Newspaper: The Future of Journalism
Go to the Nieman Lab webpage (part of Harvard university) and watch the video of Clay Shirky presenting to Harvard students. The video is also available on YouTube below but the Nieman Lab website has a written transcript of everything Shiky says.
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). Once you've watched and read the presentation and made notes (you may want to copy and paste key quotes from the transcript), answer the questions below:
1) Why does Clay Shirky argue that 'accountability journalism' is so important and what example does he give of this?
Clay Shirky argues that accountability journalism is important as it informs the public of the wrong doings people in power are doing, allowing them to put pressure on them for justice and change. He gives Father John Geoghan as an example who was a priest since the 1960s. It was discovered that he was a paedophile that 'had raped or fondled over 100 boys in his care'. He was able to get away with this as the Church was ineffective in punishing him. After the Boston Globe published an article on it in 2002, the public eye was drawn towards the scandal leading to his punishment.
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.)?
Shirky states that newspapers were overcharging advertisers and were also under-serving them.
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 consuming news stories in the digital age in a way that is opposite from intellectual. It's now based on what gets the most clicks. The content published by news sites 'is made by the consumer and not by the producer' which follows on his theory of "mass amateurisation".
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?
If the internet had been widespread in 1992, people would have found out about the activities of the priest much earlier, as it would have circulated around social media leading to a much earlier punishment.
5) Why does Shirky argue against paywalls?
Shirky argues against paywalls because he believes they prevent people spreading news as not everyone will has access to it. News is seen as a "social good".
6) What is a 'social good'? In what way is journalism a 'social good'?
A 'social good' is something that benefits the general public. Journalism is a social good because there are many stories that are published which benefit the public, such as tax scandals.
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 suggests that newspapers can be replaced with another media source.. He stated that "we need a class of institutions or models, whether they’re endowments or crowd-sourced or what have you — we need a model that produces five percent of accountability journalism. And we need to get that right 17 times in a row. " The short term drawback to this is that we could potentially lose a lot of accountability journalism.
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?
I think it is important they stay in business as these large businesses are very reliable news sources. They also have good history of important articles, which makes journalists aspire to work for them and write good articles.
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). Once you've watched and read the presentation and made notes (you may want to copy and paste key quotes from the transcript), answer the questions below:
1) Why does Clay Shirky argue that 'accountability journalism' is so important and what example does he give of this?
Clay Shirky argues that accountability journalism is important as it informs the public of the wrong doings people in power are doing, allowing them to put pressure on them for justice and change. He gives Father John Geoghan as an example who was a priest since the 1960s. It was discovered that he was a paedophile that 'had raped or fondled over 100 boys in his care'. He was able to get away with this as the Church was ineffective in punishing him. After the Boston Globe published an article on it in 2002, the public eye was drawn towards the scandal leading to his punishment.
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.)?
Shirky states that newspapers were overcharging advertisers and were also under-serving them.
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 consuming news stories in the digital age in a way that is opposite from intellectual. It's now based on what gets the most clicks. The content published by news sites 'is made by the consumer and not by the producer' which follows on his theory of "mass amateurisation".
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?
If the internet had been widespread in 1992, people would have found out about the activities of the priest much earlier, as it would have circulated around social media leading to a much earlier punishment.
5) Why does Shirky argue against paywalls?
Shirky argues against paywalls because he believes they prevent people spreading news as not everyone will has access to it. News is seen as a "social good".
6) What is a 'social good'? In what way is journalism a 'social good'?
A 'social good' is something that benefits the general public. Journalism is a social good because there are many stories that are published which benefit the public, such as tax scandals.
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 suggests that newspapers can be replaced with another media source.. He stated that "we need a class of institutions or models, whether they’re endowments or crowd-sourced or what have you — we need a model that produces five percent of accountability journalism. And we need to get that right 17 times in a row. " The short term drawback to this is that we could potentially lose a lot of accountability journalism.
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?
I think it is important they stay in business as these large businesses are very reliable news sources. They also have good history of important articles, which makes journalists aspire to work for them and write good articles.
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