A Bloggers Lament

A question occurred to me as I spent my spare time musing about life, the universe and everything. If a good blog is one that is both informative and frequent, how do you marry the informative part with the frequent part? Surely the more often you write the less informative the material? Unless of course your blogging about something which a) you care about b) is constantly changing or updating c) covers everything.

I have enjoyed my initial foray into blogging, but for me (and my *cough* readers) to get the most out of my efforts I think I need to feel impassioned about the subject, and whilst I enjoy learning about online media and understand it’s relevance to me and my chosen career, it doesn’t get my creative juices going as it were.

So perhaps if I were to blog on an issue that is closer to my heart the whole frequency, interesting/informative thing, might be less of a problem?

But with the apparent death of blogging thanks to new forms of micro-blogs is there much point in me persisting?

I think there is, not because I believe that blogs will ever take over or properly compete in the news market, but because they can offer a great means of comment and analysis as displayed by my two favourite bloggers, Betsan Powys and Nick Robinson.

Just a quick note before I have to leave, I must confess to being a fully fledged Twitter convert. For spreading news fast and creating a good contacts base I think it’s really affective, if a little addictive. It also helps that one of my personal heroes Stephen Fry is probably the most active Twitterer in the World, except for this girl maybe.

Nos da

Steffan

Image used courtesy of Heilemann from Flickr @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/heilemann/106720119/

My Digital Story

Hope you like it

Steff

Images used courtesy of:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/martyn/5298472/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/left_handed_male/435643897/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/blackheritage/1014025340/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/diannachenevert/2471942795/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dornblut/2858634347/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dornblut/2859456484/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/philipyk/130395566/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dip108/311168450/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/i_y_e_r_s/115378091/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nwinton/539303432/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jakescreations/57665246/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sharris/165118179/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wallyg/150113764/

Is digital networked journalism a help or a hindrance?

For the most part I like to think that I have taken a positive approach to new forms of journalism. I have tried my best to embrace new technologies and new means of communication. I make this sound like an arduous task but in truth it hasn’t been, signing up to various new websites takes minutes and getting to grips with them doesn’t take that much longer, and the benefits are plain to see, or are they?

Contacts have, and probably always will, be a vitally important part of journalism, and through sites like Mento and Twitter we can simply and quickly create vast networks with people all over the world, who we can consequently contact quickly and simply, and perhaps more importantly cheaply.

In theory I am all for Twitter and Mento et al, my problem (which is perhaps due to my rookie status as a twitterer) is that my Twitter or Mento inbox rarely give me anything of use to work with. I am either inundated with updates from the BBC or the Guardian every 2 minutes or told something uninteresting by those I’m networked with (no offence guys, I am equally uninteresting). The sheer amount of updates from big media organisations means that quite simply, I now ignore them, because they all blend into one, and why is it my concern if Cemlyn now has a BT landline?

But ever the optimist I will continue to plug away because I accept that someday, as we all learn how to Mento and Twitter effectively, my network will begin to provide me with jems of knowledge that I would otherwise be ignorant of, that’s my hope anyway. My one shining light so far has been the discovery of my new favourite website, Wordle, try it it’s amazing.

On a related but slightly different note, Wales has just hosted its first blogging debate. Attended by eminent Welsh bloggers, Assembly members and the like the merits of blogging were discussed in an open forum. According to Betsan Powys, an influential Welsh Blogger (and BBC Wales political correspondent), the event was a success. As well as having good sandwiches the discussion turned some nay sayers into budding bloggers. I think this shows that were not all that backwards here in Wales!

Hwyl am y tro,

Steffan

Image used courtesy of Jeff Cheng @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffcheng/2368021384/

Citizen Journalism: Is this really democracy?

Public journalism, amateur journalism, citizen journalism, user generated content, call it what you want, the fact remains that journalism isn’t the sole preserve of journalists. It is in fact within anyone’s power to contribute to the wider public debate, and now with a bewildering array of tools available it has never been easier for Joe Bloggs to express his opinion to the World.

It is argued that citizen journalism is good for democracy, that by enabling the world and his wife to tell their story we are protecting article 10 and the freedom of expression. Citizen journalism is a means of taking power away from dominant media organisations and giving it to us, the men and women on the Clapham omnibus.

