Journalism In The Digital Era

Journalism In The Digital Era The arrival of the World Wide Web in the empire of journalism has led to uncertainty and confusion, unless someone is clear whether this change should be a source of hope or desperation. There seems to be consensus only around a major contradiction: that we live in the best of times for journalism and also the worst. There has never been a better time to make written journalism, and there has never been a worse to earn a living out of it. There are more opportunities and market than ever before, but less income based on industry trends. The decline trend is experienced across major national newspaper such as the Washington Post, publisher of the newspaper and Newsweek magazine, which reported back in 2009 a fourth- quarter profit fell by 77 percent as advertising sales declined and a wrote down the value of some assets. The trend is higher in United States, where it is often where we see major trends to start happening before we see the impact in the rest of the world. The picture is not looking very promising since the average number of newspapers sold has fallen from 62 million to 49 million since the Internet launched back in 1990s and it started to become accessible to all. Many newspapers have been forced to stop printing on paper due to profit loss. In the same period, the number of readers of digital journalism at United States has promoted from zero to 75 million. In the other hand revenue generated from advertising, which is the primary revenue of journalism on paper, has reduced profits dramatically, which has resulted in large amounts of dismissals or, for those who have had more luck, of early retirement. An interesting fact in this process is that there are actually many more readers, but a terrible pressure on the money and resources. For this reason the Post and The New York Times have lost money since 2008 for the first time in 50 years and based on industry forecasters with a pessimist outlook, predict that many more problems are to come. And although the same is true on almost all sectors of the economy, the difference lies in that the business of journalism has received a double shock since it is also being impacted by the revolution of the Internet. The technology advancements and innovations have been some of the drivers of what we called as globalizati on which is helping in many aspects of our society but at the same time has created a global crisis which is accelerating the inevitable impact of the digital revolution. There are many industry experts who agree that there is no force capable of preventing the extinction of the journalism, not only on paper, but as a concept, but in the other hand there are also many who believe that it will just disappear in the way that we know it to become purely local journalism kind of Facebook or even just become newspapers of a greater global reach. But the big questions that nobody seems to be able to answer; how can we continue making profit with journalism? Or would it just disappear? It is important to look at the big picture since this is something more than just the survival of a sector from our economy. Newspapers have played a central role in society over the past 200 years. They affect by influencing in the power of governments, the money from the companies and the entertainment of our society. For that same reason many of those same groups have also debated what will the future be like? In general there are three main groups coming up with their understanding of what the future holds for journalism: one that understands the way we know newspaper during the last 200 years will totally disappear, the other one is the one that believes it will re-invent and make important changes and adjust, adapt and embrace new trends, and the other one which is not clear what really the future will hold. Clay Shirky, who is an American writer, consultant and teacher on the social and economic effects of Internet technologies, is very sure that there is really not much that can be done. He claims; There is no model to replace what Internet has just destroyed. It is very clear that media communication has been at the heart of the revolution, and the challenges generated by the introduction of the Internet, and although it was obvious during the last two decades that they had to adapt and change, they have not been cleared on what the future business model of journalism in the digital era should look like. The only thing which is clear is that the current business model of journalism cannot be preserved. In the other group we have people like Bill Keller, director of The New York Times, who urges to review all the options, and put everything to the test. Based on experts forecasts, the future newspaper will become a mixture of printed and online, where content growth online compensate the decline of print media. Another industry expert is Earl J. Wilkinson, executive director of the International Newsmedia Marketing Association. Wilkinson is more conservative and has come up to the conclusion that the death of the newspaper is one of the great exaggerations stemming from the economic collapse of today. Another industry expert is Philip Bennett, who has conducted research for The Washington Post to investigate digital formulas to prevent the disappearance of the journalism business, and he is not in agreement that nothing, nothing works. He said: I believe that the era of the newspaper is finished, that the debate should focus not on the survival of the newspaper, but in the survival of journalism as we have understood. The United States discussion on the future of journalism is more negative, but it is important to keep in mind that it is also here in US where more people have access to the internet. A similar phenomenon is observed in the United Kingdom. To go to the other extreme, in China, India and Africa, where access to the network is still reserved for a privileged minority, the debate isnt so alarming, and the role of journalism the way we have always knew it, is still very viable. What is happening in United States should serve as a warning about what will happen in Europe and the rest of the world. There is no reason to suppose that if large American newspapers for nearly 200 years closed and are now transitioning to online media, that this wont be a trend that we could see across other countries. There have been other industry experts who believe in the importance to track and understand public reading patterns. They believe that in order to become more effective in the industry and star t capturing revenue, it will be critical to print more systematic, and with more content flexibility. They add that on certain days the newspaper may concentrate on certain issues; for example Mondays can be dedicated to have more space starting with