We have three television news organizations in Dayton OH. Some city’s may have more- some less. Even with the cost of ENG (Electronic News Gathering) cameras and remote technology, there are only so many reporters available at any time.
Enter citizen journalists armed with cell cams, digi-cams, camcorders and an Internet connection- they can post their story on their blog or site faster than a news director can get a crew on the scene.
The cell phone pictures out of the London Underground bombings were front-page news- globally. You don’t even need standard NTSC quality if your content is compelling. So, what are local news operations doing to counter this threat- not a thing.
Instead of building a community of news gatherers- or even a community online to support their broadcast news, they are still doing the same thing they’ve always done- and still advertising as “The Leader” or “StormCenter” or something else totally unrelated to building a 2-way relationship with their viewers.
This is so absolutely critical since local news is the ONLY thing they actually serve as a content provider on- and as any reader of this news section knows- content is all there is to distinguish you from your competition.
What’s more interesting is the site www.scoopt.com, where anyone who happens to be the next Abraham Zapruder (he’s the one who shot the home movie of the John F. Kennedy assassination) can upload their content for sale to the highest bidder.
This could be the next big things in local TV ENG- enlisting your community and paying them for the hottest story tips and shots instead of carrying a load of reporters that can’t be everywhere at once.
What do you think?
One has to be cautious here. I agree that the whole aspect of news gathering is changing and the next generation of news readers are demanding more involvement in news. But I still think editors play a big big role here. One of my personal fears is that it becomes a society in which we make the news instead of reporting it. A good example, though somewhat removed from this discussion, is a program such as America’s Home Video. Here is a program that began showing home videos recording people in stupid situations. It finally escalated to the so-called “Jackass” level where people intentionally do stupid things just to get their video shown.
News could end up like that. Without cautious editors, one could see reports about only what the audience is demanding – thus the reader/participant is making the news instead of it getting reported.
I do agree that the local stations need to realize that citizen journalists could have something valuable to contribute. But in a town such as Dayton, unfortunately, I think it will be a while before we see it happen.
There is always the question of “Who’s guarding the guards” and in the case of even a small town- the concentration of power in the hands of a few has not been in the best interest of the many.
The idea of journalists being fair and impartial went away long before Rupert Murdoch, Fox News and USA today- and the walls between editorial and business have been slowly eroding.
Jim says- “One of my personal fears is that it becomes a society in which we make the news instead of reporting it”- well- in case you didn’t notice- it is society those in the “News Establishment” is supposed to report on.
And- it is that very establishment that gave Osama Bin Laden his global stage on which to play his evil deeds. One wonders if he would have had near the success without the instant global media coverage. It all comes back to- if a tree falls in the woods and there is no one to hear it- does it make a sound?
What do you think?