Friends, Followers and the Future by There's a revolution going on, as ever-accelerating developments in digital information technologies change nearly every aspect of how we live, work, play, do business, and engage in politics. Share and share alike--the numbers say it all as billions of people worldwide flock to online media and use social networks to discover and spread news and information. In the process, ever-growing networks of "ordinary people" are using these powerful new tools to trim the influence long held by Big Business, Big Government, and Big Media. No longer just passive recipients, participants in social networks now regularly make and break news while organizing civic and political actions that bypass censors, outpace traditional media, attract massive audiences, and influence the rise and fall of brands, industries, politicians, and even governments. In this insider's look at how social media are transforming our world, Rory O'Connor explains the trends and explores what tech visionaries, media makers, political advisers, and businesspeople are saying about the meteoric rise of the various social networks of friends and followers, and what they bode for our future. "Rory O'Connor is one of the smartest media guys around. He knows who's spinning, who's pandering, and who's putting money in his own pocket at the expense of logic, reason, and the public good."--Michael Wolff,Vanity Fairmedia critic "This is a timely book about a vital subject: How do we get information and is it reliable? With a 'cold eye,' author Rory O'Connor shows how traditional journalism cheapened its value by sabotaging its trust, and how the digital revolution wonderfully democratizes information yet often removes the journalistic curator, creating more noise, more ME and less WE news. If you want to understand the future of news, its opportunities and its pitfalls, read this book." -- Ken Auletta, author andNew Yorker media writer "If Glenn Beck keeps a J. Edgar Hoover-esque blacklist under his bed pillow, journalist Rory O'Connor is probably on it, appearing before Nancy Pelosi and George Soros. O'Connor turns a skeptical yet pragmatic eye to the likes of Facebook. He examines how such online networks empower citizens to create counternarratives to bullsh*t punditry, political spin, and corporate PR, while warning of the dystopian echo chamber they could realize, where every citizen becomes a bullsh*ttingpundit, partisan hack, or corporate flak." --SF Weekly "In his lucid examination of the effects of digital technology, the author asserts that the evolution of web-based platforms and the rise of the Occupy movement has caused a marked decrease in our culture's dependence on 'traditional models of organization' . . . O'Connor pulls no punches and effectively tracks the gains and losses of the movement in clear, energetic language. An erudite, constructive analysis."--Kirkus Reviews Rory O'Connor, co-founder of MediaChannel.org, is the author ofShock Jocks: Hate Speech & Talk Radio. He has won two Emmys and a George Orwell Award, among many other honors.
Doing Ethics in Media by Doing Ethics in Media: Theories and Practical Applications is an accessible, comprehensive introduction to media ethics. Its theoretical framework and grounded discussions engage students to think clearly and systematically about dilemmas in the rapidly changing media environment. The 13-chapter text is organized around six decision-making questions¿ the "5Ws and H" of media ethics. The questions encourage students to articulate the issues; apply codes, policies or laws; consider the needs of stakeholders; sift and sort through conflicting values; integrate philosophic principles; and pose a "test of publicity." Specifically, the questions ask: ¿ What¿s your problem? ¿ Why not follow the rules? ¿ Who wins, who loses? ¿ What¿s it worth? ¿ Who¿s whispering in your ear? ¿ How¿s your decision going to look? As they progress through the text, students are encouraged to resolve dozens of practical applications and increasingly complex case studies relating to journalism, new media, advertising, public relations, and entertainment. Other distinctive features include: ¿ Comprehensive materials on classic moral theory and current issues such as truth telling and deception, values, persuasion and propaganda, privacy, diversity, and loyalty. ¿ A user-friendly approach that challenges students to think for themselves rather than imposing answers on them. ¿ Consistent connections between theories and the decision-making challenges posed in the practical applications and case studies. ¿ A companion website with online resources for students, including additional readings and chapter overviews, as well as instructor materials with a test bank, instructor¿s manual, sample syllabi and more. www.routledge.com/textbooks/black ¿ A second website with continuously updated examples, case studies, and student writing ¿ www.doingmediaethics.com. Doing Ethics in Media is aimed at undergraduates and graduate students studying media ethics in mass media, journalism, and media studies. It also serves students in rhetoric, popular culture, communication studies, and interdisciplinary social sciences.
