How does Internet shape the future of journalism?

Journalism is associated with the profession of reporting hard and soft facts in newspapers, and magazines. However, with the advent of Internet, journalism has taken a new height combined with more innovation, unpredictability, truth, and participation. Journalism has since branched into a new category called Cyber Journalism. With Internet, the traditional culture of journalism is broken, thus embracing new concepts and changes to the interpretation of journalism.

The first change is the speed in which news can be disseminated. Normally news presented in newspapers and magazines required day/s or even months to be published for the readers. However, Internet operates round the clock. It allows journalist to post the latest news online within second. Furthermore, due to technological advancement, news around the world can also be shared among broadcast companies readily.

Second, the unlimited space for free expression allows journalist to write anything and add in more facts without the need to feel pressured over word or space limitation. For newspapers and magazines, journalists are restricted to the space of the columns that they are assigned to write in.

Third, Internet encourages strong participation. “The concept of participatory or (citizen journalism) proposes that amateur reporters can actually produce their own stories either inside or outside professional media outlets” (wikipedia). According to Szlarski (2006, December 9), citizen journalism is changing the way news is being reported. As ordinary people are allowed to determine the style, the content and what should be in the front page and how the news is to be conveyed.

Fourth, journalists are expected to be more cautious in their writings online. Internet allows cross boundary spreading of news. In such way, any negative and distorted reporting of news can be spread very quickly, which can lead to many undesirable problems if sensitive issues such as race, gender, and politics are not well handed. Indeed, online journalism also encourages non-bias reports because many cyber journalists are in fact freelance or volunteers, meaning not paid to write. In such way, readers can ensure getting truthful news.

The future of journalism will definitely be more exciting. As technology continues to improve, more ways for journalist or even ordinary people to experiment new ways to report news is expected.

Reference

Szklarski, C. (2006, December 9). Citizen journalism: all the ‘news’ that won’t fit in print. The Globe and Mail (Canada), p. A15.

Discuss – “The power and limitations of Internet for political campaigning”

“The internet became an essential part of American politics in 2004. Fully 75 million Americans – 37% of the adult population and 61% of online Americans – used the internet to get political news and information, discuss candidates and debate issues in emails, or participate directly in the political process by volunteering or giving contributions to candidates” (http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/150/report_display.asp). The high participation in Internet political campaigning is not restricted to the Americans only. In fact, many politicians across the world have seen Internet as a powerful tool to reach out to the masses to convey political messages and get support from the public.

The power of Internet for political campaigning is certainly immense. Firstly, the use of Internet allows politicians to reach not only mass audience, but target groups who are the young and Internet savvy people. For example, in the recent Malaysia election, Premier Abdullah Badawi mentioned that it was a 'big mistake' to ignore cyber-campaign as the polls showed that the Barisan Nasional coalition lost five states and a third of parliamentary seats in opposition hands. The reason was because they failed to recognize the fact that young people were more interested in looking at SMS and blogs for political information instead of referring to mainstream media such as print media (http://news.sg.msn.com/regional/article.aspx?cp-documentid=1306386).

Secondly, Internet is a great platform for politicians to raise donations for the campaigns. According to Schouten (2006), in the U.S, “Retired naval officer Joe Sestak out-raised incumbent Republican Curt Weldon to seize a House seat in suburban Philadelphia — aided by nearly $900,000 in Internet contributions.” When politician makes a compelling speech, voters have the freedom to discuss over forums, blogs and other tools before deciding whether they should continue to support or more donations to the politician. Adding on to the benefit of the Internet is that voters can actually repeat the speech that politician has made to fully understand the points that politician is trying to convey. For example, in the recent U.S election, Senator Barack Obama and Senator Hillary Clinton have many political speeches uploaded to YouTube for voters’ references.

Thirdly, Internet improves the interaction between politicians and the citizens. The people have the liberty to provide suggestions and get feedback from politicians almost instantly and efficiently. As the people feel more involved in the politician campaign, the support towards the politician will improve. Moreover, support for the politician will spread through word of mouth if the politician is able to reach out and listen to what the citizens have to say via web technology.

The Internet may seem powerful and effective in many areas for the politicians to reach out to the masses, gain supports and also to build favorable relationships with the citizens, but it does have its limitations in political campaigning too.

Internet main limitation is that it is hard to control, and misuse of the tool can result in dire consequences. Internet is an open network. Everyone has the freedom to post practically anything online. As such “many sensitive and important issues, up to date information were spread easily by using the web tools such as email, YouTube and so on” (http://theglobalist.com/DBWeb/StoryId.aspx?StoryId=3249). In this way, negative ideas or messages can be spread easily through the various web tools. For example, Hillary Clinton’s former vice presidential candidate Geraldine A. Ferraro resigned from her position in the finance committee for the democratic presidential campaign because of the offensive remark that she made about democratic opposition Barack Obama’s race. Her speech, "If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position. And if he was a woman (of any color), he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept” (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/03/11/obama-ferraro-race-flap-r_n_91047.html) sparked off a new topic for discussions in many web pages, and certainly up to date there is no positive support towards her snide remark.

