Online Journalism assignment

Personal publishing has changed the way magazines approach journalism. Discuss.

Personal publishing, blogging, is a way for individuals to publish material on the Internet for everybody to read. People share their thoughts, information and read news in blogs. Blogosphere makes companies change their market strategies, empowers ordinary people and has become a threat to big media.

Technology makes it easy to build a blog. Paul Andrews, a technology columnist for the Seattle Times, described, “As a thousand flowers bloom, the Web’s garden of information becomes more diverse, enlightening and transformative than anything the traditional paper-based print world can provide ”

People desire to search for a wealth of information. Most of them do not care whether it comes from traditional media or blogs. In both developing and developed countries, established media is often distrusted, however, the Web gives voice of alternative views. Without the editorial process and distribution controls associated with traditional media, they are free to make comments and spread news.

Blogging can be the one-man business. “Weblogs are personal journalism.” Doc Searls, a veteran journalist said, “For real journalists who aren’t used to writing without a net, weblogs have a self-information and self-correcting system built into it.”

Bloggers are viewed as amateur journalists, because they are not well-trained as professional ones. Dan Gillmor, business columnist for the Mercury News, suggested, “Professional journalism needs to make room for a new brand of amateur journalism that weblogs are helping to fashion. ” He also argued that Big Media and blog journalism can exist side by side and it will be good for both. Bloggers may tell traditional journalists some things they have not known. “Journalism is changing from a lecture into something that resemble something between a conversation and a seminar,” he added.

This new kind of journalism has changed ways of writing. It presents a mixed media- combines audio and video, not only texts. Readers can link to related news with hyperlinks and give feedback in the message board. Those developments offer much deeper of news coverage.

Interactivity is one of the reasons of popularity of blogs. As a blogger, Mr. Gilmor said: “I want people to basically have a conversation with me.” He asserted that results in better journalism. Readers may look at issues from different angles and their feedback contributes to the extension of subjects.

As a result, many big media have made some changes online. They are willing to hear the voice of audience: BBC.co.uk has set “Have Your Say”- readers’ response of news. There are blogs, video and podcasts in the NY Times - which creates various ways of interactivity. The user-generated news service has been led media toward new ways of looking at things.

"These blogs offer a different and valuable perspective and are increasingly regarded as important to get a full picture of what is going on," said Neal Goldman, chief executive of Inform, which searches and sorts news and blog content side by side. "There is a real desire from consumers to integrate the news and blogs."

“The weblog changes the nature of ‘news’ is in the migration of information from the personal to the public,” Paul Andrews said, “A new style of journalism, based on a ‘raw feed’ directly from the source, is emerging.” Both bloggers and readers have freedom to express their opinions.

Traditional magazines and newspapers often take a lone time to publish and edit articles. However, with a blog, people can publish news instantly. Only hitting the send key and then everyone can see the writing. The increased speed of publishing has taken less time to receive information.

With its convenience, many people worry about the quality of blogosphere. Anyone can be a columnist now: there is no need to force your way past the old media gatekeepers. Some contents of articles may be rumours and many of them are in the form of teenagers' personal diaries that have limited appeal for a broader audience.

But the best news blogs offer a personal prism that combines pointers to trusted sources of information with a subjective, passion-based journalism. Weblogs seem to already become an important source of news for readers. The London bombings in July 2005 is the case that ordinary people were closer to a news event than most journalists. They produced a lot of primary material, from eyewitness reports to photographs taken on mobile phones.

As more people take up blogging and rely on blogs to shape media universe, media organizations would do well to incorporate them into their websites. The Guardian in the United Kingdom runs a good international-news weblog. Time magazine has cutting ad rates and shifting attention to the web. Traditional Media seem to find out a new way to cooperate with the Internet.

Blogs give ordinary people power and sense that they can capture the news. They publish what happened in their daily life. Blogging extends forms of journalistic coverage, moving perhaps from national to local level. Citizen journalism is at the local level, where people witness things that are not covered by professional reporters.
People are also making money from citizen journalism, another form of user-generated content. With an average of 700,000 visitors per day, the popularity of OhMyNews in Korea is rising. The entirely user-generated news service has a "tip jar", so readers can pledge money to the best stories.
Personal publishing has already become a significant phenomenon. With bloggs, people who have passion and a deep interest in a subject can publish their articles without being professional journalists. Bloggers expose themselves to the world and communicate ideas with others. They push big media into a process of evolution and lead journalism toward a new way.

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