Thursday, August 4, 2011

Post 3



In "Everyone is a Media Outlet" Clay Shirky reveals that in the present time everyone can be publishers and photographers. This is due to the technological tools we have. Nowadays almost everyone has a digital camera or a camera in their phones and they can share the images through the internet. This is Shirky's idea of "mass amateurization." He says, “…anyone in the developed world can publish anything anytime, and the instant it is published, it is globally available and readily findable” (71). In other words, anyone can publish whatever they want and it can be seen within seconds, thanks to social networks such as Twitter, Facebook, or Blogger. Shirky gives an example of how this “mass amateurization” affects media. His example on Trent Lott’s comment on the fact that his state, Missouri voted for Strom Thurmond in the 1948 presidential campaign and that the country would be better off if Thurmond had won, showed that the media is changing. The professional reporters disregarded Lott’s statement, while, bloggers were writing about it and making comments on Lott’s statement. This brought people’s attention thus, causing Lott to speak out about his comment. After that the newspaper, T.V, and radio reporters started to consider this situation as “breaking news.” This example showed that the world was changing in that it was once a time where the professionals decide what is important and what is not important. Now people can have a say in what news is important, because they are now publishers.

A personal experience I have with “mass amateurization” is that every day I find news through YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter. For example I did not know about the earthquake in Haiti until I saw a tweet on Twitter that said, “My prayers go out to the people in Haiti.” After seeing that, I “googled” news on Haiti, and found out about the earthquake. It’s amazing how people can just get news through an average citizen, instead of a news anchor. Another example on “mass amateurization” is that my cousin from Hong Kong posted a video of a flood that was going on there, and she showed that the water was up to her ankle, and people had to walk around with that. I would not have had a clue that there was a flood in Hong Kong if I had not seen the video. There are many examples of “mass amateurization” and it will increase as time goes by.

Clay Shirky also mentions that there is no longer scarcity in professionals such as journalists and publishers. Since, anyone can be their own publisher. In this he questions whether the professionals are going to be needed in the future. He questions whether the journalists and publishers would end up like the scribes. Shirky even poked fun at the fact that De Laude Scriptorum was contradicting its own purpose. For the book explains why scribes were needed and why they cannot be eliminated, yet, the book itself was not copied by scribes. Instead it was copied through movable print. The fact that De Laude Scriptorum used the very medium that it is protesting against, puts the scribes out even more. Shirky says, “The content of the Abbot’s book praised the scribes, while its printed form damned them, the medium undermined the message” (68). In others words the contradiction cancelled the message of the book out.

In using the scribes as an example, Clay Shirky is trying to say that with technology and social networks increasing, professions are dying out and professionals are no longer needed.
He stresses that soon journalists will be gone just like the scribes. Shirky shows that history is repeating itself when he says, “Faced with radical new efficiencies, those very firms are working to make moving movies and music harder, in order to stay in business—precisely the outcome that the bus company (and the Abbott) was arguing for” (79). The professionals are trying their best to stay in the game but sooner or later they will be like the scribes and die out. However, the movie industry and the music industry are trying to make production harder, so the amateurs cannot compete with them. Shirky believes they will soon catch up, but the movie industry is doing just what the scribes wanted to do. They are challenging the amateurs.

Although it seems as if the future for media professionals are doomed. I feel that professionals will always be needed. Professionals compete with the amateurs. If the amateurs blog they will blog as well. I see this in the CW News at Ten crew. When I go to the CW website I see that the news anchors are trying to get their viewers’ attention by blogging on their CW profile. This is why I feel like the media professionals will not die out. Whatever new medium comes their way they will use it too, just like the amateurs. Another thing is that although we have all these new tools, people are still needed. For example, the supermarkets are trying to add more self checkouts. However, these self checkout machines still need a person to guard them and make sure the costumer does not steal or does not make a mistake. Machines cannot be left alone, there are always technical difficulties. Another reason why professionals will continue to have a profession is because sometimes people just prefer to have work done by a professional. For example, although people can take pictures of themselves, some people still go to photographers to get their picture taken, because they have a psychological feeling that professional is better. Just like how most people would go out of their way to buy brand name electronics, clothing, food and other stuff, rather than something with no brand. They just feel better, psychologically, to use money and have a professional get the job done.





References:


Shirky, Clay. "Everyone Is a Media Outlet." Here Comes Everybody: the Power of Organizing without Organizations














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