Read and Blog No. 2

The reading from weeks three and four not only supported my argument from the first set of readings but also added to my view of what it means to be a journalist.
As I said two weeks ago, the digital age of journalism has shifted the role of news from an information provider to a conversation about information. TMZ's budget meetings are now open to the staff as well as the editors: The journalists are talking about the news more and more, especially with each other on social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook. Josh Korr says, "...collaborative thinking draws readers, is easy, and costs nothing more than time (and not even much of that)." These new forums of communication have created a community of news-seeking individuals online who may or may not be of a journalistic background, but who are still participating in the pursuit of truth. Korr goes on to point out, "As for money, when the technology is free all you need to invest in is smart journalists."
Charlie Beckett extends this argument to include the future of politics with the future of journalism on the Internet. He says, "There is evidence of an increased capacity for a more interactive style of democracy." Just as journalism has become, in my view, an interactive media, Beckett argues that government has as well. If the public feel involved and passionate about an issue, they will participate. Beckett argues that is why social networks have been so successful - and I agree. He says, "When it comes to our football team or our family, we are prepared to invest effort in creating journalism as well as sharing communication with others....Together we produce the kind of journalism that mainstream media failed to produce." Thus, the news media and the government should pay attention to what is being said on social networking sites because these are issues the public cares about right now.
Also, the Poynter Twitter survey and the tips for accuracy made me think of the role of the journalist in a new way. The tweets on the Poynter site, such as "Assume audience is smart, caring and good. Assume same about people on whom I report," really gave a humanizing side to journalism that I hadn't thought about before. These stories are about every day people and their lives. We must always remember that.