I studied to be a journalist. I trained for difficult situations, for uncomfortable things to happen and for strange situations verging on impossible. I have wanted to be a war-correspondent since I was 10 years old. That will not happen.
But on Sunday I was involved in a freak accident involving a plane, a bakkie and a few bloggers freebording. I ran towards the plane as did our whole group and not for one second did I think about stopping, taking photos or video and sending word to a media organisations. I could’ve, I am capable and I know how to, but I’d rather help. It’s that simple and now I am certain of that.
Ashton Kutcher. The man is emerging as a social media genius. He is a top user on two of the hottest social media properties right now; Qik.com and Twitter.com.
Talya Goldberg raised an interesting point: By following @aplusk over @cnnbrk is it not reinforcing, notion that celebrity news/culture is more nb than what is happening in the world?
I think this is an extremely valuable debate that needs to take place.
Celebrity vs Mainstream Media
I studied Journalism at University. I wanted to be a journalist since I was 10 years old. I let that all go. I feel that world is shifting away from mainstream propaganda to celeb propaganda. Let’s be real here, both are forms of propaganda. Who own what media organisation is becoming a massive blur between government organisations, private organisations in bed with government organisations and one-person-dictatorship run organisations. So who’s to say that mainstream is more productive or beneficial than celebrity-generated news or information?
The Responsible Celebrity
It’s not a habit of mine to follow celebrities. I am one of those information consumers who takes a variety of factors in to account when reading types of media. I try to know who owns what, who’s in bed with who and how often they are meeting up. The same applies to Celebrities. I try to make up my own mind about who is an “honest” celebrity and who’s just in it for the next big break. Social media has created a fair amount of transparency for celebrities who are willing to embrace the technology out there.
Case in point is Mr Ashton Kutcher who has jumped head first in to Twitter and Qik. Kutcher and his wife Demi Moore are streaming their lives live as often as one can handle. Kutcher streams video live from his phone on Qik and is constantly tweeting. I like that, I can relate to that and I am sure that the almost 1 000 000 followers agree with me.
With 1 000 000 followes just imagine if Ashton Kutcher was to endorse a fight against the shocking regime in Zimbabwe, or if he was to condone the killing of innocents in Tibet or anywhere else. He would have 1 000 000 people listening, responding and interacting with him and this information.
This is where it becomes increasingly important for celebrities to become socially responsible people. Many are not and this is where the danger comes in. This is where mainstream media has the upper hand.
Ethics in the mainstream
It is generally accepted that the media is the Fourth Estate. The people who govern the people who govern. But who governs the fourth estate? No one ever did. Wait, that’s a lie. There are groups of media leaders who form editors forums and sit and govern one another.
There are trained journalists who are taken to task for factual accuracy and ethical reliability. This is all accepted. But do I care as a run-of-the-mill citizen consuming this media? No. Generally not. Nowadays it’s so easy for me to get online and read the same story with variations of facts from a variety of media organisations.
What I want is to make up my own mind. Just as the celebrities want to do and should be allowed to do so.
Celebstream is the new Mainstream
Recently celebrity has become the new hotness in every way. From their social media campaigns to flashing their under-areas to paparazzi to endorsing NGO’s and social causes.
So why would the same not apply to information resources?
I am in no way saying that the celebstream is going to replace the mainstream. I am saying that the two are now heavily entrenched in society. The maistream is becoming a less and less trusted resource by the masses as citizens are taking ownership of their information and news. Celebrities are simply more popular citizens, leaders and trendsetters so they are setting the standards now. However scary a prospect that is, it’s the truth.
UPDATE: Apparently there has been some sort of a mixup regarding the Zapiro book launch. It seems as though there is someone from the PR company and Charity organisations involved with Zapiro didn’t really know when the book launch was so instead she led us to believe that the launch was at her event which was a charity event and hence we were asked to pay.
My thanks go out to Richard who represents Zapiro, for getting in touch with me personally and sorting things out. Either way I think the Zapiro book launch is going to be fantastic.
On a side not: I still maintain that media should never pay to promote events or attend functions.
I absolutely love Zapiro’s work. I think the man is a genius and one of South Africa’s great heroes. With that said, I think he has made a shocking error with his book launch.
It is not clear whether Zapiro is calling the shots or whether his PR agency has completely and utterly lost their minds. Either way I am a bit shocked.
To attend Zapiro’s book launch as media is going to cost R200 per person. Crew of two = R400 for the event. I have done many weird, strange, odd, different and uncomfortable things in my time in the practice of journalism. I have NEVER paid to cover a story or promote an event.
Zoopy was told to pay R200 per person to attend the event and were basically told that we should feel lucky because media gets a 50% discount. Really? Media get a discount, well gee-wizz-wow I am bowled over at your kindness.
Direct quote from “events coordinator”:
As per our discussion earlier, unfortunately we don’t allow any media to attend any of our upcoming events for free.
Our normal price per person to attend the event is R427-50 including VAT, however we offer Media a discounted rate of R200-00 per person including VAT.
Should you still be interested to attend the event, please contact me before the end of today and have your credit card details ready to process the payment online as we only accept payments upfront to pay the venue. Our system is set-up to only accept credit card payments when a booking is made 5 working days prior to an event.
So in return for our R400 Zapiro’s book launch will get national exposure, a professionally produce media video and the possibility to be featured on some of the biggest news websites in the country. That sounds like a fair trade to me.
I am sorry but I don’t care if you are a journalism intern, the editor of the biggest magazine or Jeremy bloody Clarkson, media should not have to pay to attend any launch of any book that could aid in the sales of that book.
Absolutely ridiculous.
The frustrating thing is that Zoopy (and I am sure many other media organisations) have covered Zapiro launches and events very successfully and for free in the past:
If you want to read Zapiro I suggest you visit Mail&Guardian online every day and have a look at Zapiro’s free.
Again I need to state that I think that Zapiro cartoons and all of his work is absolutely incredible, so don’t make us pay to help you spread the word.
I have only seen this now on Zoopy but the Lovely New Medial Lab at Rhodes University managed to record and summerise my presentation at the Digital Citizen Indaba.
Thanks to the involved party for doing a great job. Here’s the video:
