READING DIARY: A response to New Media, Old News: Journalism and Democracy in the Digital Age edited

A response to New Media, Old News: Journalism and Democracy in the Digital Age edited by Natalie Fenton.

Chapter two instantly opens with an interesting suggestion, "The traditional business model for delivering news is in a crisis."1 This is a similar statement which compliments Packaging Politics: An overview of the argument, "On 11 September 2001, within minutes of the attack on the World Trade Center in New York, government spin doctor Jo Moore circulated an email to her colleagues in the press office at the Department of Trade and Industry suggesting, "it's now a very good day to get out anything we want to bury.'"2 It is followed by the notion that this is no longer an effective form of spin doctoring as "younger audiences are deserting them for the immediacy and interactivity of the internet"3, thus prompting my idea for in depth research.

This would consist of a group of 100 people within the age range of 12-24 and 100 people within the age range of 42-54. They would all be surveyed on how often they access social media or other forms of online news outlets vs physical forms such as newspapers for updates on the world, as well as the reasons why. These figures would put into perspective the difference between now and the research done by Franklin and Williams in 2007. I aim to prove the decline in members of the public purchasing print journalism in contrast to the increase in those accessing information frequently online. Should my prediction be correct it would suggest a worrying challenge for the financial economy of political and everyday news in a print format. It would also hopefully influence a change in the way spin doctoring is addressed, as negative stories being shared online everyday, means the traditional technique of releasing them tactically in a crisis is no longer effective.

In conclusion this chapter raises interesting arguments from the start, however it is the initial page which I feel addresses the best start point for additional analysis. My previously suggested form of research would hopefully provide, not only evidence for the decline in traditional news vs 'new' news techniques, but also an explanation into why, thus prompting a change in the industry.

1 New Media, Old News: Journalism and Democracy in the Digital Age edited by Natalie Fenton

Chapter two by Des Freedman pg 35

2 Packaging Politics: An overview of the argument/ Daily Telegraph, 10 October, P.2

3 New Media, Old News: Journalism and Democracy in the Digital Age edited by Natalie Fenton

Chapter two by Des Freedman pg 35