I believe that while newspaper readership is currently down and the public’s interests is flooded by the overwhelming array of Internet sites and distractions, that traditional news will prevail.
Something will happen where alternative news will fall short and
the importance of newspapers reaffirmed and accountable
reporting herald superior.
Until then, write and read blogs, browse YouTube, spend hours on MySpace and LOL at The Onion’s articles.
But don’t forget reporters for the New York Times, the Sacramento Bee and your local paper are tossing and turning at night because they may have misquoted a source, fudged a headline or overlooked another angle—trust them because they care.
Watch a video discussion about Print and Electronic Journalism.
Are bloggers journalists? Check out Digital Age discussion. |
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By Kelly Dolcini
How do I feel about the future of public relations? In the immortal words of Timbuk 3, “The future’s so bright, I’ve gotta wear shades.”
I have spent a good part of the last four years thinking about the ethical implications of my future career. I have yet to come to a satisfying conclusion about the state of public relations and my role within it.
Public relations practitioners are everywhere from the White House to the publishing house. They are manipulating the American public day in and day out. We are lead to believe that our lives will be half-lived if we don't watch American Idol or buy mp3 players and hybrid cars
Think about Hannah Montana. Her commodified little face is on everything from pajamas to dolls to magazine covers. You can buy Hannah Montana wigs so your 8-year-old can look just like her. That’s public relations at its finest. Without even thinking about it, American children – and their parents – have been bought and sold by the media.
When I was a kid, I loved the show “Family Matters.” I did not, however, own Urkel shoes and Urkel bed sheets and there certainly weren’t semi-nude pictures of Urkel in Vanity Fair. I watched the show and that was it. Today is a different story. Advertising has grown exponentially.
I can’t, in good conscience, participate in a market that is so manipulative. People have stopped paying attention to things that are important in favor of what’s happening on The Hills. I refuse to teach people not to think critically. I want the world to change. I want the United States to stop being a unilateral fascist nation. I want companies like Blackwater to be punished for the death and destruction they’ve caused. I want people to know what Blackwater is!
That said, public relations does do good things. While I deplore Bono and his campaign to become the next messiah, he (along with Al Gore and numerous other celebrities) has brought a lot of attention to the sad state of the world. Although he advocates spending rather than reducing consumption, at least he's getting people to think.
Campaigns to solve world debt, end AIDS and reduce global warming have all become vogue. Instead of being blind, people are starting to make conscious purchasing decisions whether it's using compact flourescent light bulbs or making purchases for charity.
You can thank public relations practitioners for bringing the issues to light. Bono, et al. may be the faces of Product(Red) and the green movement, but you can bet they're backed by teams of public relations people telling them exactly what to do.
I do hope reading this has made you think about the power public relations has over our daily lives. Whether it is a good thing or a bad thing remains to be seen, at least for me. When we are conscious of the power the media has, we can take agency and make the right decisions for ourselves.
The impact of our collective consciousness has got to be more positive than the impact of Hannah Montana. |