Another limitation is that there is no actual report of the political issues. As mentioned that Internet is an open network, everyone has the liberty to voice his/her opinion. Therefore, many conflicting and bias reports can be noted in many web pages. For example, online news reporter who supports Barack Obama would post more favorable reports about him underscoring his positive attributes. However, the objectivity in news is lost. Moreover, in forums, people who are not politically knowledgeable about the subject may provide their bias comments and alter people’s choice of the candidate. Hence, the outcome of an election may be a worrying factor for politician whose message could be distorted in the process of frivolous web based discussions.

Regardless of the limitations, the power of the Internet as a platform for political campaigning is immense. As more people turn in to the Internet for more information, news, and so on, it is definitely a vital tool for politician to rely on.

What is NewsML?

It is a News markup language for the News industry initiated by International Press Telecommunications Council (IPTC). Based on the Extensible Markup Language (XML), NewsML is a standard way to describe news information content so that it can be distributed and reused widely on Web sites and other media. The use of NewsML could, for example, allow a news editor to search for, locate, and download various forms of content (photographic images, text, video) from different Web sites and then easily combine them for presentation on the news site.

NewsML and similar XML-based standards, such as Extensible Public Relations Language (XPRL) and Extensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL), are designed to make it easier to format and present information related to their specific business sectors.
Because NewsML, XBRL, and XPRL are all based on XML and support other XML standards, such as XML Schema Definition (XSD), they enable interexchange of data.

Reference: http://searchsoa.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid26_gci848027,00.html

Who is using NewsML?

Reuters
The Wall Street Journal
BBC
Channel NewsAsia
Business Wire
Many more listed in the website given below

Reference: http://www.newsml.org/pages/whouse_main.php

Below are some examples:




The latest: NewsML-G2

NewsML™ is a media-type agnostic news exchange format for general news and NewsML-G2 2.0 is its latest standard.

NewsML-G2 provides exchange formats for:
- General news: textual news, articles, photos, graphics, audio and video can be exchanged for the News Item
- A flexible mechanism for packaging news in a structured way - the Package Item.
- Information about concepts, used for values in controlled vocabularies - the Concept Item - and further a format to exchange full controlled vocabularies as a single file - the Knowledge Item.
- A wrapper around items to transmit them by any electronic means - the News Message.

NewsML-G2 is a member of the family of G2-Standards, thus is shares many of its components with the other standards of this family. These shared components make the IPTC News Architecture for G2 and can be considered as the framework all the G2-Standars are built on.

More information on NewsML can be retrieved at http://www.iptc.org/G2-Standards/newsml-g2.php

What is multimedia?

Multimedia is simply multiple forms of media integrated together. Media can be text, graphics, audio, animation, video, data, etc.

Multimedia can also stand for interactive types of media such as video games CD ROMs that teach a foreign language, or an information Kiosk at a subway terminal. Other terms that are sometimes used for multimedia include hypermedia and rich media.

Reference: http://www.tech-faq.com/multimedia.shtml

Impact of multimedia for marketing

“Marketing: Visually appealing presentations with product demos can be used for creating a high impact for a new product that is being launched. Customers get a fair idea about the product in an interesting and informative manner. Demos and simulations of the products enable customers to visualize and experience the working of the product.”

Reference: http://www.icreonglobal.com/entertainment_&_media.shtml

How multimedia is used for marketing of new products?

1. Web page

For example: Tiger Balm uses its web page to advertise its new product – Tiger Balm Neck and Shoulder Rub Boost. The webpage has text and graphic to inform consumers the benefit of the product.

Another example is Samsung i620. Samsung uses its website to showcase its new phone via simulation and text information. In this way, consumers are able to imagine how the actual physical product would be like, and allow them to experience a new way of retrieving information other than the traditional way of looking at pictures that are presented in brochures, magazines etc.

Yet another example is Microsoft surface computer. The company uses lots of videos, graphics, reports, audio etc to advertise this product. Videos can be found in youtube, and many other channels in the Internet.

2. Mobile phone

For example, Sony Ericsson W550i, N71, N95, iPhone, LG KF600 and so many more are multimedia phones.

These phones can be used by marketers to promote their products via the applications that users subscribe to. For example, google search and yahoo search is available in mobile phones, like computer sets, users can get access to Internet for news, videos, songs, and so many more.

