If you can't beat them; join them!

Singer Madonna has announced that she will release her next album via mobile phones, after previously refusing to allow iTunes to release her music.

This suggests that she's beginning to understand the importance of the digital world to the success of her career, and that ideas which she previously avoided, such as allowing consumers to download her material, are actually the most affective way of making her money nowadays.

So this led me to think about the future of journalism, how digital developments are vastly affecting this industry, and what changes journalists must make in order to sustain their careers.

Mindy McAdams discusses these musings in what she refers to as the "iPod moment for newspapers", where she argues that "what happened to the music business, will happen to the news business".

She takes these ideas from Charles Arthur, who says that: "as the music industry has seen the destruction of the album ... now people just go for tracks. I think that in the same way, newspapers will find themselves driven down towards “the article” — as happens already online."

Roy Greenslade, The Guardian's online Blogger, believes that print journalism is dying as a result of new online communities, and says that print journalists need to recognise how to use this online medium to their advantage, rather than allowing it to push newspapers aside for good.

He says: "Unless traditional newspaper publishers can find a way of securing substantial online revenue streams, by attracting sufficient eyeballs for their editorial content, there is no future for them. That's the challenge."

And I agree. It seems to me that print journalists need to embrace this developing industry of online journalism, because it is happening, and it is affecting the ways in which people access their news. There is no way of preventing it, so if you can't beat them; join them!

A good example of using the online medium to its full potential can be seen on MTV's website, where a news story about "American Idol" offers much more than just the article in text format. In the middle of the text is a video, showing the TV performance that the article is referring to, and there is also a list of "related videos" and photographs.

Links within the text take users to other news stories on the website, as well as giving them the option to look at the MTV "newsroom blog", which users can become more involved in. Comments about the story are added at the end, showing that users like the idea of interactivity.

But Robert Niles has a slightly different approach. Although he agrees that online journalism is becoming an ever influential factor, ("discussion communities, blogs, wikis and other websites are drawing readers' attention from old media information sources"), he's noticeably more positive about it than Greenslade appears to be.

Niles believes that tutors of journalism should take a more active role in teaching their students about the new ways of presenting news, but says that "teaching them how to report, write, edit and produce news stories, even in multiple media, is not enough", because students need to learn how to compete within the journalism industry.

He bases his discussion around the idea that students will be more productive if they are encouraged to write about something which they are passionate about, and to learn how to maintain that passion throughout their writing and their journalistic lives.

While this may be a good starting point, it doesn't really adhere to his concept of competition, as it's my understanding that to get my foot through the journalism door, I'm going to have to write about things that I'm certainly not passionate about, or even totally bored by, from time to time.

But I suppose that if Niles can teach his students to appreciate the sheer joy that can be obtained from journalistic writing, then hopefully they will be able to put a more interesting spin on a somewhat dull story in the future.

Only time will tell...

Using Blogging to its full potential?

This week, I intended to write about the final of ITV's Dancing on Ice competition, which was won by ex Hearsay member, Suzanne Shaw. However, as I was sifting through the blogs to see if anyone was surprised/happy that she's won, I came across a number of blogs devoted to celebrities'.....babies!

Blogs such as "Celebs and Bubs" , and the "Celebrity Baby Blog" really do prove that people can blog about anything, and that a phenomenon which started out as a way to engage users into commenting on news, has now become more of a way for people to just generally gossip about things that most people (such as myself), consider unimportant, and equally uninteresting!

Kaye Sweetser's Blog regularly talks about the different advantages of online journalism, blogging in particular, and how the digital newsroom is vastly affecting the way that people perceieve and use journalism.

So I wonder why it is then, when people are given the opportuinity to use their skills and voice their opinions to achieve positive outcomes, that people think it's OK to use up Internet space to talk about celebrities' babies, who may be cute, but haven't really done anything worthwhile discussing, have they?

Sweetster mentions Joshua Micah Marshall, who recently won an award for his investigative journalism as a result of using Blogging as a way to encourage his readers to report on the US Attorney firing scandal. Now that is using blogging to it's full potential!

(Although, included in his profile is a photograph of him holding a baby, so I guess if he thinks it's OK to focus on babies just as much as the celebrity themselves, then maybe it is. He is, after all, an award winning Blogger!)

