In this, my last blog for my Online Journalism class, I am going to recap some of the events and issues I have been blogging about for the last 4 months. I do so to offer you, the reader, a quick overview of the content of my blog, so far.
At the same time I will use this opportunity to reflect on the events and issues I think have made the biggest impact on me throughout my semester in Miami. Hopefully, by the end of this blog I will have outlined a couple of themes and issues that I can use as fuel for my future blogging ventures.
I started out by writing about the many different types of blogs out there and the differences we as readers should know about. Blogs range from personal diaries to hot topic political debates. If you want to be taken seriously, even as a blogger you must follow the guidelines for journalistic reporting: Check your sources, always put content over everything else, and be truthful.
The serious blogs out there serve as a very good supplement to your daily news. This was the subject of another blog. And yet another one talked about how newsrooms in South Florida and worldwide are being redefined by new media and convergence.
I spent some time blogging about web 2.0 and the emergence of social networks. My class created the CommTogether network for students and faculty at the UM Comm. School.
The way in which new media and social networking is changing political campaigning was an interesting fact I also shared with you, along the way.
As my website took shape I shared with you the steps I was taking to create it and my amazement with how easy it is to create a pretty decent website, on your own.
One of the topics that have always interested me is the civil rights struggle. I enthusiastically reported about The Civil Rights Panel at UM during Comm. Week. Another topic that made its way into my blog was the political involvement of students - or the lack of, at the University of Miami.
Being Danish I felt that I needed to touch on Danish media’s handling of, and part in, the reemergence of the Mohammed crisis. This lead to a discussion of the boundaries of free speech in a democracy.
These were some of the topics I have found worthy of a blog during the past couple of months. Though I am no longer obligated to keep this blog I urge you to check back every once in a while. Because since I can now blog about anything I want, there is just no telling what direction this blog will take.
One thing is certain, though. I will keep on keeping on…
Thank you for reading! (Chris and Marie)
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Time to say Goodbye
So, my time at the University of Miami is running out and I will be going back to Copenhagen in Denmark in about two weeks. This semester I have been studying at UM as an exchange student and since I now am done with my studies it is time to bid adieu.
My reason for going to UM was to get an insight into the field of communication, and especially journalism. Being an English major, with a minor in Film and Media Studies , I had some theoretical knowledge about journalism, but no practical experience.
I am proud to say that now I do have some practical experience! Apart from learning how to produce articles and video stories, I have even learned how to create websites. And all this in just one class, in one semester.
My Online Journalism class at UM offers the students a hands on approach to new media journalism that best can be compared to actually working for a real life news organization. And what better way to learn a trade than by actually doing it.
I have learned so much from this class and been inspired to pursue a career in journalism. What I find to be most valuable of all the things I have learned is, well…All the things I have learned.
The fact that I can now produce a story using various new and “old” media, and publicize the content on my own webpage is extremely liberating. I do not have to rely on others to express myself.
I cannot see how these new skills should not be an advantage, whatever field I end up working in.
Another “child” of my Online Journalism class is this blog. I will continue to post on it and hopefully make it grow into a full grown blog about journalism.
But as of two weeks from now I will be posting live from Copenhagen instead of Miami.
Anyone reading this blog please leave comments for me, as I would like to know who you are.
Thanks.
My reason for going to UM was to get an insight into the field of communication, and especially journalism. Being an English major, with a minor in Film and Media Studies , I had some theoretical knowledge about journalism, but no practical experience.
I am proud to say that now I do have some practical experience! Apart from learning how to produce articles and video stories, I have even learned how to create websites. And all this in just one class, in one semester.
My Online Journalism class at UM offers the students a hands on approach to new media journalism that best can be compared to actually working for a real life news organization. And what better way to learn a trade than by actually doing it.
I have learned so much from this class and been inspired to pursue a career in journalism. What I find to be most valuable of all the things I have learned is, well…All the things I have learned.
The fact that I can now produce a story using various new and “old” media, and publicize the content on my own webpage is extremely liberating. I do not have to rely on others to express myself.
I cannot see how these new skills should not be an advantage, whatever field I end up working in.
Another “child” of my Online Journalism class is this blog. I will continue to post on it and hopefully make it grow into a full grown blog about journalism.
But as of two weeks from now I will be posting live from Copenhagen instead of Miami.
Anyone reading this blog please leave comments for me, as I would like to know who you are.
Thanks.
