A new era for journalism?

Media houses are increasingly welcoming – with apparently open arms – their readers’ contributions on anything from food to travel to politics.

Whether it’s a question of publishing their correspondents’ email addresses, providing online comment facilities, or running interactive blogs, newspapers and news service providers (particularly in the West) have suddenly become more accountable to their readers.

The BBC calls it ‘citizen journalism’. But it’s not surprising that many journalists find this proximity to their readers a little too close for comfort. The LA Times columnist Joel Stein can’t bear the idea of making himself available to readers:

“[The email at the bottom of my column] is the pathetic, confused death knell of the once-proud newspaper industry, and I want nothing to do with it… Here's what my internet-fearing editors have failed to understand: I don't want to talk to you; I want to talk at you... Not everything should be interactive.”

Stein’s complaint exposes the dilemma of traditional journalism in the interactive information age. But others are more proactive in listening to their audiences. For example, Reuters editor-in-chief David Schlesinger says:

”We’re living in a world where readers expect a conversation and a high degree of interaction with their news providers.”

He acknowledges that the ascendance of new information and communication technologies is shrinking the distance between the supposedly ‘holier-than-thou’ journalists and us common old readers. It’s an uneasy relationship but, like it or not, it’s something that journalists will have to learn to put up with.

Comments

[Rina Mukherji]

I believe it is a question of the journalistic ego which feels shaken up by readers questioning the veracity of the scribe's written word. But then, not all journalists are so averse to interacting with their readers. In fact, don't we all love to read readers' reactions to what we write? And who does not feel elated when a reader calls up to say how much something one wrote was appreciated?

[Dipankar]

Well, I believe there is major-league obfuscation going on here of what is essentially a very political issue. Stein's piece has been doing the rounds of the internet for a while now. But he too ignores the basic issues.

People want to get involved in journalism because journalism itself has become increasingly divorced from the day-to-day realities and lives of common people, and this is because of the commercialisation of the media. For many decades now, journalism has been eroded as a profession, so that today it is merely an advertising and marketing tool. While journalism has always had to live with the market, it is now completely subservient to its.

Most of all, journalism around the world has tended to ignore the poor, the disempowered. But ICTs are not about to bridge this gap - those who can afford mobile phones and laptops and digital cameras generally don't have a problem with the commercialisation of the media.

[ch.santakar]

A journalist is treated as The Community Teacher . Just like the teacher he shares the information avilable with him wiht his pupil. Hence the response from the reader makes him more rich with greater information . He learns from each of his contribution .
Ch.Santakar
Journalist
Koraput
Orissa, India

[Ansbert Ngurumo]

Interaction is the style of modern-day journalism. Only when (we) journalists get to know what readers' opinions will our work become relevant to society. For, who are we to teach without learning? Who said we knoiw better than our readers? The fact is, some of our readers are much more knowledgeable than we in the same issues about which we write. Much as we expect readers to learn from our works we should also be in positon to learn from them.