One Good Thing About the Death of Newspapers

It's not a simple question of standing. It's actually about training, institutional memory, craft and professionalism. If you read the article Simon got the info on the earlier shooting incident, as well as the identity of the officer, because he a) worked sources in the department he had developed over years of cover it and b) was able to find out about the non-existent wave of threats against police officers because he knew which unit covered these events and found sources there as well and c) he knew the history of the case that the department tried to use to claim that officers were really in jeopardy, again because HE HAD COVERED THAT BEAT FOR YEARS. A trained beat reporter is a reporter who knows that beat. He has sources, he has history, he isn't learning everything the first time he needs to know it. A "citizen journalist" is anyone with a computer. Are there citizen journalists covering beats systematically and for years on end as newspapers once did? It's not about standing or someone simply calling themselves a reporter. It's about the day-in-day-out druggery of covering a bureaucracy or agency, getting to know people, meeting them for beers, saving their home numbers, etc. Blogging can be interesting commentary. A citizen journalist, as a term, is an insult. It's like saying someone who is a good listener and cares about a neighbor's problems is a citizen social worker. You go to school to learn social work; it is a craft and a social science and training makes you good. Same with reporting. The arrogance of the internet is that armed with an opinion and a laptop and a search engine, everyone thinks they know how to do something that they haven't trained for, that they haven't put the real time and effort into, and that requires so much more than they even know. Not knowing what you don't know is the worst kind of ignorance.

Truly interrogative journalism died years ago, the argument over professionalism and institutionalised media is mute. We all (journo's) know that privilage and prizes became the incentive, not 'hard-hitting' frontline investigative reportage. The ruling elite are getting away with it now, like never before and have exponentially increased thier influence and control over the past 20 years. The need is for an industry (Internet,bloggers,citizen hacks etc.) recognised universal affilitiation of regional associations. Seperate but integral bodies that work toward the same goals established long ago for journalists that became the 'Media' we knew and respected some score years or so ago. Shallow sentimentality and glossy heartlessness, is all the 'Media' came to spew out, save for a few who now want for a job or new master. Organise and get on with the dialectics of a modern Media Industry that reflects contemporary society and its technology.