Week 9 - Blogging for the people

Blogging plays an important role in new media because it is a large part of what the audience wants to read about on the internet. McIntosh (2007) said it is “important to converse with the audience and avoid putting up barriers to the people you want to engage with”.

Blogs with a strong fan base can be invaluable and interaction on all levels is a vital part of the emerging new media culture.

I write a weekly NRL blog and although my audience is not huge, their emails and interactions are still very important. Communication with my audience helps me generate story ideas, leads and really gives me a good idea on what the rugby league community feels about certain issues.

These people tell me what they want to read about. For me, in a semi-professional role, this tells me what to write about which can help build a portfolio for future work. This “knowledge transfer route” (Weller, 2007) plays a huge part in the emerging new media culture.

If I have a good grasp on this, I can target my other work better to make myself look stronger. This helps me build a reputation and eventually will help me to build a successful career.

References
McIntosh, E. (2007). Just because you can blog in one click doesn’t mean you should. Retrieved April 29, 2010, from http://blackboard.qut.edu.au/webapps/blackboard/content/contentWrapper.jsp?content_id=_3070123_1&displayName=Week+10%3A+Why+and+How+to+Blog+Well&course_id=_60765_1&navItem=content&href=http%3A%2F%2Fedu.blogs.com%2Fedublogs%2F2006%2F11%2Fjust_because_yo.html

Weller, M. (2007). Is blogging a good use of time? Retrieved April 29, 2010, from http://blackboard.qut.edu.au/webapps/blackboard/content/contentWrapper.jsp?content_id=_3070123_1&displayName=Week+10%3A+Why+and+How+to+Blog+Well&course_id=_60765_1&navItem=content&href=http%3A%2F%2Fnogoodreason.typepad.co.uk%2Fno_good_reason%2F2007%2F04%2Fis_blogging_a_g.html

Week 8 - The role of ‘old’ media in individual health and well-being

The Lewis (2006) and Wyatt, Harris and Wathen (2008) readings this week took note of a shift towards the individual taking responsibility for their own health and well. This perceived power has been removed from government and doctors – resulting in issues of trust, safety and gate-keeping information.

The media is a message driven medium – those who have a message pay for the delivery in the hope of influencing the individual. But what role does ‘old’ media play in a world of individual responsibility for health and well-being?

Should it encourage people to use new media to research and seek treatment for various symptoms or illness? Or should it influence people to stick with the old doctor methods? And under whose instructions does this message come from anyway?

Old media is just one of many sources for information and remains the same – promoting a message for whoever pays. But there is enough genuine health information available online if people know how to find it.

I believe the media’s overall message should be a simple, balanced one – the individual is responsible for their own health and well-being, but part of that responsibility means seeking quality information and treatment from respected sources, including doctors.

Cheers,
Andrew

References

Lewis, T. (2006). Seeking health information on the internet: lifestyle choice or bad attack of cyberchondria? Media, Culture & Society, volume 28, issue 4: 521-539.Available online http://mcs.sagepub.com.ezp01.library.qut.edu.au/cgi/reprint/28/4/521 (Accessed April 19, 2010).

Wyatt, S., Harris, R. and Wathen, N. (2008). The Go-Betweens: Health, Technology and Info(r)mediation. In Mediating Health Information: The Go-Betweens in a Changing Socio-Technical Landscape. Sally Wyatt, Nadine Wathen and Roma Harris (eds), pp. 1-12. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Available online: http://blackboard.qut.edu.au/webapps/blackboard/content/contentWrapper.jsp?content_id=_3070119_1&displayName=Week+9%3A+%E2%80%9CI+feel+better+already%E2%80%9D%3A+New+Media%2C+Health+%26+Well-Being&course_id=_60765_1&navItem=content&href=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.library.qut.edu.au%2F (Accessed April 19, 2010).

Week 7 - UGC (including everything that comes with it)

User Generated Content (UGC) is a great aspect of new media and also much needed – the audience (or ‘punters’) want to be involved. They enjoy seeing their pictures making a valuable contribution to news organisations.

Deuze says “Organisations call on audiences to reconstitute themselves as journalists”.

But is actively seeking and using UGC taking a short cut? Is it a form of cheating or taking the easy path?

I think UGC is fair game. Often when a major story breaks, particularly disaster stories, UGC forms a large part of initial reports. Punters choose to be involved and waive any financial rights or otherwise when they accept the terms and conditions.

While organisations are happy to take UGC, they have to be wary of UGC traps.

Verification is absolutely vital because reputations and credibility are at stake. The notion of UGC is that anyone can send a picture in and claim it as ‘news’. It is important these pictures are verified because if you post it on the website and claim it as the truth, you’re taking the rapt for it. You take the good and the bad.

No one knows that Tom Smith fabricated a photo or if it was snapped ten years ago – but they will know if your credible news organisation failed to check this first.

Thanks for reading,
Andrew

References
Deuze, M. (2009). The people formerly known as the Employers. Journalism, Vol. 10, issue 3, pp. 315–318. Available online http://jou.sagepub.com.ezp01.library.qut.edu.au/cgi/reprint/10/3/315?rss=1 (Accessed April 13, 2010).

Ryan, R. (2010). KCB201: New Media 1: Information and Knowledge: Week 8 lecture. Available online: http://blackboard.qut.edu.au/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_60765_1%26url%3D (Accessed April 13, 2010).