Drudge: A credible citizen journalist?

The Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky romance was something no big news agency wanted to publish before all the facts were checked, all the sides were balanced, and all the sources were confirmed. This was a huge story, certainly nothing an inexperienced blogger could handle. Or could it?

Matt Drudge, a citizen journalist who worked at the gift shop at CBS, thought his personal website the “Drudge report” could handle the job. He found all his facts from little bits of leaked information, pieced them all together into one big story. On January 17, 1998 Drudge sent out his version of the “truth” about the Clinton and Lewinsky scandal for the whole World Wide Web to see.

His points were questionable, even the mainstream news media did not know what to say, but people read it and most importantly people believed it. This was when Drudge, a citizen journalist, made a huge name for him self in the journalism world.

To this day Drudge operates his own website, www.drudgereport.com, and feeds his political gossip stories to the world. Like many citizen journalists Drudge faces issues of accuracy in his reporting, but Time magazine still labels him to be one of the top 100 most influential people in the world.

Even if Drudge’s facts are not as well researched as a professional journalist his ability to make people believe what he is saying is overwhelming. It seems like there is no escape from what the Drudge report has to say, people will want to know his take and most importantly because of his highly influential nature people will want him rooting for their side.

Glen Greenwald who is also a blogger, author and US lawyer claims that Drudge, “is the center of personality obsessed, attack based politics."

Drudge also operates his own twitter account where he tweets information he hears in the news and thinks is important for others to know. His twitter and drudge report are updated multiple times a day.

The tensions between citizen journalists and professional journalists are strengthened when people like Drudge take over the reporting scene with lack of accuracy and ethic. Drudge likes to leak stories and shock his readers. Journalism like this is merely entertainment and does not meet objective standards journalists have put in place.

Because of people like Drudge it creates a chance for the media to step up and get to the story first before a non-credible citizen journalist leaks it. It is an opportunity for the media to test itself as to how accurate they can be and how quick they can get the whole truth out. This is a chance for the mainstream media to see how citizen journalism can really take off and “wow” its readers. However by demonstrating their journalistic skills and credibility the mainstream news media can stop many questionable citizen journalists dead in their tracks.

For more on Drudge:

Profile from the BBC

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7270685.stm

Fox News reports -commenting on Drudges political stance, and claiming it will be influential on people. Evidently Drudge is being trusted by citizens and is someone that politicians want reporting on their side. Claims that Drudges thoughts are an agenda setter.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLAKyZxmgV4

Clinton denying his affair with Lewinsky after Drudge blew the whole scandal out of proportion

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSDAXGXGiEw

The Drudge Retort

Designed exactly like Drudges website, this is an alternative to what Drudge has to say. It offers another look on Drudges political views.

http://www.drudge.com/

Taking Advantage of Panopticism

This whole idea of Panopticism and the fact that we are always being watched is a little nerve racking. We monitor our own actions so we blend into society and follow the rules set out for us. We do not know who is watching us, but we know someone could be watching us, and this possibility has a huge effect on how we behave.

Most of us understand this possibility and look at it as a way of controlling behaviour. However, for the average attention craver, this panoptic world is something they can use to their advantage.

Youtube.com is a huge example. There are thousands of people on Youtube doing the most outrageous and ultimately stupid things all because they know it will get a couple views.

Username MattKeck posted a video called, “I’m a snake”, where he dresses up as a snake, talks in an unheard of accent, and repeatedly says he is a snake. Sounds a little odd? Oddly enough it received 2, 354, 625 views in 5 months of posting.

Check it out for your self: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ti4sqG85FU4

Ever heard of Justin Beiber? Right, who has not? He was discovered by his videos on Youtube and then referred to superstar, Usher, who really got his career rolling. Knowingly posting his videos for others to watch seriously paid off for Justin Beiber. http://music.aol.com/blog/2010/09/16/how-did-usher-find-justin-bieber/

The fact that being noticed becomes easier with surveillance and sousveillance creates an effortless time for attention seekers to seek attention. In the case of the “snake” and Justin Beiber, these were both harmless cases of some public awareness and made a few people laugh along the way.

However, people can abuse the fact that they are being watched all the time. This past summer, Ashley Anne Kirilow, of Burlington, Ontario created much public awareness about her battle with cancer. She made a facebook group asking for donations to help her cause. Many people sympathized with Ashley and gave their support. She claimed she had no family and was soon going to die. After Ashley had gotten what she wanted; sometime in the limelight and a few extra bucks, the truth came out that the whole story was a scam and Ashley did not have cancer at all. http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/2010/08/08/kirilow-cancer.html or youtube report http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVzqpfB-b-g

Ashley knew her story would raise awareness; she knew people would want to listen and want to follow her story. This is a case of someone abusing the panoptic and very much taking our servailed society to their advantage.

