Censorship vs. too much information

After reading the articles for class and learning about how the media can censor itself and other forms of media (like Google) can censor other outlets either directly or indirectly, I thought about the paradox that exists with the media. There seems to always or quite frequently be a debate concerning the media in regards to how they get their information, at least there is a debate to me. For example, in the recent and ongoing case involving an IC grad having an affair with an older man at her internship, I can't help but wonder how the news organizations got some of their information such as pictures, and what makes it exactly (or close to) ethical to publish it? Some even have letters that were given to the police, written by Brook (the IC grad) to the family of the man she had an affair with, Steve Phillips. Again, how does information such as this leak out to the media?

On the other end of the spectrum, there are many websites essentially being blocked by powerhouses such as Google, by not allowing any search results to contain links to any given website that they have essentially "blocked". So essentially, many don't know that the site exists unless it is linked to in another website. It is interesting in comparison, either the media shares too much information that could have possibly been gotten by questionable practices that no one seems to question, or the media isn't popular because of such censorship as stated above.

Kate Sheppard

We all know that when we graduate, we will have a hard time getting into the industry, but it always comes in doses of reality of just how hard it could be. Hearing such experiences coming from an IC student is reassuring. It was interesting hearing about the struggles of a section of the industry that is reportedly growing, but still finding dead ends in terms of access and being deemed as actual news gathering organizations and publications, as also demonstrated by the previous issue with Lake Owego.

Hearing about how many publications have encountered hardships with access was almost shocking to me. Even publications like The Nation and NPR having some difficulties, although eventually succeeding, in terms of access issues seems extreme because of their well-established reputation and how long they have been prosperous. However, everything changes once it is discovered that it is a nonprofit organization. What makes this into such a big deal? With nonprofits there is much less room, if any, for issues with accountability and corruption, with this in mind, there is no higher corporate power to stop them from exposing other corruptions within the government both at state and federal level like there is with the mainstream (for profit) media. Could this be a possible reason?

It can be very intimidating, but at the same time fascinating learning about all of the different possibilities out there, it is just a matter of searching and finding one that is write for any given niche if so desired. Such as different publications to freelance with while working at another.

Bloggers aren't part of the news media?

According to restrictions attempting to be put in place in some places such as Lake Oswego, bloggers don't have the right to sit in on a City Council meeting. Although there was no definition of the news media to Lake Oswego, they have no drafted one, after asking Mark Bunster, a local blogger to leave.

Aspects of the organization must establish themselves in order for them to fit under the desired policy at Lake Oswego, such as being "institutionalized", "well-established" and producing at least 25 percent news content. The latter is something that can actually be monitored, but the others are very subjective. What defines an organization being institutionalized and well-established? Many people have many different standards to such things. Many bloggers may not be as established as the New York Times or any other given local corporate newspaper, it becomes an interesting paradox that Lake Oswego actually puts measurements in place that could keep bloggers in a level lower than they are capable of reaching. In the drafted policy of who can be defined as the news media, they state that there must be regular reporting on the city council. This reminds me of the old saying in reference to employment that you can't get a job until you have experience and you can't get experience until you get a job. The second stipulation is that the organization must have multiple people with well defined roles. There is no other way to think of this statement than as an attack towards independent bloggers who haven't been able to establish their blogs yet and are still in the blogging at night in their pajamas stage. Nonetheless, it is an obvious fact that is not just known to journalists that independent media is growing, what reason, therefore, is there to not embrace it?

The final regulation from Lake Oswego is: "Media representatives would be allowed to attend executive sessions if they provide evidence that includes 'proof satisfactory to the City Council that the person is gathering news,' along with a press badge, a recently published news article with their byline or an editor's note on letterhead." This seems like another restrictive guideline towards independent outlets. However, this last stipulation also develops the thought that there should be not just a city level definition of a journalist or news gatherer, but a state level or something of the sort. Not something that would target bloggers, but something to include them and make them considered as journalists, which they are.

HuffPost Advertises for NYT?

From reading the Huffington Post, I found that there are three advertisements for "The Weekender" for the NYT on the front page of the heavily trafficked blog. It seems odd to me not only because they are in two different realms of journalism, those being the mainstream vs. independent outlets, but they are three of the same advertisements (although of different sizes perhaps) on the same page of the website. The advertisements include a link to order as well as a price per week. In a way, I find it ironic, because part of why independents started was because the freedom of what can be published as compared to the mainstream media, and the independent that can be concluded to be one of the most popular is advertising for those that are restricted in what they can publish and those in the "diminishing" sector of journalism, although things can be more complicated that, I feel as though that sums it up in a nutshell. Scrolling down the page, the three ad boxes are positioned so the reader can see them the first three scrolls so to speak down the page.

