That evening as Digitella sits in front of her laptop, a blank blog post on her laptop screen, she wonders why she chose to study citizen media. Her debate earlier that day with Tek about blogging and journalism (that has not been resolved) proved to Digitella that citizen media is a vast abyss of information and unresolved arguments. Now, she has to post her first blog entry as a news blogger and she has no idea what her first topic should be.
Suddenly, Digitella’s digsmate Mo flings open the bedroom door and tosses a newspaper onto Digitella’s lap. “You have to read this,” she says breathlessly pulling up a chair.
Digitella’s eyes widen as she scans the headline Male Hooker names top clients
Male Hooker names Top clients. “I don’t believe it,” she says.
“Yeah, I thought it might make a good first entry,” Mo smiles, before leaving the room.
Digitella scans the article and then, fingers poised begins her blog entry:
“Blogging and journalism. The debate has been going on since the development of blogs at the end of the last century. An article I have just read raises big issues in the blog/ journalism debate:
1. the credibility of blogs as a source of news
2. the lack of accountability of bloggers when what is written crosses the boundaries of legality.
In the article, a former male sex worker has posted a personal blog claiming that a number of prominent South Africans paid him for sex. He named 11 of them so far and the information has spread like wild fire among SA news media organisations. The Sunday Times, IOL and Media24 are just a few traditional news companies who have run news articles about this.
The journalist who wrote this article is unable to establish the credibility and truthfulness of the sex worker (if in fact he/she is even a sex worker) because the blogger in question is anonymous. The journalist left a comment on the blog and was contacted by someone called Skye who “claimed” to be the blogger – does the journalist know this for a fact? No. Is the journalist able to find out? Not likely.
I then ask the question: how can you run an article when you are unsure of the blogger’s motives, and truthfulness? The only information the journalist has is the blog post (which may just be a work of fiction – an identity constructed, a fantasy lived out in cyberspace) and the men who are all flat-out denying it. It seems to me the article shouldn’t be about the blogger’s allegations, so much as it should be about what bloggers can and cannot get away with posting.
A lawyer has said that both the publisher and blogger can be sued for defamation – but the website has covered its behind by denying any responsibility in what bloggers publish on their site. And, without an identity, it is unlikely this blogger is going to be sued. How then do we make bloggers accountable?
Good ole Patricia De Lille has recently called for tighter control over Internet bloggers (I can already hear the chants of “freedom of speech” “freedom of expression”) – but, she does have a point. If we are to consider blogging as a form of journalism, shouldn’t it be held to the same legal and ethical standards as traditional journalism?
The question is: with nearly 60% of bloggers blogging anonymously and blogger sites denying responsibility how do you hold users accountable for what they say?”
Digitella sighs heavily as she posts the entry … wondering to herself what the response to the entry will be. She switched off her computer thinking that the battle is only just beginning …
Tune in next week to find out how Digitella’s entry is received.
Tuesday, 29 May 2007
Monday, 28 May 2007
Funny Strike - News Broadcast
Hi all you bloggers in the blogosphere!
Well, I have officially finished my first video blog aka vlog! It was quite an interesting experience. I covered a local comedy show and there were a few glitches with filming E.G lighting etc. The editing was time consuming and alas not perfect - but I am working on deadline so it will just have to do!!! Have a look and let me know what you think:) ">Funny Strike - News Broadcast
Cheers
Melissa
Well, I have officially finished my first video blog aka vlog! It was quite an interesting experience. I covered a local comedy show and there were a few glitches with filming E.G lighting etc. The editing was time consuming and alas not perfect - but I am working on deadline so it will just have to do!!! Have a look and let me know what you think:) ">Funny Strike - News Broadcast
Cheers
Melissa
Thursday, 24 May 2007
Digitalia No More
Well, the ratings are in and the result ... Citizen Media: The Days of Our Online Lives is here to stay (for now). There has however been a request by users that the main character's name be changed as it reminds them too much of well ... ummm ... something that sounds awefully similar to Digitalia.