Journalism, Online Comments, and the Future of Public Discourse by Comments on digital news stories and on social media play an increasingly important role in public discourse as more citizens communicate through online networks. The reasons for eliminating comments on news stories are plentiful. Off-topic posts and toxic commentary have been shown to undermine legitimate news reporting. Yet the proliferation of digital communication technology has revolutionized the setting for democratic participation. The digital exchange of ideas and opinions is now a vital component of the democratic landscape. Marie K. Shanahan's book argues that public digital discourse is crucial component of modern democracy¿one that journalists must stop treating with indifference or detachment¿and for news organizations to use journalistic rigor and better design to add value to citizens¿ comments above the social layer. Through original interviews, anecdotes, field observations and summaries of research literature, Shanahan explains the obstacles of digital discourse as well as its promises for journalists in the digital age.
Writing and Editing for Digital Media by Writing and Editing for Digital Media teaches students how to write effectively for digital spaces¿whether writing for an app, crafting a story for a website, blogging, or using social media to expand the conversation. The lessons and exercises in each chapter help students build a solid understanding of the ways that digital communication has introduced opportunities for dynamic storytelling and multi-directional communication. With this accessible guide and accompanying website, students learn not only to create content, but also to become careful, creative managers of that content. Updated with contemporary examples and pedagogy, including examples from the 2016 presidential election, and an expanded look at using social media, the third edition broadens its scope, helping digital writers and editors in all fields, including public relations, marketing, and social media management. Based on Brian Carroll's extensive experience teaching a course of the same name, this revised and updated edition pays particular attention to opportunities presented by the growth of social media and mobile media. Chapters aim to: Assist digital communicators in understanding the socially networked, increasingly mobile, always-on, geomapped, personalized media ecosystems; Teach communicators to approach storytelling from a multimedia, multi-modal, interactive perspective; Provide the basic skill sets of the digital writer and editor, skill sets that transfer across all media and most communication and media industries, and to do so in specifically journalistic and public relations contexts; Help communicators to put their audiences first by focusing attention on user experience, user behavior, and engagement with their user bases; Teach best practices in the areas of social media strategy, management, and use.
CBS News : challenging the authenticity of a news source by Just weeks before the tightly contested 2004 presidential election, the CBS television network aired a feature story alleging that President George W. Bush received preferential treatment while in service to the Texas Air National Guard. At the center of the story are photocopies of memos supporting the allegations. Almost immediately following the broadcast, bloggers and news sites begin to question the authenticity of these memos. The maelstrom that ensues questions CBS and Dan Rathers motives, and both the credibility and the role of broadcast media in the internet age.
The News Media by The business of journalism has an extensive, storied, and often romanticized history. Newspaper reporting has long shaped the way that we see the world, played key roles in exposing scandals, and has even been alleged to influence international policy. The past several years have seen thenewspaper industry in a state of crisis, with Twitter and Facebook ushering in the rise of citizen journalism and a deprofessionalization of the industry, plummeting readership and revenue, and municipal and regional papers shuttering or being absorbed into corporate behemoths. Now billionaires,most with no journalism experience but lots of power and strong views, are stepping in to purchase newspapers, both large and small.This addition to the What Everyone Needs to KnowRG series looks at the past, present and future of journalism, considering how the development of the industry has shaped the present and how we can expect the future to roll out. It addresses a wide range of questions, from whether objectivity was onlya conceit of late twentieth century reporting, largely behind us now; how digital technology has disrupted journalism; whether newspapers are already dead to the role of non-profit journalism; the meaning of "transparency" in reporting; the way that private interests and governments have createdtheir own advocacy journalism; whether social media is changing journalism; the new social rules of old media outlets; how franchised media is addressing the problem of disappearing local papers; and the rise of citizen journalism and hacker journalism. It will even look at the ways in which newtechnologies potentially threaten to replace journalists.
