There is no doubt that the idea of “new media” is reshaping journalism as we know it. I would even say that journalism is the field that has been the most profoundly affected by the changes that the Internet has brought to the media and Dan Gillmor would probably agree with me. In his book We the Media: Grassroots Journalism by the People, For the PEople Gillmor addresses, in great detail, how advances in technology have turned the journalistic world upside down. The main idea behind his book is that information has become so readily available that mainstream journalism and journalists can’t keep up with it. Throughout his book Gillmor stresses the importance of citizen journalism and goes to great lengths to explain to his readers that there are many new, exciting ways to get involved in reporting the news that every average Joe can get involved with.

From the perspective of an aspiring journalist who thrives on the idea of using technology as the main tool for making information available, Gillmor’s book was just incredible. He touches on every tool that is necessary for integrating traditional journalism into the world of new media. From blogs to really simple syndication (RSS) and camera phones to short message system (SMS) Gillmore explains that a simple Steno notebook and tape recording aren’t going to cut it in the ever-growing world of journalism.

Is anything staying the same for journalist?

Some of the glory in being a journalist comes from the thrill of being on the cutting edge of the news that shapes our lives and our world. With the invention of the World Wide Web it wasn’t just journalist on the edge anymore. Gillmore attributes this to the increasing popularity of Weblogs. Over the last few years the lines between “journalist” and “blogger” have become more than a little blurred. As the book points out, many journalists now keep blogs as a part of their career. Those who don’t risk being lost in the crowd.

Blogs have also changed how we read the news. Thanks to new aggregators, people can now subscribe to the news they want to see and read it in an email-like format. If a journalist doesn’t make his work available through the RSS format that these aggregators use he runs the risk of being overlooked. Prominent journalist, like Gillmor, who have been around for awhile are embracing grassroots journalism and doing their best to make sure it takes hold. As much as Gillmore informs his readers about the changes that are reshaping journalism he begs journalist to get on board. He is well aware that the proverbial train is leaving whether they get on board or not. If journalists don’t respond to the changes they are going to be trampled by citizen journalist who take advantage of the tools that are available. Gillmor stresses that these changes are not going away – they will simply get bigger and more pronounced as time goes on. The time to learn is now and Gillmor reminds his readers that the pace of technology is not slowing down; it is increasing at an exponential rate.

I believe, as does Gillmor, that “real” newspapers will never be completely obsolete, but they aren’t what they once were. In a world where people can read the news on laptops, PDAs and cell phones the original newspaper is becoming less and less of a staple part of people’s lives. This trend, however, is inversely proportional with the amount of news that is available. Thanks to these new technological devices we are able to get news quickly and efficiently thus allowing us to get more of it more often. The thought of a newspaper that only updates once daily is slow and painful for 21st century readers. Now sites like CNN.com and major newspapers such as The Washington Post update nonstop. News no longer happens on a daily basis – it happens every minute and new media is making is possible for people to keep up with the rapid changes.

One of the stories Gillmor writes about frequently in this book is September 11, 2001. Knowing what we know now try to imagine going back in to that day without modern advances in journalism. Gillmor emphasizes that thanks to cell phones and digital cameras people were getting the news as it was happening. There were first-hand accounts of what was happening inside the World Trade Center that we learned about only through cell phone calls and voice mails that those inside the buildings left for their loved ones. We also had pictures from amateur photographers and cameramen before we had anything from the major news sources and professionals. Without citizen journalism September 11 would have been far less clear to the outside world.

Gillmor argues that nothing is the same for journalist now as it once was. Although they must still rely on the same basic reporting skills everything else has changed. Basic is no longer enough. This made me, as a student, wonder about how academia is responding to these changes. Gillmor touched on this slightly and mentioned that very few universities are making big changes in their curriculum to accommodate new advancements. This will be an interesting trend to watch because the universities are supposed to be responsible for shaping the students and teaching what is the more relevant and important information. From my own experience, however, I would have to agree with Gillmor that they do a poor job of this. I have only had two professors who even touched on new media. Although they both did a very great job of exposing me to what is available, I have still had to discover a lot of it on my own. For me, this is fun because I have a true passion for the changing technology and I love using it to create things that are riding the wave of the future. Many of my professors, however, had no use for teaching about blogs and the like. This approach to teaching is putting students at a major disadvantage. Interestingly, Gillmor talks about how many of the best journalist never even went to school to study it. I think this will prove to be even more true in the future because many people are self-reliant when it comes to learning about new technology. An avid techo-junkie is much more likely to produce good, insightful, up-to-date news than a trained journalist who doesn’t know how to use what’s new.

How new tools are reshaping how we receive information

Gillmor talks about all kinds of tools, as I mentioned before, that are making the way we get our news vastly different. I will talk about later how these tools can also be turned against journalists, too. Let’s take a look at what Gillmor thinks about changing news tools.