the first page, to sports. Newspapers will be leaving behind its practice of losing money in the lazy days and concentrate its resources on the strong days. There is also a strong argument which is important to be considered in the debate, and it is the point around the individual newspaper and intimate connection with the reader. This is something that the latest technology is not able to establish, even with kindle, and the new tools to read books. In some very interesting ways, reading media is associated and becomes part of persons identity. It is an individual relationship with an object which in turn becomes social. Can this type of relationship be created outside of the printing paper with an object? We have seen similar relation ships with phone mobiles which are also objects. The threat to newspapers will be once a similar relationship is established with an object which people feel is a good substitute to the newspaper. One additional challenge we need to explore is the dynamics that we are seeing in media which people like Robert Thomson (director of The Wall Street Journal) call Web sites parasites. For example, major newspapers make huge investment to come up with a final product which is a story written by a correspondent in the other side of the world just to see it appears instantly and for free in one of the countless Internet portals. Another challenge for journalistic content on the Internet is telephone companies that sell access to the network. Meanwhile, those who have invested money into the final product end up losing it or in other words not maximizing their investment. All these trends have had a catastrophic impact to many major newspapers. The Seattle Post Intelligencer, with 146 years of life, turned off their recently printing machines, reducing its drafting of 167 just to 20 editors limiting just to generate, a digital newspaper. The Christian Science Monitor, San Francisco Chronicle, due to decline in subscribers, is another example of major newspapers which had to close business or change to a digital format. The problem, and what brings us back to the big question of how to keep making profit with journalism, is that so far it has shown that digital advertising is not approaching nearly to the profitability of advertising in paper. According to a study by the Pew Research Center, to transition from newspapers print format to just an online business model means to lose 90% of income. The major issue is to define and establish a business model since there is really none. The challenge is to change the production model of the newspaper, making it to continue to keep the high margins of profitability achieved since its creation. How we can keep making money? How to keep journalism alive? This is a global revolution that we are living, and perhaps answers to these questions could be found in the so-called countries in development, where the absence of old structures are forced to start from scratch, to create new companies adapted to todays technological reality, not the ones of the industrial revolution. An option that has been proposed with enthusiasm in the pages of The New York Times and Time magazine is based on the idea of saving journalism in the same way that has saved to a certain extent, to the music industry: using a method similar to micropayments of I-tunes, music purchased on the Internet, to the purchase of items. There are groups who see this very challenging and not to equal comparison because in reality a downloaded song is forever, while a news expires on a day. Anyway, it is certain that the method of t he micropayment would a good option to test. The key would be to discover, come up with a flexible procedure which would be paid, for example, three cents to read a particular article, and perhaps 50 to have unrestricted access to the web page of a newspaper for 24 hours. Another idea to keep afloat the newspapers on-line, is the payment for subscription on the web. The Wall Street Journal has done, with some success. However, it is important to make the observation that it is an exceptional case because it offers a very specialized financial service and more than half of the payments are made by companies and not regular readers. General news of interest to readers not business sports results, air accidents, declarations of politicians can be obtained free through countless sources, far beyond the traditional newspapers. In addition we need to keep in mind that even if there could be a group of people willing to pay to read exclusive news, the reality is that the income generated does not compensate for the inevitable losses of advertising. If journalism is in crisis today, as it is the world economy, it is largely by the tendency of people to believe that the circumstances of today are going to always play. What would happen if a new invention comes up that improves Internet? Or, although Internet remains as a means of communication, what happens if people change their habits? Everyone seems to assume that, given that 20 year-olds do not read on paper, have chosen a digital display as their preferred method of communicating with people and find out whats happening in the world. But, what happens if children today decide to change the current digital trend and start looking for a visual and tactile contact with not virtual people, but physical option. The great comfort of the journalist, or which aspires to be, is that what he does not become an old fashion. It has existed and has been in continuous demand long before the emergence of the Internet; long bef ore the first printing press; even before, even though the invention of the wheel. I really believe there will always be a market for those who have something to tell or inform. People will continue with a need to tell and hear stories, and while this is so, the newspapers have a hope. If a viable business model for journalism is not defined it is possible that the number of newspapers keeps trimming and that fewer people earn bread doing journalism. But, in the worst case, the good guys survive. Newspapers, in the format that is, responding more effectively to educate and amuse will also prevail. The New York Times is a good example on how to leverage the benefits from the digital era, based on its popularity not only in traditional format but also online. And thats because it has in its ranks to large counters of stories, journalists who are effective in their work. In the end, what lasts, as the great novels, is the quality. Internet blog site: Newspapers and Thinking the Unthinkable http://www.observer.com/2010/media/live-blog-bill-keller-discusses-future-news http://forum4editors.com/2009/10/earl-j-wilkinson-on-whats-ahead-for-newspapers/ http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1133/decline-print-newspapers-increased-online-news

