Greg Clayton

Convergence

 Prof Cacoilo

12 October 2015

Mass Amateurization  and the Social and Professional Impact

In reading Shirky’s views on mass amateurization,  he is speaking about the public taking on, what used to be, professional jobs and circumstances that in the past were left to the professionals themselves.   In particular the media outlets that pertain to journalists, publishers and photojournalists, most  notably in the newspaper industry.   It refers to the capabilities that new forms of media have given to nonprofessionals and how they go about performing their duties.  What defines a journalist?  How do we in these modern times, while everybody has a portable television studio at their disposal, edit or relegate this new type of medium.  Shirky does not discourage amateurs from “citizen journalism”, he just is not sure where the line is.  The people most affected by this is obviously the journalists themselves,  contending there is no discipline in most citizen journalists, and bare no responsibility for inaccurate reporting.

The newspaper industry has taken it on the chin from the internet over the last 10 years, with all but a few, i.e.  The New York Times, struggling to keep their head above water.   Shirky adds, “For people with a professional outlook, it’s hard to understand how something that isn’t professionally produced could affect them-not only is the internet not  a newspaper, it isn’t a business, or even an institution.” (Shirky 56) You do not know who you are fighting.  Not only are people relying on the internet more and more for their news, newspapers also need to contend the bloggers.  This is where professional journalists strike out against mass amateurization,  publishers too for that matter.  Because everyone who blogs is now not only a journalist, they are now also a publisher, all without an editor.   Once a blogger hits send, that piece is published.  We used an example of a woman on a flight to South Africa, who posted a racist  tweet while in the air, or published her view, for the whole world to see, and by the time the plane landed there was already a blog and website set up about her. http://abcnews.go.com/International/woman-fired-tweet-aids-africa-sparks-internet-outrage/story?id=21298519

Incidentally she was also in the news earlier this month involved in the latest fantasy sports scandal.  The newspaper industry seems to be in some sort of denial from Shirky.  From Everyone Is A Media Outlet,  “It is easier to understand that you face competition than obsolescence.” (Shirky 59)  Meaning as long as there is competition there is a game to play.  But the stats do not look good for newspapers and the future.  Citizen journalism and mass amateurization is only beginning.

            Not only are the wordsmiths trying to acclimate themselves to the future of journalism, but producers as well.  With modern advances in technology, they are essentially the middle man.  Why pay or hire someone or company to publish your work when it can just as easily and relatively cost free on your own?  The digital age is changing the environment in which many professionals have worked in for many years. From Shirky, “The principal threat to the Richmond Daily News , and indeed to all newspapers small and large, was not competition from other newspapers but radical changes in the overall ecosystem of information.” (Shirky56)  This holds true to the publishing world as well.  In the example in the chapter Everyone is a Media Outlet, the bloggers broke the story of Senator Trent Lott and his outrageous birthday toast to Strom Thurmon.  A decision to not publish the story by newspapers seems to have backfired on what became a national story and eventual disposal of Lott as Senate Majority leader.  Proof positive that citizen journalism and mass amateurization could reach the masses and have profound affects on major stories.

            Personally for me, my experience with mass amateurization was with a local social websit called “Maplewood Online”.  It was a social forum site set up by a Maplewood, NJ resident for citizens of South Orange and Maplewood (who are a brother and sister community in Essex County that share a school system and a long history.) to communicate about upcoming events, local politics and things of that nature. The year was 2005 and I was working with the South Orange Dept. of Public Works.  We were responsible for parks maintenance, snow removal etc.  Most residents were happy with the job we did, but some would go to Maplewood Online and spew out right lies about me and fellow co-workers. Things like we drink on the job, they would see us leaving bars at lunch time (we were picking up our take out), urinating on private property, among others.  None of this happened.  The men and women I worked with were hard working, family oriented good people.  The agenda was to outsource the DPW  to private contractor who just so happened to be one of the people on Maplewood Online, under a fake name.  He said he would follow us on our routes and daily job assignments and “report” on our shortcomings.  It was all made up, but was not filtered, and he never had to produce proof.  Well in the end he sort of won, half of us were furloughed (fired), and many services today are contracted out.  Not a single issue he brought up was ever proven at one Town Hall meeting. Some of those people gave 30 years of their lives to that town, and were shown the door because of a series of false blogs.

Bibliography

Shirky, Clay. Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing without Organizations. New York: Penguin, 2008. Print