re: Trust in the Age of Citizen Journalism

correobasura — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 18:47:00 GMT

Mr. Glocer, as a photojournalist I wholeheartedly welcome the idea of being able to track changes to an image. I think that will go a long way in helping rid news photos of images whose content has been unethically altered. And for personal purposes, it will allow a photographer to see what changes she has made to her own file of images--to replicate a previous toning technique, etc.

You addressed aspect the presence of doubt when an amateur works with an image, i.e. has the content been radically altered? But what about the actual content of the image when it was captured? How will you trust amateurs to not stage photos or to not arrange/move items in a scene or to avoid being influenced or directed by political or PR actors at the scene? While nothing is 100% sure, at least most professional photojournalists have journalistic ethics training and the goal to at least strive for objectivity (the ones that I know and work with, at least).

Lastly, I wonder how you could "fire" a freelancer? A freelancer is by definition and independent entity and as such can not be fired. You can stop using their services, sure, but since a freelancer is not an employee, you can't "fire" one.

Thanks for posting an interesting speech.

re: Trust in the Age of Citizen Journalism

jtdriscoll — Thu, 10 May 2007 08:50:17 GMT

Excellent commentary from someone whose perspective has not been clouded by too many hours in the newsroom. Most journalists I encounter still presume the moral high ground and the last word. Not many have woken up to the fact that the Brave New World of News is an Interactive Dialogue in the Democracy of Cyberspace, not a Top Down Lecture by Press Barons camped out on the pages of tabloids or the public airwaves. Nevertheless, old line Media Titans will try to jump on the New Media Juggernaut (Murdoch bought My Space). But hopefully more will emulate the kind of thinking evident here and respect and engage the audience.
Bravo Glocer!
Good to see a media CEO who writes his own blogs and who listens to the Grateful Dead.
John Driscoll
Oil Trader
Reuters Subscriber