Open Journalism: Is It The Future?

The Guardian recently released a TV advert as part of a campaign promoting the papers concept of 'open journalism'. The three little pigs advert depicts how the newspaper covers the story and hot the Guardian interacts with readers and internet users through the newspaper, website, blogs, tweets and video.

'Open is our operating system, a way of doing things that is based on a belief in the open exchange of information, ideas and opinions and its power to bring about change....The campaign is designed to bring that philosophy to life for new and existing readers' (Alan Rusbridger 2012). The paper has a whole section on their website dedicated to their concept of 'Open Jouranlism' and how readers can get involved.

The advert has done its job and sparked an argument as to whether 'Open Journalism' is a good concept for journalists to take on board. Melanie Sill is in favour of the idea and promotes what she calls 'The Case for Open Journalism Now'. She describes it as '...a hopeful yet pragmatic argument for journalism’s future as a public good. It addresses a basic question of the digital age: with information flowing everywhere, how does journalism provide value? The answers lie in a new orienting idea for journalism that is transparent, responsive and enriched through vibrant two-way connections with a networked universe'.

I personally believe that the concept of 'open journalism' is a good one that all journalists should try and take on as it shows that they are capable of keeping up with the digital era as it changes. By allowing readers to get involved journalists can get more accurate accounts of stories from those there whilst it is happening. Open journalism also creates a conversation between journalists and readers which means that both parties can feed ideas off of each other and help to inform opinions. Also the idea of open journalism means that social networking platforms such as Twitter can be used to provide information on news stories. This is ideal for 'news breaking events' as information and images can be uploaded quickly on such websites allowing the public to get a better understanding of what is happening. So journalists’ wanting to harness this is a good thing in my eyes because it creates a new form of journalism which is more suitable for a society that is constantly networking.

Samantha Brick: Stunt or Truth?

I'm sure by now you've heard of the phenomenon that is Samantha Brick. Her controversial article entitled 'Why do women hate me for being beautiful?' was published in The Daily Mail and on The Mail Online has caused this unknown freelance journalist to rise to fame. The online article received over 1 million hits and the story was so big that her name trended worldwide on Twitter.

Now for those that have read the article I'm sure you have all formed an opinion and if you’re anything like me it wasn't a very good one. In fact a lot of the articles attention was negative as many people believe that she was too cocky and rather insulting to other women. In her interview on This Morning host Ruth Langsford stated that maybe it wasn't her looks that made women hate her but in fact the air she gives off when she enters a room. However Samantha defended herself and the article by saying she does not regret writing it, and all the negative response just backs up her argument that all women hate beautiful women. But putting aside the fact that she has so obviously offended so many people; the big question on critic’s minds was whether this was all a big publicity stunt by The Daily Mail?

Personally what I want to know is whether this was just a stunt that critics say The Daily Mail could profit from and gain publicity or whether this was a heartfelt piece of writing from a somewhat delusional journalist with high self esteem? From a PR perspective this article is a good publicity stunt as it has increased the number and maybe even the range of visitors to The Mail Online and upped its traffic levels. The Daily Mail has certainly been splashed all over social networking websites and their name is in everyone’s mouth including celebrities like Derren Brown.

Now I'm still not sure what to believe but what I do know is that The Daily Mail certainly made a big profit from this article whether it was a planned publicity stunt or not. If this wasn't a publicity stunt I think Samantha Brick may have sparked something that she wasn't quite expecting.