Getting to Know AZ

To say that online news and/or conversational media has merely affected the journalism that reaches our generation would be a huge understatement. Conversational media, specifically through online sources has completely and utterly shaped the way I get my news. Now to find out what’s happening in the world people no longer have to read a paper or wait to watch a local newscast. People can receive the information they want on demand through websites, search engines, view created videos etc. Our society is always on-the-go and you can see how the media is shifting to accommodate this.

Personally I like to receive news via the WWW. If I am searching for top news I’ll head to some local sites but turn to the Associate Press or BBC for international news.

www.azcentral.com

www.eastvalleytribune.com

www.ap.org

www.bbc.co.uk

Those news outlets are pretty standard and always cover the hard news of the day. But when I’d like to just peruse news and see what’s happening and where, the best sites to turn to are viewer created. My favorite is Current TV. This is a completely viewer created television channel where the viewers decide what’s important and subsequently make it their news. To get a sense of what it’s all about, here’s Current TV segment on a humanitarian and his process of creating “Charity.”

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9Hx3naIKgU]

In a keynote speech, Tom Curley, the President and CEO of The Associated Press talked of the shift from the former coverage of media to the present, specifically touching on conversational media.

“…consumers will want to use the two-way nature of the Internet to become active participants themselves in the exchange of news and ideas. The news, as “lecture,” is giving way to the news as a “conversation,” he said.

I whole heartedly agree and with him that consumers now want to actively participate in the news they’re receiving. I also see the media recognizing this and giving viewers/readers the opportunity to take a hold what they consume. Another example of this would be www.digg.com where readers rate articles based on how news worthy they are. Journalism is evolving in a huge way right now and conversational media is definitely leading the way.