Elizabeth’s Introduction to the Digital Age

In Wikinomics, authors Don Tapscott and Anthony Williams ask a series of thought-provoking questions: …Wouldn’t businesses be more productive if they could reach outside their walls to harness the insights and energies of a vast network of peers that converge around shared interests and goals. If so, how would the traditional corporation change? And what new business models could be built on this new collaborative approach to producing goods and services? Having worked for an international news corporation several years ago, I thought of how these questions pertain to major media conglomerates, specifically news outlets.

Today, journalists play an important role in society, as they have done for hundreds of years. In the 1700’s, authors of the Federalist Papers advocated the ratification of the Constitution. Even today, the Papers serve as the primary source of interpretation for the document that is studied in classrooms and is abided by our president and members of the government. The strife of slavery can be best captured in the letters slaves wrote to members of their families, detailing their unthinkable living conditions and their hopeful thoughts of freedom. In 1972, one of the most monumental moments in journalistic history occurred, as Richard Nixon stepped down as the president of the United States. Nixon was forced to resign after Washington Post reporters, Robert Woodward and Carl Bernstein revealed that Nixon’s staff broke into the Watergate Hotel to retrieve illegal documents.

Writers have captured the crucial moments American history. They’ve created the foundation of which our country is built around—stories. However, it seems that journalists are no longer the only storytellers. Implementing the advice of Tapscott and Williams, news organizations have now turned to their audiences to report on the stories. On CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC, viewers are able to submit raw video, pictures, and audio sound bytes of the news as they see it occurring. On CNN, you can find stories covering a variety of subjects including the erratic Midwest weather, raising a child with autism, and Washington, DC’s cherry blossom festival. On Fox News.com, individuals can actually select which show under which they want to submit their videos. Some telecasts have devoted the last block of time to playing viewer stories. MSNBC has a Web site tab called “First Person.” The current highlighted feature includes funny travel photos from family vacations, honeymoons, and business trips.

Scoble and Israel would praise this approach to journalism. “Open the doors, let the public in!” they would say. And while it seems sensible have the story tellers be those who see the story happen, what kind of impact will this first-person reporting have on journalism? Will the Walter Cronkites of the world soon disappear? How reliable will information be when individuals are no longer held accountable? Will news outlets that are seen as biased or unreliable regain a positive reputation?