The People Formerly Known as the Audience

The Audiences Control:

In this article, Jay Rosen makes the argument that the “people formerly known as the audience” are no longer just editors of the news, but creators.  We no longer just listen to media and have it control us; we are now able to control the news.  Things such as, blogs, podcasts, and videos on the Web, gives the audience the power to control and create the news.  Rosen believes there has been a shift of power from the media to the audience. 

I do not fully believe that there has been a “shift” of power from the media to the audience.  The audience has a limited control over what the media covers but does not create the news by any means.  Though it is easier for the audience to be heard on a more powerful level the media still controls what stories are told.  Blogs are posted based on the media’s view on the World.  Whatever articles are told on the news, the radio, or the web are used to make blogs.  Bloggers go off of what the media sees and use it for ammunition to post their own comments.  There aren’t necessarily bloggers creating new stories or even researching anything outside of their homes for the most part.  The media has the power and the money to send reporters overseas to cover the war.  Bloggers, therefore, can only go off of what certain reporters see or write about. 

Either way, I do not believe there is a “shift” in power, I believe that the power has grown and is being distributed among more people.  But the more voices there are, fewer listeners will be available.

A quote in the article that caught my eye was “Give the people control of media, they will use it.  The corollary:  Don’t give the people control of the media, and you will lose.  Whenever citizens can exercise control, they will.”  Jeff Jarvis

Questions:

Can audiences today create stories or facts?

Watch this video on the Colbert Report about people creating new facts. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20PlHx_JjEo

Do you believe the audience is creating news or just contributing to the preexisting news?

Do you think that the media is headed in the right direction?  Why? 

Audience Atomization Overcome:  Why the Internet Weakens the Authority of the Press:

The Three Spheres:

In this article, Jay Rosen creates a diagram explaining journalism in the United States.  The Sphere of Consensus is the sphere that everyone seems to agree with.  Things such as cutting up toddlers is wrong would be found in this sphere.  The second sphere is what Rosen believes is the “two-party system.”  This is where people split in their views on certain issues such as abortion.  The third sphere marks the “political actors” who are untrustworthy and deviant who journalists keep out of the news completely.  In this area there is no debate on the issues.  Rosen believes that blogging has given the audience the power to connect “up” to the media. 

I believe that the diagram is a great way of viewing the media, but I do not believe that bloggers are challenging the diagram. Just because a post is made about a certain story does not mean that the media is going to redevelop their entire system. 

Questions:

Do you believe the diagram exists in today’s media?

Do you believe that bloggers have an effect on the diagram?

Here is an interesting article about the popularity of blogs vs. the NYT.