The Future of Journalism

Why does Clay Shirky argue that 'accountability journalism' is so important and what example does he give of this?

• It 'forces' people to hold themselves accountable for their past and present actions, seen through the worldwide pressure on the Catholic Church after the investigative piece was released to speak up about the misjustice and make substantial changes. 

What does Shirky say about the relationship between newspapers and advertisers? Which websites does he mention as having replaced major revenue-generators for newspapers (e.g. jobs, personal ads etc.)?

• It has seen a distinct change from the Post WW2 power balance, into a shift where it is not the only outlet and that there are other advertising centric websites, such as Monster and Craigslist, that are offering that exposure and doing it better. 

Shirky talks about the 'unbundling of content'. This means people are reading newspapers in a different way. How does he suggest audiences are consuming news stories in the digital age?

• He says that the formation of newspapers is 'not intellectual [sic] it's industrial' and that in the digital age people are interested by bulk content, editorial judgement and serendipity- they like to consume similar news and they like to consume it from their twitter timelines or facebook feeds or instagram stories rather than going to the website themselves. 

Shirky also talks about the power of shareable media. How does he suggest the child abuse scandal with the Catholic Church may have been different if the internet had been widespread in 1992?

• It would have had the same reaction the Geoghan case did, as it would have been consumed quickly and at a considerable density and created the lasting outrage that the 92 case failed to govern. 

Why does Shirky argue against paywalls? 

• He says that a paywall 'damages general news, and benefits financial news'  by introducing a paywall, the news thus becomes inaccessible to those who cannot afford it and creates a distinct separation between those who read the news, and those who can afford to read the news. 

What is a 'social good'? In what way is journalism a 'social good'?

• A 'social good' is where 'a group of people just get together and do something for themselves' which can be applied to his other theory of 'end of audience' where the audience themselves begin to produce and report on the news that they feel is important and relevant rather than relying on institutions. 

Shirky says newspapers are in terminal decline. How does he suggest we can replace the important role in society newspapers play? What is the short-term danger to this solution that he describes?

• He says that newspapers are 'irreplaceable' and that there is no model in society that can fit the role that newspapers have played. He says that we can rely on alternatives however they will simply degrade the already declining newspaper industry and since we don't have established institutions in place to take over the role it could be catastrophic for society and the way we consume news.

How important is it that major media brands such as the New York Times or the Guardian continue to stay in business and provide news?

• I think that they are extremely important- print media is a medium that can be trusted and is easily regulated and has the supposed partisan system however once we remove these institutions there will be a lack of 'truth' within news. Truth is already subjective, and reading news that is preceded by opinion will influence how we consume and critically think about the news therefore for me, institutions in news are vital for its success.