Current Events in the ‘New Media’
New Media and Current Events
Below is a link to CNN where visitors to this weblog can see an example technology affecting media affecting people. Benazir Bhutto’s assassination was captured on ‘I Report’ and was released to the public immediately do to the easy access in the Internet era.
Click Benazir Butto for all the details.
If the above link is followed, there are photos, videos, and lots of text to inform people of the tragic death of former Pakistani President Benazir Butto. Though at first it may not seem relevant to this weblog. It is not so much the issue but the way in which the issue was captured and distributed that holds relevance to this theme.
Many of the photos and videos that were viewed on CNN during this chaotic event, were shot by civilians and posted on CNN. It is only with the Internet that this is possible, proving again that technology and the growing need for information is promoting mass media to take new forms and be accessible and distributable in different ways. It is with this in mind that one can understand the relevance that CNN/I Report has to this blog. It is also apparent that this new ‘I report” technology is promoting average civilians with no reporting experience to get life threateningly close to the action. When CNN asks the public to participate whenever possible and help capture footage of live events and send it in to be announced to the public over it’s broadcast. A lot of people are struck with a heroic urge to get some useful but dangerous coverage. It is in this writer’s opinion, that ’I Report’ should not be taken lightly, there are dangers involved in journalism, including hostage taking and many reporters have been the victims of terrorist interests. Some other changes on-line news reading has undergone are that people tend to be skimming the headlines and data, rather than reading. Being less informed is what new media has lead to. Though the objectives of news media have not changed, the way in which people inform themselves has. It is only through this new modern age that one can read the latest news, watch something on you-tube, be deep in conversation in a chat room, or any other number of things simultaneously. In the past, one usually finished reading one thing before moving on to another. However, that requires much more of an attention span than Internet news reading typically involves. Now the thought of not having at least three other screens in the task bar seems mundane and a waste of Internet usage. One was once content reading the paper or watching the news on television. The new media have practically forced people to participate as much as possible in current events regardless of the risk. New media also has a more private and individualistic sense to it. One does not have to follow the majority of broadcast corporations and be limited to top stories at 6pm, or wait for morning to get the paper. New media is essentially, eliminating space and time, abolishing routine, and damaging society.
New Media Used to Track the Elusive Snow Leopard Below the article, is a link that may take visitors to a web site describing one production crew’s clever use of media to track the footsteps of a normally invisible cat. Another example of how new multi-media is used to electronically stalk this rarely sited animal, this article features how one particular production crew managed to track the very elusive snow leopard of the Himalayas rendering even this vast remote landscape vulnerable to human interference. As now people will have reasons to constantly impose on this territory. Reducing it’s habitat and it’s future existence in the hands of media, quite possibly leading to further human encroachment. The crew quietly installed infrared sensor equipment and numerous cameras in various places to capture this mysterious cat in its true habitat. Remote control cameras allowed the crew to decide exactly when and what to start shooting. Then all the footage was sent back electronically and observed by the crew as nothing short of excellent video recording. Never before seen imagery of such a rare species makes the power of media obvious. This kind of technology is not shockingly new. It does however, display a range of media used to portray otherwise unobtainable imagery. Put another way, the crew used media ranging from cameras to remote sensors to computer technology to put together a documentary on this peculiar creature. When a creature is elusive such as this one, it clearly wants to be left alone. the Internet and camera technology of today allows for far to much human encroachment on such lands. even though the film crew is not there so often. there is still to much humanness implemented on this cat, many seem to think this planet (when it comes to animals especially) is like an amusement park. and quite disturbingly new media is bringing this idea more and more into light. for more information on the multi-media used click the following link and see how new media made Tracking the Elusive Snow Leopard possible.
Another question is, is it ethical to take out your mobile phone in order to make a video of someone’s dying?
There was a horrible accident in my hometown awhile ago. A building was on fire and people were jumping out of the windows from the fifth floor, none of them survived. Lots of people gathered around to watch. I don’t know how everyone else felt but I was really disturbed seeing some of them taking out cameras and phones to record others dying.
Nice design of your blog and also good visuals. You wrote comprehensive information about technology from history to the present. I absolutely agree with you that nowadays media play significant role in our lives and have considerable impact on us.