social 'media': news distribution + consumption in the interactive age
TRANSCRIPT
SOCIAL ‘MEDIA’: NEWS DISTRIBUTION + CONSUMPTION
Ben RubensteinTufts University EXP-50
““Society doesn’t need newspapers.
What we need is journalism.”Clay Shirky
TRADITIONAL ETHICS OF JOURNALISM
Accuracy
Proportionality/Fairness
Transparency
Independence
WHAT JOURNALISTIC INSTITUTIONS PROVIDE
Credibility/authority
Access
Tough questions (speak truth to power)
Money (for investigations)
CURRENT STATUS: UNCERTAIN
Ad revenue decline - Vast inventory = lower value- Craigslist (classifieds)
Free access to news onlineDemocratization of publishing
Business responses:Paywalls, rebundling, individual subscriptions, content archives...
SOCIAL NEWSGATHERING
Direct channel to the public
Increased transparency
Conversation research
New tools
SOCIAL NEWSGATHERING
SPEED AND STYLE FIRST
HOT TAKES
CURATION/AGGREGATION
Existing content gets redistributed
Stealing or ‘curation’?
SOCIAL MEDIA: THE NEW PAPER?
THE FORMER AUDIENCE
"We’re seeing the rise of the heavy-duty blogger, web site creator, mailing list owner, or SMS gadfly...who is becoming a key source of news for others."
- Dan Gillmor
THE ACTIVE AUDIENCE
Traditional news orgs being challenged by…● Blogs and citizen
journalists (‘mass amateurization’)
● Sources going direct
“There’s a new balance of power between you and us.”
CITIZEN JOURNALISM
CITIZEN JOURNALISM
“NOT ENOUGH AND TOO MUCH INFORMATION”
● False info spreads quickly
● Exposure breeds (bad) content
● Where/who are the gatekeepers?
“The internet means you don’t have to convince anyone else that something is a good idea before trying it.”
CITIZEN COMMENTARY
CITIZEN COMMENTARY
CITIZEN COMMENTARY
“As an online discussion grows
longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or
Hitler approaches.Godwin’s Law
Break
“What we’re seeing is more a
passing of the torch from human gatekeepers to algorithmic ones.
Eli Pariser
“[Writing provides] not truth, but only the semblance of truth.”Socrates
THE FILTER BUBBLE
GOOGLE PAGERANK
