Citizen Mojo's

It is no secret – the mobile phone is developing at an alarming rate. In less than a century, the cellular device has developed from a box weighing kilograms and having the soul function of making calls within a few kilometres of its position, into a hand-held device, capable of making calls to anywhere around the world and taking photographs among many other amazing functions. With this great advance, journalism becomes possible for the everyday citizen. This essay will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of this advance in technology as well as how this might impact journalistic practices, news values and ethics.



Since the popularisation of the mobile in the late 1980s, firms have been struggling to keep up with the great demand (Steinbock, 2007). Today, a mobile phone is capable not only of making calls, they take photographs, video recordings, voice recordings and can even access the internet – all the essential tools needed to be a amateur journalist. “With the capabilities of today’s mobile phones, mobile journalists – or ‘mojos’ – can put together their story in the field, complete with images and sound, and upload it to the web within seconds of it being finished,” (Quinn, 2010) .

Citizen mobile journalists or ‘mojos’ as they are more commonly known, are on the rise. “We used to call them innocent bystanders. Or victims. Now, those “bystanders” can broadcast news… everybody is a potential citizen journalist” (Campbell, 2010). In recent years, professional journalists have almost relied on these ‘mojos’ for crucial information.

This phenomenon brings with it great advantages as well as great disadvantages in the journalism world. Without a doubt one of the greatest advantages is the faster release of information and the diminishing of gaps and silences. The public used to only be able to see the footage of an incident from when the news van arrived – often missing what may have happened prior to their arrival or having to rely on a witness for information. When everyone is a journalist, no information is missed and every bit of footage is able to be captured and broadcast immediately (Quinn, 2010). No longer are there missing links that don’t add up.

Although this is great for the general public, it has proven to be a problem for authorities. Often classified information is leaked through mobile journalists before the police or other organisations can prevent it (Myron, 2006). When previously privacy was limited, privacy has become non-existent. This shows the falling ethics of journalism in this new digital age. Citizen journalists can report on anything and everything without thinking about the consequences it may have on themselves and others. This means that un-ethical journalist practises are far more common as journalists have become far more common.



Similarly, because citizens seem to be capturing more information than professional journalists, there becomes a rise in chequebook journalism – where a journalist pays to use a person’s stories or material. This is considered un-ethical both from the buyer and seller. People used to be more than happy to tell their story free of charge to anyone who would listen (McLeod, 2005). This meant far more coverage and information on stories. When a journalist pays a citizen to use their material or story, they ask for exclusivity in return for cash. Many describe this act as the loss of good journalism.

Citizen journalism has often been said to be the future of journalism. It could mean the loss of an entire industry of career opportunities. Instead of people seeing a clip on television and buying a newspaper for information, they’re going on the internet and viewing blogs from citizen journalists. Citizen journalists could very well be the downfall of newspapers, magazines and any other journalist related material. On the plus side of this, however, it could also mean decrease in prices of information or even the obliteration of payed information meaning that gaining information would be as it should – free.

News values are yet another factor of journalism which the current digital age has impacted. With far more information being streamed, media is adopting a ‘local first’ attitude (Myron, 2006). Determining whether this is a step forward or a step back is up to personal opinion. Some believe that we need to keep an eye on what is happening all around the world, while other prefer to know what is happening in their area of residence. Whichever the preference, there is no denying the movement in news values.



The advance in digital age has had a huge impact on the journalism industry. Everything from news values to ethics is changing with technology. It is not clear whether change in journalistic style is for better or worse with many arguments being made on each side. It is clear, however, that the future of journalism is being defined by ever changing technology and there is no stopping it.

References:

Myron, Chuck 2006. Mobile journalists are getting back to their grass roots. News press. Washington post. Viewed 21/10/2010 http://www.editorsweblog.org/analysis/2006/12/mobile_journalists_mojos_are_g.php



Professor Quinn, Stephen 2010. Mojo rising - the journalist, the mobile phone and the prescient poet. Deakin Research. Viewed 21/10/2010

http://www.deakin.edu.au/research/stories/2010/04/13/mojo-rising---the-journalist-the-mobile-phone-and-the-prescient-poet



Campbell, Tiffany 2010. Mobile journalism. Mobile active. Viewed 21/10/2010

http://mobileactive.org/tagging/mobile-journalism



Steinbock, Dan 2007. The mobile revolution: The making of mobile services worldwide. pp18-22. viewed 21/10/2010

http://books.google.com.au/books?id=qRhYjAX6-JUC&pg=PA24&lpg=PA24&dq=dan+steinbock+mobile+service+re&source=bl&ots=-G4sM-MJMz&sig=M7SWc-wEqbqRZT7aze5IkYu_xK8&hl=en&ei=RO_ETNCNK4XGvQPoh-2xCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&sqi=2&ved=0CBUQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false