As a result, Directot/ screenwriter MEG has re-christened the main character as Digitella. "I never made any connotations between the name and what users have been comparing it too," MEG smiles bashfully. "Now that it has been mentioned, I can't ignore it."
So, from this moment on, Digitalia will now be known as Digitella.
As a result, Directot/ screenwriter MEG has re-christened the main character as Digitella. "I never made any connotations between the name and what users have been comparing it too," MEG smiles bashfully. "Now that it has been mentioned, I can't ignore it."
So, from this moment on, Digitalia will now be known as Digitella.
Tuesday, 22 May 2007
Episode 1 - The one where Digitella becomes a blogger journalist
DIGITELLA can hardly contain her excitement as she skips down the colourful campus corridors of Blogosphere University. Barely a week into her first year and already she has managed to land a part-time job as a journalist for the campus newspaper – The Blogosphere Gazette.
With untainted blue eyes and an ambitious smile across her naïve façade, Digitella waltzes into her first production meeting – pen and notepad poised like weapons in her petite hands. “You’re late!” An angry fourth year bellows at her from the front of the windowless room.
“I’m sorry, I uh …” Digitella clambers for one of the plastic garden chairs littered about the room.
“Never mind, make sure it doesn’t happen again!” The student growls and then turning to the other student journalists in the room begins the meeting.
Digitella’s eyes wander from anxious face to anxious face as the growling student, who has introduced himself as Tek, the editor of the Gazette, explains the plan for the newspaper for the coming year. It is only when she hears her name that Digitalia is shaken from her reverie.
“Digitella, you will be responsible for running a news blog for our online audience.” Tek says, nonchalantly.
“I’m sorry, you want me to run what? A blog?”
“Are you deaf, Digitella? Yes, a blog. You do know what a blog is, don’t you?” he raises a skeptical eyebrow in her direction.
*AD BREAK*
“Of course. A blog or weblog is basically an online diary written by a person or a group of people in an informal or critical way,” she gulps, trying to recall Matheson. She continues, “A news blog deals with public matters, like commenting on news stories.”
“Exactly,” he says, somewhat surprised.
Digitella clears her throat, aware of the entire news team’s eyes on her, “This is a newspaper, why do you want me to write a blog? That’s not journalism.”
Tek tosses his papers onto a desk and laughs, “On the contrary, blogs actually have the power of making ordinary citizens, readers and consumers of news into commentators. You could argue that it’s a form of citizen journalism. It allows people to speak for themselves and represent their own issues – issues that are not covered in mainstream journalism.”
He takes a swig from a coffee mug before continuing, “News bloggers actually share many of the motivations of journalism – they want to provide users with information and opinion that is essential to the success of a democratic society. They also aim to “revitalize public life and challenge those in power” – to quote Matheson.”
“But, doesn’t it depend on how you define journalism?” Digitella asks, “One editor (in a study by Matheson) said that if you define journalism as the act of spreading information then a blog would be considered journalism. But, I don’t consider that a good definition of what journalism is,” she says.
“How would you define journalism then?” a cocky second year student sitting retorts.
*AD BREAK*
“Well, Medger defines it as “story gathering and storytelling in words, audio and visual elements on behalf of the public interest and through any means of distribution by independent gatherers, organisers and analysers of information and ideas,” says Digitella, nervously.
“Well, by that definition blogging is a form of journalism,” Tek says. “News bloggers gather stories and relate them through writing and vlogs on behalf of the public interest. Information is independent because news bloggers are often not qualified journalists and do not have affiliations and obligations to advertisers (unless you are Vincent Maher).”
“I still think it limits the potential of news blogs as a digital medium to label it as journalism,” Digitella argues. “News blogging is more personal and individual. It is free and there is more space to be creative and experiment with new writing styles and forms. It’s also more opinionated, unlike traditional journalism that strives to be unbiased.”
