INTRODUCTION
Over the past
half-decade, the changing scene of technology has had a massive effect not only
on the form and structure of information dissemination, but also the way of
life. The dawn of the internet and Web
2.0 has, in recent times redefined what and how the use of information has
transformed from what it used to be in the afore technological age. Traditional
Media, the companies which create, produce and distribute information and
entertainment content pre-dating the commercial business of the internet;
Grimes (2008), as argued by various forecasters, has been faced with the burden
of either adjusting to this wave of technological innovation or remain dormant
a legacy. In this piece of work, a detailed explanation will be given to how
journalism; citizen journalism in particular, has jumped into this new wave
thus rendering the traditional media an endangered platform. It seeks to
investigate therefore the adopted strategies used in keeping up with the pace.
THE EMERGENCE OF GRASS ROOT PARTICIPATION: CITIZEN
JOURNALISM.
Journalism in the mid-nineties, dating back to
the Greek history was seen as the classicist mode by which matters or news
related to the ruling elite was disseminated down to the Masses. This top -down
approach of information dissemination caused the media to be perceived as a
repository of knowledge which dedicated how, where, when and what news can be
consumed. Not until the 20th century, consumers of news (audience) were seen as
a dormant few hungry for whatever story the traditional media deemed news.
The dawn of the
internet (web 2.0), the introduction and deepening of democracies and the quest
for participation birthed a new way of news dissemination this time around not
from the few elite ( though debatable) the very masses who were suppressed back
in history. Citizen journalism or grass root journalism has been the definition
of this phenomenon.
Citizen
journalism is not a democratic phase that is entirely new to society. The rise
of alternative press in the 1960s stemmed from the impulse; we will do for
ourselves what the media will not do for us. 30 years later, it was the
mainstream media that experimented with this area. They thought of it as unfair
to not involve the people that the news most affected into the making of news.
With so doing, some newspaper embraced the movement “civic journalism”. It
gained grounds in the United States in 1999; it involved readers in the making
of news and the use of news. The concept of civic journalism was about the
polling of readers, arraying of public meeting and framing of scope of reader
involvement in a way that produces a story.
Citizen
Journalism, according to Bowman, S. and Willis (2003) refers to “public citizens playing an active role in
the process of collecting, reporting, analyzing, and disseminating news and
information.” The process, mainly are
backed and aided through the emergence of mobile technologies and the social
media. Mobile technologies involving Digital Cameras, PDAs, IPods et all.
Social media being the Personal Media which links people and societies with a
common interest, given them the viable platform to express their views.
Examples of which has been Twitter, Facebook, Flicker and Instagram. Presently
citizen journalism has been accorded with different names due to it
characteristics. A case in point is the Asian Tsunami of 26, December 2006, Tom
Glocer, the head of Reuters, wrote that for the first 24hours the best and only
photos and videos came from tourists armed with telephones, digital camera and
camcorders. The 7th July bombing by Islamic terrorists on London’s public
transport system marked a turning point in citizen journalism in the UK. The
BBC received tons of emails. From the two scenarios based on the
characteristics of citizen journalism, is termed standalone journalism because
they don’t usually work as a team (the tourists in Asia).
With the backing
of the social media, and growing strength of Citizen Journalism, the existence
of the Traditional Media, Cable News, Radio and Print remains endangered as the
audience and consumer are beginning to rely on them, PERSONAL MEDIA rather than the MASS
MEDIA. This, communication expert propose, engenders the Old Media to act
fast.
THREATS OF CITIZEN JOURNALISM AND NEW MEDIA:
STRATEGIES BY THE OLD MEDIA
It is no
surprise that already, public broadcasters and other vestiges of traditional
media are rapidly reconstruction the form and structure in the wake of the IT
revolution. This perfectly sums up the proposition by Jeanette Steamers (2002),
that Public service broadcasting is not dead yet.
The
transformation of the audience base becoming much more the dynamic,
sophisticated and unpredictable due to the introduction of the internet,
measures have been put in place to meet the seemingly changing demands and
nature of consumption by the audience. This technological awareness has thus
paved way for the introduction of consumer preference content. This the former
director of BBC Television, Mark Thompson, explains to be a personalised
relationship with the public through more targeted offerings by segmenting
content into a “suite of channels with each having a clear proposition f
flavour”.
A vital survival
strategy for the traditional media in the wake of the Web 2.0 is the need for a
transformation from MASS MEDIA to PERSONAL MEDIA. Half a century ago, the Mass
Media controlled the information base: determined what should be seen and
heard, when where and how. The Mass Media was seen as the central locus form
which information was distributed. This oligarchy gained the Mass Media a
perception of it being a repository of knowledge. This perception wasn’t long
overdue after the dawn of the Internet. The Internet; Web 2.0, changed the
information age dramatically; this time not welcoming a distant but closer,
personal and intimate audience. Forecaster and Author at the Silicon Valley,
Paul Saffo sufficed it to say “In the TV era, it was hard, if not impossible to
participate, but now in the new world of personal media, the exact reverse is
the case: it is hard to merely be a bystander.”
The Traditional Media is now burdened with the task of reshaping its
structural reforms to embrace the wake of the Personal Media. As already seen
in the BBC World Service, CNN and Aljazeera where the User Based Content model
is been employed talk of World Have Your Say, The Stream and CNN iReport.
The New Media
today is amazingly getting intimate with its audience, getting to know them
better. Markets are now coming to their customers as was the other way round in
the Traditional media. With the introduction of GPS, Geographic Information
Systems (GIS) and other location technologies that enable devices to locate the
positions of their users, location-based marketing has become the order of the
information age. Companies today are no longer spending billions of dollars
advertising on Traditional Media which do not move with the audience. Knowing
where their customers or prospective buyers are, these companies, using these
technologies, easily sell their products at a much faster and intimate way. A
strategic move by the Mass Media in this regard will mean change in the
distribution formula of news and information. Where an audience visiting
Damascus in Syria will be automatically briefed with news and user based
content on the on-going war there.
CONCLUSION.
With the
technological strategies taken by the Old Media in the wake of the Citizen
Journalist, it is clear, that the legacy media is likely to come to stay
forever; so long as it keeps adapting to all new technologies.
REFERENCE
1.
Bowman, S. and Willis,
C. "We Media: How Audiences are shaping the Future of News and Information."
2003, the Media Centre at the American Press Institute.
2. J.
Steemers, ‘Between Culture and Commerce: The Problem of Redefining Public
Service Broadcasting for the Digital Age’, Convergence, 5, no. 3, (1999), pp.
44-66.
4. http://socialmediatoday.com/chris-measures/1430031/rise-citizen-journalism
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ANKOMAH LINDA: lindaankomah.blogspot.com
ATO KWAMINA TANDOH: kwaminatandoh1.blogspot.com
KUKUAH LARBI COMFORT: kukuahlarbi.blogspot.com
CHARLES AYITEY: fitnessinghana.blogspot.com
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