Online News: Journalism And The Internet

Book excerpt: Provides an analysis of online news. This book offers insights into debates concerning the ways in which journalism is evolving on the internet, devoting particular attention to the factors influencing its development. It shows how the forms, practices and epistemologies of online news are gradually becoming conventionalized. In this exciting and timely book, Stuart Allan provides a wide-ranging analysis of online news. He offers important insights into key debates concerning the ways in which journalism is evolving on the internet, devoting particular attention to the factors influencing its development. Using a diverse range of examples, he shows how the forms, practices and epistemologies of online news are gradually becoming conventionalized, and assesses the implications for journalism's future. The rise of online news is examined with regard to the reporting of a series of major news events. The topics include coverage of the Oklahoma City bombing, the Clinton-Lewinsky affair, the September 11 attacks, election campaigns, and the war in Iraq. The emergence of blogging is traced with an eye to its impact on journalism as a profession. The participatory journalism of news sites such as Indymedia, OhmyNews, and Wikinews is explored, as is the citizen journalist reporting of the South Asian tsunami, London bombings and Hurricane Katrina.