Back to the Future of Journalism

If you’re just joining us, welcome to the age of citizen journalism. Never mind a press pass, you’ll get by with some good ideas and Internet access. This time, the revolution will not only be televised, it’ll be streamed, blogged, podcast and debated on countless message boards. Pardon the obvious contradiction, but the future of journalism is now. Of course, this begs the question: what’s next?

Media is becoming increasingly and in some cases reluctantly more interactive. With interested citizens doing more than just taking an active role in democracy, the face of information technology is evolving to suit those with a passion for reflecting on their surroundings. The media moguls are spinning in their leather chairs, dizzying themselves in a brain-search for answers on how to turn these revelations into profits.

The next step in the evolution of media is an easy one. At present, there are thousands of sites dedicated to blogging, video hosting and sharing information from an infinitely wide range of topics. What is lacking is a way to unite these different facets of information technology into a neat package, capable of attracting a consistently large Internet audience.

The solution involves applying an already existing concept. In this case it’s Internet social networks. Sites such as Myspace and FaceBook have shown a ravenous propensity for attracting hordes on the Internet. According to my Myspace account, there are over 137 million people in my extended network. These social networks allow people to share anything from original music, to art, to banter. Why not apply the same technology to news? A “news social network” would provide millions of citizen journalists with a much larger audience of readers and viewers, most of whom would undoubtedly be contributors, as well.

Members would build individual profiles, connected through the network, in which they can share their own columns, videos and reports. They would have a user-friendly means by which to navigate through the profiles of the journalists they are most interested in and build their own network-within-a-network.

Stories could be viewed via streaming video or blogs, each with its own message board for viewer / reader response and discussion. People are already taking the initiative to share their stories on the Internet. Websites like Digg.com and PJNet.com are fledgling attempts at social networks dedicated to serious news. These are not nearly developed enough, however. With computer processors becoming faster and faster, everyone will soon have the ability to stream live conferences from their own homes. Viewers could text messege questions and get live responses.

Everyone with online access now has a voice that can be projected worldwide, but a good voice will not take you far if nobody’s listening. The social network generation will provide citizen journalists with millions upon millions of ears and eyes.

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Interview with Leonard Witt, creator of PJNet.org (a blog about public and citizen journalism).

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Two of the sites mentioned in my blog...

www.digg.com

www.JPNet.com

A Reluctant Democracy

Many Americans were reunited with their democratic roles during the 2006 mid-term elections. With the Senate and House of Representatives up for grabs and US troops in the midst of a “conflict” that’s been labeled everything from – Operation Iraqi Freedom, to the Second Gulf War, to an all-out disaster – the aroma of change in the air matched the enthusiasm from citizens who had seemingly rediscovered their civic duties. Miami-Dade County and most of Florida, however, did the electoral equivalent of calling in sick on November 7th.

While optimism ran rampant heading into the general election, the truth of the matter is that the so-called winds of change were meek, albeit effective. The Democratic Party did take control of Congress, as pundits on every side of the fence predicted – some more begrudgingly than others. But while the ship is now a shade bluer, the change in direction can be attributed more accurately to the current, than to it’s relatively stagnant sails.

Statewide, voter turnout was a meager 46.8 percent, the lowest percentage in the last 44 years and a full 20 points below the 1994 race that saw Lawton Chiles edge out Jeb Bush, after referencing something about an old raccoon. For those who remember, Chiles celebrated wearing a coonskin cap that year. In the recent election, more than half of Florida’s registered voters opted to do something other than Rock the Vote.

The Sunshine State has not exactly been a shinning beacon of the electoral process in recent memory. This time it wasn’t as much the suspected corruption, as the indifference before a purportedly pivotal election that raised eyebrows. Despite flaunting the state’s largest number of registered voters (just over 1.09 million), Miami-Dade County had an alarmingly low turnout. According to the Department of State’s Election Division, Only 37.7 percent of the county’s registered voters punched in their ballots for the mid-term election. The state, as a whole, didn’t fare much better, with 45 of the 67 counties coming in at under 50 percent. Miami had the third lowest of all Florida counties, behind only Hendry and Osceola counties, which combine for just over one tenth as many registered voters.

So what happened to all the enthusiasm leading up to the election? People provide laundry lists of reasons why they choose not vote. In truth, it’s probably a combination of many factors. While in a small voting line at Emerson Elementary School, Lydia Souza, a structural engineer who was voting on her lunch break, talked about taking time out to vote.

“I barely ever have the free time when these things come around,” she said. “I didn’t get to [vote] last time and I figured I’d take an extra 20 minute break and do it. I used to think that one vote wasn’t going to matter much anyway. I know that sounds bad.”

Mike Grossi, a substitute teacher at a local high school, elaborated more candidly on that matter.

“This stuff is probably all decided by the people organizing it,” he said. “Look what happened with the last [presidential] election.”

With people who are actually in the voting lines giving reasons why they would not be there, what can we expect from those who decided to stay home? Disenchantment, lack of free time, insufficient knowledge of the issues or candidates, mistrust of the government, a distaste of negative campaigning, all reasons that have been given for why people are turning away from the voting booth. Yet, these obstacles are present during every modern election and not just for voters in Miami-Dade County. There’s also no evidence that the influence of these obstacles in and of itself is growing, except of course, for the decline in voting.

It’s also been argued that the US political system is one that discourages voter turnout. Voters, who live in states which consistently elect members of one of the two major political parties, have a tendency to undervalue their individual vote. Florida, traditionally and overwhelmingly Republican, may serve as an example of this. What you end up with is a significant number of individuals, reluctant to vote, because they believe their vote is insignificant.