1What is online journalism? - Ayo Menulis FISIP UAJY

Online story construction 137
For the smaller operation, the take-up is even patchier, but the
potential is still there. Despite the cultural and organizational
barriers at the major newspapers, it is relatively easy to gather and
distribute audio in particular. It is an almost completely unused
facility on non-news sites, outside the entertainment sector. Why
do charity sites not have appeals in audio? Why do travel sites not
provide audio brochures? Why do all sites not have audio
alternatives for the visually impaired?
There are distinct advantages to accessing audio and video
online. These include:
the ability to find it (you can seek out the audio and video that
interests you);
the flexibility of access (you can choose when to watch or
listen)
the range of access ( you can hear and see material that you
would not otherwise be able to, for example broadcasts from
other countries not available on cable or satellite); and
the storage capacity (you can listen to it again and again).
These are issues of access, but what about innovation, particularly
within online journalism? There are some examples. BBC News
Online reported live from the funeral of King Hussein of Jordan by
combining a live video feed with Arabic commentary from the
BBC World Service’s Arabic Service.
Web radio has also taken off. To a degree, it has democratized
the power to communicate through the audio medium. Once
again, however, it has been a delivery innovation rather than an
editorial one. In the main, news organizations have yet to push the
boundaries of multimedia, particularly at the story level.
For example, if it became standard practice to offer the full
interview as well as the soundbite, it might do wonders for
politicians’ interview technique. For too long they have relied on
the constraints of the linear medium. Reporters ask them five
different questions, but they give the same single answer
because they know only ten seconds of the interview will be
used. When you listen to the full interview, the evasion is
obvious. Of course, the voter would rarely, if ever, hear the full
interview. With online they could, if it were offered. But don’t