A detailed post about what looked like a good conference. I published the findings of a short study examining the media agenda-setting capacity of political blogs in the UK last year. An overview can be found here: http://simoncollister.typepad.com/simonsays/2008/01/research-review.html

In a nutshell the issue you flag above of ‘mediated coverage’ was a key one in the research. I found some reporters (presumed mainly younger reporters) spending more time behind computer screens and using blogs as’sources of insight’ for stories. While older reporters (i.e. section editors, rather than ‘mere’ reporters) claimed never to have used blogs for info gathering, despite indications to the contrary from bloggers interviewed as part of the study.

One key conculsion (and one requiring further study if the OII/RISJ has space for me!) is that the simplified dichotomy of bloggers replacing first-hand, in-the-the-field information gathering or simply rewriting press coverage does not refelct reality.

There is a significantly complex series of relationships emerging between journalists and bloggers that spans the entire news gathering, filtration, publication spectrum. In addition, it also appears that the nature and depth of these inter-relationships vary depending on the age/experience of the journalist.

You can download the paper here: http://simoncollister.typepad.com/simonsays/2008/03/can-uk-politica.html

Interesting stuff – are you exploring the role of community sites in digging local news out of the news hole? We have a good debate going on about it over here http://ultralocalvoice.wordpress.com/ with this article in particular drawing plenty of interest
http://ultralocalvoice.wordpress.com/2008/10/05/talking-hyperlocal-ultralocal-workshop-at-mashup/

Your suggestion of over romanticisation of journalism chimes with my local experience in London’s kings cross – if you can write and use very easy web publishing tools then you can provide a news service see http://www.kingscrossenvironment.com. we have produced 600 local articles on a huge range of issues. The vast majority of these are below the radar of our (very good) local paper.

cheers

w

Because the government still place restrictions on media and journalism, most of college students, who are much more knowledgeable and rational than others in a low-educated society, don’t trust what they read from the main media. The college students are also forbidden to surf internationally when through the so-called Internet on campus. We have choice to connect to the off-campus internet service but it’s strictly prohibited by the school, and if you get caught, you would get warmed or even get kicked out, depending on the situation. And remember here, even the information on the Internet through the whole country is filtered by the government. So we don’t have sources to read the true reflection.

Like the riot in Tibet on Mar. 14, the government began to dispel the media shortly after it happened. But thanks to the amateur journalists, who just had cell phone cameras and laptops, they posted the photos on line (soon deleted by the network police), and the debates went through all the students columns. College students have their own attitudes and judgement toward Tibet and the government. After seeing the photos posted by CNN, the students clearly knew who modified the photos and got irrigated by CNN. This time, it’s the professional journalists who lost their professional, their journalistic values and standards, but not the amateurs did.

So the conclusion has been drawn by China’s college students, we don’t trust China’s main media, neither Western main media. We don’t even need them any more. Everyone could be a journalist once he/she has a cell phone with a mini camera on it.