I just got an email from a friend working in Iraq. He’s stuck in Mosul waiting for a helicopter to Kirkuk. Must have been months since I last heard from him.
I sent an email to him last night half expecting him to be locked in some farmhouse on the outskirts of Baghdad, handcuffed to a bed. It’s happened before. I don’t expect him to be quite so lucky next time.
Anyway, he’s not kidnapped, just delayed.
He’s an old time ‘proper’ Journalist. He’s mastered shorthand, always keeps his notebooks and is one of the finest writers I know.
He knows Arabic.
He files stories and photos for a Middle Eastern newspaper. He get’s the job done. Well.
He told me he looked at my ‘stuff’ online and is not sure if he has been left behind. “It seems pretty interesting and weird and, well, very modern (there are things I’ve never heard of..)
We came from the same daily newspaper in Northamptonshire and spent our last paid holiday on assignment in Egypt and Sudan before quitting work together.
We then took different paths. I don’t think he realises how those few times working together influenced me. Thanks to him I know there is a right way of doing things. I may not always choose that way myself but I know it’s there.
In amongst my manic postings on multimedia platforms, occasionally there is something a little more polished, a little more in depth. Often I rely on the viewer or reader to bring their opinion, thoughts, conversation to the mix. Mostly I spew content into the streams without tagging, captions or any kind of context. Maybe I see documenting as more of an art form than providing information or an official record.
I have all the tools I need and more. Perhaps if I thinned out my social media toolkit I would solidify my content. Less of a scatter gun, more of a missile.
Still, I am glad I took this path and am sure it will be an amalgamation of social technology and the ‘old ways’ that shape the future of Journalism.
If my friend knew that what I did was easy, he’d be unstoppable. Any journalist with an iota of imagination can pick up these tools and apply them to the way they work. The benefits are massive. As long as we don’t loose sight of our truths and see those truths as something to be shared on mass whatever the repercussions.
Maybe I will show him. A decent journalist works for the good of us all. A great one needs protecting and allows us a datum. It reminds us that some bloggers are journalists. And some are not.
I mostly blog at Documentally.com
I’m @Documentally on twitter
I love this, plain and simple. Winsome but wise.
I have an idea. Perhaps the reason your friend doesn’t become an unstoppable missile is the difficulty of getting paid (it seems unlikely from your post, but bear with me).So he needs a patron. And, lets’ face it, we’re all richer than Queen Victoria now – we can all be patrons.I’m there for a fiver a week for one year if there’s another 199 people.It’d be a ruddy brilliant experiment if nothing else. 200 people have their own private journalist (of course, with a guarantee of and policy for editorial non-intervention).
Nice post mate. Of course, if your friend needs a multimedia-savvy assistant, feel free to point him in my direction. Always happy to talk tools over a beer in Beirut!
@Siibo, Great idea. How would it work? Email delivery, a private blog? What would the news delivery system be for subscribers/patrons?
Love this. Do you think that the power of this guy’s work is something to do with the purity of his practice though? Do you think always have multi medias and audiences in mind would cloud his reporting? I don’t think you should pit yourself against him, your approach is interdisciplinary, and has equal though not comparable worth. You might feel shallower but you have reach, and you have his lessons in your tool box too… That sounds a bit wanly, but you see what I mean, right?
Thinking that the news delivery itself would be public and a mix of human/anecdotal bloggy stuff with some serious ‘oh no they don’t do that any more do they harumph’ long-form investigative pieces.The journalist is supported by cash from patrons and a ‘board’ who comprise people willing to pay cash AND attention.Charities are often pretty backward but they do have a well-established set-up for this kind of thing and a standard board of trustees would work just fine. You know the drill, treasurer, chair – but with some geekier roles too, Community Manager?I was thinking 200 x £5 is about £50k pa but that’s way to low for a journalist with expenses. So there’d have to be, say, 400 patrons at £5 per week. I think there’d also have to be a sink fund for emergencies. Heaven knows how that would work.I reckon the job of the journalist should be to produce ‘proper news’ available to all (this is the point – journalists we love, but newspapers possibly less so). And the patrons, as well as giving cash, should be reblogging, retweeting and adding layers of comment to the stories with their own social media. Documenting a project like this would be as important/interesting as the journalism.Vision: At the end of year 1, 10 more patron groups start. Year 2, you have enough for a full-on news service. Year 3 – mwa ha ha haaa!
