“Exploring the Blogosphere” Project

Background and Context: 

Since the start of the Digital Age, journalism has been met with challenges resulting from changing habits in mass media audiences who now prefer to have their news information free rather than for a paid subscription. This sea-change in how news makes money has meant:

Declining revenues in advertising due to Internet sites such as Craig’s List, which all but eliminated newspaper classified ads 

Reductions of 30-50% in news reporting staffs at newspapers

Network TV staff reductions and foreign news bureau closures and reductions in international coverage of news

One of the most important developments in journalism since the start of the Digital Age has been the rise of Internet-based independent news and opinion writers called “bloggers,” who are not on the staff of established news organizations but who are often very influential.

Bloggers are a new breed of journalist/writer/business-person.

Usually not affiliated with a news organization

Can be very influential if they have a large base of readers

How are news consumers affected?

What happens to the quality of news for readers when staffs and bureaus are reduced?

Are bloggers a new form of journalism?

What difference does it make if a blogger is not a part of a large news organization?

What is at stake for large organizations if someone is libeled?  What about when a blogger commits libel?

What happens to investigative journalism when there is not enough money to pay for it?

What gets covered by bloggers that might not have been covered before the advent of the Internet?

 Before you begin, follow steps 1-6 carefully:

1. Read a standard Internet news site’s coverage of a news story (sports, crime, entertainment–any topic.) This could be CNN, Fox, NBC, ABC, or any news website of your choice. Make sure it’s what is considered a “mainstream” news outlet. 

2. Next, select one of the blog sites in this list: Blog Exploration Choices.pdf

3. Study the contrasting ways the two writers (mainstream news site vs. blog) approach their topics. What are 2-3 of the major differences you notice? Write about them in the assignment below:

4. Spend a few minutes reviewing the 5 Ws and H (Who, What, Where, When, Why and How) and the Five Media Literacy Concepts and Questions.pdfLinks to an external site.5.  Read at least four posts from the blog site you chose, keeping the 5 Ws and H and the Media Literacy concepts and questions in mind.

6. Read the Blog Exploration Analysis Rubric.pdf carefully as it provides details on how your score for the assignment is assessed. Ask yourself the questions included in this rubric before writing your paper. Use them to frame your paper’s content, but your paper should be in an essay format, MLA Style.