Spaces of the News: News
Article from Tamara Witschge on openDemocracy
Street journalists versus 'ailing journalists'?
The internet is currently the fastest growing news platform (Ofcom, 2007). New media technologies have changed and multiplied the ways in which news can be accessed, but the promise of greater diversity in news seems elusive. "Street Journalism" projects, like Demotix, the recent winner of the Media Guardian's 2009 award in the "Independnet Media" category want to change that. In justifying their place, these crowd-sourcing projects are needing to transform the theory of media's place in democracy. It is no longer enough to be informed to fully enjoy citizenship; you now need to be an information producer. But do we?
Read on on openDemocracy
1:Changing Journalism - For Good or Ill?
A Goldsmiths panel debate with leading figures from the world of print and broadcast journalism, in the Small Hall (Cinema) at 5 p.m. on Wednesday 25 March. This event was streamed live over the internet.
As journalism undergoes widespread systemic change, have its practitioners retained their values and objectivity, or have many lost perspective along with power and position? Are the opportunities of serving 24-hour multimedia platforms extending choice and range, or is it more a case - as the late Bill Cotton said of the BBC - of morale perpetually at 'an all-time low'? Do recent failures in economic journalism indicate a wider malaise, with correspondents too closely embedded with their sources, or are 'green shoots' detectable in the industry as well as in the economy?
As the Goldsmiths Leverhulme Media Research Centre completes its research programme on New Media and its effects in Changing Journalism, the academics invite the journalists to argue whether their trade is in rude health or terminal decline.
With Steve Hewlett, presenter of BBC Radio 4's The Media Show, the panel includes David Leigh, Investigations Editor of The Guardian & Observer columnist, Vanity Fair Editor and Convention on Modern Liberty organiser Henry Porter. These and other working journalists, broadcast editors and media commentators will confront the questions of the day with an audience of journalism students past and present. The event will be live webcast – places need to be reserved
For further information please contact Peter Lee-Wright .
For seats, please contact Zehra Arabadji by e-mail only Zehra Arabadji.
2: James Curran speaks at Cambridge Seminar: New Media and Old Communication
James Curran speaks at Cambridge Seminar: New Media and Old Communication On February 13, James Curran gave a paper to a staff/student sociology seminar at Cambridge University in which he summarised three of his recent studies - an historical examination of new media forecasts, a case study of the international e-zine, openDemocracy (conducted with Tamara Witschge) and a comparative study of media reporting and public knowledge in four countries (with Iyengar, Lund and Salovaara-Moring).
3: News team presented at the University of Westminster (28 January)
Members of the Spaces of News team have presented their work at a seminar of the Communication and Media Research Institute at the University of Westminster on Wednesday 28 January. (More information) Please contact the individual authors for access to the presentations.
Abstract:
New Media and the internet in particular, are seen by many as the route to reinvigorated democracy. By ridding journalists of the top-down hierarchy and professional/normalised values that come from the learned routines the internet is claimed to change the institution of news. The reportorial act of data collection is dispersed and with data collection potentially taking place at any node on the net, editorial control is diminished. The network of news is fragmented, participatory, non-hierarchical and de-centred. Others see the internet as merging into existing routines, resulting in a normalisation of the web where traditional concepts of labour reflect those in the non-virtual commercial world. This seminar considers these debates in light of the findings emerging from the first large scale UK study into new media and the news funded by the Leverhulme Trust. The discussion will centre on issues relating to the news and democracy in a digital age. Drawing on their data, a team of researchers from Goldsmiths will explore the question: has new media revitalised the public sphere or become the tool of commerce for an increasingly un-public, undemocratic news media?
4: Tamara Witschge presented at MeCCSA 2009 (Bradford)
Dr Tamara Witschge, research associate on the project Spaces of News, has presented the paper 'All that remains is change? News journalism cultures and new media technology'. She spoke at the MeCCSA 2009 conference organised by the University of Bradford (14-16 January). The paper examines the responses of journalists, editors and financial managers to technological change and discusses the changes in news culture that result from the discourses on technology.
For more information on the conference, please visit the MeCCSA conference website.
If you are interested in a copy of the working paper, please send an e-mail Dr Tamara Witschge.
5: Spaces of News team presents at ECREA conference in Barcelona
The Goldsmiths Leverhulme Media Research Centre was well represented at ECREA's second European Communication Conference (Barcelona, 25-28 November). Natalie Fenton, Des Freedman, Peter Lee-wright, Angela Phillips and Tamara Witschge presented works from the forthcoming book 'New Media, Old News: Journalism and Democracy in the Digital Age'. The session was very well attended with over 90 people filling the room and a lively debate followed the presentation. The coverage of the session (in Spanish) is available.