Hi Hannah, Thanks for the comment.It’s not a pitting against, more a comparing to. Not with any other intentions other than to explore the what ifs and hows. He truly is a focused individual and perhaps that is what’s needed to create a body of work that will stand the test of time.Having flitted from one form of media to the next in an attempt to explore as much as i can, I can’t help but respect the indevidual who focuses and hones their skills.Maybe it’s the dissemination of your media that will ensure a longevity as well though. The larger the digital footprint the more the impact perhaps. Then there is the question of credibility and worthiness. Perhaps none of our personal comment really matters in any form of documentary as it’s impossible to truly empathize. Just thinking out loud now.. Wine will do that.
That’s another reason to love the medium of the blog.. The added bits at the bottom. The possibility that the page will never die, the conversation never end…
I am sure the title of this particular blog entry was made for me. The reason I say that is I am a blogger, but I strive to be more than that. I have followed Christian’s career for some time and have to say that I admire what he has achieved, moreso how he has achieved it. I will be quite proud of myself if one day I can say I am up there with the best, the likes of Christian.
Can’t seem to let this one go: 1. There is something similar to the patrons idea in the advances given to authors, especially the ‘have a No.1 single in Ireland’-type books. They have a vested interest in success and support authors rather than manage them. Maybe journalists need publishers more than editors?2. Micropayments. It’s easy to look at this and say ‘micropayments’ Here’s some recent stuff on why micropayments are doomed to fail:http://www.niemanlab.org/2009/09/micropayments-for-news-the-holy-grail-or-just-a-dangerous-delusion/http://news.slashdot.org/firehose.pl?op=view&type=story&sid=09/09/22/0132543. But here’s some liveblogging on Clay Shirky’s recent talk:http://www.ethanzuckerman.com/blog/2009/09/22/clay-shirky-and-accountability-journalism/Part summary: newspapers’ arrogance/lack of accountability to advertisers is what enabled them to produce investigative high-quality news. Patrons can be arrogant and only need to be accountable to themselves.
Hi Lee,You are very kind as obviously it’s a good feeling to be appreciated for what you do.I must add though, I wrote this in many ways to distance myself from the handle of ‘journalist’. If the words citizen journalist or similar exists in any of my online profiles, it’s because I’ve not yet got round to changing it.The more I blog and document online, be it through audio, video, and suchlike, the more I seem to put the role of journalist on a pedestal. I believe it is a certain discipline that requires qualities I shall never acquire. Discipline being one of them. ;)Maybe this is all just semantics and the word Journalist needs updating.. ‘journalist |ˈjərnl-ist|nouna person who writes for newspapers or magazines or prepares news to be broadcast on radio or television.’Anyway.. I can’t spell for toffee.. ;)And I use too many smilies.
Aye, agree with the sentiment. In fact I tweeted a similar statement some months ago: Bloggers aren’t journalists. But journalists can be bloggers.
Social media is not going to save the world.. Communication might though. I was just reading this techcrunch article: http://j.mp/3g6c8v (It’s long and if you are going to read it, read it all.)I agree with some parts and disagree with others. I was going to write a new post about how we shouldn’t sacrifice your humanity in the name of gonzo/citizen or whatever form of non standard old form Journalism you chose to invest your time in.I have said enough in the post above though. It’s common sense. Give a fool a camera and he may well do foolish things.The story does not always have to be the reality, unless it’s news. Anyone calling themselves a citizen journalist needs to feel they can comfortably drop the ‘citizen’ from the mantle if they are to build any form of credibility.The argument over whether to stand by documenting or getting in to help is an impossible one and different for every instance. It’s not a new one either.Nick Ut took his shot then helped Phan Thị Kim Phúc (Napalm Girl)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phan_Th%E1%BB%8B_Kim_Ph%C3%BAcThe importance of that iconic shot is not refuted.I will not be putting my cameras down as suggested by one commenter on the Tech Crunch article.It is possible to document without comment. If you are not sure of the facts, leave your opinion out.If you are a journalist, ‘citizen’ or otherwise you need a read the codes of conduct..This is the one from the NUJ:http://www.nuj.org.uk/innerPagenuj.html?docid=174If it comes down to semantics.. I’m a Blogger.
I guess if i had thought of the words when writing this three years ago I could have summarized.. Some bloggers practice journalism without being trained journalists.