Interactive media and its relevance in today's news
Sunday, October 4, 2009 by Jess Leijh
A form of interactive communication in today's media is citizen journalism. The pros and cons of citizen journalism will be shown in the following.
An example that highlights this is from the tsunami that hit Samoa. Two videos from the New Zealand Herald website show the contrast from professional journalism to citizen journalism. This video portrays professional journalism. The quality is high and it's more focused on giving data, with the use of some amateur footage to back up the narrative. It focuses more on the outcomings of the event as opposed to the event itself. Contrasting the professional video, this video is representative of citizen or amateur journalism. It is of lower quality, and not so focused on the overall data of the event. Instead the video focuses on the event itself as it is a first hand resource. This gives a more emotive feel as there is less mediation, with no editing or voice-overs.
I feel both forms of journalism are needed to gain wider knowledge on more than one level. Through new technologies, we are now able to access and share information collected on an amateur level, such as the second video. Yet along with the emotive side, we still need the important data and information surrounding the event, making professional journalism also very important.
I feel both forms of journalism are needed to gain wider knowledge on more than one level. Through new technologies, we are now able to access and share information collected on an amateur level, such as the second video. Yet along with the emotive side, we still need the important data and information surrounding the event, making professional journalism also very important.