New media is changing the way we interact and absorb information. In the interest of being well-informed about the changing online environment, New Media is our featured topic this week. This space is changing so rapidly that it's hard to keep. Even the most tech-savvy people have trouble finding reliable information that is up to date. This week on NewsTrust, help us find good journalism on the topic of New Media. (week of Feb. 18-22)
We're delighted to be working with our trusted advisor Dan Gillmor, and his class of journalism students at Arizona State University's Journalism School (pictured to the right), who will be joining forces with us in our search for quality news and opinions about New Media.
If you don't know who Dan Gillmor is, you can start by looking at the Wikipedia entry on him, where you'll see that he is no stranger to technology or the changing media environment. He is often considered the foremost expert on citizen journalism - and has taught new media for several years at U.C. Berkeley's journalism school before leaving for ASU.
Last week NewsTrust.net founder Fabrice Florin visited Dan's class on entrepreneurial journalism to share the story behind NewsTrust.net; how it got started, what it's like to run a journalism nonprofit and what's next for our community.
After trying out the site, the journalism students agreed to review three stories and submit one over the next five days on the topic of new media, with an emphasis on entrepreneurship. We invite our community to join forces with ASU students to find great journalism on that topic and on Wednesday we'll take a look back and share the insights from our collaborative effort on the blog.
Dan's students are obviously no strangers to the digital world either. They have been submitting and rating some amazing content in our new media section, finding stories on everything from blogging and citizen journalism to large online advertising networks. Just browse the stories that are "for review" and you'll be blown away by the depth and variety of the stories that we can now dive into.
And if you think new media is all "fun and games" think again. Many of these issues have real business or political ramifications. Just take a look at the reviews on this story about net neutrality. Almost every reviewer has something to say about the quality of the article. The general consensus, repeated over and over: This issue is far too important to receive only mediocre quality coverage. Where is the good quality content on net neutrality?
Perhaps the net neutrality issue struck a nerve? It's an admittedly very complex subject, but one that has very real consequences. This is a topic the public needs good information about - and if this article is representative of the information that is out there, we should demand better articles. Can you find a more informative story on network neutrality?
But it isn't just this one issue. New media is a broad category and darts and laurels abound. We are very lucky to have a pioneer like Dan Gillmor and his students, who are ridding the wave of new media, to help us in the search for quality content - but we can help by submitting and rating more articles in this topic.
If you've wanted a breather from all the politics on NewsTrust, now is your chance to "geek-out." Check out your favorite tech blog. ReadWriteWeb, TechCrunch, VentureBeat, and other "journobloggers" are usually the first to report on new media issues, but as often pointed out (especially right now on Techmeme) they aren't always the most thorough or accurate. Without having any preconceived notions, we should find and rate news articles from these sources as well, as they often set the pace for coverage on new media topics.
With all that said: Happy hunting for new media articles to submit and rate along with our partner this week - Arizona State's Journalism and their students - the journalism leaders of tomorrow.
I really enjoyed spending the class period discussing the changing world of online information and journalism. Thank you!
Projects like NewsTrust are making the integral steps toward perfecting the way the internet can help, not hurt modern journalism
Posted by: Kahley Emerson | February 19, 2008 at 01:13 PM