McLeod, Chris 2005. Paying for the news: Chequebook journalism. Australian Press Council. Viewed 21/10/2010

http://www.presscouncil.org.au/pcsite/apcnews/feb05/chequebook.html





Bibliography:

Eisenman, Bonnie 2010. Mobile Journalism: CNN’s Panel Discusses Smartphones’ Role in Reporting. CNN. Viewed 21/10/2010

http://www.148apps.com/news/mobile-journalism-cnns-panel-discusses-smartphones-role-reporting/#ixzz13QFmiCF0

week 7 - lecture

So this weeks lecture was based around the term 'free'.

xThis began with the introduction of creative commons which is basically a free copyright license. It's the notion of a creation having some rights reserved as opposed to all rights reserved. This is great for both people who want to get their creations out there without losing credit for it as well as people who wish to collaborate other pieces of work to create their own.

The next part of the lecture was about free software. I personally think that Richard M Stallman is a legend for wanting to create a whole system comprised of free software. I especially loved his 3 freedoms regarding software. This guy really had morals when it comes to computer sofware.

I really liked the quote at the end of the slides which said 'you paid for your computer with your hard earned money, don't let companies tell you how to use your computer'.

And on that great note, I shall leave you to your thoughts.

Week 7- tutetask

This weeks task was to broaden our use of free internet software over a few days. 
I tried mozilla firefox and it's ok I guess. Nothing special. I still like internet explorer better though. Not because it's better, I just feel more familiar with it. I kind of feel like I've been on a journey with it over the many years that I've used internet.

I also tried audacity and it was fun to use but honestly, I don't have much use for it.

I did find one free program which I use all the time. It's called anyvideoconverter. Basically, it converts my files into different formats. So, for example, if I wanted to put just the audio of one of my videos onto my ipod, it converts the video into an mp3 format. The other great feature of the program is that I can download videos from youtube and save them onto my computer. I used this program for my cinespeak, cyberbullying videos. This program is pretty much the angel of free software in my eyes. It makes media project possible.

Week 7 tutorial task

Research and provide short answers to the following questions. Provide references where applicable.

1. What is creative commons and how could this licensing framework be relevant to your own experience at university?



Creative commons is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting reasonable copyright. So basically, it allows people to share their work but still be able to claim it as their own.


This is relevant for any university student who may need to research something for an assignment. I often find something brilliant that just a normal person has said and may want to quote it in an assignment. Creative commons allows me to do this providing I properly reference to original author.


This also means that if I publish something on the internet, these blogs as a great example, others are able to utilize my information without me losing the credit for it.

2. Find 3 examples of works created by creative commons and embed them in your blog.
I found a really easy way to search for images that hold the cc license. You just hit advanced search on the yahoo page and click the box that says you only want to search cc licensed images.
1)

2)

3)

3. Find an academic article which discusses creative commons using a database or online journal. Provide a link to and a summary of the article.
There's no other summary I can give on this article apart from the fact that it discusses (in detail) creative commons. From what creative commons is to how to obtain a creative commons license. It's all there. Perhaps that explains why the article is called 'a review of creative commons'- by Mia Garlick.

http://www.educause.edu/EDUCAUSE+Review/EDUCAUSEReviewMagazineVolume40/AReviewofCreativeCommonsandSci/158002

4. Have a look at Portable Apps (a pc based application) – provide a brief description of what it is and how you think this is useful. 

I typed portable app into google and came up with a great website which gave me these definitions:
Portable - moved with ease
App - a computer program like a web browser or word processor

A portable app is a computer program that you can carry around with you on a portable device and use on any Windows computer. When your USB flash drive, portable hard drive, iPod or other portable device is plugged in, you have access to your software and personal data just as you would on your own PC. And when you unplug the device, none of your personal data is left behind. - http://portableapps.com/about/what_is_a_portable_app

So basically, how I see it, is if you save say a document to microsoft 2007 and connect your usb to a computer that has Microsoft 2003, you will be able to open your Microsoft 2007 document in its original form. Honestly, I don't see how this is such a great invention. On the website it talks about how great it would be to carry around your calendar on a usb or save your favourite websites to it and show all you buddies and you can even carry around all your msn friends so you don't have to re-add them when you go onto another computer... Um... That's what a laptop is for. I suppose it would be good for those who can't afford a laptop but seriously, why is it soooo important to carry around all your msn friends on a usb???? Whatever...

So that's it... See you next time.

Week 6- lecture

Media
New Media 
Social media
This lecture was a real eye-opener in terms of the way in which internet has allowed people to be whoever they want. It is the ultimate fantasy world. People can pretend they are someone they're not and form friendships with people they normally wouldn't. In fact, people can spend all day socializing without even leaving the computer.

