Sunday, October 10, 2004
WHAT'S A JOURNALIST?Philippe Roy, the Canadian photojournalist, has a nice little post, What the hell is a journalist anyway? that includes this:
Freedom of expression allows all opinions to be aired. Even the Ku Klux Klan has their own magazine. I don't like it. I hate it. But I would be even more pissed off to live in a world that doesn't allow even their opinions to be voiced. Our main problem as journalists is our condescension on our own readers, on the ones that pay our mortgages. We keep on thinking for them. When they stop reading our magazine we never (it seems) wonder why they changed magazines, why did we do wrong as journalists? Could it be that we're just too darn boring? Instead, we insult the 'dumb' readers. This ignorant faceless mass...
It's a good, short post that nicely captures some of the current thoughts driving the larger debate about where journalism stands and where it's going. There's nothing new here, but it is heartfelt and captures the issues in a succinct and personal way. |
POD PEOPLEI've been playing a little "Google game" over the past week or so, plugging the word "podcasting" in every day or to see how many hits come back. An item in Doc Searle's blog got me started. Twelve days ago, he wrote that "podcasting" had brought up 28 hits on Google. Today's count: 26,000. Podcasting is one of the new media that only the Internet makes possible. It blows up radio from both sides: on the production side, anyone can create and distribute content; on the consumption side, you can listen to what you want, when you want. (Delivery is through RSS subscription. Attached MP3s are delivered to your computer, ready for listening or, ideally, for download to your favourite MP3 player. The fact it's called "podcasting" gives you a hint about which MP3 player is favoured among early adopters.) Tech superstar Adam Curry is among those pioneering podcasting. As well as "airing" a daily "show," he maintains the web site iPodder.org, which provides iPodder software, a lot of information, and features a growing list of available podcasts. Watching the growth of podcasting through my Google game is fun. More interesting is thinking about the potential of podcasting as yet another tool individuals can use to practice journalism in new ways. The technology for creating audio reports without great cost or much equipment has been around for a while. Podcasting brings to the party a way of getting those reports to the people.
The revolution continues. |
DEFENDING THE PRESSTim Porter, a sometimes vociferous critic of mainstream media, gets it exactly right in his latest post.
Today's New York Times contains two pieces that reinforce my belief that whatever institutional imperfections are diminishing the quality and undercutting effectiveness of American newspapers the best of these papers continues to draw well-meaning journalists who are committed to doing the best they can in whatever circumstances they find themselves. Mainstream media makes criticism easy through a range of failings &mdash sloppy and lazy writing, incomplete research, bad decision-making, giving way to outside influences...the list is long. Porter says as much in a Quality Manifesto at his site:
Newspapers are killing themselves with clichéd writing, formulaic stories, hackneyed photographs and adherence to a self-destructive, journalistic form that emphasizes breadth of news coverage over depth. To break this cycle, newsrooms must recreate an atmosphere of excellence that counters the pervasive belief that "good enough" is good enough. It is not. Despite all that, we tend to lose sight of the effort being made by thousands of journalists, often working within flawed institutions, to overcome the weaknesses of the media and work hard at producing the best journalism they can.
Porter's post is a needed reminder that there is still much good about journalism, when it is practiced at the highest levels of dedication and ability. |
SHOOTING AFGHANISTANThe photography exhibit Kites, Guns and Dreams, subtitled Images of Afghanistan by Canadian Documentary Photographers, opens at Robson Square here in Vancouver this Thursday (Oct. 14). The show of works by Roger Lemoyne, Robert Semeniuk, Lana Slezic and Christopher Grabowsk, is sponsored by Narrative 360 Society. As well as the exhibit, at the UBC Robson Square downtown campus, there are a couple of presentations and (weather permitting) a kite tournament at Vanier Park on Oct. 16. According to Narrative 360's web site:
The images in Kites, Guns and Dreams span the past decade of Afghanistan's long and difficult history, focusing primarily on civilian life. In the words of Roger LeMoyne: "In the wars of the last decade, the greatest number of casualties was among non-combatants. There has been an increasing use of civilian populations as a weapon: they are used as cover, bargaining chips, targets of psychological warfare, or as another resource for soldiers to exploit."
Of particular interest may be Saturday, Oct. 23 presentation (at 3 p.m.) on documentary photography with the photographers and other members of Narrative 360. |
THE ULTIMATE KITKerry Northrup of Newsplex has come up with a list of recommended tools for multimedia journalists. It includes laptop, still/video camera, video phone, wireless Web cam and a bunch more goodies that turn the roving reporter into a one-person newsroom/editing suite/production room.
CyberJournalist.net has a few details (the link above) and provides a link to the downloadable PDF that details the tools and gives suppliers and prices. For those who can't wait to find out: total cost of the recommended list in Canadian funds is a shade over $9,600. |
Last update: 11/1/04; 8:29:43 PM .