My recount – Match of the Day

I checked my watch for the third time in five minutes, willing it to be three o'clock. After a ten minute wait which seemed to last hours, I headed eagerly towards the front door on a cloudless summer afternoon. This was it – I was on my way to watch my first senior match at the Emirates! I twisted and turned through the winding, crowded streets of people chanting and singing; glorifying ‘the Gunners'. Peering through the sea of red and white shirts, I found my friends and pretty soon, we joined the waves of supporters. Every sense in my body was tingling as I heard the optimistic songs of the passionate fans; with the smell of hot dogs, chips and burgers hanging in the air. The street was a river of Arsenal shirts, with rows of policemen on the banks. We all strolled past underground station, admiring the remains of the old stadium along the way. At last, we curved round the final corner and arrived at the Emirates. I gazed up and gawped in awe at the monumental grey blocks ahead of me. A roar erupted inside, the match was starting soon. Breaking out of my trance, I continued following the mass of people towards the ticket barriers. As I scanned my ticket and squeezed through the narrow gates, I realized just how loud things were. Echoes of laughter floated from the canteen; of excited children chatting incessantly about their predictions and of others asking to go to the loo. I was inside the stadium, but not at pitch-side yet. Everything around me was still grey, from the smooth walls of concrete to the thick grey slabs on the stairs. It was as though the stadium had not been completed; like a parking lot, it had not been painted at all. However, I would soon find out why. As I trotted up the broad stairs as fast as possible among the thousands of fans also making their way up, I was caught completely off-guard when I entered the stands. The effect was phenomenal. The bright green grass of the pitch couple with the intense red ring of seats took my breath away. If there was ever a sight for sore eyes, this was definitely it. Inside, the stadium looked like a colossal spaceship. I was thoroughly dumbstruck, it was much better than I had imagined. Smells of delicious fast food jumbled with the smell of freshly mown grass lingered in the air, creating a whole new sensation and slapped me in the face. The chants of the Gunners Faithful were contagious, and by the time I found my seat, I was singing along at the top of my lungs. The stadium was jam-packed with people. Spectators filled every seat available and every space to stand was taken up, yet somehow it was rather spacious. There was enough room to sit down, stand up and even stretch easily. The smooth, cold, metal handlebars in front of me were comforting to touch among the rows of strangers. In any other context, fully grown men with beer-bellies ranked along young boys, singing their hearts out would seem totally bizarre. Everything happened with such fluency, I realised that this is what happened game after game after game. Suddenly, the players came marching orderly out of the tunnel onto the pitch. As the twelve men took up their positions on the vast stretch of faultless grass, we all stood up spiritedly and applauded the Arsenal players. Finally, the referee counted up the men on the field and blew a familiar long, high pitched whistle. The ball rolled from Thierry Henry to Robin van Persie – the long awaited match had begun†¦ What we all wanted to see now was a thrilling, perfect volley; an immaculate strike or just feel that moment when an entire stand holds its' breath to witness that one thing we all understand. Some may see it as just a game. But to others, this was about heroes and tribes. Loyalty and devotion. It was their commitment and their passion. Their battle and belief. This was the beautiful game at its finest. This was football.

