Week05


 * This week's session:**

1. Mop-up from last week: all Mp3 files on Week 04 page? 2. Work on forming the groups for presentations and projects (15-20 mins). 3. Opening discussion: news and information culture online. Themes include: authority; speed & time; news values; literacies (15-20 mins) 4. Twitter usage (set hash tag) - work in pairs on main benefits and weaknesses (15-20 mins) 5. As above for the following: How do these spaces challenge traditional conceptions of 'news'? (20 mins) 6. The aesthetics of digital news (more than just how it feels): [|Guardian timeline]; [|Seesmic]; other relevant examples of aesthetic change? 6. Critical appraisal of mainstream news outlets' use of online space including social media strategies. Look at e.g. BBC, CNN, Al Jazeera - also local media (Herald, Stuff, Scoop) (nb Keep your notes for a blog post on the topic!) 7. Using Perian for flv files (5 mins) 8. Critical review of citizen journalism platforms (20 mins): 9. The 'fifth estate': http://jpquake.wikispaces.com/ 10. The 'democratization of news' - myth or not? In (provisional) project groups, choose a current news story, select a platform (e.g. a 'NowPublic' report, an audio report using Audacity, a video mash-up etc.) and produce a short piece which aims to present the story in a distinctive light (it could be serious, humorous, informative or aesthetic). See what you can produce in the time available. Then note down the challenges you faced for purposes of a reflective blog post on the 'democratization' of news and journalism.
 * YouTube - [|example discussed by group]
 * Digg
 * any other social media sources you use to access news (e.g. Wikipedia, Facebook)
 * [|www.allvoices.com]
 * [|www.nowpublic.com]
 * [|www.ireport.com]
 * [|BBC Your Story] (now closed but archives accessible)
 * [|OhMyNews (English)]
 * any other citizen journalism platform you are familiar with


 * Some references:**

NB - Twitter research is already huge and growing fast (like the beast itself!) - instead of posting individual references here, I'll point you in the direction of a good list maintained by Danah Boyd [|here].

Stuart Allan et al (2007). Bearing witness: citizen journalism and human rights issues. //Globalisation, Societies and Education//. Vol. 5(3), pp373-89.

Axel Bruns (2008). Life beyond the public sphere: Towards a networked model for political deliberation. //Information Polity//, Vol. 13(1-2), pp71-85.

Serena Carpenter (2010). A Study of Content Diversity in Online Citizen Journalism and Online Newspaper Articles. //New Media and Society//. [forthcoming article available via University journals database]

Mark Deuze (2006). Participation, Remediation, Bricolage: Considering Principal Components of a Digital Culture. //The Information Society//. Vol. 22(2), pp63-75.

Joyce Y. M. Nip (2006). Exploring the second phase of public journalism. //Journalism Studies//. Vol. 7(2), pp212-36.

Zvi Reich (2008). How citizens create news stories. The ‘news access’ problem reversed. //Journalism Studies//. Vol. 9(5), pp 739-58.

Sue Robinson (2009). 'If you had been with us': mainstream press and citizen journalists jockey for authority over the collective memory of Hurricane Katrina. //New Media & Society//. Vol. 11(5), pp795-814.

Ben Scott (2005). A contemporary history of digital journalism. //Television and New Media//. Vol. 6(1), pp89-126.

Einar Thorsen (2008). Journalistic objectivity redefined? Wikinews and the neutral point of view. // New Media & Society //. Vol. 10(6), pp935-54.

Neil Thurman (2008). Forums for citizen journalists? Adoption of user generated content initiatives by online news media. //New Media & Society//, Vol. 10(1), pp139-157.