In chapter 4, Dan Gilmor spoke about newsmakers controlling the news. Since they are the ones making the headlines, they are the ones who control what gets published. They do this by starting their own blogs and creating their own news. They are no longer relying on journalists to write about them. They are writing about themselves. Of course it’s not just celebrities. Ordinary people who decided to start blogs have become celebrities in their own right. Just the other day I saw a piece on a woman who blogs about home goods and child care goods and has companies sending her products to test and write about.
Chapter 5 was an interesting chapter for me. Since I am in the generation I am in, the idea of fundraising for campaigns through social media is not strange to me. But just 10 years ago, that idea was the most foreign concept in U.S. politics. Everyone saw in this last election how politicians used social media to promote themselves and get the word out on their campaigns. I can remember in the spring of 2007 reading Facebook postings on then Senator Obama. My friends already knew who he was and were supporting him. Facebook groups popped up and money was donated and money was made. Politicians are using the internet to further themselves.
Chapter 6 discusses the future of technology. What I found most interesting was the section on asking former audiences for help. As it has been said numerous times before, everyone is a journalist now. Journalists turned bloggers would be wise to talk to everyday bloggers so as to not disconnect themselves from their readers. I would have to agree with this approach. By allowing the readers to have an input on what is published online, journalists are opening themselves to public criticism.
Mass Comm 63.3 Blog 