Lecture 2 (5/03/2012) "New News"

Today was our second lecture for the semester. Dr Redman called this lecture "New News", and talked about the focuses of different types of web iterations and their effect on journalists and how news is conveyed to the greater public.

Dr. Redman began by talking about "Old media" (a.k.a. Heritage, Legacy or Traditional Media)
- Newspapers
- Radio
- Magazines
- Television

--> All forms of MASS COMMUNICATIONS

Types of  "Old Media" have been described as 'platforms' for other types of media to emerge. As 'instruments of mass communication,' they have played a significant role in engaging with audiences and specific markets, and conveying their message to them. Perhaps old media has paved the way for new types of media to subside: social networking, online newspapers, blogs and websites, all which play a similar role to that of old media.

WEB 1.0
- 'Brochure ware'
- Full of content we can surround with ads and banners
- Seen as 'an extension of offline media'
- Standard flat web: just hyperlinks and text, no interaction
Focus: Companies

WEB 2.0
- 'The Social Web'
- User generated content, interactive
- Prod-users: where 'users' act as producers throughout the production process
- What we have now, incorporates social media into means of communication
Focus: Produsers

WEB 3.0
- 'Semantic web'
- Multi-layer questions
- Meta-tagging: iPhones, iPads, Tablets etc
Focus: Individuals

Web 3.0 has implications, both negative and positive for news:
- Hyperlocalisation (what is happening where you are)
- Specific content delivery: - News my way and advertising specifics (pluses) and ignorance/lack of knowledge (minuses)

Dr. Redman also gave us students a taste of what advertising, media and communications in the future may be like. He demonstrated using jellybeans (luckily for me, my favourite snack), allowing us a few, then taking them away from us. This showed that the public perceives many forms of communication, such as newspapers or television to be an entitlement, rather than a priviledge.

ENTITLEMENT: Could it be the death of journalism? Could paying for news that is deemed to be an entitlement kill journalism?

There is a severe reluctance from the public to pay for  news online. Could news, something that is cheap, readily accessible and been around for years, have to be subscribed to? Could people stop paying attention to the news because of the fact they may have to pay for it?

I find these questions highly distressing, however they do raise some interesting points about the future of journalism and how 'new news' is conveyed to us as consumers. Interesting!