The Technology of Journalism

Satellites

What are Satellites?

According to dictionary.com satellites are objects that are launched

to orbit Earth or other celestial bodies. Journalists use satellites to

launch information from other places around the world to their work place.

Pro’s of Satellites

• Stories become more “real” because the source is where the news is happening.

• Journalists can receive news in a matter of seconds from thousands of miles away.

• Are used for war news so the reader can understand what’s going on over where the combat is happening without actually being there.

Con’s of Satellites

• The footage can be too “raw” because its not edited yet.

• Journalists may report or show troops movements or positions to the enemy.

• “Blackouts” can be declared from military commanders so a reporter can’t film stories via satellite connection because it threatens the army’s position.

Discussion Question

• Discuss with a partner of what would be the “raw” footage some satellites might broadcast to journalists and if you think this is a pro or a con.

Online Newspapers

What is an online newspaper?

• Today many newspapers that we see in print are putting their stories online, along with specific online newspapers made by everyday people.

Pro’s of Online Newspapers

• Views of online newspapers can interact with the news by quizzes or similar things.

• It can give more in-depth and extensive research by the links the newspapers give on related topics.

• Readers can give feedback on what they want to hear so journalists know how to change.

• Time is saved and paper is not wasted.• Author can learn more about his/her readers

through fax/chat rooms.

Example of a Pro of Online Newspapers

An online reporter, Matt Drudge, in 1998 broke the story of the affair with President Clinton and Monica Lewinsky. This busted he president's reputation and many people believe it brought fame to online journalism.

Con’s of Online Newspapers

• They can be less trustworthy than original news because you may not know where they got their sources from.

• It is also not financially viable.• Online newspapers will never replace the accuracy

and speed of regular news on television and radio. • People who are computer illiterate will become

frustrated with not being able to receive the news without frustration everyday.

Example of a Con of Online Newspapers

• In late 2000 and early 2001 there was a lack of profit from Internet companies which led to a lack of funding for these online newspaper so online newspapers were made to cut back on staff and resources, had to use subscriptions or close altogether.

• Many online newspapers require subscriptions so the reader has to pay to see the newspaper everyday because online journalists needed to make more of a profit.

Discussion Question

• Discuss with a partner if you would rather read a regular print newspaper or an online newspaper and explain why you would.

Sources of Online Newspaper/Satellites

1.Online Journalism- http://www.2facts.com/ICOF/temp/54735tempi0800450.asp

This site showed the specific examples of the pros and cons of online newspapers such as the Clinton example and the subscriptions example.

2.Online Journalism and Diversity-http://www.2facts.com/ICOF/temp/55338tempib800490.asp

This site showed the pros of online newspapers such as how you can get feedback from your reader through online newspapers.

3.Pros and Cons of Embedded Journalism- http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/features/jan-june03/embed_3-27.html

This site showed the pros and cons of satellite journalism and how journalists need to have “black outs” for satellites.

Sources Continued...

4.Letter from the Editor: http://cal.jmu.edu/zemliansky/firstyearwriting/celebrate/

journalismreflections.html This site showed the pros and cons of online newspaper and

how it saves time and saves paper along with how they may show troops positions.

• 5. New Technology Delivers Instant Reports: http://poynteronline.org/content/content_view.asp?id=473

This site showed the cons to satellite journalism and how they can show too “raw” of footage through satellites.

A Weblog is a frequently updated web site that points to an article elsewhere on the web. These often contain comments and on-site articles. The act of weblogging is called Blogging.

•Weblogs provide a constantly updated news stream.•Many news stories begin as blogs and are then picked up by news papers•Weblogs make the news interactive. It allows individuals to collect an analyze information to create the news.•Unlike large news papers, weblogs publish any editorials they want, and are not swayed by outside commercial measures, such as advertisers.•Working hand in hand with print media, weblogs are creating a journalistic revolution.

• Bloggers often tend to add their own opinion to the story.

•Many bloggers lack journalistic ethics.

•Some weblogs are not viable sources of information.

•Bloggers often use weblogs as a platform to bash print media.

What are some other possible cons to Blogging?

Along Came:

Streaming Media is pictures and sounds that are transmitted over the internet in a continuous fashion.

All The TimeAll Information

Streaming media is a great way to get news because it is “real time”, which means it is being shown as it is happening.

A person is able to see news as it happens, it eliminates the time that is taken to print conventional paper news.

Sites such as streamingmediawold.com, streamingmedialand.com, abc.net, and live.com are all great web sites for viewing streaming media (as well as tons of others.

Sources

• Whatis.com (I got my deffinition of Streaming Media there).

• Newhomes.weblogs.com/historyofwelogs (This is where I got the information about weblog history).

• Kuro5hin.org (I learned about weblog cons from this site).

• Cyberjournalist.net (This gave me general info on weblogs).

• Jdlasica.com (This contained a story that shows the relationship between journalism weblogging and traditional media).

Fax Machines

• How do these bad boys work?

• How have they helped in the delivery of news?

As a page is fed into your fax machine, a small fluorescent bulb lights up a row of pixels, which extends from one side of the page to the other. Most fax machines can scan an entire such row at a time, using a collection of 1,728 sensors. Each sensor detects whether its part of the page is black or white; this information is stored as 1,728 separate bits of data. Since a page typically consists of 1,145 rows of pixels, the sensors break down a one-page document into almost two million bits of information.

http://www.inkzap.com/adv-fax-look inside.htm