Through this democratisation of media outlets news reporting and production will come more of an integrated seminar, a round table discussion rather than the lectures that big news corporations have been providing. No longer will we be talked at, instead we will be talked to.

This, in my opinion, is all well and good in theory, however I do feel that in practice the phenomenon of UGC is not as relevant as the theorists would like to think. Ofcom's recent report suggests that the take up of broadband and digital media has slowed recently and in certain working class areas access is limited at best. This would imply that the new media, which provides potential for an explosion of citizen journalism, is not being used by every strand of society. If therefore citizen journalism is the domain of the middle class and above is it the enabling factor that some perceive it to be?

I also feel that those who regularly spread their word over the “inter-web” tend to be those who harbour extreme views, those who hold a grudge against someone or something, or those with time on their hands.

Whilst I also accept that video footage taken by ‘passers by’ is now being frequently used by news bulletins, the best footage of an incident or an event comes in my opinion from a talented or experienced cameraman. Take for example the footage of 9/11, I believe that the most poignant pictures were not those taken by a passing camera phone but those taken by professionals who happened to be at the scene at the time (like the falling man for instance).

The moral of the story from my perspective is that whilst UGC holds the potential to be democratically enabling by letting us take a more active role in our news consumption, at this early stage it is merely the arena for issue campaigners, nutters and those who can.

Heres a nice video I found that gives a good overview of citizen journalism, it may help you make up your own mind. I for one however feel that only when every demographic gets in on the action can we truly call UGC a force for democracy.

Hwyl fawr

Steffan

Image used Courtesy of Vaxzine @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/vaxzine/450074599

Web 2.0 it’s the future, I’ve tasted it.

Web 2.0 is happening now, and its here to stay. I have probably been aware of this fact for quite some time but I never got round to giving it any serious consideration until recently. Whilst many of my peers remain sceptical about the application of new technologies and remain unsure about their relevance and their future, I found myself agreeing with the comments made by Huw, who rightly in my opinion, explains that if any proof was needed to show that web 2.0 is here to stay we need to look no further than certain establishments along the San Fernando Valley.


What the web has achieved is to fundamentally change the way we consume news. It would appear that laziness has spread from the school playground, and the masses of obese children that now reside there, into our homes. No longer must we actively “surf” the web to find our news, thanks to web 2.0 it comes to us.

So what does this new breed of technology actually change? It strikes me that web 2.0 empowers us as consumers. No longer are we tied down to purchasing our daily intake of news from corner shops, supermarkets or newsstands. No longer must we hang around for the 6 o’clock news jingle to find out what’s happening in the world. With web 2.0 creating interactive news available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week we can now control exactly what we consume when we want to consume it. It is apparent to me that this means powerful media organisations are now chasing after us, rather than the other way around. Having the latest video clip or poll tracker on a website can now make the difference in the amount of hits it receives, and therefore how much advertising money the powerful media organisation makes. Enticing us, the active consumer, has never been so important.

However despite this break-up of the “traditional media”and the increasing importance of services like Twitter, Flickr, Wikis, Mento and Facebook, I still believe that there is a place for Huw Edwards and John Humphrys. I still believe that people in society enjoy having a certain comfort blanket, knowing that periodically the same faces are telling them what’s happening. Audience members have built up a relationship with these faces over the years and trust their judgement, and therefore despite being able to go and get their news whenever they want, they would prefer to wait and see what Huw has to say. With BBC News retaining solid viewing figures of around 5 million, we can see that for some, the old ways are the best.

I have embraced the future as best as I can, I am the proud owner of an igoogle page with my personalised news full of RSS feeds, I Twitter and I bookmark my favourite sites for all to see. I appreciate the importance of having good networks to be able to learn more, share things and tell stories in every possible way. But at my core I’m a bit of a traditionalist.


What the future holds is a mystery but I can foresee more of the same, more interactivity, more fancy applications, and more personalised news. I can also foresee new household names, the next Natasha Kaplinsky and more from Huw and John. Ultimately I feel that despite the emergence of these new and exciting technologies we humans are creatures of comfort, and there’s something comforting about meeting and old face, that we know and love, and listening to what they’ve got to say.

Hwyl Fawr

Steffan

Image Courtesy of Tobias Eigen @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/tobiaseigen/434264025/