Psychologist Barry Schwartz points out an issue that plagues my day-to-day activities. Overwhelming choice. I try to simplify my life. Simplicity often leads to routine... but I am ok with that. So the question is... how do we present stories deep within our ever growing library of online newspaper pages?
Ethan Zuckerman discussed how editors often place below the fold an article that a reader might never get to or overlook. The New York Times online tries this, and presents scores of links at the bottom on the homepage. I frequent these novelty links. My issue is, yes I would like to be presented diverse, multicultural and 'serendipitous' options for news coverage... but I don't have the time to look for it.. and I also do not want an individual with a bias to highlight what I should look at.
We have the technology to generate story links via artificial intelligence. I suggest we provide our readers with links randomly with AI. Each time you refresh the page a handful of unique story headlines and links will also refresh. There should be no rhyme or reason... every story from that day or weekly edition is fair game in this random selection.
I think a unique approach is to create a website that performs this generation with hundreds of newspapers... not limiting yourself to a news source that already has a skewed opinion. But... I'm sure this already exists.
Robert Niles' article gave me hope. It is nice to know that their are others out there who understand the contradiction in objective journalism. There are these things called New Journalism and Gonzo Journalism, where I seek refuge. If these alternative approaches to news exist... why am I not supported in writing this way for class? I've mentioned before that blogging is this entity that I wish to separate from journalism. I don't read blogs much... there is something dangerous about it in my mind... maybe I know what my intentions would be if I kept a blog... However I often read the nytimes.com blog on aging. The author makes the subject human again.. she does peddle her interest, however she often says so. What is wrong with writing a news story about my experience and involvement if I say... 'this is what I did and this is what I saw'?
Online news should invest in readers loyalty to the individual writer. The writer should be knowledgeable in the topic field and bias' and opinions should preface the article. If the reader is turned off after reading the preface or writer's bio... so be it.. I'm sure there are two more people to that one who is interested. Have faith in your writers perspective. If this is too suggestive of homogeneous approach to news.... have two writers with different, not necessarily contrasting, viewpoints tackle the same issue. We need in invest, monetarily, in, not the big picture, more than one picture.
Content and community... I really can't elaborate more on Luke Morris' article. I believe my concept on writer loyalty stems from the concept of the two C's. I am not the most hi tech person either so suggesting ways of entering newer new media is beyond me... Twitter is just a buzz word to me... but I guess that gives me reason to explore.
Yes, today's youth express trust issues with mainstream media.. however I think the bigger issue concerning media literacy is the fact that news is new. How can I follow the news if I don't know how we got to this point in time. Mainstream news, specifically TV news speaks to us as if we are kids... however still expect too much in regard to history and context. Perhaps this issue concerns the public school systems more than the media... but the media has more freedom in provoking change. A way to 'save' print is to utilize the web as a means to supply history. I genuinely believe youth readership would increase if that cohort knew what we were talking about. How many 65-year-olds pick up windsurfing on the first try (besides my great-uncle Albert)? Not many. You can't just shove someone into a situation where the foundation is rooted in the past.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment