Why are these Newsgames relevant?

Newsgames give the public an opportunity to link news with entertainment. It is an activity that takes somewhat serious issues and alters them into something slightly more fun. Popular newsgames involves news that has been widely spread. The familiarity to the story entices the public and urges them to want to play the game.

One of the most popular newsgames is The Bush Game:Can you throw a shoe at Bush?. The aim of the game is to be quick enough to throw a shoe at Bush whilst he attempts to dodge it. This is linked to the event when at a conference, a shoe was thrown at former President George Bush therefore it is clear that this is a 'newsgame'

Some games on the other hand are too personal bringing up the question of whether it is infact even journalism. Some games are named as con citizen games and exemplify extreme views, way passed relevant news. For example, the newsgame Airport Security. The player is the airport security who checks passengers for unsafe items. Although it is motivated by real events, it can be argued that it is not very journalistic as it more for entertainment than anything else.

Newsgames can also be pop-culture such as the Chris Brown hitting Rihanna game, where Rihanna seeks on revenge on Chris brown.

Youtube is seen by many viewers and in some cases the videos can become groundbreaking news. An incident where footage of a woman who decided to throw puppies into a river extended substantially from local news to global news.

Public control of the media plays a huge part in news. Websites created such as Twitter, Myspace and Facebook all play a part in citizen journalism.

http://www.syrianews-press.info/Shoeting_Bush/ - Can you throw a shoe at Bush?
http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/485965 - Rihanna's Revenge

 

Has the internet changed the way we read news?

News is informed in so many ways and one of its biggest influences is through technology. Technology enables not only professional journalists to write news but it has also given a chance for the public to spread their own. Citizen journalists are everyday people who play a part in telling news.

A certain time when citizen journalism was executed was during the boxing day Tsunami. It was almost impossible for the media to get any coverage on the event as there was no way og getting in. There was an extreme lack of communication therefore the only resort was for people/tourists to film footage on their phones and cameras. It was the only reliable source. In a lot of cases similar to the Tsunami, citizens offer news as journalists cannot always make their way instantly. This is an advantage of citizen journalism. Everyday people contribute to today's media and are just as a reliable source as journalists.

Moderation on the internet is still a major issue. Some people use it negtively. For example bullying. This is not an issue as it is destroying someones life, it is also an issue because it cannot be stopped. The internet is such a wide source, so how can you moderate news on the internet when everyone has a voice?

Creator of 'Oh My News', Yeon-Ho produced a website where citizens are able to post news however unlike others there are rules and regulations as to what you ca out up. This is an example of moderation however it is only slight http://international.ohmynews.com/

Technology Transmission

Technology transmission has also changed over the years. For example there was the morse code. No it is not as old as the 25 mile runners nonetheless it is obvious that times have changed. After the morse code, there was the Steam Press Transmission, followed by the the Translantic Code, then in the 50's came the Crystal Palace Mast then eventually Mass Media. This also links with society as in the 50's crowds would sit and watch TV together, as oppose to nowadays where TV is not neccesarily a bonding process but something we just do.

Before 24 Hours news was available, the Corporate News Media transmitted news to us. It was the idea of 'one person's many'. Skips a few decades forward and we have 24 Hours news. We know longer have the choice of having to wake up for breakfast news or rush home for the 6pm or 10 pm news. It's now fairly instant which is extremely convenient  however comes with a few flaws.

The hazards of 24 Hours news, links to the idea of time because news is now conformed by not only journalists but other people putting it together. The professionalism has lessened.

Churnalism

This term means the values of news has been altered because sourcerors are so quick to put out news they have more or less churned it out.



News and Technology

Before technology, news was informed via word of mouth. Pheidippides ran 25 miles everyday. This moves from the idea of individual to society. Oral news can also be a form of gossip, peer to peer transmission. This can be done by word of mouth or through technology. Due to today's highly advanced technology this can be done in many ways. A more personal way of peer to peer transmission can be hand written. Integrating technology with this method, the public are able to email, text or enstant chat. On the other hand there is a debate as to whether this is similar to news written on paper as email, texts and instant messages are less time consming.

Compuer medicated gossip

E.g Facebook. This may not be ground breaking news however it is our news. It is something we decide to share and value as news.

What is news???

News is information on events. They are to inform the public on what has happened. Over the years, the public’s interest on what they want to here or deem as relevant to their lives has changed. It has especially changed in technology.

• Hard news – Political news such as the conference in Birmingham
• Soft news – more for entertainment such as x factor contestants

Both can be merged together as news can be labelled as both. For example, Cameron was out jogging along the canal.

It is also described as ‘News information about a subject of some public interest that is shared with some portion of the public’ Mitchell Stephens-A History of News pg4

One of the most popular news events would be about the Olympics. A story for example would be about the former children’s home in Jersey. News can be about institutions such as the BBC TV Centre, which is very closely linked with the government. News is a profession for journalists, newspapers and photographers. Images today are very important.

Digitization and Convergence

Digitization is a conceptual tool that enables changes in the media. This particular process consists of information being converted into a digital format. This is most common with digital cameras. When a user uploads pictures onto the computer, the format is changed into a digital or numerical form.     

Wise, 2000 says that digitization makes media files “Highly amenable to manipulation by a
computer”

Convergence which is another tool is “…the interlinking of computing and IT, communications networks, and media content that occurred with the development and popularisation of the
Internet…” Flew, T. (2008) New Media: An Introduction.

•        Technological Convergence – This is the transmission
of voice, text, data, sound and image and how it has evolved whilst still
enacting similar tasks. An iPod is a good example of technical convergence as
it is not only used for music but developed or evolved in a way that lets us
listen to music through various ways such as downloads, YouTube or your own personal
playlist.

Is there such thing as New Media?

What makes media new? Media is constantly changing so what
distinguishes new from old. What may have been brought out today could easily
be replaced by something else tomorrow.

“In recent years the ‘newness’ of new media has attracted an increasing groundswell of
rebellion against using the term at all” Sue Thomas, 2006

Surely there are other ways to look at media than just in a black and white
perspective. Media is such a wide spectrum it can be named in various terms.
Multimedia can be used as it is various forms of media integrated together. Whether
that is visual, audio, animated etc. Digital media is electronic media. This consists
of many forms such as the internet, video games etc; the internet being the
biggest of all digital media. Initially the internet was mainly for text but as
it developed pictures could be seen and more recently videos, YouTube being the most popular to access it from.