New Stealth Technology?

Another "No Words Needed"

Is Journalism Dying?

I am a News Hound. I read, watch and listen to the News for most of my day. I subscribe to a dozen or so email newsletters from Australia and around the World and my first task after firing up my computer is to read these newsletters. My local print newspaper is The Courier Mail and I read the newsletters, online and print versions. We also have a local online only newspaper, The Brisbane Times. Yes, I call it a newspaper even though it is online. It is laid out and presented in the style of other online versions of newspapers. When the Brisbane Times was launched it was mooted that a print version would follow. We are still waiting for that.

I am not a Journalist or an author of fiction. My claim to fame with the written word is that I wrote manuals; Technical, Procedure and Training Manuals. My efforts were mostly print versions but include some online publications. My crowning achievements in this field is a Search and Rescue Manual for the Army and a 300 page book on The Use and Handling of Explosives which, for a while, was used as the text for people attending courses to get their Explosives Licences in Queensland. I have also penned a couple of dozen other manuals. I realise that technical writing requires a different skill set to those required by News Journalist and writers of thrilling tales.

My intent is to highlight the new and innovative approaches to journalism that are emerging in an information empowered world. I make these observations from a reader's perspective.

So what does the journalism profession become when information is free and everyone is a publisher? One of the biggest innovations is the Citizen Reporter. There are Blogs, Twitter, Wikipedia, social networks and interactive participation with the ability for reader's comments. There is also Mobile Phones, Instant Messaging and Multimedia (Photos and Video) all of which can provide a blow by blow commentary of events.

Many of the practices and conventions of journalism today were actually invented to cope with an age when timely information was difficult and expensive to gather and deliver. Journalists do what they do in large part because they have had to deal with deadlines, transport schedules and news stands, all of which added time and cost. They don’t have to worry about that stuff any more.

Today, everyone is potentially a journalist, even if only for a few minutes. Technology has made it possible for news to be reported in near real-time and readers have come to expect this. The cost of reporting and publishing news is now effectively zero.

Publishing is now a beginning, not an end. Once a story goes online, updates and refinements may last for years.

Any person or institution with an interest in a story has the capacity to publish facts, commentary and updates without seeking anyone’s permission. Responsible journalists need to incorporate that information into their work as appropriate.

All of these realities reverse rules that have existed for years. This is why publishers need to rethink everything. Nearly everything has changed.

But some things haven’t. People still want trusted sources of information. They want clear distinctions between fact and conjecture. Governments and Institutions need to be monitored. We need to know whom to trust. These needs won’t change if newspapers go away, so someone will need to fill the void.

How does journalism need to evolve? Let’s start with the role of the reporter, because that function is likely to change the most. The traditional function of reporter doesn’t make sense any more. Every day, hundreds of thousands of people in cities around the world put their faith in the hands of a small number of people to gather and deliver the news. For the most part, these people aren’t experts in the topics they cover. Reporters get shifted to new beats all the time. Reporters are resourceful, however. Most of them are pretty good at learning on the fly, figuring out what’s important and presenting that information clearly and succinctly. These are important skills and they’ll be needed for a long time to come.

There’s a lot of waste in reporting, though. Most of what a reporter learns in the process of working a story is discarded. Even more waste occurs when a story is cut for space. In the end, a task that requires hours of information-gathering may be boiled down to a couple of hundred words on a page. This was necessary in a time- and space-limited world, but it isn’t necessary any more.

The traditional limitations of print and broadcast media have required reporters to make scores of value judgments during the reporting process. An hour-long interview may result in a single sentence of published information or a three-second sound bite. In essence, one trained person makes decisions affecting what hundreds of thousands of people may know. Reporters do a pretty good job of upholding the trust that readers put in them, but the rules are all different now. No one should be denied access to information just because there wasn’t enough space.

Today, nearly every relevant fact about a story may be captured and shared with anyone who’s interested. This service may be provided by the reporter, participants, observers and commentators. This information doesn’t have to be part of the story that the reporter submits for publication, but it should be available to those who want to know. The reporter’s role expands to include not only making judgments about what information to include but also about where to link for more information. The “story” becomes an entry point to an archive of relevant content that may be of interest to different people. The ability to make these associations becomes a core journalism skill. The choice of where to link and what background to provide becomes part of editorial voice.

