One of the key aspects of our case study is considering the impact new and digital media is having on journalism and the vital role news plays in society.
This builds on our work exploring the impact of technology on newspapers and whether news should be free. You've already completed the blog tasks on paywalls and the decline in the newspaper industry and now we need to explore the important role news reporters play in revealing corruption in politics and society.
We've got some excellent video resources to work with on this topic. Both of our videos refer to the 2016 Best Picture winner at the Oscars - Spotlight. This is director Tom McCarthy's film based on the true story of Boston Globe reporters investigating widespread child abuse in the Catholic Church. We highly recommend you watch this film as part of your ongoing case study work on News.
John Oliver on journalism
British comedian John Oliver presents a show called Last Week Tonight on HBO in America. Last year, he put together a report on the decline of journalism in America and its replacement by 'clickbait' stories rather than real news. Watch it here:
Clay Shirky on news: don’t build a paywall around a public good
Clay Shirky is a professor at New York University and a worldwide expert on digital and social media. He's a vital media theorist for our case study on News and he makes a compelling argument for the role news plays in society. Interestingly, he argues against paywalls - presenting an alternative to David Simon's Build The Wall argument that you have already studied and posted to your blog.
Blog tasks
1) Go to the Nieman Lab webpage (part of Harvard university) and watch the video of Clay Shirky presenting to Harvard students.
2) Play the clip AND read along with the transcript below to ensure you are following the argument. You need to watch from the beginning to 29.35 (the end of Shirky's presentation).
3) Why does Clay Shirky argue that 'accountability journalism' is so important and what example does he give of this?
4) What does Shirky say about the relationship between newspapers and advertisers? Which websites does he mention as having replaced major revenue-generators for newspapers (e.g. jobs, personal ads etc.)?
5) Shirky talks about the 'unbundling of content'. This means people are reading newspapers in a different way. How does he suggest audiences are consuming news stories in the digital age?
6) Shirky also talks about the power of shareable media. How does he suggest the child abuse scandal with the Catholic Church may have been different if the internet had been widespread in 1992?
7) Why does Shirky argue against paywalls?
8) What is a 'social good'? In what way is journalism a 'social good'?
9) Shirky says newspapers are in terminal decline. How does he suggest we can replace the important role in society newspapers play? What is the short-term danger to this solution that he describes?
10) Look at the first question and answer regarding institutional power. Give us your own opinion: how important is it that major media brands such as the New York Times or the Guardian continue to stay in business and provide news?
This work completes our mini-unit on the decline of the newspaper industry. You will need to complete this for homework but will have half-term to do it. Exact due date set by your exam teacher. Good luck!
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