We all know journalism is changing, and top-of-mind for many journalists or, uh, students of communication is the widening mediascape and emergence of public journalism.
Reading about it is one thing, but today we witness a prime example.
Ed Frawley was outraged: after his solider son returned from a 15-month deployment in Afghanistan, the Army sent him to live in barracks that were moldy, rusty, and pumped full of sewer gas. The Army had promised brand-new barracks in Fort Bragg, N.C.; instead, they were sent back to live in a place that kinda looks like a run-down frat house at Maryland.
What would you do? Grumble about it to friends and family, curse the politicians who let it get this way, maybe pledge to vote Democrat in November? Maybe write a few letters to congressmen and even the paper?
Ed took his argument to the world, posting a thoughtful, logical video on YouTube that narrates a set of photos depicting his son’s deployment and return to baselife. The video went up on April 22; by 6 p.m. on April 28, the video has been viewed 47,308 times, according to the YouTube site.
Ed got a call from a big-shot at the Army - actually, Chief of Staff Gen. Dick Cody - sharing his sentiment and promising action. The story got picked up by CNN and other news outlets.
Here’s a prime example of participatory journalism (a.k.a. the cringe-worthy and excluding “citizen journalism“), where technology empowered someone to broadcast an issue to a wide audience, quickly and easily. It caught the attention of the people who needed to hear this message and elicited a response, probably buyoed by the viral explosion of something as simple yet powerful as a YouTube video. Ed was successful because his argument is clear, concise, and logical and backed up by evidence.
The future of journalism and the value of these user-generated content tools like blogs and YouTube is a constant conversation in the mass media world. Here’s an example of how a personal story, combined with powerful tools, could become journalism and make a difference in the world.
I’ve spent the past few weeks talking to big thinkers about the implications of exploding digital media and the shift in news consumption habits on the theory of a public agenda, and trying to have a few big thoughts of my own. A bitter ex-reporter, I’ve been skeptical of the value of this fragmentation of media and the validity of much, if any, of this “public journalism.” But today I bite my tongue and clearly see how this new media trend is an absolutely positive shift for journalism and for a democratic society.