For information on the conference, please see the ECREA conference website.
For pictures of the event, see ECC08 Flickr Photostream.
For videos, see ECC08 YouTube Channel.
6: Angela Phillips participates in discussion on the future of newspapers
Please read Angela's invited response to the following question, raised by Craig Calhoun, President of the Social Science Research Council: "What are the implications for democratic politics, for social cohesion, for checking up on government, and for opportunities for different racial, ethnic, social movements or other constituencies to participate or be better served?" [More information]
7: New Media, Old News: Journalism and Democracy in a Digital Age Seminar
(British Academy, 19 November 2008)
The seminar on the 19 November attracted an impressive range of news professionals and academics and stimulated a wide ranging discussion. The debate was split largely between those who celebrate the potential of new media to increase the range of news and information available to all and increase user participation and those who point to the problems brought about by new media in an environment of increased competition, increased investment in technology and a decreasing investment in journalists. The discussion will inform the future research of the Centre. [More information]
8: Natalie Fenton speaks at Cambridge seminar: Drowning or Waving? New Media, Journalism and Democracy
On 7 November Natalie Fenton gave a staff sociology seminar at Cambridge University based on a general overview of the findings of the project to date. The seminar was well attended and the work was enthusiastically received with much discussion relating to the potential social and political implications of the study.
9: Tamara Witschge presented at the 'End of Journalism?' Conference
Dr Tamara Witschge, research associate on the project Spaces of News, has presented the paper 'Comment is free, facts are sacred: journalistic ethics in a changing mediascape', co-authored with Dr Natalie Fenton. She spoke at the conference of The End of Journalism? Technology, Education and Ethics Conference 2008 organised by the University of Bedfordshire in Luton on 17-18 October 2008. The paper discusses the how newsmakers view, appropriate and evaluate citizen journalism in the changing mediascape.
For more information on the conference, access to papers presented there, please visit the End of Journalism website.
If you are interested in a copy of the working paper, please send an e-mail to Dr Tamara Witschge.
10: Tamara Witschge presents at the IAMCR in Stockholm
Dr Tamara Witschge, research associate on the project Spaces of News, has presented some of the first results of the empirical research. She spoke at the conference of the International Association for Media and Communication Research held in Stockholm from 20-25 July 2008. Her paper discussed how there currently seems to be at once a fading of journalism as a trade, and at the same time a return to the values of that trade. The fading of journalism as a trade lies in the apparent increase of administrative tasks in journalism and the marginal role of original, investigative, journalistic activities. At the same time, however, the empirical material suggests that for journalists the main difference between traditional and new (online) sources of news, such as citizen journalism online, lies in journalistic ethics and values: the practice of the profession.
If you are interested in a copy of the working paper, entitled 'Recycling journalism: The return to professional ethics in times of administrative news cultures', please send an e-mail to Dr Tamara Witschge
11: Spaces of News researchers present at Jönköping University, Sweden
Angela Phillips and Tamara Witschge represented the Spaces of News project at a meeting organised by the Media Management and Transformation Centre (MMTC), Jönköping Business School, Sweden in April. The meeting gathered experts to explore work and work processes in news organizations and how they have been affected by the integration of new media. The results will be published as a special issue of the Journal of Media Business Studies in 2009.
Participating in the seminar were (left to right) Peter Gade, University of Oklahoma; Angela Philips, Goldsmiths, University of London; Gunnar Nygren, Stockholm University; Tamara Witschge, Goldsmiths, University of London; Ben Hartmann, MMTC; Elena Raviola, MMTC; Patrik Wikström, MMTC; Robert G. Picard, MMTC; George Sylvie, University of Texas; and Lee Becker, University of Georgia.
12: We are delighted to announce the following publications:
“Media System, Public Knowledge and Democracy: A Comparative Study” (published by March 2009) [PDF]
A new article has been published in the Spaces of News project: "Virtual News: BBC News at a `Future Media and Technology' Crossroads" by Peter Lee-Wright, Goldsmiths College, UK.
13: Visit to Goldsmiths by Professor Bruce Williams June/July 2008
As part of his visit to Goldsmiths as the first International Visiting Professor at the Centre for the study of Global Media and Democracy (director Professor Nick Couldry), Professor Bruce Williams of the University of Virginia, USA, held research discussions with members of the Spaces of the News team in late June and early July 2008.
Discussions were focussed around the current Spaces of the News fieldwork and drafts of Professor Williams’ forthcoming book with Michael Delli Carpini of the Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania on the shifting boundaries between news and entertainment in the USA. Many common issues and areas of interest were identified, as well as significant differences between the changes to news production currently under way in the USA and UK.“