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Not just yet Another Online Network
Last week the creation of a new social network was proposed in my Online Journalism class. I have to admit that my first thoughts were along the lines of “Do any of us really need ANOTHER online network?”
Even so I went along with the idea. Mostly because the class needed to work on a project, and since I had no good alternative I did not object.
We created the network using ning.com. It was so easy to do and not at all the hassle I had predicted. By the end of the same class in which the proposal had occurred we had our new network up and running.
CommTogether is a network for all Communication students and faculty at the University of Miami. Our goal is to get the different departments at the Comm. School to work together in the good name of convergence.
And convergence is something that we definitely can become better at. As in most universities and even workplaces working with people from different departments can be a challenge. And this is where CommTogether comes in.
Using the network to establish the initial contact between all employees and students serves to familiarize all of us with each other. That is the first step. Second and most importantly, CommTogether allows us all to use the many different resources within the School of Communication for mutual benefit.
The one thing that made me critical about the idea initially was that I did not see what this network had to offer that we did not already have in our Facebook or LinkdIn networks. However,I now realize that sometimes networks can become so big and all encompassing that you lose the overview.
What is so neat about CommTogether is that it serves a specific purpose, so you don’t get all the annoying vampire requests you do on Facebook. Limiting the network to a specific group of people, I feel, will be one of the greatest strengths of this new network.
Having seen how easy it is to set up a Ning network and how beneficial such a network can be I must say that I think CommTogether will be of great value to everyone at the School of Communication…Even if it does mean that I will have to sign in and check out yet another network, daily ;-)
Even so I went along with the idea. Mostly because the class needed to work on a project, and since I had no good alternative I did not object.
We created the network using ning.com. It was so easy to do and not at all the hassle I had predicted. By the end of the same class in which the proposal had occurred we had our new network up and running.
CommTogether is a network for all Communication students and faculty at the University of Miami. Our goal is to get the different departments at the Comm. School to work together in the good name of convergence.
And convergence is something that we definitely can become better at. As in most universities and even workplaces working with people from different departments can be a challenge. And this is where CommTogether comes in.
Using the network to establish the initial contact between all employees and students serves to familiarize all of us with each other. That is the first step. Second and most importantly, CommTogether allows us all to use the many different resources within the School of Communication for mutual benefit.
The one thing that made me critical about the idea initially was that I did not see what this network had to offer that we did not already have in our Facebook or LinkdIn networks. However,I now realize that sometimes networks can become so big and all encompassing that you lose the overview.
What is so neat about CommTogether is that it serves a specific purpose, so you don’t get all the annoying vampire requests you do on Facebook. Limiting the network to a specific group of people, I feel, will be one of the greatest strengths of this new network.
Having seen how easy it is to set up a Ning network and how beneficial such a network can be I must say that I think CommTogether will be of great value to everyone at the School of Communication…Even if it does mean that I will have to sign in and check out yet another network, daily ;-)
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Campaigning on New platforms
Since the last presidential election in 2004, campaigners have obtained a variety of new campaigning tools due to the internet and the widespread use of cell phones.
For many years young people have been overlooked by campaigners because they did not have a good way to get in touch with them. Young people typically do not have a landline phone and they change mailing addresses often, making it hard for political campaigners to target them.
Extensive email and cell phone lists have now been gathered by both the Democrats and the Republicans. This allows both parties to stay in touch with young people, who earlier were considered to be out of their reach.
And suddenly young voters become an important demographical group, whom political campaigners target intensively.
This obviously gives young people, from 18-29 years old, a voice in political questions that they have never had before. Politicians can now ask this group, in a very cost efficient manner, for their views on certain issues.
Some of the new campaigning tools that have been possible because of the internet are Facebook, interactive websites for each candidate, and extensive emailing lists.
In the ongoing presidential campaign the candidates have really stepped their game up with regards to their official websites.
“Obama’s website is the best I have ever seen in politics,” said Ethan Eilon, Executive Director of the College Republican National Committee.
Ethan Eilon was one of three panelists talking with University of Miami students about youth political involvement, yesterday at the Youth Voting Panel.
Being that young people are very much present online and that this is where much political campaigning takes place, they are now very much where it is happening.
For many years young people have been overlooked by campaigners because they did not have a good way to get in touch with them. Young people typically do not have a landline phone and they change mailing addresses often, making it hard for political campaigners to target them.
Extensive email and cell phone lists have now been gathered by both the Democrats and the Republicans. This allows both parties to stay in touch with young people, who earlier were considered to be out of their reach.