Tek thinks for a minute. “Good point, but what about column writing? Columnists like David Bullard and Barry Ronge are very opinionated, they write in the first person and are relatively creative. You could argue that news blogs are columns written by citizens.”
Digitella sighs with exasperation as Tek moves to finish up the meeting. She grabs her pen and notepad and walks towards the door.
“Digitella?” She turns and Tek says, “You raised a good issue and it’s a complex one. We’ll continue our discussion at the enxt meeting. In the mean time – get cracking on that blog, citizen journalist.”
Tune in again next week to find out what happens to Digitella when she confronts Tek ...
With untainted blue eyes and an ambitious smile across her naïve façade, Digitella waltzes into her first production meeting – pen and notepad poised like weapons in her petite hands. “You’re late!” An angry fourth year bellows at her from the front of the windowless room.
“I’m sorry, I uh …” Digitella clambers for one of the plastic garden chairs littered about the room.
“Never mind, make sure it doesn’t happen again!” The student growls and then turning to the other student journalists in the room begins the meeting.
Digitella’s eyes wander from anxious face to anxious face as the growling student, who has introduced himself as Tek, the editor of the Gazette, explains the plan for the newspaper for the coming year. It is only when she hears her name that Digitalia is shaken from her reverie.
“Digitella, you will be responsible for running a news blog for our online audience.” Tek says, nonchalantly.
“I’m sorry, you want me to run what? A blog?”
“Are you deaf, Digitella? Yes, a blog. You do know what a blog is, don’t you?” he raises a skeptical eyebrow in her direction.
*AD BREAK*
“Of course. A blog or weblog is basically an online diary written by a person or a group of people in an informal or critical way,” she gulps, trying to recall Matheson. She continues, “A news blog deals with public matters, like commenting on news stories.”
“Exactly,” he says, somewhat surprised.
Digitella clears her throat, aware of the entire news team’s eyes on her, “This is a newspaper, why do you want me to write a blog? That’s not journalism.”
Tek tosses his papers onto a desk and laughs, “On the contrary, blogs actually have the power of making ordinary citizens, readers and consumers of news into commentators. You could argue that it’s a form of citizen journalism. It allows people to speak for themselves and represent their own issues – issues that are not covered in mainstream journalism.”
He takes a swig from a coffee mug before continuing, “News bloggers actually share many of the motivations of journalism – they want to provide users with information and opinion that is essential to the success of a democratic society. They also aim to “revitalize public life and challenge those in power” – to quote Matheson.”
“But, doesn’t it depend on how you define journalism?” Digitella asks, “One editor (in a study by Matheson) said that if you define journalism as the act of spreading information then a blog would be considered journalism. But, I don’t consider that a good definition of what journalism is,” she says.
“How would you define journalism then?” a cocky second year student sitting retorts.
*AD BREAK*
“Well, Medger defines it as “story gathering and storytelling in words, audio and visual elements on behalf of the public interest and through any means of distribution by independent gatherers, organisers and analysers of information and ideas,” says Digitella, nervously.
“Well, by that definition blogging is a form of journalism,” Tek says. “News bloggers gather stories and relate them through writing and vlogs on behalf of the public interest. Information is independent because news bloggers are often not qualified journalists and do not have affiliations and obligations to advertisers (unless you are Vincent Maher).”
“I still think it limits the potential of news blogs as a digital medium to label it as journalism,” Digitella argues. “News blogging is more personal and individual. It is free and there is more space to be creative and experiment with new writing styles and forms. It’s also more opinionated, unlike traditional journalism that strives to be unbiased.”
Tek thinks for a minute. “Good point, but what about column writing? Columnists like David Bullard and Barry Ronge are very opinionated, they write in the first person and are relatively creative. You could argue that news blogs are columns written by citizens.”
Digitella sighs with exasperation as Tek moves to finish up the meeting. She grabs her pen and notepad and walks towards the door.
“Digitella?” She turns and Tek says, “You raised a good issue and it’s a complex one. We’ll continue our discussion at the enxt meeting. In the mean time – get cracking on that blog, citizen journalist.”
