Beckett discusses the function of modern media as it interacts with the existing model. He discusses how blogs inspire traditional news sources for example when the drudge reports revealed the Monica Lewinski scandal.
He emphasizes the strengths of the system as it allows civic engagement and a sort of system of checks and balances like we discussed in class on Monday.
Beckett warns that "There is a potential for digital fraud which could contribute to a loss in media." (110) He ultimately decides that the benefits of media's progress outweigh the risks when compared to the old media model. Competitiveness, which is at the heart of faced paced, web based media "means we should get a better relationship between the public and the politicians"
With such new forms of communication the question of authenticity is inevitable. Blogger fraudthough as Bleckett claims can be prevented through networks. Is in a since unavoidable unless one can gain enough notoriety or online fame to prevent it. While the traditional model is flawed, it has a strict system of copyright protection. Which, it is worth mentioning, was instilled not to insure financial profit, but instead protect the flow of information. While Western capitalism has allowed them to work for profit, they still maintain their original function. I question the reliability of a system without such legal backing.
His description of African media and journalism illustrates a unique perspective as to how models of media develop and function. While the government restricts journalism and media use, Kenyans seek out alternate forms of communication, mobile phones instead of government restricted landlines.
I think that blogging and other modern media forums works in a similar way in that citizens seek to escape the big media model (whether or not it is directly governmentally controlled) for new forms of communication.
In this way i agree with his optimism that the way society is moving is for the better and maybe someday we can truly reach a successful supermedia system.
Modern political campaigning has taken root in modern technology, candidates have intuitively taken advantage of new developments. Many say that such efforts are directly targeted toward youth. In someways this may be true, but much of the presence of political information in youth based areas was actually created by young campaigners for example facebook rally's. Also youth aren't the only people on the net. Instead i think that young people are as always simply more susceptible to except new developments. I am frustrated by the persistent negativity used to describe campaigning using technology because to me it is unavoidable like resisting the use of the printed word without the 19th century. If one wants his message heard, he must use all of the resources available.
2. Do you think that the current system of blogs, online news sources and citizens journalists reinforces this tension or alleviates it? Is this a good thing?
3. The general population has come to a consensus that TV media is biased. Although the net provides the general public access to a wealth of information in regards to politics from every angle, to what extent does the public seek outside of popular sources. To what extend did you do so?
4. Beckett stresses the need for networked journalism mediation to protect the supermedia model, will this be enough to protect the flow of truthful information? any other options?
A question to add when we discuss the "How Obama Really Did It" article:
ReplyDeleteHow can technology, like the MyBO platform, connect to an older generation or to people unfamiliar with social networking capabilities?
Does it make sense that Clinton's Internet Director focused his efforts online in a different way than Obama's campaign because they "were reaching a different demographic of supporters and used [their] tools accordingly"? Or did Clinton's campaign effectively shoot themselves in the foot by targeting a baby boomer web site I certainly have never heard of (nor has my mother, for that matter) instead of the obviously ubiquitous Facebook or MySpace? What further kinds of internet audience targeting are available to political campaigners, and is this hyper-targeting for web involvement where this networked campaign is leading us?
After reading chapter three, I began wondering which one is better, blogs or social networking sites? Beckett said, "Political pages on social networking sites such as Myspace and Facebook are gettting much more traffic from regular voters than the hard-core political blogs." So my question is:
ReplyDeleteDo you think social networking sites are more or less effective than blogs in campaigns? If so, do you think social networking sites will push out blogs as one of their main internet tool?