Literature Review: Online Journalism
The Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service (NNS) represents an effort not only to situate the work of journalism in particular neighborhoods – and to make that work count for more in the civic life of the communities it serves – but to disseminate that work entirely online. A number of scholars have described the ways in which online news changes the relationship of journalist, audience and community. Deuze (2003) wrote that online journalism is produced more or less just for the Internet and is now a fourth kind of journalism – joining print, radio and television – and how millions of people get their news. Nip (2006) noted that early on many traditional news organizations used their online sites to mostly repurpose content from their print or broadcast entities. Lewis, Kaufhold and Lasorsa (2010) added that “the digitization of the print newspaper has been an ongoing process” for some time now and that “in a digital environment ... information is no longer scarce, hard to produce, nor difficult to publish.”
The literature also considers that online news delivery has in some respects changed and enhanced the relationship between journalists and the people taking in the news. Scholars have also found that the Internet changes the rhythm and activities of the community life on which the media report. Mersey (2010) offered that the Web allows journalists and anyone with a computer to publish stories and multimedia content as often as they choose. (NNS aims to publish at least one new story on its site each weekday.) Fanselow (2008) argued that the medium allows reporters to join with the community to ensure coverage that is “fair and balanced,” and the Internet’s unlimited space enables more complete coverage as stories evolve. He also found that “citizen leaders” use the Internet to reach people who cannot attend town meetings, to recruit younger residents for new programs and projects, and to “generate a lively multimedia record of progress for supporters, officials and even funders.” Moreover, online enables the public to display excess photos and turn notes into blogs and briefs, and for Web-based news publications to engage audiences with multimedia storytelling (Lowman, 2008; Chung 2009).
NNS also believes that its mandate is to provide balanced reporting about the efforts to build community in the neighborhoods it serves. The literature relates, though, that journalists do not always produce what their audiences want. After helping to study news choices of journalists and consumers of four leading U.S.-based sites, Boczkowski (2010) wrote of an interesting dilemma for online news, and also for society as a whole: In all cases, journalists selected more news about politics, economics, business and international matters than readers, who, in turn, were more interested in topics such as sports, weather, entertainment and crime. ... When the supply and demand of online news does not meet, it is not just elite media organizations that might suffer, but also all of us (pp. 25-26).
While NNS states that it focuses its coverage on that which is important to building communities, other scholars extend the “pro-newspaper journalism argument” (Mersey 2009a, p. 117) that holds that the print product, much more so than its online counterparts, provides greater access to well-trained reporters who provide balanced, accurate, in-depth and timely reporting – all of which help readers decide how to vote and what to buy, know more about their neighbors and feel closer to the community.
In any event, NNS operates within an increasingly mobile society, and online formats offer journalists new ways of presenting their work to readers and viewers. Gilligan (2011) reports, for example, that more and more readers under age 50 seek news via the Internet and or portable devices such as smartphones. Pavlik (2004) pointed to new opportunities, if effectively and ethically employed, for reshaping the relationship between the media and their audiences and the potential for improved news coverage – for example, by offering news on-demand and instantaneously, or customized to their interests. But although the Internet offers new means for storytelling about the community – and NNS contends that its work resembles familiar, objective and professional reporting – some scholars worry whether too much reliance on the new platform will undermine traditional principles of effective journalism. Scott (2005), for example, decried newsroom convergence – bringing print, television, radio and online journalists into a single space – arguing that it limits the diversity of media voices and perspectives. He also noted that reporters complain that demands for multimedia and immediacy keep them from investigating, checking facts and writing good stories.
In summary, this literature review demonstrates that scholars have written a great deal about the tensions involved in doing community journalism. These tensions have been played out in the experience of the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service. It seeks a relationship between the communities it serves and the journalism it produces. Indeed, NSS came into being, in part, because “issues of community life still engender feelings of allegiance to and ties to the community” and these ties “should generate closer attention” by local media (McLeod et al, 2006, p. 190). As for how NNS presents its work, the Internet, of course, is a “most notable home” for communities to experience – and learn from – one another (Mersey, 2010, p. 525). In the next chapter, we shall reveal the theory guiding this thesis and the methodology employed to study NNS.
The literature also considers that online news delivery has in some respects changed and enhanced the relationship between journalists and the people taking in the news. Scholars have also found that the Internet changes the rhythm and activities of the community life on which the media report. Mersey (2010) offered that the Web allows journalists and anyone with a computer to publish stories and multimedia content as often as they choose. (NNS aims to publish at least one new story on its site each weekday.) Fanselow (2008) argued that the medium allows reporters to join with the community to ensure coverage that is “fair and balanced,” and the Internet’s unlimited space enables more complete coverage as stories evolve. He also found that “citizen leaders” use the Internet to reach people who cannot attend town meetings, to recruit younger residents for new programs and projects, and to “generate a lively multimedia record of progress for supporters, officials and even funders.” Moreover, online enables the public to display excess photos and turn notes into blogs and briefs, and for Web-based news publications to engage audiences with multimedia storytelling (Lowman, 2008; Chung 2009).
NNS also believes that its mandate is to provide balanced reporting about the efforts to build community in the neighborhoods it serves. The literature relates, though, that journalists do not always produce what their audiences want. After helping to study news choices of journalists and consumers of four leading U.S.-based sites, Boczkowski (2010) wrote of an interesting dilemma for online news, and also for society as a whole: In all cases, journalists selected more news about politics, economics, business and international matters than readers, who, in turn, were more interested in topics such as sports, weather, entertainment and crime. ... When the supply and demand of online news does not meet, it is not just elite media organizations that might suffer, but also all of us (pp. 25-26).
While NNS states that it focuses its coverage on that which is important to building communities, other scholars extend the “pro-newspaper journalism argument” (Mersey 2009a, p. 117) that holds that the print product, much more so than its online counterparts, provides greater access to well-trained reporters who provide balanced, accurate, in-depth and timely reporting – all of which help readers decide how to vote and what to buy, know more about their neighbors and feel closer to the community.
In any event, NNS operates within an increasingly mobile society, and online formats offer journalists new ways of presenting their work to readers and viewers. Gilligan (2011) reports, for example, that more and more readers under age 50 seek news via the Internet and or portable devices such as smartphones. Pavlik (2004) pointed to new opportunities, if effectively and ethically employed, for reshaping the relationship between the media and their audiences and the potential for improved news coverage – for example, by offering news on-demand and instantaneously, or customized to their interests. But although the Internet offers new means for storytelling about the community – and NNS contends that its work resembles familiar, objective and professional reporting – some scholars worry whether too much reliance on the new platform will undermine traditional principles of effective journalism. Scott (2005), for example, decried newsroom convergence – bringing print, television, radio and online journalists into a single space – arguing that it limits the diversity of media voices and perspectives. He also noted that reporters complain that demands for multimedia and immediacy keep them from investigating, checking facts and writing good stories.
In summary, this literature review demonstrates that scholars have written a great deal about the tensions involved in doing community journalism. These tensions have been played out in the experience of the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service. It seeks a relationship between the communities it serves and the journalism it produces. Indeed, NSS came into being, in part, because “issues of community life still engender feelings of allegiance to and ties to the community” and these ties “should generate closer attention” by local media (McLeod et al, 2006, p. 190). As for how NNS presents its work, the Internet, of course, is a “most notable home” for communities to experience – and learn from – one another (Mersey, 2010, p. 525). In the next chapter, we shall reveal the theory guiding this thesis and the methodology employed to study NNS.