Tune in again next week to find out what happens to Digitella when she confronts Tek ...
Thursday, 17 May 2007
I just got published!!!
Hi guys! I am so excited that my translat@thon article got published on tectonic.co.za. Have a look! So, one article down and three more to go. for my next article, which will be a video story on Rape Awareness Week at good ole rhodes. I will be pairing up with fellow journo Galen (who dated Galen) to cover a march that is happening tomorrow between 13:00 and 14:00. We will be collecting the raw material together, but will edit and write our own articles.
And now onto other news ... you may have noticed something different about my blog. Well - it's been given a COMPLETE makeover - even the address is different. The purpose of this sudden shift in personality is part of my semester long project where I blog on issues around citizen media. While I will still have my other journalistic rants every now and then, the majority of my posts will focus on citizen media - so come along and have a read!
Cheers*
And now onto other news ... you may have noticed something different about my blog. Well - it's been given a COMPLETE makeover - even the address is different. The purpose of this sudden shift in personality is part of my semester long project where I blog on issues around citizen media. While I will still have my other journalistic rants every now and then, the majority of my posts will focus on citizen media - so come along and have a read!
Cheers*
Wednesday, 16 May 2007
Citizen Media: The Days of OUR Online Lives
Clouds In My Coffee productions and Blogspot.com are proud to present a new award-winning series entitled “Citizen Media: the Days of OUR Online Lives” that will air weekly on popular platform Blogger.com.
The long awaited doccie-drama will centre on one university student’s struggle to come to terms with the virtual concept of citizen media. Each week, she will be faced with new challenges ranging from issues around hyper-local citizen media to citizen media regulation and ethics, user-generated content sites as the way of the future and the role of citizen media in a South African context.
All of the obstacles the main character, Digitella will have thrust upon her over the coming weeks will lead her on a path to self-discovery where she will hopefully find her place within this much contested idea of citizen media.
Director and screenwriter, MEG is reluctant to give away too much about the show. “What I can tell you, is that our leading lady will be confronted with many heated debates. One that I am most looking forward to is the climactic debate over whether or not citizen media may be regarded as journalism.” MEG says that citizen media is often labeled as citizen journalism, but that the two are actually separate terms. Digitella will have to grapple with the differences between these two terms with specific regard to what we can define as journalism in the pilot episode which airs next week Wednesday.
MEG broadly describes citizen media as forms of content that are produced by private citizens who are not professional journalists . The mass media often have social, political and, especially, economic affiliations and often do not report on real citizen issues . Citizens are now able to produce their own news and information in the form of blogs, vodcasts, vlogs, podcasts and digital storytelling.
MEG says that she got the idea for the show after she stumbled across the term citizen media while studying online journalism at Rhodes University. “It’s difficult to pin-point when exactly citizen media came into being, but it definitely thrived with the growth of the Internet in the early 1990s,” she says. The Internet has made it possible, through blogs and user-generated content sites, for citizens to produce, analyse and disseminate news and information .
But, MEG says, there is more to citizen media than simply producing news and information. It is about community and building communities and citizen media sites rank high on value and impact. Digitella will also be touching on these issues throughout the drama’s run.
When questioned on the importance of questioning citizen media and its role in online communities, MEG said, “Let’s face it, this is a hot topic and will hopefully draw users. I mean everyone logging into the show has the potential to be a citizen media worker. The issues that our main character will have to interrogate are issues that everyone accessing the Internet should be grappling with. Users can learn from our protagonist and draw their own conclusions about citizen media from her experiences.”
MEG has noted that in 2006 there were 500 citizen media sites, and studies have shown that these sites are increasing in popularity . This is why MEG is firm in her belief that “Citizen Media: The Days of OUR Online Lives” will be a success with users.
Digitella will be supported in her quest by a number of recurrent guest stars and cameos namely Jan Schaffer , Wikipedia.org , We Media , and The Poynter Institute .
