Blog Post #5

Over time, the idea of journalism has changed. From traditional straight-forward newspapers, to radio and TV, and now the Internet. As Sue Robinson said in Chapter 4, journalists have been able to successfully adapt to the new technologies that come about to produce interesting content. 

With the rise of citizen journalism, regular citizens are encouraged to actively participate with spreading information and sometimes being able to spread first-person accounts. Journalists have actually embraced this and use citizen content for their own professional work. Along with the increased interest of citizens participating, journalists were still looking for a new way that audiences can participate in the news.  

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Participatory journalism can be defined as the required interaction of readers to control a graphic, submit content, or produce their own news. Many readers want to have that interactive experience with news now. With the information they receive, they can then use that to further research, investigate, and communicate with others. A few platform affordances allow citizens to do just that. A link can take them to another article, video, or audio piece that provides more information on a particular subject. Social media platforms allow audiences to like, share, comment and discuss with others. 

I thought that the interactive New York Times piece about Notre-Dame was especially interesting. The overall piece was broken up nicely into small paragraphs of writing with graphics spread throughout. The interactive graphics were the best part about the article. The way the graphic showed how the fire was spreading through the building in real time was very impactful. They included time stamps so readers could understand the time frame in which it happened. Hyperlinks included in the article allow readers to click on those links and gain more information. 

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For me personally, I thought the New York Times article was super powerful and impactful. Reading the reactions of certain France figures and following the path that the firefighters took was eye-opening. I had never known the entire story and it very much was told as a story and adding interactive graphics that moved in real time only further enhanced the story.