As netizens, we are definitely able to feel the changes which the Internet has brought forward to us. The major one, which has the greatest impact on journalism, is convergence. The Internet has encouraged a shift in who creates, distributes, and ultimately owns the news. This phenomenon of convergence can be supported by the emergence of increasing number of online news sources.
Journalism is the profession of reporting, photographing, or editing news stories for one of the media. Traditional journalism includes news and information transmitted via the newspaper, magazine, radio, and television. Citizen journalism, on the other hand, emerged from web 2.0, are news and information provided by citizens, or rather netizens, like us. They can be found on websites, such as YouTube, IReport, Twitter, DigitalJournal.com, and All Voice.
One example of citizen journalism in Singapore is Stomp. Stompers are allowed to post pictures, videos, their views and comments on this particular website. When I viewed this website, I had several thoughts, one of which is that, stomping with personal conscience is not a virtue that every stomper has. For instance, some stompers made the effort to “blur” the faces of the person in the picture, while some intentionally enlarge it to show the public.
Stomp has brought about several advantages and disadvantages: • Immediate reports of what happened, no delay that may interrupt with what exactly took place • Serious news, as well as, ridiculous news which professional journalists may not be interested in o Eg. PSP game so engrossing that this guy forgot to zip up his pants • Like the traditional journalism, it provides a forum for public criticism and compromise • Anonymous, thus, there is no obligation to verify and give the truth, or keep the news comprehensive and proportional. Therefore, there is no loyalty to the citizens. • Practitioners may or may not maintain an independence from those they cover, as they might make use of this medium to divulge a secret of a friend or relative, whom have offended them • It does strive to make the significant interesting; however, it may not be relevant.
In the near future, I believe there would not be freedom of speech or action anymore because everyone would be restricted as they are afraid of getting on the news for making a wrong comment or a wrong gesture. However, when it comes to reliable news, I believe print is still dominating, because not many people are willing to pay to read news online, and 82 percent of people in New York, with preferred news sites said they would look elsewhere if their favorite site starts demanding payment.
According to Rupert Murdoch, we should “embrace progress!” rather than resist it, to avoid destruction. However, because sometimes “progress” moves too fast for us to catch up, we are unable to decide for ourselves what change to embrace and what not to embrace.
Politics = darkness, boring, control, government, fights, arguments, backstabbing, etc.
These are words that show how young people view politics, power, and influence of the higher authority. That explains why they are also called the disengaged generation.
Is politics good or bad? Well, I personally believe that it is amoral. Just like money, it depends on the person in control of it. Therefore, voting is important and having good people in the government to lead us is crucial.
Young people these days, including me, feel stressed out easily. Why? Because unlike most affluent and wealthy celebrities and royalties, our circle of influence cannot overcome our circle of concern, thus we are constantly worrying and looking for solutions to problems. The lack of power and the overwhelming concerns are the source of stress.
Therefore, I believe one big reason why young people in Singapore are apathetic toward politics is the fact that, unlike America, we do not have the full freedom of speech. Any comments that we make about the government might put us behind bars. Thus, even while typing this, I am really careful about everything that I say, because this topic is about politics. This lack of power and right to speak up is also a source of stress.
Another reason why youth refuse to engage in politics is due to the difficulty in understanding it. No one would enjoy doing something that they do not understand.
So how do we solve this major problem of getting youth to be interested or even involved in politics? Perhaps parents or teachers can talk more to them about it, BUT using simple terms and not jargons and big political terms that confuse and turn them off even further. For instance, to some people, the destruction of wild life, like politics, has nothing to do with the youth, but why are some of them willing to spend time understanding, protecting, and getting involved in it? Animals are the reason and motivation. Therefore, we need to find a motivation for these young people, to give them a reason to feel a need to understand and be involved in politics.
Alternatively, the Internet may be used as a tool to engage young people in politics. Politicians can set up personal websites, and create accounts like facebook and twitter to get understand the youth first before getting them to understand politics. However, despite all these change, it is still important that whatever is put on the website about politics, it must be simple, if not, no one would read!
If you think that blog entry is going to be like a CSE 111 written lecture, come on, I do not have so much knowledge about NewsML and XML to give a lecture, but I can give you a rough idea of what they are and how to create them.
What is NewsML?
• An XML format for news content • Developed by the International Press Telecommunications Council (IPTC) • Serves as a media – independent framework for multi-media news
What is XML?
• Extensive Markup Language • Markup language = a set of words and symbols for describing the identity of pieces of a document • Improves the functionality of the Web by letting you identify your information in a more accurate, flexible, and adaptable way. • Extensible because it is not a fixed format like HTML (HyperText Markup Language) • Metalanguage—a language for describing other languages (design your own markup languages for different documents) • Written in SGML (Standard Generalized Markup Language)
For example:
This is what you will see on the Internet Explorer:
Tove Jani Reminder Dont't forget me this weekend!
This video will show you how to create an XML document:
