week8-We the Media

We the Media
Dan Gillmor
Chapter 6: Professional Journalists Join the Conversation

Gillmor mentioned the words of Oh Yeon Ho.“Journalists aren’t some exotic species, they’re everyone who seeks to take new development, put them into writing, and share them with others.”

With the growing interactions among online readers, the trend of “Web2.0” enhances the power comes from every corner. People could sit at home and announce your opinions with a click. In old days, there is a Chinese slang says that “A man could know all the things happening in the world without going out from his house.” I think it was a compliment to all traditional media. However, we could say that “A man could say his words to the whole world without going out from his house.”

Also the rapidly increase of mobile communication and multimedia facilities like phonecamera, home DV, digital camera and, of course PC or laptop make everyone a dress-up recorder. Moreover, Youtube and many other video sharing platforms provide people space to share their experiences, especially the fields that normal journalists wouldn’t ever think of.

One of the definitions of “news” is what is happening. This is also the main reason that makes newblogs so hot. Only the participators in he very moment will have the realest picture. That’s what most journalists could reach. For example, here is the video student shot in the event of “UCLA police used stun gun on student.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5g7zlJx9u2E

We talked about the question-Quis custodiet ipsos custodes- last week, which means who shall watch the watchers themselves. I think newsblogs indeed break the technical restrict and make news industry a common behavior in people’s daily lives. Thus, the “mass” media is truly belongs to the mass.