In terms of revenue, this seems to be under the category of big investors (in the ad sense) which, as discussed in class, could have tendencies of turning an independent blogger site into something that could be manipulated when given a high amount for advertisements when NYT could take their business elsewhere to advertise. At the same time, however, as one of the higher trafficked blogs, NYT is ensuring that a large number of people will not only see their ad, but see it three times, to me someone could skip over an ad when they see it the first time, with a smaller possibility the second time, however, the third time has a higher chance of leaving an impression, or a higher possibility of leaving an impression on the reader whether on a subliminal level or not.

1,000 True Fans to Succeed

1,000 True Fans is all an artist needs to succeed according to this article. The article says that if one has a certain number of true fans, it can mean more than having an even bigger number of "so-so" fans, in a matter of speaking. True fans meaning people who are completely dedicated to purchasing any merchandise you may offer, including shirts, CDs, artwork, attending signings, unveilings, concerts, etc. The kind of diehard fan that is willing to drive 200 miles to see a concert or performance that only lasts a couple of hours.

There are many advantages to this type of system, however, there can be some disadvantages as well. A strong base support, according to the article is said to prevent the artist from following the "long tail" career, meaning that they will be deemed more successful than an artist striving to get by; they will have a strong group of fans to sustain them. Having a considerably smaller amount of fans as compared to the millions that most strive for will allow the artist to follow their own path and still be able to maintain these True Fans. They became True Fans because of a strong liking for what was already being produced, therefore it can be argued that there is no need to change the style or thought processes behind any of it. This may not be the case if they were striving to please a much broader base of fans with a broader interest in their work. This can be compared to the news media. The mainstream media developed a wide range of followers, viewers, subscribers and were under the pressure to please not only them to maintain their interest but as well as the corporations that owned whichever media in question. However, the new and developing independent media blogs and such have not had such pressure, and have started with a much narrower fan base, and have continued to build True Fans from there.

The theory brings forth the question of whether or not True Fans exist. The definition as stated in the article, summarized above, seems very extreme in many cases, and although a fan may be willing to donate a small sum of money in order for that artist to continue to develop their work, does it mean they would continue to do so to continue the success?

We have seen this theory work with bloggers that have now become quite popular. Josh Marshall is the most prominent that comes to mind. He has proven that it can be quite successful for bloggers to attain donations and money ahead of time when promising a certain service in return, in his case the first was covering the New Hampshire primary.

Mark Finklestein

The class lecture by Mark was kind of eyeopening in some ways. Although I have read about issues with revenue and such on blogs and some of it can also be logically deduced, I had never realized exactly how much goes into starting your own independent blog, especially after reading and hearing about so many that have become so successful, because it is far less studied the ones that begin and then don't continue to grow but fade away. Hearing Josh Marshall speak a couple of years ago was also intriguing to me. I was fascinated that readers of such blogs are so willing to donate, just how much money he raised astounded me (around $100,000) which he said was enough to hire a couple of journalists for a year as well as renting an office space. Thinking about things in this direction really shows someone how powerful the independent media sector can be, which can also be a frightening thought for some, especially those involved with mainstream media, or those still relentlessly devoted to it.

Mark's story still portrays success in the independent media industry, although not in some areas. To me, this shows that it is growing and there are opportunities out there even if one or possibly more of your opportunities fails. The advertising realm of independent bloggers I also find intriguing. Not only is journalism taking a step in a different direction, but it opens up another realm of the advertising industry. More and more people are relying on bloggers to deliver the news as well as give them an opinion or translation of the news, that it is becoming a more popular place for advertising, and possibly more effective, which could prove to be a win win situation for bloggers and advertisers.

George Seldes

Seldes worked wonders for the media industry. He proved that it could be successful to work independently and not rely on big corporations for funding and support. Seldes saw firsthand the corruption of the press, or "prostitution of the press" as he called it. More people are aware and more fond of the work I.F. Stone accomplished, after using Seldes as inspiration and talking to him for advice. Seldes was committed to presenting the truth to the public in a way that many thought the mainstream press was also doing at the time. Seldes still lives on in many independent media blogs today. Watching the movie about him and reading the article written after his death proves how inspirational he was to many. He changed the industry more successfully than anyone had before him, and left a lasting impact for future references to many.