1What is online journalism? - Ayo Menulis FISIP UAJY
1What is online journalism? - Ayo Menulis FISIP UAJY
1What is online journalism? - Ayo Menulis FISIP UAJY
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36 Journal<strong>is</strong>m Online<br />
on the terraces of the club’s ground Old Trafford, but they share<br />
a common bond and kinship. The fans of Manchester United have<br />
become a strong community of interest. Their only geographic<br />
community <strong>is</strong> global, served of course by e-mail, web sites and all<br />
things <strong>online</strong>.<br />
The accepted w<strong>is</strong>dom <strong>is</strong> that late-twentieth-century living and<br />
the Internet have encouraged communities of interest at the<br />
expense of geographic communities, particularly in cities. No-one<br />
knows who lives next door, but they can tell you everyone in a tenmile<br />
radius who <strong>is</strong> interested in windsurfing because they have<br />
met through newsgroups, set up their own club web site, etc.<br />
Here we find ourselves in ‘paradigm shift’ country again. Th<strong>is</strong><br />
trend towards communities of interest, at the expense of<br />
geographical communities <strong>is</strong> evident, but it almost certainly has<br />
been exaggerated and generalized. Nevertheless, it has caused<br />
introspection and, on occasions, a cr<strong>is</strong><strong>is</strong> of confidence among the<br />
‘old’ media, such as the local newspapers who have questioned<br />
their traditional role of serving the geographical community.<br />
Telev<strong>is</strong>ion has followed the trend with a deluge of ‘lifestyle’<br />
programming, with the focus clearly on communities of interest.<br />
Some charge the ‘new’ media with encouraging th<strong>is</strong> development.<br />
If so, it also has the technology to arrest it and there are<br />
those who are using it. Web sites can now deliver local news to<br />
<strong>online</strong> users as defined by their post (zip) code. Th<strong>is</strong> <strong>is</strong> clearly a<br />
definition of readership by geography. Mobile phones can identify<br />
the prec<strong>is</strong>e location of callers and deliver information that <strong>is</strong><br />
immediately relevant to their needs, such as directions to nearby<br />
amenities.<br />
There <strong>is</strong>, it seems, still a future for geographic communities<br />
when defining news and information value and relevance for the<br />
<strong>online</strong> audience.<br />
Trigger 2 – revelation<br />
Readers may also consider a piece newsworthy if it <strong>is</strong> telling them<br />
something new or at least something they did not previously<br />
know. On the web, th<strong>is</strong> <strong>is</strong> as likely to be information as straight<br />
news. Whatever it <strong>is</strong>, the motivation for the readers <strong>is</strong> the same.<br />
They want to fill gaps in their knowledge.
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