A Pendulum Effect: The Amateurization of Professional Journalism

image borrowed from: http://www.problogger.net/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/google-pendulum.jpg

“Hey, fool, that’s your audience talking there. You should want to listen to what they have to say. You are, after all, spending your living writing for them. If you were a reporter worth a damn, you’d care to know what the marketplace cares about. But, no, you’re the mighty NYT guy. You don’t need no stinking audience. You don’t need ears. You only need a mouth.” (Lemann, 1)

For many there is no question, an article from the New York Times would trump the ideas and opinion portrayed in a local blog.  However, in recent years, there has been an increase in popularity of “participatory culture.”  Not only are everyday amateurs broadcasting and publishing their beliefs and ideas on blog and forum sites, but they are beginning to shape the way media is presented.  This new rise in amateur journalism is causing the world of professional journalism to question their style of media.  Thanks to the internet, information in its purest form is available for those willing to analyze and interpret it.  Leaving everything fair game for both amateur and professional journalist to write about. 

It almost seems unrealistic that amateur sites can really have an influence on the way professional media is portrayed, but due to the increasing number of bloggers, it is inevitable that many of these amateur writers will be capable of producing work that either matches or succeeds that produced by professionals.  With the increasing pressure of maintaining their audience, professional media is now faced with altering the way they portray their information in order to keep up with the changing media.