SubscribeGoogle News: comments on the comments
Posted in Citizen Journalism, Publishing, Internet, News, Pro Am Journalism on August 9th, 2007. By Maren Hermans.
Google wants to integrate comments from people and players related to each of the stories featured in Google News. This is another step into times of total information, and probably also necessary regarding the growing popularity of Citizen Journalism. Several articles this week mirror the worries on quality and objectivity of news-coverage, also in terms of selectivity: How is Google going to manage the small line between editorial- and censorship?
If one would visualize the latest development of Google News, it would probably look like ‘temp mort’, the style of filming where it seems like time stands still, but the perspective is changing in every frame. 360 degree movement around a still subject. Impressive. But do not forget about the editor.
With the addition of comments to the news, Google brings some interesting changes to news-coverage itself. Published comments from people who were related to the story, directly placed under the news item itself, can offer more complete information and detailed descriptions. It can touch the reader’s emotions in a way that objective journalism could never do. It offers a manifold view on a subject. But people wonder how this very democratic journalistic tool looks like in practice. Frank Shaw is mocking about this ‘really stupid idea’ (via TechCrunch); referring to an article that highlights the problematic role of PR and management executives. How can Google be so naive and think that only citizens are going to comment? Other articles are dealing with the extra work that lies ahead (see TechCrunch’s Michael Arrington).
‘Google works with each author to confirm their identity individually.’
Google informs. That is a big promise and one can already see scandals arousing around this controlling instance:
‘In being selective, the move is more fraught with risk as Google begins to make editorial decisions that might not be popular.’
Steve Rubel is warning. Others go on about Google’s policy regarding copyright of their news. Now that they are actually producing original news, they should open up their contents for copying, crawling and displaying.
In a way, Google faces the challenges every news-platform is busy with at the moment, and probably always has been: which letter/ comment/ question for the candidate to publish? But verification and credibility are rare goods in our 360 degree information society, and this is just another contribution that keeps alive the important discourse around contemporary information, its value and its mediation.
No Comments
No comments yet.
RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URL