It’s the Audience, Stupid!

What is the new approach to storytelling and how is it being used to broaden audiences?

The new approach to storytelling is to engage the audience and to give them what they want.

How is digital media being used to engage audiences?

Digital media allows for consumers of media to also be participants in the media.

Give three specific examples of how you can incorporate storytelling into an article you write?

One way to incorporate storytelling into a written article is to connect the story with something personal. Another is to use another’s story to give your article a more human feel. Yet another is to give the article a narrative, rather than being just a statement of facts, the article then becomes a story.

All the Aggregation That’s Fit to Aggregate

What does aggregation mean?

Aggregation is to take existing content and compile it into one place.

Why does the author describe Arianna Huffington as “the queen of aggregation?”  Go to the Huffington Post and provide an example.

Arianna Huffington is described as “the queen of aggregation” because she pioneered the idea of taking the most interesting and popular news stories, from numerous sources, and compiling them into one location so that readers could easily access the information. From the Huffington Post’s website I have come to the conclusion that about 30% of the content is direct links to other media outlets such as CNN, The NY Times, The Weather Channel, The Washington Post, Etc.

Is aggregation a threat to professional journalism – why or why not?

I don’t believe that aggregation is a threat to professional journalism because most aggregation services still use content generated by professional journalists. In fact, the trend of aggregation has gotten consumers used to more and more content, and that content needs to be generated by someone.

Photojournalism in the Age of New Media

A professional journalist receives a photo captured by a citizen journalist….

·         What are the positives?

Usually free, don’t need to send photo journalist to the field, citizen journalists can get to places other journalists can’t.

·         Why does the professional journalist need to be careful?

Because verifying the information can be problematic, as can finding the owner of the material.

·         Why might the content of the photo be called into question?

If the original source cannot be contacted then the content of a photo may be called into question.

·         How does citizen photojournalist impact the job of the professional photojournalist?

At this point I would argue that they don’t very much. Citizen photojournalists are often in places where professionals can’t get or would be too dangerous to send them to. Also, the photo quality of most citizen photojournalists pales in comparison to that of a professional. That being said, I think that in the future the competition will be as such that news organizations will have little to no reason to employ professional photojournalists anymore.