Journalism Models, overload!

In thinking about which journalism model will work best to make sure more political issues are covered, the topics of political redlining and data mining surfaced.  It seems that these days, especially if you are online, a growing amount of political information we see is tailor made for each of us.  Much of this comes from companies who data mine our information and then sell it.  Political redlining is the “process of restricting our future supply of political information with assumptions about our demographics and present or past opinions (Philip Howard, New Media Campaigns and the Managed Citizen, 132).”  Howard states that the elderly, poor, and racial minorities are the most likely victims of imposed political redlining.  He also states that that it is a campaign practice to decline to serve a community if it is not part of a sensitive electoral district or individuals who are not perceived to be sensitive to a political issue. 

An important quote from Howard is “Increasingly, an important part of our political participation occurs somewhat beyond our control, co-opted into a highly privatized and often covert market sphere where our political information is traded, channeled, and filtered, denying a forum for its direct, free, and deliberate exchange (Howard 129).”

In an article in New Model Journalism* titled Digital revolution only just begun the reviewer cites a report titled Ten Years that Shook the Media World: Big Questions and Big Trends in International Media  that reiterates what Howard says “In affluent democracies, the same trend towards a growing plurality of niche providers erodes the audience for and financing of well-researched journalism. The result is a widening of the gulf between a minority who will be more informed than ever before, and the many who will find less and less news targeted at them.”  The reviewer asks a pertinent question: “Will we have a growing inequality of information to add to the woes of our widening poverty gap?” He questions the implications all of this will have on democracy.

This article sites Strategies for Journalism to Flourish including self-publishing on a kindle, iPad app publications and instant video documentary making, but doesn’t give us anything to ensure the major issues many are concerned about will be reported.

An article from the 13th International Symposium Online Journalism titled Survival is Success: Journalistic Online Start-Ups in France, Germany, and Italy states that journalistic online start-ups are where we should be headed. Nine media organizations were looked at and of these five are operating at a loss. The article states that journalists want to practice their profession in a new environment, these groups want journalistic excellence, they want to use new tools and engage with audiences, but they need to pay their bills. It states that start ups must carve out a distinct and relevant niche to sustain the journalism “that we hope will be part of our democracies moving forward.”
This PBS report from 2009 is interesting and addresses accountability journalism, which is what we are after: “the journalism that holds everybody with power in our lives and influence in our lives accountable to the rest of us.”  Suggestions are offered.

I used a 1998 Robert McChesney article in a previous blog and think another quote from that fits here as well "“Democracy requires a media system that provides people with a wide range of opinion and analysis and debate on important issues, reflects the diversity of citizens, and promotes public accountability of the powers-that-be and the powers-that-want-to-be. In short, the media in a democracy must foster deliberation and diversity, and ensure accountability." The question is, how is this done?  McChesney proposes a strong public radio and television system.  He states " It could lead the way in providing the type of public service journalism that commercialism is now killing off. This might in turn give commercial journalists the impetus they need to pursue the hard stories they now avoid. It could have a similar effect upon our entertainment culture. A viable public TV system could support a legion of small independent filmmakers. It could do wonders for reducing the reliance of our political campaigns upon expensive commercial advertising. It is essential to ensuring the diversity and deliberation that lie at the heart of a democratic public sphere.”

I don’t have the solution and this subject seems to be a very large and involved one! I like the quote above regarding accountability journalism; I’m just not sure how we get there.

*As an FYI, New Model Journalism is an interesting site.  “New Model Journalism provides comment and analysis of the revolution sweeping the media, changing how journalism is paid for and how it is done.  With the traditional revenue model failing, the hunt is on for new models to sustain quality journalism. There’s a lot going on – new media technologies and platforms are developing fast, while enterprising individuals and communities are launching start-ups and experimenting with different forms of journalism.”  It addresses Social Media, Paywalls