The Evolution of a Cyber Revolution

It was with a slightly less butterfly-filled stomach that I Confidently strode through the doors to my second JOUR1111 lecture and took my place. One week at uni had not done much in the way of becoming used to this new life, but I knew now at least where the lecture theatre was.

The topic of week 2’s lecture explored the multileveled nature of our internet and its progression over the past decade or more. This topic, I found particularly interesting, as, young though I may be, even I remember the days when we would carefully type a URL into the large white box-like objects that were computers not so very long ago. Personally I would wait in innocent suspense as the jigs and reels of some infinite cyberspace laboriously conjured up a website. This (which at the time was seemingly miraculous information) basically defines the extent of web 1.0. A collection of pages filled with information as a means of showing and promoting it in a public viewing environment. So far, this was the stone age of the web development.

With the arrival of web 2.0 however, the lines between ‘using’ and ‘producing’ internet content began to blur. This was the era of communication and social networking via the web. Now we were interacting through it, posting on it and socialising in it, simultaneously producing and consuming content. After feeling severely deprived and ignorant of all the social network jargon surrounding me, I finally resigned to the necessity of having a facebook account. At first it was a burden, having to upload photos, and write posts, but soon enough I was a fully qualified ‘prod-user’.

We are now on the verge of web 3.0, which focuses on the individual. While we could interact ‘through’, ‘on’ and ‘in’ web 2.0, to an extent we interact with web 3.0. With a focus on the individual, it combines webs 2 and 3 to compose meaning from multilayered demands. Not only does it use one’s location, but it functions based on personalised tastes, specified prices and previous web activity. Businesses can market directly to the individual based on the web’s ability to single out products we may be interested in. Thus, web 3.0 has been dubbed the ‘semantic web’, a web which analyses and interprets to deliver the desired result.

Web Progression: From Web Design Blog (2010)

So what does this web progression mean for the future of news media and us journalists? Basically, it means we are soon to be deprived of what we currently see as rightfully our own (to help us understand this concept, we were given unrestrained access to a bag of jelly beans, then deprived from them for a total of two minutes; a highly traumatic experience). In addition to the web, lecture 3 explained the platforms of old and new media; old media being traditional platforms developed in the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries – newspaper, magazines, radio and television, and new media being online news and web services. With the progression of the web, companies have diverted their news to free and highly accessible online articles in addition to newspapers. However, with the arrival of web 3.0, these websites have already, or will soon be going behind the pay wall. The sudden demand to pay for what has always been free is predictably not met with approval by most users. 

Along with these demands for compensation, come promises of more than the usual online article. News will become personalised and centralised, to the point where we can receive news relevant only to ourselves and the place we live. While the obliteration of all that irrelevant to us may seem appealing at first, hyper localisation and ethnocentricity can be disadvantageous. Ignorance of dealings outside one’s own street coupled with a belief that your house is the earth’s metropolis can never be helpful if we wish to remain fully functional social beings. But possible ‘advantages’ aside, will people pay for something they feel entitled to? If not, journalists can continue writing articles out of the goodness of their hearts, but imbursement will not follow. Thus the question is raised; is entitlement the death of journalism? The answer to this is yet to be revealed.

After watching the progression of the web over the space of a few years, I wonder what is yet to come in the way of the webs. What new and as of yet, unimagined abilities is the web yet to adopt?

A quick google search of ‘web 4.0’ reveals 'a future where technology and human become one' (2008) a startling prospect, but then again, all new concepts begin with a seeming impossibility. Though web 3.0 may seem ‘the’ pinnacle of web creation, I beg to differ. Innovation and development never cease, and simply because we’ve ‘got-it-good’ now, does not mean we don’t ‘want it better’.

Media Use Diary

Media Use Diary

Over a period of 10 days, my media use was logged and the results will now be compared to those of the Journalism cohort.