• Blogs – a great way to keep interaction with an audience alive. Gillmor points out that blogs aren’t just for reporting the news, though. They are also used as ways to advertise. In this sense blogs can be deceiving. Gillmor talks about an incident in Hollywood where movie companies were blogging about upcoming movies and shamelessly promoting them as an average movie-goer. Cases like this make it important to understand that blogs cannot always be trusted and readers should use discretion when reading them. However, this doesn’t mean blogs aren’t a great way of getting the news. They give readers and writers a more personal relationship. Gillmor, who left his position at the San Jose Mercury News to start a grassroots journalism project that focuses on blogging, is a huge fan of news agencies that not only allow but encourage their journalists to blog. Gillmor isn’t a favor of the censoring approach to journalism – and neither am I for that matter. In the preface of the book he quotes A.J. Liebling who said “Freedom of the press is limited to those who own one.” Thanks to blogging this is no longer true.

• RSS - syndication has made getting the news much easier. For those who are smart enough to have feeds to their blogs and Web sites, RSS helps spread the word. Gillmor points out that those who make their feeds available are at an advantage because changes are that readers are going to chose those sites over others because they are more accessible. RSS feeds are also great because they are better at maintaining an audience. If I subscribe to a feed that isn’t updated that often I am not lost as a reader because as soon as updates are available they are at my fingertips. This is great for people who don’t update columns or blogs that frequently because they don’t have to worry about reestablishing a relationship with their audience. Tying in with blogging, having this interaction with the audience is wonderful because it creates a more demanding kind of audience – one that feels empowered and involved.

• SMS - text messages are a fabulous way for journalists to get messages out while still maintaining a certain level of discretion. When SARS was exploding in China the government wanted to keep the outbreak as quiet as possible. Thanks to SMS capabilities, people on the inside were able to send out a warning and break the news while still maintaining anonymity. SMS was also a huge part of September 11 and is gaining popularity as journalists find they can use it as a way to stay in contact at all times. When a bulky laptop isn’t appropriate using SMS can be a great way to keep the lines of communication open.

• Cell phones – having changed a lot since the Zack Morris-type of mobile phone, cell phones are standard and vital for journalists. They aren’t just for making phone calls anymore. Gillmor talks a lot about using camera phones as a way to capture things (albeit not with the best quality) that professional photographers often miss. Cell phones are also a link to SMS and now have Internet capabilities that allow users to blog straight from their phone. As Gillmor points out, we have come a long way from the days of just making calls to home. Cell phones are so sophisticated and mature that they can even run operating systems and work much like a computer.

As you can see, the Internet and wireless world have made the journalists’ universe infinite. This is a fabulous, although sometimes overwhelming, opportunity. Gillmor maintains that the best way to learn is to just jump right in. Fearing these advancements will do nothing but hurt you because every second you put off learning something new comes out that will put you even more behind.

The downside of new media

I said I would talk about what can go wrong with new media and I will. I must admit, however, that I’m not sure I find all of these “cons” to be truly bad. For example, one problem for journalists is that they are constantly being edited and fact-checked now. This makes their job more difficult, but it also ensures that we are getting the most objective, honest news available. If a journalist writes something that has any flaws, new media just about guarantees that it will be exposed at some point. As Gillmor says, when anyone can “edit” what you are saying being fair is essential. Although this can be bad for journalists and throw them through a few loop holes it is in the best interest of the audience – and that is who journalism is supposed to be for in the first place.

What’s next?

Blogs and other media are feedback systems. They work in something close to real time and capture – in the best sense of the word – the multitude of ideas and realities each of us can offer. On the Internet, we are defined by what we know and share. Now, for the first time in history, the feedback system can be global and nearly instantaneous.

My goal in this book has been o persuade you that the collision of journalism and technology is having major consequences for three constituencies: journalists, newsmakers, and the audience. The evidence seems persuasive that something big is happening.

Basically, what Gillmor is saying is that no one can predict for sure what is going to happen. The best thing journalists can do is accept that something big is happening and embrace the changes. I would be willing to bet that what we have now is nothing compared to what the future holds – an exciting thought for an aspiring journalist if there ever was one!

We the Media touches on a side of journalism that few people are afraid to tackle. It’s big – it’s endless – it’s exciting. The great thing about this book is that it can be read from the perspective of a news reader or a newsmaker and make perfect sense. The ideas that Gillmor outlines and the technologies that he explains are important for everyone to understand. Journalists need to keep up with the technology, but so do consumers of the news if they want to stay up-to-date.

Dan Gillmor’s book is sure to be a milestone for new media. He is getting the message out there and I would encourage everyone to take the time to read the message.

I would highly recommend this to anyone who wants to learn about Photoshop CS. I am new at the whole thing, and this book really helped me out,