Whether you take this idea of a panoptic to your advantage and make a few people laugh, make a few million dollars, or make a terrible name for yourself, the choice is yours. Just be careful what you are doing, because the public eye never blinks.

The Professional Journalist V.S. The Citizen Blogger.

With the emergence of bloggers it is difficult to distinguish who should be the gatekeepers of the media. Should the citizen journalists have the authority and privilege to gatekeep and decipher what is news and what is not news. There is a fine line between news and truth and many citizen journalists will find it difficult to determine which is which.

In some cases gatekeeping should be left to the professionals since they look at journalism with a well-trained eye and will know what is news and what is not. Their journalism school education also contributes to their reliability of making professional decisions. A professional looks at their profession from past experiences and from previous teaching, which allows them the credibility to be a certified gatekeeper.

Also the professionals will be able to handle the conflict that many news stories will create in a public sphere. The professionals will be able to determine what is news and what is truth and at the same time maintain a credible image in the news.

However, the media does sometimes tend to spin a story or perhaps tweak some information. Citizens who know the stories first hand (since it may be a foreign story to journalists in lets say, Canada) should be allowed to provide their own personal facts to add a variety of information to stories. This is where citizen bloggers will come in handy and will provide personal experiences to help shape stories. Also having a citizen watch on the news will monitor professional stories in terms of objectivity and “truthiness”.

Over all I do believe that there should be a mix of citizen journalists and professional journalists that publish news. I agree with Rosen as he “explores new models that could retain a role for the professionals with out placing [them] on a par with the amateur – yet with out restricting either one” (50 Barlow). The citizens can look at the professionals as a leader and use their expertise to build their own journalism ethics.

The citizen journalist and professional journalist will work well in a hierarchy system. With the professionals and their journalism school degrees at the top, experienced citizen journalists who have learned professional skills in the middle and beginning bloggers at the bottom. This way journalists who have worked hard for their title and trained well for their position will receive the credit they deserve and will be able to educate others the proper way to gatekeep and the ethics of journalism.

Barlow, Aawon, "The Citizen Journalist as Gatekeeper (Ch 5) " From Public Journalism 2.0 (Ed: Rosenberry, J. & St. John III, Burton) Pp 45-55, copyright Routeledge, 2010.

Understanding the 4 types of news sites

The four types of news sites that Deuze maps our for us are

1. Mainstream news sites
2. Index and category sites
3. Meta and comment sites
4. Share and discussion sites

Mainstream news websites are great for reading local and national news, sports, op ed’s, classified etc. It is like everything found in a newspaper, but online! Most links found on these websites will help you navigate your way throughout the website. The links are internal and will keep you surfing through the same website as you click from link to link. On mainstream news sites it is common to find written articles, broadcast clips, pod casts and pictures throughout the whole layout. The way you will interact with the site will be navigating through the website clicking on buttons and scrolling through the pages. You can also interact by sometimes being allowed to comment on articles by adding your own thoughts to the website! An example of a mainstream news website is www.cbc.ca

Index and category sites are great if you have a search, google (www.google.com) is an example of this type of website. These sites are used when you are not sure of what website you are looking for so you search options though the google search engine. This will bring you tons of external links that will take you to Internet pages that will suit the needs of your search. Google can lead you to a variety of things like online books, information sites, videos, pod casts, pictures etc. You will navigate through index and category sites like google by clicking buttons and scrolling through links. These sites adapt to the users preferences by responding to searches from the user.

Meta and comment sites act as a news watchdog. These websites are monitoring journalism and making sure stories are objective and properly reported. These websites will provide its users will external links taking them to news websites that are not mainstream but provide vital information in the news. Meta and comment sites are constantly surveying the news and making sure everything is being reported with journalistic ethic and can be accessible for all (since many of the sites they link are not commonly accessed by all). On these websites you will just find external links since they act more as just a list of information, so videos and pictures are not commonly found here. Again like the news sites listed above you will navigate your way through this website by clicking links to other websites and scrolling through lists of links until you find one that suits your search needs. An example of a Meta and comment site is www.newswatch.org

And lastly Share and discussion sites are fun because users build the websites and add their own personal touches to enhance the web. An example of a share and discussion site would be www.blogger.com.. Users can add their own thoughts, pictures, movies, and articles and navigate their way through the website by clicking links, buttons and scrolling through pages. They can have as many links or as little links as they would like. Their content is completely up to them and how they design their site is also of their own choice. These websites help create a platform of discussion and allow users of the Internet to easily interact and exchange picture, stories and ideas. These websites will remember your preferences and save your favourite blogs for future references. www.facebook.com could also be another share and discussion site.

Now that we have become familiar with different news sites happy surfing!