Saturday, April 28, 2012
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.
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I could see many other news reporting stations doing this same thing for the simple fact that the cost of doing this is nearly nothing in total view.
ReplyDeleteIt allows people to receive the news they need faster since they don't have to rely on the news station reporters to gather the information, analyze it and then dispense it to us. Rather the regular mom and pop editors can post it right as the events happen. Tornadoes could be noted as brewing prior to the world witnessing the devastation unfolding on CNN. I can't wait to see this technology expand.
It is definitely a great idea to integrate user generated news. Most of the time when we read the news we usually feel like its propaganda. I believe that really plays a big role in terms or politics, etc... Having user generated news on their website can also benefit the company by building credibility. This also users to post news as well rather than just providing their news.
ReplyDeleteMany companies has integrated this idea in many different ways. For example I think the radio station 1010 always encourages you to call in to their stations if you see and accident, traffic, etc... so when they do their traffic report they have the up to date information regarding the traffic in that area.
I believe many local news stations would adopt this idea from CNN to help increase the awareness around communities. Spreading awareness throughout the community would be beneficial and it keeps people alert of the troubles that may be brewing. It also allow members in the community to interact with each other when they probably haven't before.
ReplyDeleteI do think this is a good idea, but what will prevent people to simply report something that is not true. Moreover, different people have different points of view, so it will be hard to find truly objective articles. However, it is true that we are moving more and more towards this idea. Twitter is now becoming a very reliable source of up-to-date information, because primary witness are able to immediately report what is happening.
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