Tuesday 1 November 2016

Clay Shirky on news: don’t build a paywall around a public good



1)Why does Clay Shirky argue that 'accountability journalism' is so important and what example does he give of this?

Clay Shirky believes ‘accountability journalism’ it is essential as he believes stories to enables massive stories to be published. An example of this is of the Catholic Church scandal.

2)What does Shirky say about the relationship between newspapers and advertisers? Which websites does he mention as having replaced major revenue-generators for newspapers (e.g. jobs, personal ads etc.)?

 Shirky as believes that advertising and marketing has a massive role in the success of newspapers as it could determine whether or not they are making good revenue. This is beneficial as it would help newspapers to pay their journalists.

3)Shirky talks about the 'unbundling of content'. This means people are reading newspapers in a different way. How does he suggest audiences are consuming news stories in the digital age?


He illustrates that the future it will become digital because people are so use to the way that the news is just handed to them for free that now it seems weird to pay for something which is supposed to be a public good. 

4)Shirky also talks about the power of shareable media. How does he suggest the child abuse scandal with the Catholic Church may have been different if the internet had been widespread in 1992?


Shirky says that the Catholic Church scandal of 1992 died down at the end as the story got old. He believes that if the scandal occurred in the era where there was social media and internet the story would have been much worse.

5)Why does Shirky argue against pay walls?


Shirky believes that it isn’t a good idea he feels that the public shouldn’t be used for them to create money.


6)What is a 'social good'? In what way is journalism a 'social good'?


‘Social good’ is when people share the content.  This has a relation with journalists as the internet makes everything easily accessible which makes it easier for people to come together and share the story. This makes it a social good as it’s for everyone to share and see rather than only certain individuals.

7)Shirky says newspapers are in terminal decline. How does he suggest we can replace the important role in society newspapers play? What is the short-term danger to this solution that he describes?


There is no denying that newspapers are indeed declining rapidly and even though this is the case they are not replaceable as the news which is 
received is published by journalists so the news is regulated whereas news online is just given out without being regulated but it is down to the consumers to keep alive the newspaper industry.

8)Look at the first question and answer regarding institutional power. Give us your own opinion: how important is it that major media brands such as the New York Times or the Guardian continue to stay in business and provide news?


I believe that massive papers such as ‘The Guardian’ and ‘The New York Times’ is very powerful and influential in this generation. They provide a wider range of issues. This is the case as a short video cannot give us the full insight into the struggles of Britain leaving the EU

No comments:

Post a Comment