By Nini Cabaero (ACFJ Faculty)
Journalists from 21 countries discussed online journalism, including the model for a 21st century newsroom, in a seminar held in Malaysia last 17 to 19 August 2010.
The seminar, titled “Online Journalism: Chances and Challenges,” was organized by the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, the Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR), the European Journalism Centre, and the Asian Center for Journalism at the Ateneo de Manila University. It was held at the UTAR campus in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia.
Participants were journalists from several Asian and European countries who exchanged ideas on how to build and keep an online community, the content and revenue models of selected independent online media, and the workflows for newsrooms for the 21st century.
They discussed how online journalism contributes to improving public discourse in different settings and on how those without voice in mainstream media can have their advocacies promoted online.
Paul Bradshaw, reader in online journalism at the Birmingham City University, UK, said the model for the 21st century newsroom considers speed and depth in the production and distribution of information.
Speed can be attained through giving out mobile or e-mail alerts, posting to blogs, and publishing or broadcasting articles. Depth can be in the form of providing context to a story through hyperlinks, analysis or reflection, interactivity and customization of information through databases.
Bradshaw also writes for the Online Journalism Blog and is founder of the Help Me Investigate.com.
Other speakers discussed blogging and journalism, how to make a living from online journalism, how to protect ethics and quality in new media, and activism in the online sphere.
