Online Journalism - Ayo Menulis FISIP UAJY

32 Online Journalism
media has its paparazzi, its cameras mounted on police chase
vehicles, its top-shelf glossies and its too-near-the-knuckle talk
shows. Clearly a title like the Telegraph in the UK is going to apply
the same rigour to its website as it does to its daily edition, as is the
National Enquirer or the BBC’s 999. What such panics might more
profitably propose is that some of the web’s start-ups will give their
more established rivals pause to reconsider their approach. Some of
journalism’s timeless truths might turn out to have passed their sellby
dates. The democratising of journalism is long overdue.
Content Providers and Aggregators
News services on the Internet can be usefully divided into aggregators
and content providers. There are organisations that undertake
both functions, possibly compromising themselves in the process.
The aggregators provide links, headers and overview editorial
comment to the sites which provide the actual coverage of the news.
The structure of the Internet and its usage make aggregator sites very
important since they act as indexes to the vast field of online news.
Clearly their pages are dictated by what is being covered by the
content providers. The larger aggregators compile their pages from
thousands of news sources, often searching out material from nontraditional
media sources. The best aggregators also use local and
regional press and broadcast news to focus on stories. The
Columbine High School killings in 1999 saw local sources such as
the Rocky Mountain News and the Denver Post
Online being cited by aggregators around the world. Consumers
could also read responses to the tragedy from Colorado community
websites, global newscasters such as CNN and the BBC, the National
Rifle Association, the local radio station KMGH and, of course, the
school itself.
Since the role of news aggregators is primarily editorial, the set of
links that they provide to a story usually aims to provide a holistic
view, in which the traditional news values are not necessarily paramount.
The range of views on display will assist readers to make up
their own mind. Jon Brooks and Kim Colwell, the co-editors of Full
Coverage, Yahoo!’s news aggregator and archival service, suggest
priorities which play to the full strengths of the web.