Observations and Insights Welcome.
Consider--Where have you seen the elements in practice before? Have discussions of them been positive or negative?
What is necessary to make these elements a reality?
Do you agree with what Kovach and Rosenstiel are promoting?
Where do you see yourself in the text as a consumer of news / as a creator of news?
When reading the first chapter of The Elements of Journalism I was mostly impressed by how the book actually came to fruition, all four editions. This book was the creation of two writers and the ideas, participation and hard work of hundreds of efforts put together by the most influential modern day journalists alive- in essence, a group of people whom I should admire and aspire to be. It made it hard for me to fully grasp the scale and author's style of the story, both because of the amount of detailed information shove onto its pages but also because of the style of writing, which is a bit complex for me in comparison to other books I’ve analyzed.
The book itself is really interesting and doesn’t focus entirely on the methodology behind journalism, which is refreshing. As I wrote in a Scholarship essay on communications and journalism, to suggest journalism is dead is to suggest people wanting to know things is dead- which certainly it isn’t. This book definitely supported that thesis and gave me a broader look into that idea. I was glad to learn about some of the history of journalism and the role it plays in hundreds of different societies over hundreds of years. I personally really liked the excerpt about the press in the role of the American Revolution, which, if you didn’t know, is a personal interest of mine.
I had been using an index card as a bookmark and wrote down a few ideas using the guidelines TEOF set out. If journalism had a set purpose but was encouraged to be pursued by citizens I was going to have to find a way to set myself apart from the crowd. If citizen journalism is considered fair journalism then it was my responsibility to fall into a subgroup that made that information more accessible. One reason I love PBS, NPR and local news outlets so much is because of the accessibility of it. Finding verified, valuable information on a Web dominated by news that garners the most clicks can be daunting to the modern day critical thinker. So providing a trustworthy (#1), verified (#3), accessible (#2), comprehensive (#8) and interesting (#7) source of news and information is key to being successful in a career seemingly dominated by the general public (it is called public opinion for a reason).
I thought of things I’m unhappy with, things that to me are worth covering, things that influence our society in a way that's irreversibly disproven with other verifiable sources (#5). To me, providing the most interesting information isn’t the goal, my goal is to make the important information as interesting and digestible as possible for everyone who would ever need it. So I wrote on an index card about things that I struggled to truly understand and I was able to relate to large scale problems that continue to fascinate our society. Writing all these ideas down inspired me and made me realize how much of a market there was for information. If these were things I was curious about just off the top of my brain (I like to consider myself sort of cultured for my age, at least in some things) then there are probably (most definitely) millions of things with an untapped potential. The struggle as a journalist is not to uncover information as it may have been 60 years ago, but instead to take that information and make it into something wonderfully entertaining and interesting. So that’s my goal and I’m going to move forward with this in mind.
It is definitely odd to me that people think journalism is dead considering how much news we have and how much help we now need to sort through it all.
I find their idealism wonderful and am impressed that they've kept it over 4 editions. I would expect someone working on this type of text over 20 years (especially with our recent political discourse) would find themselves disenfranchised. To read and feel the opposite is enviable.
The one question I have about citizen journalism is "what does it pay"? That isn't to say its value may not exceed the monies it can generate--(I'm a teacher--I get this), but if we want people to view this as important are we only attracting hardcore news addicts (there's nothing wrong with that) or are we hoping to bring in the larger populace to help create a richer news environment? How do we do that? What does that model look like?
Do I need to create one?
You have a great goal. And with that in mind, I have some non-fiction authors you may want to read...
Authors who can make anything interesting--they have to balance substance vs style, but they make it work.
I thought about that too, citizen journalism is a pretty thankless job. As someone who would be curating people's perspectives under a public view, it doesn't seem as beneficial to perform this service for no pay on top of working to actually support myself. It's why I tend to be skeptical of citizen journalism, it seems like a pretty thankless job.
The idealism leaves a bit of a sour taste in my mouth, personally. Everyone who helps contribute to this book (mostly) were journalists who already had a platform. They don't face the same struggles that those emerging in the field might. But I do understand their optimism about some things. Journalism is so integral to a free society that as long as America continues to be based in freedom, the industry will always exist. Journalism in the modern age is more about innovation than anything, and I think they understand this.
My focus (that hopefully the book explores further) is local news. I love community and it's my belief that a world dominated by the web dissuades people from truly connecting with their community. When so many niche groups on the internet exist, it's easy for people to isolate themselves and disconnect from the people right outside their door. I think this was most apparent in quarantine. In chapter 3, I think I was able to better understand why I feel such a passion for local news. Since the world is so dominated by predatory news organizations who prioritize clicks over quality, journalists who truly strive to make quality content are really the only hope of maintaining trustworthy news. Since the industry is so shrouded, these people become more and more valuable for society. But, sadly, these jobs don't always pay. Sadly, PBS can't make the money Buzzfeed does.
I was very excited about The Telling Room visit today where she revealed we were going to be working on creative non-fiction! I love nonfiction books with a diction and personality I can gravitate towards. The Last King of America by Andrew Roberts (of course, about King George the Third) is a style I want to emulate because it takes his life and really creates a story while educating people on the nuanced topic of legacy. The book comes across as almost humorous in a way that's extremely captivating. I would be very opening to discovering more writing styles I can take inspiration from!
I wonder if there is an alternative funding strategy for citizen journalism or if it has to be relegated to the position of "hobby".
I definitely take your point about the position of those writing the text. They're leaders in the field, which means that when they speak / write someone will listen. At the same time, I do applaud their optimism. It would be easy for someone to adopt a "get off my lawn" point of view after seeing the field they did so well in be transformed into something that is often so ugly now.
There's a great deal of discussion concerning how important "local" is--from press to politics. The discussion actually minimizes national and federal, which is surprising, but understandable. It is tremendously difficult to get to that stage, that platform, that level of celebrity / notoriety. Even more, it is difficult to see the impact of that work at times too. Locally, though the story is very different. It is easy to connect and talk to those that are directly affected by the policies enacted and so the news can be far more tangible (that may be the wrong word--or the right one).
