While reading Seib Chapter 5, i found all sorts of topics that interested me and that i had thoughts on. I also happened to be an emotional wreck after i was finished reading. Seib took me from mild disbelief, to anger, with a varying range of feelings in between.
Disbelief
"The union of cell phones and the Internet promises to be a lasting one..."
"Internet use is being transformed from a high-tech excercise that many find daunting to just another convenience..."
Seib describes cell phones that have touch screen we access, television, a CD player and a browser, and notes that these devices are pretty much going to be the end of home computers. Considering that the new devices offer all of the features one could want in a cell phone, a computer, a CD player, and a TV, one could logically say that Seib may be right. I don't know how much i believe that electronic devices will be the sole piece of technology that one person lives by. For example, in a case such as an office job, is the boss really going to want an employee typing away on their cell phone all day instead of their computer? The computer is soley for work, but if using a cell phone in place of a computer, there are many other things an employee could do with their time. I can't really picture a cozy office with complete tolerance for having a cellular phone out, on, and accesible throughout the day.
I think that the internet has already reached the point of being a convenience. It is habit to most people, anyone who is particularly familiar with the internet, in fact. I know it has become such a normality to me, it is how i check my email, class syllabus, etc. I use the net for many purposes, most of which i wouldn't be so privleged to enjoy without the internet access. I can find out what my friends are doing, or just say hello (myspace and facebook), see what is going on with my mom, or a number of students that i am involved with, via class or the Setonian (email), i can research; the list goes on and on. I don't really think that anyone gets excited about going on the internet anymore. It has become a constant privelege to people my age, whether or not they are college students.
Happy, Suddenly Angry
"The quality of journalism will still be important and will distinguish any one news site from its competitors."
This quote made me all excited. Seib explains all of the newly advanced technological influences and one cannot help but think their job of choice (journalist) may be at risk. At least, their job in the traditional sense that it has routinely been known. And then, this quote made me feel better. Seib, buddy, was describing Journalism with a defensive tone, he even went so far as to defend quality and its related importance. Then, within pages, i was angry.
"Chat rooms can be useful to journalists in fashioning further coverage, but only in a decidely unscientific way"
Agreed. Wholeheartedly. With this quote, anyways. With the text surrounding the quote, not so much. Seib seems to be encouraging journalists to use the web, and to use chat rooms to their advantage, for quotes, for information, whatever. I don't think this is a good idea. At all. Weren't we all taught as journalists that we must find evidence that has been proven and that is solid, whereas online feedback may not be either of these things. Even as researchers, we were taught to carefully select our research methods and data and to be wary of the internet because of its availability and accessibility. Any information rendered from a chat room or other online communication site may be true, but it is more likely to be opinion rather than evidence based fact. People can say whatever they damn well please in a chat room, how is a journalist supposed to know if it is true? Also, if you were to quote someone out of a chatroom, who gets to decide whether they actually used their real name and can therefore be used in the article to be written? There is just too much "what if" questions to worry about when dealing with this. While a journalist may get some good information, chances are, by the time they weed out all that is bad, and spend the time sorting through the truth and the lies, how significant is the chunk of info they come up with?
Last one. "...some people may want to become self-made journalistsm enterpreneurs. They can set up their own Web sties, featuring their own version of the news..."
I get the whole way through the chapter. I've been through a whirl wind of emotions due to Seibs topics. Third to last page, and i read this quote. All i could think about was how i was headed for a job that was slowly (or not so slowly anymore) becoming obsolete. No, people cannot be their own journalists. That is my job. I'm going to school for it, i'm practicing it, i'm engaging in it. MY job. If people were their own journalists, or have the opportunity to become something of the sort, where does that leave me? Where does that leave us? Any and all who want to write and share these things for a living. People want simplicity on the web, the writer has to encounter every problem and fix those they are able, in order to make sure people have the easiest time possible when searching, researching etc. Why can't they want that simplicity with Journalism? Let me deliver the news for you, really, I am capable, and oh yeah, wait, It's my job.