new media and the practice of journalism

Lami Idakwo

Who is a journalist?A journalist is someone who collects and

disseminates information about current events ,people, information, trends and issues.

“Anybody who wants to be”- Jacob Weisberg

Revolution

ConsequencesUser- generated contentCommunication across borders/boundariesSpeedy communicationFreedom of speech Active citizenship/democracyNo/ little gate keepingTruth/objectivity/fairnessLibel/slanderCopyright/plagiarismGrammatical constructsStrange business model

A case for the geeks & untrainedThey understand the technologyThey create new technologies that make

communication easier.They have access to generating content as

they wishThey might be naturally gifted

A case against the geeks & untrainedThey do not understand the heart of the

journalistThey do not know the ethics of journalismThey do not know the art of journalism

What do we do?

My suggestionsWork with the new technologies. Remember,

“video killed the radio star”.Work with the geeksWork with the untrained(CNN iReport)Set standards by practicing the standardsAccept that things are changing and get

innovativeFreelancing on various platforms

What has been doneBlogs e.g. The Huffington postOnline newspapers e.g. WSJGoogle newsSocial media e.g. twitter updates, facebook

notes, “ I read businessday” .RSS feedsFreelancing( online columnist)

Nigeria and the new mediaNigerians love to talkNigerians love to give opinions( especially

with anonymity)Nigerians love trendsNigerians are all over the worldMaybe the opportunity to leap from 3rd world

to developed?

Websites/blogs to visithttp://www.Saharareporters.comhttp://www.nairaland.comhttpwww.bellanaija.comhttp://www.huffingtonpost.comhttp://mashable.comhttp://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.comhttp://www.boundless.org (Christian youth)http://madaboutnewmedia.blogspot.com:

Maybe anyone can be a journalist, but we don’t need journalists, we need excellent journalists.

Thank you.