Protection and Risk-prevention tools and methods against Virus, Worms, Spyware, Phishing, and other threats etc

Are you afraid that someone that you do not know actually knows your name, your home address, your favorites, and what’s worst – your credit card numbers, passwords, and IDs? If you are afraid, then I will tell you not to be. Chinese spirits have Taoist priests to capture them. Human viruses have immune systems to destroy them. And Computer threats have security programs to eliminate them.

10 Ways to protect your PC!!!

1. Never download anything from doubtful source, never share confidential information through messaging systems, and avoid storing such data on a laptop, which is easier to lose. (Info stored in Hardware PC must be safeguarded too. Don’t be sorry like Edison’s case)

2. Use all-in-one security programs such as Symantec or McAfee, which include anti-virus, anti-phishing, anti-spyware and other useful tools. Always make sure that free anti-virus software provider is credible. *careful of Trojan

3. Always remember to update software definitions to ensure the computer is protected against the latest hacker programs.

4. Always remember to enable firewall, anti-spyware software installed, and non-expired anti-virus software present in the computer before going online.

5. Shred or tear up credit card and bank statements before disposal

6. Use less obvious passwords. If possible, do not use I/C numbers, phone numbers etc.

7. Check up on the person who requests for your personal information.

8. Refrain from revealing too much personal information in online diaries, social network sites etc. One potential source for retrieving personal data is Facebook or MySpace social networking sites.

9. Keep oneself updated with the latest news on cybercrime, security programs, methods implemented by banks to safeguard personal details etc

10. No choice, then encrypt your laptop.

References

Singh, K. (2007, September 14). Many have lax attitude towards IT fraud; Poll shows 1 in 5 does not shred credit card or bank statements before disposal, while one-third use easy-to-recall passwords. The Straits Times. Retrieved on March 5, 2008, from Lexis-Nexis database.

Loh, W. L. (2007, October 7). The price of your b@nk account: Just $440; Personal information pilfered by hackers can be sold and used for crimes like fraud and identity theft. The Straits Times. Retrieved on March 5, 2008, from Lexis-Nexis database.

Why do cybercrime exists?

Loh, W. L. (2007, October 7). The price of your b@nk account: Just $440; Personal information pilfered by hackers can be sold and used for crimes like fraud and identity theft. The Straits Times. Retrieved on March 5, 2008, from Lexis-Nexis database.

Money is a temptation to many people. Like most people, the ultimate motive of cyber thefts is to gain lots of money. However, instead of using legitimized means to earn money, they chose underhand methods. How much do these cyber thefts actually earn then?

In the black market, the details of an online banking account with at least thousands of dollars cost around $300 US. The information about a person’s life, including birth dates, credit card, and identification numbers cost up to $18 US. As for credit card information it is for $1US to $6 US. Moreover, a list of 29,000 e-mail addresses, the amount is $5US. It sounds really pathetic for the effort to steal these data. Hence, cyber thefts have to constantly look for large number of preys to hack into their computer systems for higher returns.

On the other hand, people who know how to utilize such information are able to embezzle funds from other people’s bank accounts. One example provided in the artile is the case on “New Yorker Shiva Brent Sharma, who at the age of 20, amassed a cyber loot of $150US,000 before he was nabbed in 2005 for identity theft.He bought stolen credit card accounts online and managed to transfer large amounts of money to himself. He once stole $20,000 US in less than 36 hours.”

Cybercrime is certainly a lucrative illegal business.

Cybercrime related news reported in Singapore

Yee, L. (2006, July 29). MAS warns of e-mail scam using its logo. The Straits Times. Retrieved on March 4, 2008, from Lexis-Nexis Academic database.

In this article, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) tries to inform the public that fake “e-mail containing its name, logo and letterhead are being used in a financial scam.” “The e-mail - sent by cyberspace tricksters on the lookout for easy money - typically asks recipients for personal information or to transfer funds to a particular party or account” was reported. The problem that MAS encountered is called ‘phishing’ – a form of Internet fraud that tries to dupe someone into providing confidential information such as credit cards, passwords, and make someone do something he/she would not / should not normally do such as transferring of money into a foreign account. Similar acts of ‘phishing’ also happened to big banks in Singapore such as OCBC Bank and Citibank.

The implication of ‘phishing’ could be devastating if one is not aware of the danger and clueless of how to protect he or she against cybercrime. The article below is an example of a man being cheated of $48,000 by cyber thefts.

Chong, E. (2006, June 13). Man loses $48,000 in Nigerian e-mail scam; One con artist arrested, sentenced to three years' jail; others still at large. The Straits Times. Retrieved on March 4, 2008, from Lexis-Nexis Academic database.

“BUSINESSMAN Ng Yong Ngee responded to an e-mail that sounded too good to be true - a 30 per cent share of $8US.5 million ($13S.6 million) for his help in transferring the money out of Britain.” With that, the 30-year-old owner of an interior design firm parted with about $48,000 - and became yet another victim of Nigerian con artists.”