The lecture bought up the terms virtual community and individual identity. Virtual community just that, a virtual community. The group of friends we have over the internet. And virtual identity being the way that a person can look however they wish to look and have the personality they've always wanted through the internet. I really liked this photo which appeared on one of the slides of a dog at a computer with the caption 'On the internet, nobody knows you're a dog'. This picture really brought home the fact that internet is ruining our sense of reality. Everything is done via the internet these days: Dating, social networking, even job applications are done over the internet. We have almost completely emerged ourselves in the fantasy realm. It's really quite sad. Instead of people getting out in the world, experiencing things and meeting new people, they're doing it all without even leaving their seats. It's really lazy.

On another note, it does allow the isolated a chance to meet people of common interests and views on things. But then there's always the chance that the other person has created an individual identity which is completely different from their actual identity. For example, I once went into a student chat room thinking that I would have a decent chat with another student when I was really bored. From the second I signed in, I was bombarded with men claiming that they had the perfect body. Apparently all the good looking men are hiding behind their computer screens. Not one of them said that their nose was a little too big or they had a bit of belly, they were all perfect faced body-builders. Hah, yeah right. You can never believe a person with all of your heart that you meet on the internet. Well that's my opinion anyway.

The next segment of the lecture was devoted to Web 2.0 which is our current era in web history. Who knows, maybe one day instead of being defined by how many years after Christ's death it's been, we will be defined by our internet age. "What age are we in again, oh yeah, Web 5.7". So basically Web 2.0 is the notion that now allows the ordinary citizen to have their own vlog or facebook profile where they can tag people or chat, whatever their heart desires. It's hard to imagine how much further we can push technology before it takes over the world.

The lecture then went into questioning who owns what we post on the internet which you can read in further depth in my previous blog.

So anyways, that's about it for this week.
:)

week 6- tutespark

Who owns the content you put on the internet on various sites?
This includes pictures, video, text, etc?
Think about all the content you upload onto social networking sites - Do you own it?
Who has the right to use your creations?


I must admit, I've never really thought about these crucial questions before. I'm guessing that most people who use social networking websites or blog sites don't give a second thought to who owns the things that they are publishing. 

As I was pondering over these questions, the only term that came to mind was copyright. So I decided to look up this term and found the following information:

In Australia, The Copyright Act of 1968 ensures that copyright protection is granted automatically from the time that a work is created, until 50 years after the author's death. During this period, the copyright can be passed to others and bequeathed in a will. After copyright protection expires, the literary work is open to the public domain for use. The public can then use the works in any manner they choose.

The website went on to say that for Australia, there are no forms or fees to pay for a copyright. As long as your idea is original, nobody can steal it from you. In fact, you don't even need a copyright logo stamped to your work.

However, the website then went on to say that if you create something for someone else, say an employer, the rights to that piece belong solely to the employer and not yourself. That got me thinking that perhaps in the situation of say, facebook, you are creating or publishing work for facebook itself. Facebook becomes the employer. If you published your work on your own website, then it would belong to you. But when you publish something on another website, the rights belong to them. This would be the same for other sites such as youtube, myspace, blogspot, etc. Ok, so I thought that my thoughts on this employer thing were genius, but after reading through the slides for week six, there is one slide that plain and simply says that when you put "stuff" on someones site, you are working for them. So there you go, I was right.

In saying this, I once made a youtube video for a competition which could land your movie in a feature film. With this, I had to sign a form which handed the rights to my movie over to them. They did not ask youtube for these rights, they asked me. This then re-opens the question, who really owns the stuff you place on the internet.

I believe that you ultimately own your own stuff; however, when you publish your stuff on a website for free discretion, you are giving permission for others to utilize your creations. It still belongs to you, the creator, however, others will use it.

I was going to leave my personal copyright debate at that, but then I read the slide which put forth questions like, if you found a photo of yourself or something you wrote in a magazine and were given no credit for it, how would you feel. Honestly, like many others I'm sure, I would be furious. I would find any way I possibly could to sue the company for all its money. This means that the debate does not end here.

I found another copyright website called 'the ten myths of copyright'. The third myth was that when you publish something on the internet, you automatically hand over rights to the public. The website said that this myth is in fact false and that if you wish for something to be able to be used in the public domain, you must somewhere have typed the words 'I grant this to the public domain', or something similar.

So there you have it. It is in fact illegal for someone to use your original work unless you clearly state that you consent to it. In saying this, if you publish something in a place where it can be copied, you run the risk of someone copying it - illegally of course.

References:
ACS distance education, 2010, http://www.acs.edu.au/info/21st-century-education/arts-and-media/copyright.aspx

10 big myths about copyright explained, DMCA, 2008,http://www.templetons.com/brad/copymyths.html
 

week 5