The Next New Thing

There are many possible directions New Media could go, but one I think is a real possibility is the shift towards even more integration of user generated news into mainstream news programming. For instance, CNN does a good job with iReport, a portal where average Joes can upload picture and video as well as text reporting to the main page of CNN's website. There are a couple advantages to this, and I will describe a few. Firstly, people tend to be reluctant to believe anything mainstream news sources like CNN, FOX news, etc has to say. Many are under the assumption they're controlled by a higher power, puppeteering what is said or not said--the whole picture may not be seen. By having individuals report, this may become less of an issue. The second, and perhaps more practical use of iReport is to save money. If the quality of these individual reports is at a high enough level, it's perfectly reasonable to assume that the company itself can do less work. On top of that, it's much quicker to let people already close to the action report on something instead of sending a news truck to the location--many times it's too late at that point. The last point I want to make is the fact that one can't really replace the other, it needs to be integrated as I said. CNN News does a good job of showcasing iReport on their website and as a result is very popular. I wouldn't be surprised to see other news sources follow suit in the coming future.

Advice to Baruch College

There are many areas in which Baruch could afford to improve on, mainly the ways we ascend the Vertical campus, but I digress. An area that could also benefit from improvement is Baruch's embracing of New Media. The particular areas I'd improve on are further integration of the school and classes with social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. As it stands, we're forced to use an antiquated Blackboard system with limited communication options. In a world where we're almost forced to be connected with each other, it would be smart to embrace that notion and somehow tie blackboard into social networking. Furthermore, another way in which Baruch could advance its new media platform is to integrate local businesses with the school via an internet medium such as the aforementioned Facebook and Twitter.