First and foremost I most certainly agree that news is being redefined on a daily basis. However, I wouldn’t go so far as to say its context or existing mediums are being replaced. If anything, news is being more acutely focused, with the ability to search, re-search, perform an advanced search etc. Instead of having to dig through a newspaper or a magazine, with no guarantee that you’ll find what you seek, journalism is slowly adopting better ways to communicate information quickly.
The search button without a doubt is the greatest addition to the information age this century. Sure that’s bold to say when we have done so much in regards to information and streamlining it, but just take a second and stop and think about it. Never before in the history of humanity has it been so easy to find the information we seek. I will go so far as to say that without the search button (function), the computer ends up being just another means of saving paper, but not of saving time – an energy waster.
The best link on Ryan Sholin’s page is Everyblock by the Knight News Challenge project. It takes searching and focusing to an entirely new level. Being able to narrow the news down to that which happens on your very street is incredible. The amount of work it would take to do that on your own, digging through newspapers one by one, is beyond belief. Now that all the information is in front of you, you can do something with it rather than wasting all of your time just gathering it. If there were a lot of robberies on the street you were planning on moving to, perhaps you should reconsider. Likewise, if there were a lot of successful events for the community on a different street, perhaps that street gets bumped up to the new choice.
News is just news until you reach the level where it becomes personal. A story about a man dying in a car accident in New York to a resident of California doesn’t have nearly the same impact as say a little boy getting run over on your street. Hey, wait a minute. Suddenly I care. Whether its good or not, that’s the way we operate. We don’t give a damn, until it happens to us.
Link found here: http://www.everyblock.com/
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1 comment:
You'd nominate the search button, eh? You make a good point.
I also find Everyblock intriguing.
10/10
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