The Changing Landscape of Journalism

This blog is in reaction to a recent NPR segment. 

I think Jeff Jarvis and Kevin Kelly got too wrapped-up in discussing the news that would be displayed on The Daily and forgot some of the practical and daily application functions that go along with it.  Jarvis’s arguments against The Daily’s longevity was that it relied on “the hope to charge content that web people would not be able to charge” and that the only reason people think this will work is because of reading it “in a more old-fashioned way.”  In my opinion, those are shortsighted.  People will read news in a way that is convenient, easy, and cheap.  While the iPad is admittedly not cheap, it is becoming cheaper rapidly.  (Side note: I found the discussion about the price decline of the Kindle fascinating.  I knew that the price was dropping severely, but I didn’t think there was a chance that it could become free in the next year - although because it is still at $139, I have my doubts.)  So, as the iPad becomes cheaper, more people will buy it – not that it hasn’t been selling off the charts anyway – and more people will pay the $0.79 weekly fee for The Daily.  It’s a no-brainer to me.  Not everyone has a laptop, and fewer people bring their laptop everywhere they go, but everyone I know that has an iPad considers it a necessity to bring whenever they leave their house.  I’ve stated in class I believe iPad-like devices are the way of the future, and with so many similar-looking products already hitting the shelves, I see no reason why The Daily wouldn’t work. 

The other piece of the program that I found to be the most interesting was actually discussed at the very end.  I have remained skeptical on the value of citizen journalism because I simply do not trust the at-large population and am cynical.  Kevin Kelly did strike a chord with me, however, when he quite rightly pointed out that the Wikipedia’s of the world and the social networks that all put out news reported by average people have a much greater chance of accuracy than the “news” of the past that was controlled by single people.  I will continue to think on this point, as I have been caught up on not trusting individuals rather than trusting mass numbers to “get it right.” Egypt is changing my mind, too.

What The Daily Show Is Doing for News Credibility

From all academic.com, I found an article entitled “‘Truthiness’ and Satire News: Influence of The Daily Show and The Colbert Report on Television News Credibility,” which I obviously believed to be perfect for the subject at hand (citation below). The article both provided interesting data and raised many interesting questions.

Many people will deservedly question the credibility of either Daily Show or The Colbert Report when they watch it, but what the article warns more about is people who watch those shows questioning the credibility of the news that those shows parody, and – like it or not – that has become the trend. A third of the people who watch The Daily Show are under the age of 30. These people, according to the essay, treat the show for “political information consumption” as much as they do for entertainment, and “Previous research suggests that Daily Show viewing correlates with lower levels of trust in the news media.”

Clearly, what we have is a large group of Americans about to take over the “power” of the country who no longer believe in the news media. How big of a problem this is depends on your perspective. The media will still go on, whether people believe in them or not; all you have to do is remember that without the media, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert would be unknowns. Their shows thrive because they target the media. Another thing to keep in mind as well is that while it could just be gamesmanship, some members of the news media have actually publicly stated that they enjoy what The Daily Show is doing for their craft. Respected anchor Brian Williams said to Stewart that Stewart’s watchful eye over the media has increased their performance and attention to fact checking because they know that if they slip, they’ll be hearing about it the next night at 10 p.m. on Comedy Central.

I by no means am a person that won’t believe a news story until Jon Stewart tells me I can do so, but before journalism majors start changing their majors, that last point is one to bear in mind.

Stewart, Daxton. and Littau, Jeremy. ""Truthiness" and Satire News: The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, and Television News Credibility" Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, Marriott Downtown, Chicago, IL, Aug 06, 2008 . 2010-11-12