Really Easy Tech Deck Tricks

Technological change and Cybermedia


TITLE: Technology and Cybermedia
AUTHOR: Cabrera, Maria Angeles (coords.)
EDITORIAL: Social Communication

This book is the result of collective work a group of professors and researchers expert in new technologies and media, involved mostly in a larger project on the evolution of online media in Spain1 from multifocal analysis focused on changes occurring in the past years. These technological changes or developments beyond the appearance of new devices. Technological developments have substantially modified the work performed by information professionals and has changed the habits of media consumption by users.

But where are all these changes? Throughout its pages, the different contributions of the authors try to elucidate-with a thorough analysis of this, the future of media company formats and receiving devices, of the journalist, roasted and the audience and society in general.

The book addresses the restructuring of the newsroom as an immediate effect on the evolution technology. Most media companies have relocated the seats of the writers, trying to adapt to new opportunities of digital convergence. In other cases, it is physically separate area dedicated to web content from the rest of the newsroom. There are indications that convergence as a natural result of developments within the media which created the figure of the journalist as 'information architect', capable of combining various functions and create an information product that can be disseminated in different formats.

Another effect of this development is that the journalist's work is not limited or restricted to four walls drafting and at the fixed table and telephone. It envisions a mobile journalism, which is capable of transmitting the first statements from the scene, something that was attributed to the direct connections of the radio and television, but is now able to pick up the minute the Web journalist for the environment. This also modifies the perception of the audience and their consumption of information, the current technology offers a significant amount of channels, which requires the medium to capture their attention for longer than the competition, a circumstance that tests professional creative ability when doing a job attractive enough to captivate the audience.

This book also addresses topics such as blogs or blogs, citizen journalism and audience participation through the media and social networks. For most journalists, Bloggers users and social networks are spaces that can be found more or less reliable information on any subject of interest to society. Experts warn of the need to take into account that this type of information are individual contributions, which reflect the viewpoint of its author, in this case the user, and therefore, differs clearly from the work of information professionals.

However, citizen journalism and the greatest influence or user involvement in media content has its origin in the author's blogs, or in the middle sections enabled on your web page to collect the opinions of its readers . This work addresses whether or not to treat this phenomenon as journalism, giving it a certain identity, or whether it is better to differentiate between professional work, which must adhere to principles and standards of quality, and input from citizens , which are free to interpret reality and not have to be subject to the principles of truthfulness that is required of the journalist.

Finally, one of the tools that has burst on the media stage is mobile. His contribution to the media and entertainment industry in general are difficult to assess, because the software applications and different models are growing at an exponential rate. Spain is one of the leading countries in Internet use via mobile. Check your e-mail and breaking news are two of the main features demanded by users. From the professional point of view, the journalist is becoming more independent, but is also forced to reinvent itself to meet the demands of the times and adapt to constant updates of available technology.

On the side of the drawbacks in using mobile as a new tool, the authors note that there are a multitude of operators, formats and software programs for each device or cell phone that are incompatible with others. Furthermore, users claim that web pages to fit mobile phone to make it easier to navigate. To the above must be added the high prices imposed by telephone carriers for Internet access from mobile devices, and particularly in Spain.

After reading this paper, we conclude as suggestive ideas that technological developments should lead us to make decisions within a global business environment, but from a particular perspective, not away the reality of the online media for the work performed by the journalist and should take into account your audience, not just as consumers and recipients of messages and information content, but as active and participatory new media century.