This is the text of a speech to a gathering of global journalism education leaders at the 80th anniversary conference of Fudan University, Shanghai

Beckett, Charlie

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Old to New2009-10-31Journalism Education In A Networked World (Polis inShanghai)blogs.lse.ac.uk /polis/2009/10/31/journalism-education-in-a-networked-world-polis-in-shanghai/  This is the text of a speech to a gathering of global journalism educationleaders at the 80th anniversary conference of Fudan University, Shanghai.JOURNALISM EDUCATION FOR A NETWORKED MEDIAWe are at a critical moment in the history of journalism. This is a phase ofaccelerated technological, economic and political change. This is a periodwhen the consumption and production of journalism is undergoing significantalteration. It is vital that journalism studies reflects this and engages with it.This media change is manifested differently in different media markets. InAmerica and much of Europe it is a crisis of the conventional media businessmodel. In other regions it is a period of rapid expansion and development. I willargue that while there is cultural and economic diversity, there are common ifnot universal factors: the growth in education, the role of new technologies andthe spreading of economic liberalism. There are also comparable changes inthe nature of news.The fundamental fact is that journalism is being disintermediated.“The social media revolution is all about the separation of information from its means of distribution”[Prof David Campbell Durham University]There are two principle characteristics of the emerging new journalisms:Public participation: bloggers, online video, file-sharing, user-generated content, but also crowd-sourcing.The citizen is now involved in the production of news at every stage. They can work with professionaljournalists or they can do it by themselves.Connectivity: everything is hyperlinked, people can share, distribute, get information directly, buisness orgovernment can communicate directly with citizens who can connect with each other. So instead of lineardissemination we have complex networks and interlinked data flows.These two factors are changing the production, consumption and indeed the very nature of news itself in profoundways. Together they show we are moving towards what I call Networked Journalism.Here are two quick examples – I could talk about Iran or Obama but I want to take two more routine but possiblymore radical examples because they are rooted in everyday experience of news journalism:Pamoja FM: My first example is not very high tech and is from Kibera slum in Nairobi, Kenya which I visited last yearfor research. This community radio station run by volunteers but trained by a former professional journalistenhances its work with mobile phones. The growth of mobile telephony in Africa is far faster than elsewhere and is1/3Pamoja FMtransforming news media. For Pamoja it allows them to news gather across their sprawling community. And it allowsthe listener to send in ideas, stories and to respond to what they hear. It becomesparticipatory. So when riots tore that community apart after the disputed elections,Pamoja was much better connected to the community and took a much moreresponsible attitude than some of its more commercial-minded stations that lacked thesame connectivity with their listeners.BBC Snow: My second example is from last April when there was a massive andunexpected snowfall in southern England that brought the country to a halt. Themainstream news said it was a disaster for the country and that we would lose £2billion in lost production. Meanwhile, the BBC were being sent photos and video byordianry people of their experience of the day. 60,000 people sent in material for freethat told a different story. It told a story about a once in a lifetime day when familieswent and played together in the snow instead of going to work or school. So peoplemade the news themselves but chose to tell the story through the mainstreambroadcaster. It shows how citizens are shaping agendas in a networked way.So we see this is not just about content or business models. It is also about the role ofjournalism in the public sphere.In a sense all organisations with a public role are becoming media organisations.Government, business, NGOs, unions and the rest can all now communicate directlywith the citizen and act as a forum, watchdog and reporter. They become networked journalists.The previous institutional structure of news media is changing from a series of fortresses to networks. Mediainstitutions have to become more interactive. Transparency is the new currency for building audience trust, replacingimposed editorial stances. Journalists are changing from gatekeepers to facilitators.At the same time states and corporations are fighting to retain control – often very successfully – but the terms ofcontestation have changed:· Abundance militates against control – as Castells argues, the Internet is simply too big and too complex to becontrolled entirely· Creativity conditions atomisation  – while there are fears that the Internet fragments communities I would arguethat it builds social capital in different ways, largely through putting the means of media production in the hands ofthe citizen· Connectivity mediates solidarities – that we no longer will identify simply because of our institutional affiliations butmore in terms of our chosen bonds and references – so the political party might die, but political networks arespringing up all over the place, driven by deeper social forces but facilitated by digital communications.So how might this change journalism education? We operate at the level of strategic thought leadership rather than training. We insist that journalism is no longerabout repeating formulae, so journalism education should not just be about training students to do what people usedto do.Journalism and therefore journalIsm education must be about challenging the role, value, nature of news mediaI do not reject the traditional role or values of journalism: to report, analyse, comment, hold to account, to entertainand excite – but we recognise that as a practice it must be reformed to suit the new context of changing audiencesand publics.So at Polis we combine practitioners and academics in all our research and events through seminars, public events2/3and online conversations.  Our teaching seeks to combine imaginative creativity, real-world cases, and interactionwith practitioners. This is alongside rigorous critical analysis, historical contexualisation, and theoretical discipline.We believe that what journalism needs now is not just teaching how to be a journalist, but instead teaching anunderstanding of what journalism is and what it can be.Shanghai, 2.11.09Copyright © 2014 London School of Economics and Political Science3/3

Journalism education in a networked world (Polis in Shanghai)

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