Clay Shirky on news: don’t build a paywall around a public good
1) Go to the Nieman Lab webpage (part of Harvard university) and watch the video of Clay Shirky presenting to Harvard students.
2) Play the clip AND read along with the transcript below to ensure you are following the argument. You need to watch from the beginning to 29.35 (the end of Shirky's presentation).
3) Why does Clay Shirky argue that 'accountability journalism' is so important and what example does he give of this? Shirky quotes "Losing the News" Now this doesn’t mean that all newspapers go away. It does mean that a lot of them go away. Syndication makes no sense in a world of URLs, as the AP is realizing, so they’re saying you can send the traffic to us, instead of us sending the stories to you.
4) What does Shirky say about the relationship between newspapers and advertisers? Which websites does he mention as having replaced major revenue-generators for newspapers (e.g. jobs, personal ads etc.)? He mentions websites like Monster, Match and Craigslist, which are outdoing newspapers furthermore, he also mentions Advertisers were forced to overpay for the services they received, because there weren't many alternatives for reaching people.
5) Shirky talks about the 'unbundling of content'. This means people are reading newspapers in a different way. How does he suggest audiences are consuming news stories in the digital age? He suggests that consumers don't directly go to the news website for the news they want. consumers are more likely to go the links such as linked on social media platforms such as Facebook which made you click on the story.
6) Shirky also talks about the power of shareable media. How does he suggest the child abuse scandal with the Catholic Church may have been different if the internet had been widespread in 1992? within Shirkys article it states that that if newspapers have paywalls, less people will share news stories. He states that "value comes from republication and reuse".
7) Why does Shirky argue against paywalls? overall Shirky suggest that you have to prevent the audience’s ability to act as a publisher in order for that business model to work. However because of the fact that consumers are now like producers it means that newspaper institutions need to ensure that they have proveide it for free and this is why shirky is against the idea of a paywall. overall He suggests that if newspapers have paywalls, less people will share news stories
8) What is a 'social good'? In what way is journalism a 'social good'? Journalism could be seen as a social good as journalists try an expose people who believe they can get away with crime, just because of their "powerful status"- when journalist work together to reveal stories like this, it makes people trust them and believe that they are doing it for the good of the society.
9) Shirky says newspapers are in terminal decline. How does he suggest we can replace the important role in society newspapers play? What is the short-term danger to this solution that he describes? shirky Suggest that we are headed into a long trough of decline in accountability journalism, because the old models are breaking faster than the new models can be put into place.
10) Look at the first question and answer regarding institutional power. Give us your own opinion: how important is it that major media brands such as the New York Times or the Guardian continue to stay in business and provide news? In my opinion i think that its extremely vital that papers such as the Guardian and very important for newspapers such as the Guardian and The New York Times to stay in business and provide news as they are known for publishing good quality journalism which is reliable. Their status as online newspapers as well, boosts their credibility as most links made to news stories on social media platforms
2) Play the clip AND read along with the transcript below to ensure you are following the argument. You need to watch from the beginning to 29.35 (the end of Shirky's presentation).
3) Why does Clay Shirky argue that 'accountability journalism' is so important and what example does he give of this? Shirky quotes "Losing the News" Now this doesn’t mean that all newspapers go away. It does mean that a lot of them go away. Syndication makes no sense in a world of URLs, as the AP is realizing, so they’re saying you can send the traffic to us, instead of us sending the stories to you.
4) What does Shirky say about the relationship between newspapers and advertisers? Which websites does he mention as having replaced major revenue-generators for newspapers (e.g. jobs, personal ads etc.)? He mentions websites like Monster, Match and Craigslist, which are outdoing newspapers furthermore, he also mentions Advertisers were forced to overpay for the services they received, because there weren't many alternatives for reaching people.
5) Shirky talks about the 'unbundling of content'. This means people are reading newspapers in a different way. How does he suggest audiences are consuming news stories in the digital age? He suggests that consumers don't directly go to the news website for the news they want. consumers are more likely to go the links such as linked on social media platforms such as Facebook which made you click on the story.
6) Shirky also talks about the power of shareable media. How does he suggest the child abuse scandal with the Catholic Church may have been different if the internet had been widespread in 1992? within Shirkys article it states that that if newspapers have paywalls, less people will share news stories. He states that "value comes from republication and reuse".
7) Why does Shirky argue against paywalls? overall Shirky suggest that you have to prevent the audience’s ability to act as a publisher in order for that business model to work. However because of the fact that consumers are now like producers it means that newspaper institutions need to ensure that they have proveide it for free and this is why shirky is against the idea of a paywall. overall He suggests that if newspapers have paywalls, less people will share news stories
8) What is a 'social good'? In what way is journalism a 'social good'? Journalism could be seen as a social good as journalists try an expose people who believe they can get away with crime, just because of their "powerful status"- when journalist work together to reveal stories like this, it makes people trust them and believe that they are doing it for the good of the society.
9) Shirky says newspapers are in terminal decline. How does he suggest we can replace the important role in society newspapers play? What is the short-term danger to this solution that he describes? shirky Suggest that we are headed into a long trough of decline in accountability journalism, because the old models are breaking faster than the new models can be put into place.
10) Look at the first question and answer regarding institutional power. Give us your own opinion: how important is it that major media brands such as the New York Times or the Guardian continue to stay in business and provide news? In my opinion i think that its extremely vital that papers such as the Guardian and very important for newspapers such as the Guardian and The New York Times to stay in business and provide news as they are known for publishing good quality journalism which is reliable. Their status as online newspapers as well, boosts their credibility as most links made to news stories on social media platforms
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