Will The Evolving Forms of Journalism Be an Improvement??

The topic of Issue 10 is the evolving forms of journalism and whether or not the impact is an improvement to journalism as a whole. while Mark Deuze, Axel Bruns, and Christoph Neuberger have taken the side of yes, and support their position with point which exemplify the power of every individuals opinion and the greatly appreciated experience of interactive journalism which has taken the online world by storm.

On the opposite side of the argument, David Simon's testimony before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation on the Future of Journalism was a great piece of support for the No argument. It explains that evolving forms of journalism are causing journalism ethics and grammar to plummet as if citing sources and credible sources were never an important aspect of journalism.

Both sides suggest viable reasons why the evolving forms of journalism can be an improvement or actually leading journalism in a negative direction. While Simon says, "high end journalism is dying in America and agrees that it is in part due to the industry harming itself with unwise business practices and failure to adapt to the digital environment." But he makes sure to point out that this does not take away from his stern position and concerns of the negative impact of new forms of journalism. In his statement to the Senate Committee he concludes that internet and citizen journalists are ruining the authenticity of journalism. By allowing anyone to become a journalist the room for error and lack of research is what modern forms of journalism are leaning toward.

The "yes" argument is supported by case studies, which were conducted of news organizations that developed extensive plans to incorporate participatory news practices. The conclusion of the case studies was complex to analyze but the data found is workable and will eventually help professional journalism and citizen journalism mix and provide a more desirable and community acknowledging media source. "participatory journalism offers the hope of broader community engagement in civic issues" And the ability for community members to voice their opinion on important civic concerns by writing comments on virtual news websites or independent digital voices is one form of citizen journalism. The other form of citizen journalism that is becoming more prominent is the news stations that recognize community events and news over traditional global news coverage. This type of news content with option of community engagement through commenting, blogging, and social media is a positive experience for people taking part and the information received by the news cite can direct the station to more topics that the community believes should be covered. This type of news is becoming more popular for the younger generations as well as people who have been effected by the economy and find more enjoyment in community engagement and social issues rather than political, financial, and violent imagery of the large news stations.