And suddenly young voters become an important demographical group, whom political campaigners target intensively.
This obviously gives young people, from 18-29 years old, a voice in political questions that they have never had before. Politicians can now ask this group, in a very cost efficient manner, for their views on certain issues.
Some of the new campaigning tools that have been possible because of the internet are Facebook, interactive websites for each candidate, and extensive emailing lists.
In the ongoing presidential campaign the candidates have really stepped their game up with regards to their official websites.
“Obama’s website is the best I have ever seen in politics,” said Ethan Eilon, Executive Director of the College Republican National Committee.
Ethan Eilon was one of three panelists talking with University of Miami students about youth political involvement, yesterday at the Youth Voting Panel.
Being that young people are very much present online and that this is where much political campaigning takes place, they are now very much where it is happening.
Friday, April 11, 2008
Truthfulness and Deception
In my blog entry from April 8th I touched on the issue of truthfulness and deception. This time around I would like to elaborate on that topic.
The instance that triggered my thought process to go in that direction when I was writing my blog was a conversation I had with a friend. Though the conversation would best be described as off topic with regards to journalism, it got me thinking.
Like anyone involved with journalism I find it crucial that truthfulness is always a top priority in my own, as well as other people’s work. Be it blogs, news stories, or other forms of factual communication, truthfulness must be the foundation.
Getting back to the conversation now, it was also about truthfulness and deception. However, truthfulness in a personal exchange of information rather than in a journalistic sense.
My friend told me about how a person who he had “met” online might have been deceiving him. He had been talking to this person on several occasions via email, chat, and phone calls. In addition to this he had received photographs of who he thought was the person he was having these conversations with.
Somewhere along the line of these conversations he got the impression that the person was not being completely truthful about who the person was. When confronted with more interrogative questions the person cut all connections, further feeding my friend’s suspicion.
Where all this fits in to a journalistic blog is on the issue of deception by a source who you perceive as being truthful.
Some people use the anonymity of the internet as a shield and, in extreme cases, even make up a fictitious personality. Fiction is portrayed as were it factual.
In a similar way blogs create a forum for someone to express themselves without necessarily letting the receiver hold the writer accountable. You can basically post a bunch of untruths and you are home free because you do not have to answer to anyone.
This, of course, presupposes that you do not include your personal information on your blog.
What I learned from the conversation I had with my friend strengthened my belief in always having a critical approach to sources online; professional as well as personal.
The instance that triggered my thought process to go in that direction when I was writing my blog was a conversation I had with a friend. Though the conversation would best be described as off topic with regards to journalism, it got me thinking.
Like anyone involved with journalism I find it crucial that truthfulness is always a top priority in my own, as well as other people’s work. Be it blogs, news stories, or other forms of factual communication, truthfulness must be the foundation.
Getting back to the conversation now, it was also about truthfulness and deception. However, truthfulness in a personal exchange of information rather than in a journalistic sense.
My friend told me about how a person who he had “met” online might have been deceiving him. He had been talking to this person on several occasions via email, chat, and phone calls. In addition to this he had received photographs of who he thought was the person he was having these conversations with.
Somewhere along the line of these conversations he got the impression that the person was not being completely truthful about who the person was. When confronted with more interrogative questions the person cut all connections, further feeding my friend’s suspicion.
Where all this fits in to a journalistic blog is on the issue of deception by a source who you perceive as being truthful.
Some people use the anonymity of the internet as a shield and, in extreme cases, even make up a fictitious personality. Fiction is portrayed as were it factual.
In a similar way blogs create a forum for someone to express themselves without necessarily letting the receiver hold the writer accountable. You can basically post a bunch of untruths and you are home free because you do not have to answer to anyone.
This, of course, presupposes that you do not include your personal information on your blog.
What I learned from the conversation I had with my friend strengthened my belief in always having a critical approach to sources online; professional as well as personal.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Too Good to be False
Talking to a long time friend of mine, the other day, it just occurred to me how powerful a medium the internet is. I know that the World Wide Web offers a whole new range of possibilities to us all and that’s great. But at the same time you have to be very careful with information you get solely from online sources.
You really have the world at your fingertips every time you turn on your computer. And not only that. You also have the power to influence that world by participating in one of the many forms of interaction available.
I, for one, love the fact that I can write about anything that is on my mind here, in my blog. But maybe you, the reader, shouldn’t believe every word typed on this particular URL or any other place online. What I am getting at is the fact that nothing gets verified before it is published on many sites on the web.