Table 1. Media Use vs. Time (minutes)

Media Type	Day 1 16/3	Day 2 17/3	Day 3 18/3	Day 4 19/3	Day 5 20/3	Day 6 21/3	Day 7 22/3	Day 8 23/3	Day 9 24/3	Day 10 25/3	Total
Newspaper	-	30	20	-	-	20	-	-	15	20	105
Radio	10	-	30	-	40	-	20	-	-	45	145
7pm news	-	-	-	30	30	30	-	30	-	-	120
7.30 report	-	-	-	30	30	-	-	-	-	-	60
Book	30	-	45	20	-	-	-	-	-	-	95
Online News	-	-	-	30	-	10	20	30	-	10	100
Internet research	60	120	90	75	90	120	-	60	100	120	835
Facebook	30	30	100	120	30	120	10	20	-	45	505
Twitter	10	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	55

Personal Media Use

Old Media

My uses of old media are usually premeditated and timed, since television and newspaper are not as easily accessible as internet news and social networks and cannot be viewed ‘on-the-run’. Flicking through and skimming the newspaper if it is nearby, watching the 7pm ABC news (and, if time allows it, the 7.30 report) semi-regularly, and listening to the ABC radio if it is already on, usually constitutes my old media usage.

New Media

As shown in Figure 1, the majority of media usage is new media via the internet, constituting 74% as opposed to old media, using only 26% of the total time. I usually find online news unavoidable, especially if a headline catches my eye. Twitter (3%) and Online News (5%) constitute only a small proportion of overall usage, while Facebook and Internet research make up the majority.  Facebook is usually used via my phone throughout the day, and twitter is used to check public transport delays.

Figure 1.Figure 1.1                                                                                Figure 1.2

A Comparative View

Figures 2.1 and 2.2 illustrate the differences in online media usage between myself and the journalism cohort (though not using the same values). It is evident that my online news reading and twitter usage are lower than the majority of the cohort, while my online research is higher. My Facebook usage is second to that of my research, whereas Facebook is the most used online activity for the majority of the cohort. Thus, it is evident that new media plays a large role in the lives of journalism students, and most likely journalists today.

 Figure 2.1 (data taken from JOUR 2012 survey)       Figure 2.2

News From the Media

New media news sources are fast, easy and accessible while old media such as scheduled news requires you to turn on the television, or seek out a newspaper. Internet news is at our fingertips. Whether it is status updates, tweets, internet headlines or online articles, it can be accessed with the tap of a key.

My radio, newspaper and television usage are higher than online news and twitter (Figure 3.2), however, Facebook remains my key source of news. Interestingly, newspaper and television use is higher than Facebook in the overall cohort; television being the chief source followed by online news (Figure 3.1). Perhaps this indicates the remaining necessity of detailed news in addition to fast, brief updates online.

These results reveal that old forms of news are still vital in our lives today, yet their significance is slowly declining. New forms of news media; internet news and Facebook, are steadily growing in popularity and relevance in the 21^st century lifestyle.

Figure 3.1 (Data taken from JOUR 2012 survey)            Figure 3.2

Conclusion

The results from both the cohort’s and my own media news usage are indicative of the way current journalism is headed. Internet media is quickly becoming the most convenient and informative means of accessing regular (by the minute) and up to date news. While regular updates are not the most detailed, clearly TV and newspaper are still important. Yet, as media and technology becomes more advanced, old media will ultimately dwindle.  

I Am The Journalist

These were the bold letters placed in front of us at our first, Monday afternoon lecture. It was my first day of university, the first appointment on my carefully crafted timetable, and my first lecture. As can be expected, I was terrified, but this didn’t distract me from the fact that the third slide said in huge lettering,  “YOU are the journalist”. I  am the journalist? But it is my first day. What is the point in being here if it am supposedly already a journalist? I pondered these words until they were replaced by several inspirational and rather dramatic quotes by well known editors, journalists and publishers (most of whom I had never heard). The quotes ranged from "Generally speaking the best people nowadays go into journalism..." (Auberon Waugh) to "... egomaniacs of average intelligence or less often end up in the field of TV journalism" (Tina Fey). Aside from confusing me greatly, these were useful in highlighting the varying public perceptions of journalism, but I have yet to decide my own.  I recently found a picture on an interesting blog Stuff Journalists Like which illustrates some of these. It was also on Facebook, so some may have already seen it. 

But after much deliberation, the question still remained. Why am I a journalist? Why now? The answer was finally revealed in the 22nd slide. I am a journalist because, by tweeting, by posting on a blog, I am 'doing' and practising journalism. By representing information, events and concepts, I deem relevant for those who care to read it, I am 'doing' journalism. Anyone can 'do' journalism, and through the study of journalism, we are. So, for Semester One at least I am the journalist.