NDM News: The future of journalism

Blog tasks

 Go to the Nieman Lab webpage (part of Harvard university) and watch the video of Clay Shirky presenting to Harvard students. 
Play the clip AND read along with the transcript below to ensure you are following the argument. You need to watch from the beginning to 29.35 (the end of Shirky's presentation).



1) Why does Clay Shirky argue that 'accountability journalism' is so important and what example does he give of this?
- Clay Shirky believes that accountability journalism is important because it is the main thing that provides quality news. An example he gives is the two part series news The Globe published of the upcoming trail of Father John Geoghan, the priest pedophile. The fact that these reporters invested a lot of time into producing this story is what is important about journalism(investigative journalism)

2) What does Shirky say about the relationship between newspapers and advertisers? Which websites does he mention as having replaced major revenue-generators for newspapers (e.g. jobs, personal ads etc.)?
- There is a relationship between newspapers and advertisers in the sense that it was an accident to pair profit with producing public value. however, commercial structures of the newspaper is not enough for newspapers to run to change the current threat. What kept the newspaper industry from plummeting was their ability to control advertisers in the sense that if they didn't agree they would not have anywhere else to go to publish their ads. However, now its all about demand rather than supply, therefore there has been a shift in this power. Websites that have shown to replace major revenues-generators for newspapers include Monstor Match and Craiglist.

3) Shirky talks about the 'unbundling of content'. This means people are reading newspapers in a different way. How does he suggest audiences are consuming news stories in the digital age?
- He suggests that audiences are now receiving news differently in the sense that with the times for example they are losing readers daily and this is due to the fact that the audiences are not looking to read stories for themselves but instead they are reading it through others who have shared it through twitter or have emailed it to them. Therefore highlighting the fact that reversing revenue trends wont make a change to overpaying, underserving and incoherence of the print bundle in a web bundle. 

 4) Shirky also talks about the power of shareable media. How does he suggest the child abuse scandal with the Catholic Church may have been different if the internet had been widespread in 1992?
- He mentions the fact that The Globe did not have a worldwide audience and that they were created by the initial audience. The Catholic Church scandal was shared by that initial audience and that kept increasing and increasing until it reached a worldwide audience. "The audience created the public." This suggests that had the internet been widespread in 1992 then the spread of the news would have probably been shared with millions and millions most probably 3X quicker than it was without it.


5) Why does Shirky argue against paywalls? 
- Shirky argues against the paywall because its a violation of contract to make use of the news. he believes that paying for what is considered a public good is wrong.

6) What is a 'social good'? In what way is journalism a 'social good'?
- A social good is a service that benefits the largest number of people in the largest possible way. Journalism is considered a social good because it does just that and reaches a large audience. They provide quality news for the audience and it is a way for them to keep informed and up to date with the important things that are going on around them.

7) Shirky says newspapers are in terminal decline. How does he suggest we can replace the important role in society newspapers play? What is the short-term danger to this solution that he describes?
- Shirky is firm in his belief that newspapers are irreplaceable when it comes to the production of accountability journalism and that “We should expend any effort or resources we can to keep ourselves from having to replace them.” He suggests that we should spend our time trying to transfer production into multiple yet smaller bundles of accountability journalism. However, with that the short term danger that could occur is not knowing whether or not which experiments will work out.

8) Look at the first question and answer regarding institutional power. Give us your own opinion: how important is it that major media brands such as the New York Times or the Guardian continue to stay in business and provide news?
- In my opinion I think it is important for major media brands such as New York Times or the Guardian to continue to stay in business and provide news as they have the power and the ability to produce quality accountability journalism that will benefit everyone as a form of social good. This is necessary for the audience to have access to this source.