This fact requires the sender to double check anything that person is not 100% sure about. This, however, presupposes that the intention of that sender is truthfulness. And when it comes to journalism I would argue that truthfulness is still a top priority for any reporter…I guess you are not a reporter if it isn’t.
But what happens when anyone can write about anything they want? You get a lot of opinions about any topic out there, but at the same time you also get manipulation and lies. And many of us know when something is a lie or “too good to be true.” You double check a dubious statement and find out you were fooled.
But what happens when the lie is “too good to be false?” When someone fabricates “the truth” so well that you can’t tell it is a lie. Well what happens is that you fall for it! And when you find out you were fooled you can’t believe how much work was put into making you buy in to this hoax.
You really have the world at your fingertips every time you turn on your computer. And not only that. You also have the power to influence that world by participating in one of the many forms of interaction available.
I, for one, love the fact that I can write about anything that is on my mind here, in my blog. But maybe you, the reader, shouldn’t believe every word typed on this particular URL or any other place online. What I am getting at is the fact that nothing gets verified before it is published on many sites on the web.
This fact requires the sender to double check anything that person is not 100% sure about. This, however, presupposes that the intention of that sender is truthfulness. And when it comes to journalism I would argue that truthfulness is still a top priority for any reporter…I guess you are not a reporter if it isn’t.
But what happens when anyone can write about anything they want? You get a lot of opinions about any topic out there, but at the same time you also get manipulation and lies. And many of us know when something is a lie or “too good to be true.” You double check a dubious statement and find out you were fooled.
But what happens when the lie is “too good to be false?” When someone fabricates “the truth” so well that you can’t tell it is a lie. Well what happens is that you fall for it! And when you find out you were fooled you can’t believe how much work was put into making you buy in to this hoax.
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Digital Manipulation
Ever since the technology of reproducing photographic images was invented manipulation has been an issue. In the beginning of the 20th century many photographers experimented with this new medium and the role of the image was not clear. Was a photo merely facts reproduced visually or should it be viewed as fiction?
The answer, of course, is: It depends! Photography clearly can serve both purposes. Today the line between fact and fiction has become even more of an issue. Most of the time we know how to distinguish between fact and fiction because we have learnt that different media bring facts and others fiction. We all expect that the images we see on a news broadcast are factual, unless we are told otherwise. Likewise, a billboard, we have learnt, is fiction.
But are any photos or images really factual? There is always some manipulation involved in the process. Just the photographer’s choice of subject and the angle questions the notion of objectivity and to some extent factuality.
If we take it one step further and look at the whole process that starts after the photo has been taken, the notion of reproducing facts becomes even more questionable. I know from my own experience that manipulation is the first thing that happens once you get your digital photos into your computer. I usually like to change the brightness and color of my pictures to make the picture look nicer. I tell myself that I am just trying to bring out the “true” colors, but isn’t this manipulation? Not to talk about cropping a picture to remove some disturbing element, like an ex girlfriend.
I think it is important that we all question the images we are being shown, as we should question anything someone tells us. Always keep in mind that the sender of a specific message has a specific intention when bringing any message to you. And with the emergence of digital editing manipulation has become very easy to do well without anyone really being able to prove that manipulation in fact has taken place. Beware.
The answer, of course, is: It depends! Photography clearly can serve both purposes. Today the line between fact and fiction has become even more of an issue. Most of the time we know how to distinguish between fact and fiction because we have learnt that different media bring facts and others fiction. We all expect that the images we see on a news broadcast are factual, unless we are told otherwise. Likewise, a billboard, we have learnt, is fiction.
But are any photos or images really factual? There is always some manipulation involved in the process. Just the photographer’s choice of subject and the angle questions the notion of objectivity and to some extent factuality.
If we take it one step further and look at the whole process that starts after the photo has been taken, the notion of reproducing facts becomes even more questionable. I know from my own experience that manipulation is the first thing that happens once you get your digital photos into your computer. I usually like to change the brightness and color of my pictures to make the picture look nicer. I tell myself that I am just trying to bring out the “true” colors, but isn’t this manipulation? Not to talk about cropping a picture to remove some disturbing element, like an ex girlfriend.
I think it is important that we all question the images we are being shown, as we should question anything someone tells us. Always keep in mind that the sender of a specific message has a specific intention when bringing any message to you. And with the emergence of digital editing manipulation has become very easy to do well without anyone really being able to prove that manipulation in fact has taken place. Beware.
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