Be sure to log in next week for the premiere of “Citizen Media: The Days of OUR Online Lives”.
“Citizen Media”. Wikipedia.org. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizen_media
“Citizen Media”. Wikipedia.org. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizen_media
Bowman, S. and Willis, C. "We Media: How Audiences are Shaping the Future of News and Information." 2003, The Media Center at the American Press Institute.
Citizen Media: Fad or the Future of News? The Rise and Prospects of Hyperlocal Journalism. 2007.
Citizen Media: Fad or the Future of News? The Rise and Prospects of Hyperlocal Journalism. 2007.
www.wikipedia.org
http://www.hypergene.net/wemedia/weblog.php
http://www.poynter.org/
The long awaited doccie-drama will centre on one university student’s struggle to come to terms with the virtual concept of citizen media. Each week, she will be faced with new challenges ranging from issues around hyper-local citizen media to citizen media regulation and ethics, user-generated content sites as the way of the future and the role of citizen media in a South African context.
All of the obstacles the main character, Digitella will have thrust upon her over the coming weeks will lead her on a path to self-discovery where she will hopefully find her place within this much contested idea of citizen media.
Director and screenwriter, MEG is reluctant to give away too much about the show. “What I can tell you, is that our leading lady will be confronted with many heated debates. One that I am most looking forward to is the climactic debate over whether or not citizen media may be regarded as journalism.” MEG says that citizen media is often labeled as citizen journalism, but that the two are actually separate terms. Digitella will have to grapple with the differences between these two terms with specific regard to what we can define as journalism in the pilot episode which airs next week Wednesday.
MEG broadly describes citizen media as forms of content that are produced by private citizens who are not professional journalists . The mass media often have social, political and, especially, economic affiliations and often do not report on real citizen issues . Citizens are now able to produce their own news and information in the form of blogs, vodcasts, vlogs, podcasts and digital storytelling.
MEG says that she got the idea for the show after she stumbled across the term citizen media while studying online journalism at Rhodes University. “It’s difficult to pin-point when exactly citizen media came into being, but it definitely thrived with the growth of the Internet in the early 1990s,” she says. The Internet has made it possible, through blogs and user-generated content sites, for citizens to produce, analyse and disseminate news and information .
But, MEG says, there is more to citizen media than simply producing news and information. It is about community and building communities and citizen media sites rank high on value and impact. Digitella will also be touching on these issues throughout the drama’s run.
When questioned on the importance of questioning citizen media and its role in online communities, MEG said, “Let’s face it, this is a hot topic and will hopefully draw users. I mean everyone logging into the show has the potential to be a citizen media worker. The issues that our main character will have to interrogate are issues that everyone accessing the Internet should be grappling with. Users can learn from our protagonist and draw their own conclusions about citizen media from her experiences.”
MEG has noted that in 2006 there were 500 citizen media sites, and studies have shown that these sites are increasing in popularity . This is why MEG is firm in her belief that “Citizen Media: The Days of OUR Online Lives” will be a success with users.
Digitella will be supported in her quest by a number of recurrent guest stars and cameos namely Jan Schaffer , Wikipedia.org , We Media , and The Poynter Institute .
Be sure to log in next week for the premiere of “Citizen Media: The Days of OUR Online Lives”.
“Citizen Media”. Wikipedia.org. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizen_media
“Citizen Media”. Wikipedia.org. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizen_media
Bowman, S. and Willis, C. "We Media: How Audiences are Shaping the Future of News and Information." 2003, The Media Center at the American Press Institute.
Citizen Media: Fad or the Future of News? The Rise and Prospects of Hyperlocal Journalism. 2007.
Citizen Media: Fad or the Future of News? The Rise and Prospects of Hyperlocal Journalism. 2007.
www.wikipedia.org
http://www.hypergene.net/wemedia/weblog.php
http://www.poynter.org/
Wednesday, 09 May 2007
It's a Hard Knock Life (for us)!
