Who's A Journalist? Does it Matter?

(J.D. Lasica & Tom Foremski)

The panel on social media and journalism featured:

• Jen McClure, executive director of the Society for New Communications Research - MODERATOR
• Tom Foremski, editor, founder, publisher, Silicon Valley Watcher
• Dan Farber, vice president of editorial, CNET, editor-in-chief ZDNet
• Tom Abate, MiniMediaGuy
• J.D. Lasica, co-founder and executive director, Ourmedia

Lasica:  Media 2.0 is the personal media revolution.  It's simple for anyone to use the new tools to create and become part of the media.  Variously called open-source media, citizen journalism, personal media, grassroots media. 

Key examples:
Wikipedia
Ohmynews
slashdot, MetaFilter
ourmedia
hyperlocal sites like goskokie

Instead of merely writing a letter to the editor, today's readers can remix media, mash it up, add their own POV and easily republish. 

Foremski:  It's a great time to be a journalist as the cost of producing journalism have never been so low.  Blogging isn't the disruptor for the media business:  online advertising is.  The challenge now is to find business models for online & offline media that make sense.

We use media to solve big societal problems, so the sooner we work through this transition period, the better.

(Left:  Foremski, Farber, Abate.)

Farber:  This is all messy right now, just the way that tagging is messy.  I'm on the side of messy; that's fine with me.  Anyone can publish anything, and having more choices is a good thing and a difficult thing.

The challenge is knowing what is the good stuff.  How do you judge the authority & reputation of someone doing the new media?  It's messy because everyone has to judge for themselves who has value & authority.

Abate:  what has changed is that the scoop is no longer relevant.  The culture of 'getting it first', which is embedded in traditional media organizations, doesn't matter now.  Linking is the new coin of the realm.  That's how you get credibility now. 

Worries:  Lowest-common denominator material wins.  What happens to the watchdogs?

Hopes:  rise of special interest media that spark action, creation of new communities.

Foremski:  Journalists can cut through the crap better than citizen journalists.

Farber:  the good stuff rises to the top through clicks.  There are aberrations, but the self-organizing will create new hierarchies.

Lasica:  I would argue that the vast majority of bloggers would disagree that journalists cut through the crap better.  They see the punditrocracy as the problem.

Abate:   There's a huge need for media literacy in this country.  You'll need to learn about tools, laws, how to create persuasive messages.

Farber:  I'd take issue with the idea of banning the scoop.  Good journalists love the hunt.  Like a treasure hunt.  If that's what it takes to uncover things, then so be it.  Scooping is still very important.

Abate:  I'd rather de-emphasize firstness and re-emphasize context.  We are bombarded with information, but need context.

Lasica:  Publish first, then filter.  We're counting on the audience to ferret out things and bubble up the good stuff.  We're not saying that everything about traditional media needs to change, and that there is no value in traditional media  We're just saying there should be more to wade through.