Police chief’s face Essay

By this point the â€Å"voice-over† repeat of the chorus has finished. The camera begins to pan round then abruptly cuts to a shot of the police chief’s face; then a shot of the word â€Å"police†; and finally a shot of a scene of violence, death and destruction. Soon after the camera continues to pan but this time across a mass of posters on a wall.  During the next section of the film a â€Å"credits-like† theme is used, flashing a freeze frame of a character with a sub-heading of their name underneath. Firstly the â€Å"Montague† parents are shown. The camera freezes and then cuts to the â€Å"Capulet† parents. These are portrayed with more detail for example: a medium close up is used to show their faces which appear very distressed, possibly even scared. This part is made accessible to a modern audience by showing flashing lights. The view will most probably instantly connect this sight with police or even emergency services, both of which were not around in Shakespeare’s times, making it both an appropriate atmosphere and very modern. This way of introducing characters continues for various other key characters in the film. Accompanying this filming is a very dramatic choral music, awakening the viewer and drawing their mind to the film. The music builds in volume & intensity as a similar style of music did earlier in the section, increasing the suspense and anticipation in the film. Seconds later from these credits several small clips are shown from the film. Including the firework display from the banquet scene. Following this yet again the chorus is portrayed but yet again in a different way. This time it is flashed across the scene in words. This reinforces the chorus yet again, similar to that of a film trailer. Whilst providing a brief overview of what will happen but not ruining the story. Then the background music undergoes a Rullentendo, bringing the mood and pace right down. The camera then rapidly zooms towards a cross. Then instantaneously a â€Å"Romeo and Juliet† title appears on screen as if announcing the beginning of the film. In summary the film has been made accessible to a modern audience using items and features we recognise and can relate to, for example; the newsreader; the modern city; helicopters; and so on. Secondly, the use of repetition and the variety of the delivery of the chorus. The use repetition is incredibly effective, as it constantly reminds us exactly what is being said both through auditory and visual effects. The director has effectively used both sound and special visual effects to create effective atmosphere throughout the film. In parallel with camera effects, throughout the film the atmosphere has been made appropriate using five main features. Firstly the consistent atmosphere of: conflicts; violence; and war between the families. Secondly, the effective use of music which is written in a very choral, classical and yet modern style. The way it picks up pace builds tension and excitement until the climax. As mentioned above, the news-style reporter is very familiar to us. Finally, the use of a modern futuristic setting really builds the atmosphere of intrigue. It gives the impression of a Gangland scene between the two families. In my opinion, this section has been made both accessible to a modern audience and used an appropriate atmosphere. Thus Baz Luhrmunn has successfully achieved his aim, to make a Shakespeare play understandable to a younger audience, more modern audience, by bringing the story into a modern and more easily relatable environment.

Film Study The Breakfast Club Free Essay Example, 2000 words

The film The Breakfast Club is an ensemble work that provides an exploration of how group mentality and individual growth can sometimes come in conflict, showing that social and peer group behavior is not always reflective of individual personality and growth. The following paper will explore the different ways that the film expresses the experience of adolescent growth and development. The Breakfast Club, one of the best artistic expressions of the adolescent experience, is a film that uses conflict and tension to explore the experience of growing up in America and living the adolescent experience. The film is an example of how peer group experiences influence the development of personal ideals and behaviors. Identity The Breakfast Club begins with a narrated statement written by Michael Anthony Hall’s character, Brian Johnson, who represents students who are considered to be ‘geeks’, ‘nerds’, or ‘brains’, depending on how weaker looking, but more intelligent students were categorized in any given high school. His statement is as follows: Saturday, March 24,1984. Shermer High School, Shermer, Illinois, 60062. Dear Mr. Vernon, We accept the fact that we had to sacrifice a whole Saturday in detention for whatever it was we did wrong. We will write a custom essay sample on Film Study: The Breakfast Club or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/pageorder now What we did *was* wrong. But we think youre crazy to make us write an essay telling you who we think we are. What do you care? You see us as you want to see us - in the simplest terms, in the most convenient definitions. You see us as a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess and a criminal. Correct? Thats the way we saw each other at 7:00 this morning. We were brainwashed (IMDB) This statement sets up the premise of the film as the students begin by dismissing each other as being nothing more than representative of a series of stereotypes. The beginning of the film explores the way in which they see each other through their affiliation with other students of a similar type who are categorized according to similar aspects of the physical appearance as it connected to similar interests. Truths begin to emerge about the way in which each student individualizes their experiences within the social group in which they are identified. The students become divided into two groups; with John Bender remaining on the outside of those groups similar to his classification of criminal would place him outside of societal. Molly Ringwald’s character, Claire Standish and Emilio Estevez’s character Andrew Clark represent the more powerful groups in the high school atmosphere.