So, in addition to the blogs on citizen media that have to be researched and updated on a weekly basis (FYI they start on Monday - I know you have all been waiting with bated breath), our slave-driver lecturers want us to produce 3 feature stories by the end of swot week. Oh, and they want us to try and master CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) - which is UBER difficult!! But, you live you learn and who knows one of these days my blog may actually resemble something creative in terms of layout ... we can only wait and hope.
I started my first feature story today and thought I'd keep y'all out there updated. The first story is a about a translat@thon that is happening at Rhodes University this weekend.The SANTED multilingualism programme within the Rhodes School of languages (African Languages Section) is collaborating with the Telkom Centre of Excellence in Distributed Multimedia and award-winning Translate.org.za to organise the translat@thon.
A translate@thon is basically a translation marathon in which participants translate software interfaces online (please see attached documents for details). In this instance, we will translate the webmail system used by Rhodes and already available in a number of other languages, into isiXhosa.
This makes for quite a newsy feature and my interview today with Lorenzo went well. There are a number of issues that I feel need to be raised: The first is the narrow bandwidth and high computer illiteracy levels in South Africa. I mean, it's great to have the technology, but if people are unable to access the technology due to infrastructural issues then it is pretty pointless. These issues I hope to raise with Dwayne Bailey, the head honcho of translate.org.za who is presenting a talk on Friday (will keep you updated).
I also think that this event taps into a larger issue, namely the lack of staff and student support that exists at Rhodes for those who are not English first language speakers. In my experience as a Journalism 1 tutor, I have noticed that students who are not first language speakers struggle with the work, not because they are not intelligent, but because they lack the language skills. A good follow-up article could then be about the student support that is/ not being offered here at Rhodes e.g. the extended studies programme. SANTED works closely with the departments of law, pharmacy and ICT to assist students with poor English skills by providing them with handbooks that translate complex terms.
I'm currently thinking of ways to incorporate some multimedia elements into the article I want to write. I am thinking of taking some photographs of the actual translat@thon and am pondering whether or not to shoot a short 30second video snippet. This would take time and energy and I'll see how it goes ...
So, for now I am going to bed - fare thee well fellow bloggers!
Ciao*
I started my first feature story today and thought I'd keep y'all out there updated. The first story is a about a translat@thon that is happening at Rhodes University this weekend.The SANTED multilingualism programme within the Rhodes School of languages (African Languages Section) is collaborating with the Telkom Centre of Excellence in Distributed Multimedia and award-winning Translate.org.za to organise the translat@thon.
A translate@thon is basically a translation marathon in which participants translate software interfaces online (please see attached documents for details). In this instance, we will translate the webmail system used by Rhodes and already available in a number of other languages, into isiXhosa.
This makes for quite a newsy feature and my interview today with Lorenzo went well. There are a number of issues that I feel need to be raised: The first is the narrow bandwidth and high computer illiteracy levels in South Africa. I mean, it's great to have the technology, but if people are unable to access the technology due to infrastructural issues then it is pretty pointless. These issues I hope to raise with Dwayne Bailey, the head honcho of translate.org.za who is presenting a talk on Friday (will keep you updated).
I also think that this event taps into a larger issue, namely the lack of staff and student support that exists at Rhodes for those who are not English first language speakers. In my experience as a Journalism 1 tutor, I have noticed that students who are not first language speakers struggle with the work, not because they are not intelligent, but because they lack the language skills. A good follow-up article could then be about the student support that is/ not being offered here at Rhodes e.g. the extended studies programme. SANTED works closely with the departments of law, pharmacy and ICT to assist students with poor English skills by providing them with handbooks that translate complex terms.
I'm currently thinking of ways to incorporate some multimedia elements into the article I want to write. I am thinking of taking some photographs of the actual translat@thon and am pondering whether or not to shoot a short 30second video snippet. This would take time and energy and I'll see how it goes ...
So, for now I am going to bed - fare thee well fellow bloggers!
Ciao*
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