Death of the Journalist?

Yes, I know this is THE question of contention today but I thought that my argument was fair and perhaps worth reiterating.

The argument usually plays in an arrangement not to different from this:

News today is less reliable as people are using Blogs as an outlet of information that they have witnessed through secondary mass- mediated messages. Ex. Obama had (fill in the blank) to say on CNN.

What blogs have created is an obstacle in the conveyance of messages, as blogs are now filtering messages taken from the mass media and redefining them. True, Bloggers do not typically witness news making moments, nor do they have the funding to be able to do so. But, while they may not have direct access to journalists or the funds to capture news as it happens, they do have access to thousands of news- feeds over the internet.

Why mass- mediated news still has a place?

Bloggers have a hard time as it is moving up the ranks of internet legitimacy, let alone competing with mass- mediated news one-on-one. What they do have are the numbers; bloggers by the thousands screening the news and collaborating.

Blogging has finally provided a system of accountability of mass-media institutions, forcing them to provide accurate and truthful information, failing to do so at their own risk of being caught by bloggers who are following their every move.

Mass- mediated news will always have a place, regardless of how fragmented they may become due to citizen media. They will always have a place because journalists are still key criteria for legitimate news, with that being said, the mass- media are some of the only institutions able to pay for the labour of a journalist. What has changed are the stipulations associated with the media, institutions no longer have free reign over our media, it is the bloggers who now have the last word.

Racism- Still a very PUBLIC problem

As much as we would like to think that racism is an issue of the past, that's far from the reality of things as stories like the Jena Six and lack of response during Hurricane Katrina paint a reality that is still very racially oriented.

While these stories portray a grim reality, there seems to be some light as people are beginning to turn to various forms of citizen media as a means for combating racism.

The Internet has provided a flat landscape of information, making all realms of the world seemingly transparent as people anywhere can access information to anything and everything. So using the Jena Six as an example, we can begin to see how the universalism of the Internet may actually work towards ending racism in a public realm. I say public realm because I'm not sure that racism will ever fully end as an inherent thought process amongst some and while I feel like that's a pessimistic approach, it's somewhat of a present- day realism that I believe is tolerable as long as racially driven public injustices are eliminated.

What I mean by racially driven public injustices are situations of blatant racism that take place in the public sphere through our media, whether it be racial jokes on Mad TV or hearing about a group like the Jena 6 on the news; these are all racially inherent occurrences that effect the public as a whole.

Thanks to thousand of Internet sites and Blogs like Afrospere, public racial injustices are being recognized and criticized, while the international Anti- Racism Movement is getting stronger by the day. As long as racism is still acceptable in mainstream media and the justice system, blogging and Independent media sources will have to work harder than ever to hold institutions promoting racism accountable for their actions.

'Second Life', more like "First Life"

"Second Life", was launched in 2003 as a game that literally represents a second cyber- life for people, not only can you purchase property but you can actually make a great virtual living, there have been people who have made their first million playing the game. While I think the idea is cool I can't help but think of the detriments caused by providing a virtual environment that reflects real life.

I personally feel like Second Life promotes social ineptness as people who lack social skills may be more inclined to live out their lives through their virtual selves as oppose to making any effort to socialize in the real world. While I agree that Second Life allows people who cannot typically interact with people to live a life that they otherwise could not, I still feel like it is available as a scape-goat for people who are too scared to socially interact in the real world.

One of the main problems with Second Life taking over as the first life for so many people is the lack of accountability for their virtual avatars. People may be more encouraged to partake in dissident behaviour as their is no way of truly ruining their reputations. It's true that some people take their second life as seriously as their first but for those testing the waters, they may be more inclined to stir up some trouble, something they can get away with without ever being strongly disciplined. People playing second life are empowered with a false sense of confidence as they can be whomever they choose to be without ever being caught.

Second Life is such a perplexing revolution as it is a true representation of life through technology, as our society continues to breed a dependency on technology we find ourselves becoming more and more isolated from one another and more inclined to interact through technological communicative tools; Second Life is evidence of where technology is leading us, into a world that no longer requires human contact.