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November 28, 2005
Presentation--chapter 12
Chapter 12—Making Our Own News (Presentation)
(Silent for one minute)
“Your voice matters.” This was highly stressed upon in Chapter 12. Without us, the regular people who make things happen, reporters would be out of jobs because they would have nothing to cover. Not only do we have a voice when it comes to making the news, but now, in today’s society, we are able to CREATE the news! We all can make our own news. For instance, if Professor Jerz is concerned about an issue here at Seton Hill, he could write a news article on the internet for viewers to read. If I had an issue that I was concerned about, I could simply write an opinionated blog hassle-free! Now tell, me, when do you prefer to blog? There is no wrong answer so just shout out the answers. Well, along with the power to write what we want to on the internet, we also have the power to write WHEN we want to. If we wanted to post a blog at 2:00 in the morning, which is when a lot of us probably blog because we can’t seem to get to sleep, we would not get in trouble for it. If we wanted to post a blog at 2:00 in the afternoon, we would not get in trouble for that either. With the power of blogs and the internet, anything is possible.
A Creative Common
To put it simply, “Creative Commons” is a system of “Some Rights Reserved.” What does this mean? The Creative Commons Copyright is an alternative copyright licensing system that allows the person who created the work to decide which rights he or she wants to reserve for himself or herself, while allowing the public to build on his or her ideas.
For those of you who did not buy the book, “We The Media” , please raise your hand. How did you read the information that needed to be read? (Answers)
I know when I went to purchase the book at the bookstore, I walked into the bookstore and I think I counted a total of seven books. None of them were “We The Media.” I too have been reading the chapters from the internet. How is this possible? The author and his publisher have published the book on the Internet and offered it for free compared to bookstores. “Free” does not mean a person has the right to print the information and resell it to make money. “Free” means a person has the right to download and read the information without buying the book from the bookstore. The author and the publisher believe they will be creating more, not less demand and they are willing to take that chance.
Why is the author doing this? First, he wants to support copyright in the correct way. “Locking down heritage means locking out vital innovation, and I don’t want to be one of the people who turns reasonable protections into absolute control. (Page 240)” Secondly, the author doesn’t even know what the readers or other people will do when they get their hands on this book. “Since one of my goals in writing this book is to encourage experimentation, I’m hoping that people will—within the boundaries of a “some rights reserved” license—use this book to expand the conversation in ways I hadn’t imagined. (240)”
Making Our Own News
“We tend to be bound by our past, even when we can imagine the future. (Page 236)” Because of articles now being posted on the internet, many people tend to be timid about using the Web as a source of information. In class we had a discussion about what we thought was a better source of information. The internet or print? I’m sure we all have our own ideas and I do not plan to go into that discussion right now. Well, maybe just a little. Before reading this book, I was a little uneasy about reading news articles on the internet. However, after completing this book, I understand that the “internet is the most important medium since the printing press. (Page 236)” Anyone can be a writer and that gives many of us the opportunity to do so. The internet’s source of feedback systems, or blogs and other modern media, allow the viewers and writers to define what we know and share. Just like anyone can write a news article on the internet, ANYONE can blog in response to that news article!
Who helps make our news? These groups would be journalists, newsmakers, and the audience. Journalists are beginning to catch on to online blogging. High-profile blogs have appeared on the internet by some of the biggest news organizations. Newsmakers understand almost just as much as journalists. However, newsmakers do not have access to the tools that would help them deal with the public. These tools include the news media.
The “former audience” has taken these tools and turned the many ideas into amazing forms of journalism. The former audience, US, has the most important role in this upcoming era. We must be active users of the news instead of consumers. Not only will we be the news, write the news, but we must also READ the news!
Posted by ElyseBranam at November 28, 2005 12:01 AM