1What is online journalism? - Ayo Menulis FISIP UAJY

88 Journalism Online
named individual? If a general topic, does it have distinctive
words or phrases? This will give you a helpful pointer to the
search engines or directories you should use. 5
2 Remember, as we discovered in the Zappa example, that any
online search you conduct is not a ‘stand alone’. It is an integral
part of your journalism. You still need the underpinning
knowledge of current affairs, political structures, etc, to put
your questions into context and to make sense of the answers
you receive. A lot of this will come from ‘traditional’ sources,
such as newspapers, books and yes, even people.
3 If you do use a search engine, go to the ‘Help’ page first. You
may believe that ‘Help’ pages are the preserve of those sad
cases who actually learn how to master the 57 different
functions of their DVD player. You’re a ‘plug it in and switch it
on’ sort of person. Resist this urge. Search engines are getting
better at explaining just what they can do for the average (i.e.
non-geek) punter. As many engines are different, it is worth
finding out how they work. You do not have to learn the manual,
just enough to make the engine or directory, rather than you, do
the hard work.
4 Be patient. If you look for quick results from your searches and
do not get them, don’t downgrade the need to learn as a priority.
‘It takes too long’, ‘I haven’t got time to wade through all this
stuff’ and ‘I’ve managed fine without it before’ are the stock
responses of the hard-pressed and frustrated journalist when he
or she gets poor results from an online search. But that’s a road
to nowhere. Instead, try tinkering with search techniques in
your own time when the pressure is off and persevere.
5 Most importantly, remember that seeing is not believing. Just
because it’s on a screen, it does not mean that it’s true. Even
‘official’ sites can occasionally be hoaxes. Certainly anything
homemade should be treated with caution. The Internet is the
favourite playground of pranksters and mischief-makers. Supposed
e-mail ‘discussions’ between groups can be the work of
an individual. At times, it’s a world of smoke and mirrors. Sites
5 See the Berkeley Library site (www.lib.berkeley.edu) for a useful tutorial on
developing search strategies.