Jeff’s Words

The internet has allowed the development of converged mass media. News websites number the hundreds of thousands – both “official” media and self run “citizen” news sites, such as OhMy News.

An increase in the ammount of news online has brought together the need to build stories up in to a non linear format providing a wealth of information for the user.

As newspaper sales decline, publications have established strong positions in online news and tend to be much more developed in their multimedia or converged offerings than broadcast media counterparts, certainly in Australia, at least.

Story Building involves brings together a team from across the newsroom to work on special, expanded coverage. Stories are given multimedia enhancements, such as, video, audio, images, graphics, slideshows etc to build up the story and provide content that not only informs but compels the viewer.

Online news is continuously updated and allows for add ons to be added on after the initial first report. This builds upon special coverage that is given multiple pages in a print publication. Similar to print, extended coverage is given, but its taken to the next level, providing audio, visual and other effects impossible in print, or “old media.”

South Koreas’ OhMy News is one of the world’s largest citizen news websites. Launched in 2000, OhMy News has become one of South Korea’s most trusted news organisations. In 2002 the website’s influence reached 4.2 per cent of the population, while in 2004 that had increased to over 17 per cent. OhMy News is more trusted than some traditional and established media in South Korea.

The structure of Korean society has assisted OhMy News to growth. The nation is densely populated and highly politicised, and in the past has been dominated by a lack of media diversity and censorship which has strangled the flow of news and information.
OhMy News takes content from citizen journalists who contribute news, comment and review to the website, with individual stories seen by up to one hundred thousand people. OhMy News does check stories to ensure accuracy and facts, but the independence of contributors enables more stories to be told to the public, further informing the population. Coupled with fast internet connections, news can be online within minutes, challenging the previous dominance the old media once held.

OhMy News has since expanded – not globally (the internet took it global to begin with) but in to English.

The soundslide on the conflict in Darfur, Conflict in Crayon, is an interesting and effective way of telling the story of human suffering in the war ravaged region of Sudan. The multimedia combines audio, pictures and drawings to engage the viewer and offer a more personal telling of the story.

The narration by Dr Annie Sparrow describes her interactions with local kids stands out as the most affective and memorable part of the presentation. The presentation shows drawings in which the children have done of their experiences. One included a drawing of a young girl’s hut being bombed and a woman shot in the face, bleeding from the head. Dr Sparrow talks you through the presentation as you see the pictures, as drawn through the children’s’ eyes.

The multimedia presentation is an effective way to tell the story that may otherwise go unnoticed. Unlike print, by engaging the user through sound and vision the story gets noticed and has a deeper impact.

The “Darfur at a glance” section features text providing background information. Instead of the lengthy format which it is presented, a visual display could have been more effective, and in sync with the rest of the presentation.

Increasingly, the news media is relying on user generated content (UGC) for footage of news events. The July 2005 bombings of London’s transport network was the catalyst for mainstream media such as the BBC adopting UGC to supplement content. Photos taken deep underground of wrecked train carriages remain the only footage available to the media – and that footage was taken by passengers on the trains with their mobiles. Footage was sent immediately to news centres and screened worldwide.

UGC, or “citizen journalism” engages the consumer and seeks their contributions.
The use of citizen journalism is recognition that in the online world people have an unlimited number of sources for their news. Using user generated content provides access to footage which may have gone elsewhere. It also gives an outlet the ‘exclusive’ scoop.

Although UGC provides footage that otherwise may not be seen, it occurs at the expense of traditional journalism. Camera crews may have once captured footage, but are now replaced by video journalists operating as a one man outlet – reporter, cameraman, producer all in one. Rising costs have forced companies to consolidate and bring together online and traditional news desks, and use more content sourced elsewhere – through public contributions.

Time poor consumers who struggle to sift through truckloads of news each year, can pick the news with just a click of the mouse.

Broadband provides efficient access to a host of news and information. The user can pick a text version of a story, or watch it or listen to it. The internet allows them to watch their favourite (ABC) TV show when they want – through I View.

Broadband also given the news outlets new ways of sourcing content and reaching their audiences:
Mobiles (PDAs, Blackberrys), video journalists (VJs), user generated content, citizen journalism etc are easily accessible to a newsroom, providing cheap content which can supplement their own ‘professional’ material or even be an exclusive scoop.

The BBC employs VJs for their regional TV news bulletins across England where relatively large areas need to be covered adequately. It could be argued, and probably is, the BBC needs VJs in those regions in order to ensure news is covered – otherwise, if the costs were too high, local news could not be viable.

Convergence is clearly the way forward, and the extent of it’s reach will only continue to grow as both parties demand more for their resources and time.

See: http://www.abc.net.au/iview/