Jeremy Kyle vs. Jerry Springer

Jeremy Kyle was welcomed onto our TV screens with open arms a few years ago, hailed for his "no nonsense" approach and reinvention of British talk show culture. Viewers relished the fact that he actually argued with his guests instead of trying to be their "new best friend" like our old favourites, Sally Jesse Raphael and Trisha (who was promptly moved over to channel five).

But we’ve once again followed our "build them up to knock them down" routine, as we’ve done with so many other "celebrities". This time, it’s the Tories who’ve taken a shot, claiming that Britain is in danger of a "Jeremy Kyle culture", with too many people failing to acquire a substantial education and bring up a legitimate family.

Fair enough, but why drag Kyle into the equation?

Probably because he’s so well known now, from his "You’re a disgrace and a cheat, madam!" comments, to his infamous lie detector tests, that he’s the only way that the Conservatives can relate to us!

It was meant to be pure entertainment, but has somehow now crossed over into politics, and it’s becoming an issue of entertainment vs. reality.

We watch shows like "The Jeremy Kyle Show" because it presents to us a world that isn’t too far from our own, a world of divorce, one-night-stands, teenage pregnancies and drug or alcohol abuse. Most of us can relate to the guests, (or remain utterly shocked and disgusted at the thought of living such a lifestyle). Either way, our acceptance to the way we live and of our own values is reinforced.

But Kyle’s "smacks on the backsides" don’t seem to be working, and Conservative blogger Steve Green describes these daily antics as a "freak show" and a "blood sport". He explains his outrage at the amount of "bleeping" that occurs throughout the show to cover up the swearing, (this coming from a guy who uses the word "crap" in his blog). If Steve really wants something to complain about, he should take a look at our friends across the pond.

American talk show "Jerry Springer" is much worse than "Kyle" for the amount of swearing. In fact, it’s often unclear what the guests are actually arguing about due to continuous bleeping. They even have to "fuzz out" a large proportion of the show because of the amount of boobs and bums their guests seem to enjoy exposing.

Atleast Kyle tries to get to the route of the problem and offers counselling afterwards; Springer just stands there with a smile on his face, letting the bodyguards do all the legwork for him.

The Conservative’s argument stands that there’s a substantial "lack of male role models" in this country, with too many "unemployed, welfare-dependent, drug-dealing men". But let’s try not to get confused over the difference between entertainment and politics.

Let politics be politics, and let Jeremy Kyle stick to what he does best – entertain!

When America sneezes, Britain gets a cold?

The Hollywood writer’s strike appears to be coming to an end and after three months of debates over how much writers should receive from material accessed over the Internet, I have to ask; how much did the strike really affect the UK entertainment business?

I half-expected the strike to have a hugely negative impact on the UK, leaving us to watch repetitive soaps like Coronation Street and Eastenders rather than looking forward to exciting dramas such as Prison Break and Lost, especially with the mantra that "When America sneezes, Britain gets a cold".

But in fact the opposite appears to be true. The Baftas out-shone the Oscars this year, and British cinema consequently received substantial attention, and deserving recognition. Plus, we’ve got used to waiting around for American films and sitcoms to reach us over seas, and so we’ve managed to become quite patient in that respect.

So now that the strike is coming to end, will UK entertainment once again be pushed backstage? Probably not.

It seems to me that Britain grabbed this opportunity to out-do the States while it had the chance, resulting in anyone who’s interested in the entertainment business being forced to take notice of our small, stubborn country.

Times' Film Critic James Christopher objects to this viewpoint, arguing that just because British film "Atonement" didn't receive as many awards as it was nominated for, and especially as Keira Knightley lost out on the Best Actress award to French actress Marion Cotillard, the Baftas turned out to be a "wasted opportunity" for British cinema.

But still, the Baftas did create a lot media attention and speculation towards British entertainment, and now that it has been placed on the map as a worthwhile competitor for academic acclaim, I’ve got a strong suspicion that it’s going to put up a fight to stay there!

But the issue still remains that people are more commonly accessing material over the Internet, free of charge. And while the Hollywood writer’s debate may shortly be resolved, it may only be a matter of time before other entertainment distributors feel resentment towards this issue.

