Chapter 12, Making Our Own News
Nov 19th, 2008 by etannura
This final chapter of We the Media mainly focuses on how journalism is changing and how important the multimedia world is becoming. This change is important to see because it affects both the journalists and the viewers. According to Gillmor, “My goal in this book has been to persuade you that the collision of journalism and technology is having major consequences for three constituencies: journalists, newsmakers, and the audience. The evidence seems persuasive that something big is happening.” (237). It is important to understand and acknowledge this change or else we may find ourselves unable to put out the type of media that people desire. Another important point that Gillmor brings up is the fact that we seem to be bound and stuck by our past. It is always hard to get people out of their everyday routines but once you do, they will realize that the world is changing. This can be applied to the media because many of the people in the business want to keep focusing on print and the importance of this. Print is a very important part of journalism but it is healthy and good to recognize that some other forms are increasing in popularity. If we ignore the fact that blogs and video are important, then we will be missing out and really not using the Internet to its full potential. Gillmor also acknowledges that the Internet is the most important medium since the printing press. This is a very big statement to make and one that we should really take the time to think about. The digital era is vastly changing the ways that we are able to put out information to our audiences and should in turn change the ways that we think about journalism. The We the Media text has helped me realized when journalism started and where journalism is with the online world of today.