Throughout
the years, journalism has found new ways to evolve and reinvent itself through
different forms of media. It has found new ways to advance since the beginning
of time, through handwritten publications and the use of scribes. Soon after
came the invention of the printing press, which sparked its popularity through newspapers
and other printed works as the most reliable news source for accurate
information. The digital era has
transformed journalism in many ways, allowing it to expand through several
sites and forms of media. This makes the news easily accessible and allows it
to spread toward different sources in a matter of seconds.
In the readings Everyone Is a Media Outlet and Publish,
Then Filter, Clay Shirky describes the news and its expansion through
technological advances in media. He uses the term “mass amateurization,” referring
to a new era of journalism, where anyone can develop and share stories online
due to the internet and its mass amount of online resources. Shirky states, “…the
effortlessness of publishing means that there are many more outlets. The same
idea, published in dozens or hundreds of places, can have an amplifying effect
that outweighs the verdict from the smaller number of professional outlets.”
(65) The idea that amateurs can post their stories or opinions on a certain situation
and gain a following from the public limits the term “professionalism” and
changes society’s view on true journalism.
Due to my own experience and views
on the publishing of certain media outlets, Shirky’s comments on “mass
amateurization” are not only relevant, but accurate as well. Numerous accounts
on Twitter are receiving massive amounts of followers due to their constant
tweets and updates. Pages influenced by pop culture are a good example of this,
such as “Pop Crave” and “The Shade Room,” which are amateur accounts that
publish breaking news and stories to an audience of thousands. The interesting
objective is the use of professional sources these accounts feed off of. They
take information from reliable news reports and spin it into their own form of
media, making it more popular and valuable to the eye.
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| Popular Twitter accounts which update all forms of entertainment news. |
Shirky argues that the journalistic
outcome leads to a shortage of professional workers and news outlets for an
unknown amount of time. Shirky states, “The pattern here is simple- what seems
like a fixed and abiding category like “journalist” turns out to be tied to an
accidental scarcity created by the expense of publishing apparatus. Sometimes
this scarcity is decades old or even centuries old, but that doesn’t stop it
from being accidental, and when that scarcity gets undone, the seemingly stable
categories turn out to be unsupportable.” (76-77) Media publishing and
consumption has changed as a result of digital advertisement and news
reporting, making information easy to find and consume, leading towards the
destruction of newspaper and other printed material.
In the book Convergence Culture:
Where Old and New Media Collide by Henry Jenkins, a chapter titled “Why Heather Can Write” told the story of
a fan who created a website that allowed anyone to write Harry Potter fan
fiction. The website became very popular and was viewed as a professional piece
of work. This is just one of the many popular fan fiction websites used for any
amateur to share their own ending of continuation of a story from other
published works, such as The Twilight
Saga or The Hunger Games. This
could affect the real authors of these novels as well, including copyright
accusations and loss of profit. Jenkins states, “The closer we look at these
two conflicts, the more complex they seem. Contradictions, confusions, and
multiple perspectives should be anticipated at a moment of transition where one
media paradigm is dying and another is being born.” (169)
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| Popular unofficial prequel of "Harry Potter" series written by fan. |
The
future of media professionals seems promising and full of hope. Although it may
seem as though amateurs are thriving over the professional publishers and
newspaper companies, journalism always finds a way to evolve and turn into
something bigger and greater than before. It may not happen as quickly as most
hope, but there is always a silver lining. Journalists have the experience and
knowledge that amateurs may not have, which could lead them into reshaping the
future of technology or enhancing the digital age. The production of podcasts
and online video reporting seems to be getting more recognition, which can steer
professionals ahead through their ideas and creative visions.
The
readings of Shirky and Jenkins suggest a shift in journalism where “mass
amateurization” is taking the lead through the use of electronics and digital
forms of communication. The internet may also provide new windows into the next
step of writing, producing fresh resources that may combine both amateur and
professional work. This provides a background for new authors and journalists
to share ideas and create tools that can change the way society views journalism.
Works Cited:
Shirky, Clay, “Everyone Is a Media Outlet & Publish, Then
Filter” in Here
Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations, New York,
NY, 2008
Jenkins, Henry, “Why Heather Can Write” in Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide, New York, NY, 2006
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