Many companies use the Internet as a means for advertising themselves to consumers, such as the BBC’s iPlayer. But the BBC makes no additional profit from this, so why put so much money and energy into creating it?

There are advantages to users of course, in that they can access material where and when it suits them, but this could eventually backfire if companies decide to take a stance and refuse to provide their services for free in the future.

Why does nobody talk about antidepressants?

I’m led to believe that the use of antidepressants is fairly common these days, and that more and more people are relying on them to help overcome depression. So why does nobody talk about them?

I often hear people boasting of their visits to counsellors, as though representing a glamorous, almost celebrity lifestyle, but they never seem to acknowledge the growing popularity of more controversial methods of dealing with depression, such as prescribed drugs.

It may be that people feel that non-substance methods are more favourable ways of dealing with depression, such as therapy, or changing lifestyle habits to incorporate more exercise and healthy eating, and I wouldn’t disagree that these should be the first steps in fighting depression.

But it has to be recognised that some circumstances require people to use medical treatment to deal with their situations. Yet with so few people discussing these matters, how much do people really understand about antidepressants?

For this Blog, I referred to a Glamour magazine article titled: "What every woman should know about antidepressants." Firstly, the article describes the increased popularity of anti-depressant drugs among British women, before beginning to explain how they’re effective in some cases, but ineffective, and potentially dangerous in others.

A short "quiz" is provided for readers to discover if they may benefit from using antidepressants, and a guide to the different types of pills is also provided.

Initially, the article appears to support the drugs, including various "My pill" stories from women who have had successful experiences after starting their drug therapy, but there are certain warnings too.

I know two people who have turned to antidepressants over the last few years, and have noticed significant improvements for both of them during their treatments. The only problem occurred when one of them believed themselves better and decided to stop taking their medication. It was too soon for this because their treatment wasn’t complete, and they consequently became depressed again.

Side affects of using antidepressants include weight gain, relationship problems and headaches. And drinking alcohol whilst using antidepressants is unadvised.

Alternative methods of dealing with depression are also covered, as discussed earlier in this Blog, such as counselling, regular exercise, introducing more omega-3 into the diet, or trying a "sunshine herb" known as St John’s wort.

There are noticeably varied responses relating to antidepressants in Internet Blogs, with titles ranging from "Life is pleasure with antidepressants", to "All antidepressants to carry suicide warnings".

The dispute over antidepressants is only likely to widen further as their benefits, and negative side affects, are more openly discussed in the media. But unless the "taboo" surrounding this type of treatment disappears soon, it’s probable that many people who could be benefiting from the drugs, or even those who perhaps shouldn’t be using them but are, will remain uneducated about the basic facts and consequently unable to find the treatment suitable for them.

For these reasons, it goes without saying that people should seek medical advice before considering using antidepressants, but they should also remember that ultimately, this treatment could help improve their life, and so should not be afraid to atleast ask about their options as a first step.

http://supermanix.blogspot.com/2008/02/life-is-pleasure-with-antidepressants.html

http://www.healthcarerepublic.com/rss/news/article/782682/antidepressants-carry-suicide-warnings/

To succeed as a journalist means to be a regular blogger.

As yet I've never been particularly interested in writing a professional blog, based on my assumption that absolutely everybody will access it and the world will be allowed to read my thoughts; an idea which, frankly, scares me.

However, being told that to succeed as a journalist means to be a regular blogger has encouraged me to bite the bullet and give it a go. And so The Digital Newsroom Blog has been created, where I shall attempt to develop my blogging skills whilst learning more about journalism issues and debates from reading other people's blogs and familiarising myself with the general blogging environment.

My main interest in journalism lies with feature writing, particularly magazine journalism, and so I'm interested in evaluating the content of particular pieces and the issues that are covered in, or arise from them. It will also be useful to examine the ways in which these issues are received by users, for which I will search the Internet for comment pieces and opinions from experts of particular fields.

It is my understanding that good journalism, which I'm keen to reflect in my blog, should remain objective. Although achieving complete objectivity is somewhat impossible when writing about something that you're genuinely interested in, and so I appreciate that flexibility for comment and personal writing styles is inevitable.

Also, I have been appointed the task of blogging about current UK entertainment as part of my university journalism course, which to a certain extent refers to the magazine features I will be looking at, but also television, film and celebrities.