Journalism is Waning...

I also came across an opinion piece earlier today that discussed how journalism is declining because people do not value true journalistic reporting today as much as they did in the past. The writer, Michael Gerson, argues that people do not want real news, so therefore cable networks and many bloggers give people watered down versions of the news. As Gerson puts it, "Makeup is cheaper for guests than actual reporting."

He also raises an important issue that I feel is worth noting. While independent media is definitely on the rise and is a fantastic and necessary counterpart to mainstream journalism, it does, for the most part, lack something the mainstream press has: Money. While an indy news outlet can bring down government officials and expose wrongdoing here in the U.S., most do not have the finances to send a reporter into a war zone or overseas to cover a crisis. While there's much to be said about the quality of mainstream reporting from a war zone, the fact still remains, in my opinion, that any reporting is better than no reporting at all. An independent blogger with his or her own Web site probably doesn't have the money to cover a story like those, so for that reason mainstream reporters still have a necessary place in the world, despite the turn towards Internet journalism.

Facebook Asks, "Where do you Live?"

While browsing CNN, I came across this article, which discusses the perils of Facebook asking the seemingly simple question, "Where do you live?" While for many of us the answer is easy — just name a city and everyone probably knows exactly where you're talking about — for others the answer is less obvious. For instance, while Facebook considers Tibet's capital, Lhasa, to be part of China, most who live there reject China's power over them. Jerusalem, which we all know is a hotly contested area between Palestine and Israel, is only listed as part of Israel on Facebook. Cases like these are not unheard of throughout a world where countries like Pakistan, Israel, India, China and others have gone to war over disputed regions.

Without reading this piece on CNN, this entire issue never would have crossed my mind. Living comfortably in the United States, it's easy to forget that there are places in world where something as simple as your hometown is up for debate. Now, Facebook is forced to addressed this issue to make its content acceptable to people from all parts of the world. that mainstream media wouldn't dare to touch, much less dive into wholeheartedly. It shows that the media — mainstream and independent outlets alike — must adjust its coverage to include all factions of its audience, even when dealing with something as conventionally simple as the question of where one calls home.