News and news values

-- traditionally, they have been what journalists said they were

"That's not news" was a refrain that was often heard in newsrooms for information we didn't think fit our definition.

 

But the web is changing that

-- more information is available (our monopoly, if it was ever there, is gone)

-- audience has a say in what is news, what is covered

whole concept of "agenda setting" is being turned on its head

We're finding that the audience is not always interested in what we think is the top news; check out "most viewed" or "most emailed" stories on CNN, MSNBC, Washington Post, NYT

-- personalization (making the news web site give you what YOU want)

-- changing the audience from community-wide to "communities of interest" (There is a short article on communities of interest on this web site.)

 

Changing the form

We have been used to thinking of news as presented in a certain form – an inverted pyramid news story, a 30-second broadcast story, etc. The web, because of its flexibility, is making is reconsider that

-- concept of non-linearity (chunks)

One of the main goals of this class is to get you to think about WEB PACKAGES

-- How do we best tell a story?

 

Changing the process

This is a topic about which we will say much more through the semester, but we need to begin the discussion here. How does the web change the process of journalism? Think about the characteristics of the web

-- capacity

Here we are talking about not the ability of a news organization to gather information but also the information that might be available from other sources.

-- flexibility

-- immediacy

The web destroys the traditional view of deadlines. When information is ready, it can be posted. Does the audience want to way for you to write a full 15-inch story on a subject of high interest? Let's talk about some examples (UA football). What does this immediacy factor do to the process of reporting?

-- permanence

Journalism traditionally has been accused of being episodic – we report a story today and forget it. We rarely give full context. How can the web change that? (There are some difficulties with this idea of permanence that have come up since Web Journalism was written. Check out a short article on digital disappearance on this web site.)

-- interactivity

 

A changing concept

We seem to be going from "news as product" to "news as conversation." Very nice, but what are the problems (and there are definitely problems).

(Posted Jan. 30, 2005)

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