This new reality should be liberating for readers and journalists alike. No longer do journalists have to make difficult choices about what readers may know. No longer do readers have to regard media institutions with suspicion. Everyone is free to contribute, correct and weigh in on the story. Whatever the media entity chooses not to cite in its published account can be discovered through search. Journalists will be more accountable and readers will be more confident that they can trust the information they receive.

A lot of media veterans are uncomfortable with this idea, though. Their profession has long been shrouded in mystery. Editors are accountable only to a small group of higher-ups who share the same priorities as they do. A self-policing strategy rarely works. Very few readers understand what goes on in a newsroom, and this makes them suspicious.

We’re going to start opening that up. When readers and viewers have access to the source material for a reporter’s story, they feel more confident that the account is accurate, even if they never consult that background. The basic point is that the reporters will increasingly become aggregators and topic stewards. They will be obliged to present a variety of inputs and opinions because those opinion-makers will publish whether the reporter wants them to or not.

Reporters will also come to write not only the first draft of history, but subsequent drafts as well. A story will evolve the same way that an entry in Wikipedia begins as a one-sentence stub and evolves into a comprehensive account representing multiple sources and points of view and the public will participate in this process. Mostly, they will observe, but they will have confidence that the process by which the truth is reported is transparent and accessible if they so wish.

No Words Needed

 

 

Bugger! This Recession Bites,

My eldest son has just been laid off. He worked building and installing modular kitchens mostly in new housing developments. The downturn in housing construction has flowed onto his company and they have had to cut back staff. It is a shame in another way in that he had just decided to go to University to study Multimedia, something that he has always wanted to do but couldn't afford it. Now he may have to rethink that and put it on hold yet again.

On the other hand my other son has just been promoted. He works in Hospitality at a management level. He works at Jupiter's Casino on the Gold Coast and started there as a Bar Manager last December. He has been promoted to Services Manager in charge of one of the Restaurant and Bar areas. He must be good at his job because before he took the job at the casino he was offered two jobs and it turned into a biding war to get him come and work for them. He has never been out of work and has been head hunted a couple of times. It must be nice to be in that position.

A couple of other mates have also been laid off or had their contracts terminated. One is a Communications Engineer. He designs communication systems from the hardware perspective for new buildings. Basically the data cabling, data points, server points, telecommunications etc for high rise buildings. (Which is related to my area of Integrated Information Systems, the software side.) He used to work for British Telecom and returned to Australia a couple of years ago to take up a couple of contract jobs. He was saying he can't even look overseas for new contracts or work as ICT companies worldwide are cutting back.

So how does this effect me? Well, I was hoping to be able to go back to work in the next 3 to 6 months. Considering I have been out of the loop for over two years, would need to catch up with some new technology and have medical problems which will be ongoing for at least the next 5 years, I don't like my chances.

Health wise I am feeling better than I have in a long time. There is still a little way to go. I am awaiting to see my Specialists which should be soon but I am reliant on the Public Health system so I am not holding my breath. One of the specialist is the Cancer Dude to get the results of the operations I had at Christmas and to see if I need more Chemo. The other specialist looks after associated medical problems. I still have weekly tests and the numbers have been all over the place so the have been adjusting my meds on a weekly basis.

I have also been trying to get in some exercise usually a walk along the beach and maybe a short swim afterwards. I can do about half an hour to an hour of walking before I start to hurt. Yesterday I decided to go for a walk down to Woody Point, about a 40 minute walk, and have a look at the new jetty and refurbished water front park areas they just spent five million dollars on. Got down there OK looked around, had a nice seafood lunch by the water and then I realised something.... Bugger, I've got to get home. I could have caught the bus back but I decided to walk home. So I strolled home at a reasonably leisurely pace along the beaches; I didn't want to push it. I had a couple of rests on the way and got home about 3 hours after I left. Didn't feel too bad. BUT... this morning I paid for it. Every bone and muscle in my body aches. I move in slow motion, a la 6 Million Dollar Man, and if I stay still for too long I fear I may freeze up and never be able to move again.

