Mass Amateurization in Media

Before tackling mass amateurization, Shirky, in Here Comes Everybody, discusses the idea of a profession. He says that “a profession exists to solve a hard problem, one that requires some sort of specialization,” that “most professions exist because there is a scarce resource that requires ongoing management,” and that “in these cases, the scarcity of the resource itself creates the need for a professional class.” (Shirky, 59) Mass amateurization, according to Shirky, is the idea that everyone can do it, and eliminates the need for the middle man that handles all the actual publishing aspects.

Editors v Public on #DemDebate (Slate)

One of the largest outcomes of mass amateurization is the broadening of what is and isn’t considered news. Sites like Twitter track trends and list whatever people are talking about the most at any given moment. The public creates the news in that sense, bringing to the forefront things that otherwise weren’t being talked about. Citizen journalism has grown and movements like #BlackLivesMatter were covered on the ground by people who were there, and have grown to the point where potential presidential candidates are meeting with leaders of the movement.

A downfall to this is that because it is so easy to publish things, there’s no filter as to what gets published until after it’s already been published. Shirky speaks on the idea that just because something is published to a public site, doesn’t mean it was published for public consumption. He states that “those of us who grew up with a strong separation between communication and broadcast media have a hard time seeing something posted to a weblog as being in a private register.”(Shirky, 89) The line between communication and broadcast media seems to have been blurred when things that are normally considered private communication are posted to something where the main form of communication is one to many.

Both Shirky and Jenkins pose a question to as to whether a media professional can still exist in a world of mass amateurization. In Why Heather Can Write, Jenkins focuses on the idea of fan fiction, and the idea of participation, which he breaks down from three different points of view: the prohibitionists who are trying to shut it down, the collaborations who are trying to work with creators, and the consumers who are “asserting their right to participate in culture, on their own terms, when and where they wish.” (Jenkins, 175) Fan fiction itself has no bearing on the success of an actual author, and does not diminish the value of their work. If anything, fan fiction can be used as practice for those who want to become writers, so long as they do not attempt to make money off of the work of others. In fact, two extremely successful authors got their start in fan fiction, but it remains to be seen as to how their purely original work will connect with the general public.

50 Shades of Twilight Infographic

Fifty Shades of Grey, the successful book series that spawned a trilogy of films, started out as Twilight fan fiction. The characters kept the name and looks of their inspiration up until it was published as a book, when Edward turned into Christian and Bella turned into Anastasia. Another example of an author building their own following using fan fiction is Cassandra Clare. What started as Harry Potter fan fiction turned into her best-selling Mortal Instruments series, and has everything from spin-offs to a television series in the works. These women were both adults when they began writing their fan fiction, so the idea to use it as a springboard towards making money and selling “original” work, something children may not do.

As a result of mass amateurization, the standards for work in a media profession have increased. Not only do you need to know how to properly write about news or whatever focus you decide on, you must also need to know how to navigate and brand the news, how to determine what the public would deem as news rather than what you feel the public needs to know. The ease at which things can be published now leads to the challenge as to what’s being published, and how you can expand upon what’s being put out before you. It’s great to be first, but it’s better to be right.

Works Cited

Jenkins, Henry. Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide. New York: New York UP, 2006. Print.

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