I would like to call attention to a piece written by New York University professor Jay Rosen in today's Huffington Post, "A Blog is a Little First Amendment Machine," where he discusses the impact that journalistic blogging has had on the main stream media (MSM), and the potential it has to set a new agenda for newsgathering in the future. Rosen writes that although the U.S. Constitution guarantees a free press, in practical terms that freedom has been limited to press owners. Blogging will change all that.
Rosen notes that the blog Firedoglake showed up the MSM at the Scooter Libbey trial, and showed everyone else how real journalism is done. By providing a continuous live blog of the trial, the Firedoglake reporters created a public resource that even MSM reporters consulted.
Although I have used the blog format to publish rich media-based papers, blogging, so far, is largely an analog for text-based print media. Many bloggers, like Joshua Micah Marshall over at Talking Points Memo, have experimented with reporting via video inserts in their blogs. While interesting in its attempt to incorporate rich media, the blog remains largely print-oriented. I can imagine a new type of blog coming along at some point in the near future that combines the best parts of traditional blogging with YouTube and Facebook.
A number of years ago Apple Computer produced a think piece about what the computing experience of the future might be like. A man enters an office that contains a leather-bound book on a desk. There are no wires, no keyboard or monitor. The man opens the book to reveal a fully interactive touch screen. A small "personal assistant" (I think he was called an “avatar”) appears on the screen to inform him that he has messages and to assist with whatever tasks he needs to perform. Though obviously animated, the avatar represents a realistic CGI depiction of a small human being. All interaction initially is through speech, although the man is able to call up a chart and change its contents, both by spoken words and by touching the screen. The personal assistant could also call any real person the man wanted to talk to, and he or she would appear, in video, on his book-screen. I don't know if this short film has found its way to YouTube. If anyone has seen it, please let me know.
Article comments
1 - Heather Ames
If blogging moves into the visual and audio media field, there will be some issues other than the content. Many writers do just that--write very well. They convey their thoughts and provoke discussion. In order to do that, they don't have to appear on-screen and that can be a blessing. They haven't had to think about their delivery, their appearance, their ability to charm and audience. Words are their weapons of free speech and empower their emotions. They don't have to take classes in Broadcast Journalism or learn how to have a charismatic on-camera presence, which influences so many of today's viewers. Will the words of someone visually pleasing be held in higher regard than those of someone visually repulsive, or with a lisp or a monochromatic delivery? Will bloggers be flocking to take theatre classes or signing up for Toastmasters in droves? There will be no more hiding in a garret and blogging in private. Bloggers identities and flaws will be there for all to see--warts and all.
2 - Robert K. Blechman
Hi Heather,
Thanks for your comments. I agree that if blog go visual, presentation issues may come to the fore, as they have in television when compared to newspapers or magazines. As Neil Postman noted, all new media favor some and discourage others. Television and film favor those who photograph well, who have resonant speaking voices and know the tricks of appearing on-screen. With written media, "all" you need to know how to do is think and write.
My article could be taken as a warning that the unique characteristics that have made blogging a challenge to established political and cultural institutions may change with the adoption of visual content and techniques. We may still call this new medium a "blog" but it will not be the same animal.
3 - Gray Hunter
Isn't this what vlogs are? Video blogs, right?