Note to self: Take things easy... Don't push it.

That's all I have to say.

Stay good and be kind to each other

Mish Mash of Mumblings

A bit of everything today.

I'm sitting here watching the Superbowl live. End of the third quarter with the Steelers ahead 20-7 over the Cardinals. NBC is the broadcaster today through Channel 10 here in Oz. The games during the season were via ESPN. They only let down is that 10 has a couple of local talking heads to comment during the breaks. They would not have a clue what they are talking about. There is a "comedian" Dave Hughes on the commentary. He has even less knowledge about the game. Also he is supposed to be a comedian... He is not a comedians arsehole. I wish they would just leave the commentary to NBC and the US experts.

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There are TV adverts here in Oz for Woolworths, a supermarket chain, that feature Woollies staff talking about what they do. The latest features a vegetable buyer. His name.... Mr Craig Carratt.

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I saw a documentary during the week which left me shaking my head in despair. It featured two 15 year old boys. One Israeli and the other Palestinian. It followed their life for a year. Part of the Doco showed each of them at school. In a class at the Israeli school the teacher was espousing the greatness of Israel and telling the students that they had every right to be there and that the Palestinians were terrorists and  deserved to die. Mean while at the Palestinian school their teacher was saying that the Israelis were occupiers and should be wiped off the face of the earth. The really sad part was the ending where the Israeli lad said that he wanted to be an Air Force Pilot so that he could defend Israel and bomb Palestinians. The Palestinian lad said that he was thinking of leaving the conventional school and going to an Islamic school so he could become a martyr for Palestine.

And we wonder why there will never be peace in the Middle East as the Hate is perpetuated through the generations.

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While the southern states have been roasting in a record breaking heat wave, the far north is drowning under cyclones and flooding and our USofA friends are freezing their extremities off, here in the Peoples Republic of Redcliffestan it has been not too bad. Average temperature of 25C (77F) fed by an Easterly breeze coming in off the water. There has been a couple of overcast days.

I have not been swimming for the last couple of days. Irukandji jellyfish has been found in Moreton Bay. It is a deadly jellyfish related to the Box Jellyfish and a sting can kill you if not quickly treated at hospital. An elderly gentleman was stung last week while swimming at Sutton's Beach about 500 metres from my place. It is the first time the Irukandji jellyfish has been found so far south. It is a tropical beast but was found as far south as Hervey Bay in 2007. Hervey Bay is about 300 Km north of here. So it will be swimming with caution or go up to the Lagoon for a swim.

Here is a bit of info on the beast:

The deadly Irukandji jellyfish is related to the more commonly known box jellyfish, about which visitors to the north Queensland coast are warned.

From 1883 to late 2005, the box jellyfish accounted for at least 70 recorded deaths.

A box jellyfish sting results in pain and welts forming immediately. These signs result in first aid being quickly applied and treatment begun which reduces the imminence of death and must have kept the death toll low.

A sting by the Irukandji jellyfish, on the other hand, is often felt as nothing more than a painful irritant with a rash akin to that of prickly heat. By the time more serious symptoms appear, it may be too late to save a life.

Small but deadly

The deadly Irukandji jellyfish is a tiny killer and can be unnoticed in the water.

With bell and tentacles just 2.5 centimetres (1 inch) across, it is almost impossible to detect.

Unlike the box jellyfish, the Irukandji jellyfish’s presence is not confined to coastal waters so don’t believe you are safe when far from shore if you are within the northern Australian arc and it is the jellyfish season.

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Well the Superbowl just finished and the Steelers are the champions... Just. What a finish. The Cards score a touchdown with 2 minutes to go to take the lead by 3 points and then the Steelers touched down with 53 seconds to go and held the lead to win Superbowl XLIII. The Steelers deserve the win. They played a better game and the Cardinals gave away too many penalties. A good game overall. I enjoyed it. And YD, my house is safe for another year.

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Well that is about all for now.

Stay good and be kind to each other.