New News

As our second week of Uni came around, I eagerly anticipated the second JOUR1111 lecture.  This week the topic happened to be ‘New News’.  We began with Web Iterations.  I to be honest, had absolutely no idea what to expect.  I had never heard of the term ‘web iterations’ before, but I was keen to learn.  

Basically, ‘web iterations’ refer to the different types of media we get our news from.  The first of which being ‘Old News’ – You know, old fashioned stuff, back in the 20^th century :P Newspapers, magazines, radio and television all fall under this category.

Next we covered ‘Web 1.0’ The information web, which is basically where web pages are surrounded by advertisements and banners. 

 ‘Web 2.0’ was next; it’s the social one, very interactive.  Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Skype, Instagram and Google+ are all fabulous examples of the ‘Social Web’.  ‘Web 2.0’ also covers the ‘Prod-Users’.  Prod-Users are those who produce and use.. I think, I was a bit confused on this one...

Ah, I went to a nice site that had lots of information on ‘Prod-Usage’, an entire site to be exact.  Anyway, they say that prod-users “break down the boundaries between producers and consumers and instead enable all participants to be users as well as producers of information and knowledge”.  This, I believe, would be when breaking news happens and normal passers-by are the ones who ‘capture the moment’.  The 2011 Queensland Floods last year or the earthquake in Christchurch are excellent examples.

The forth topic we covered was ‘Web 3.0’ the Semantic web.

 

Our next topic was ‘Web News’ which we began with a little exercise.  Basically we were told to pass some mysterious package down the rows, while each taking out a single plastic bag (which happened to be filled with jelly beans) and marking down the number.  We were then told we could open the package and eat one single bean, before we heard the one word we really didn’t want to hear: STOP!! We then had to repeat the process in reverse.. reseal the bag, place back in envelope and send back down the row.  Okaaay... we were all a little bit confused at this point.  Essentially it was about what we thought we were entitled to; we had been given something for free and had it taken away from us.  See this exercise was to illustrate that people believe that they should be entitled to the news, for free.

With the increasing numbers of newspapers moving online, people often question whether or not they are entitled to full access without paying a cent.  News on the web has always been cheap and readily available, so that is not the problem.  The problem is that newspapers no longer make any profits.  Back in the day, before Ebay (If anyone can even remember back then), newspapers made all their dough from the classifieds.  However, since the advent of cheap online shopping, newspapers are no longer needed here – and it wouldn’t really work for them online either.  So they have no way to make money, or pay their journalists.

Recently, many newspapers around the world have introduced a subscription only service.  Where only members can read the full stories, have access to special videos, deals and sales.  This is called a Paywall – the first newspaper in Australia to introduce it was the Herald Sun.

So, that just might be the future for journalists out there, who knows...