Citizen Journalism

My online journalism class has been conducting an ongoing and vibrant (and online, of course, through blog-style entries) discussion about the future of journalism, especially print journalism.

Journalism as we’ve known it is in the throes of change — from dictatorial-style "we tell you what the news is and you’ll take in the format we decide on" traditional newspapers to other, much more fluid forums like blogging and online news services.

One of the key elements of this change is the fact that, because they have access to news all the time, readers are demanding more involvement in the type of news they get from their daily paper — and the style in which that news is presented.

Former San Jose Mercury News columnist, Dan Gilmore, in his feverishly frequently updated blog about "grassroots journalism" references a Wall Street Journal article (April 11) about exactly this phenomenon.

Mary Lou Fulton, publisher of the Northwest Voice, a free community newspaper delivered every other Thursday to 21,700 homes in and around Bakersfield, CA, is way ahead of the game in all of this. She has created a community newspaper based on the "do it yourself" approach of such wildly successful online sites as Craigs List and Google Ad Sense. Most of the information and pictures in The Voice are submitted by readers, community organizations, churches and schools.

Violent Youth

Two high school varsity baseball coach friends and I stumbled the other night into a discussion about the realism inherent in video games available — and wildly popular — now, and the disturbing way in which this is divorcing teens from the physical reality of violent behaviour towards real human beings.

This study by the American Psychological Association found that

"students who reported playing more violent video games in junior and high school engaged in more aggressive behavior," said lead author Anderson, of Iowa State University.

The studies were conducted in 2000. Video game realism has increased exponentially since then.

Playing games like Grand Theft Auto (GTA), Vice City, and Sin City — which now has its own movie — is practically a rite of acceptance among male youth.

Homicide in Detroit – Echoes of Violence, an award-winning photo essay/series of articles by the Detroit Free Press, asks

"Why is this city killing itself? What has it done to the community’s soul? "

How badly are our youth becoming divorced from the real physical, mental, emotional consequences of their actions?

How much are parents contributing to this, by not imposing consequences on their teenagers for actions that violate the rights of others?

A Smack in Time…?

According to a new national survey of New Zealand parents, almost half the parental population of the country (49%) claims not to have used physical discipline on their children in the past three months. This is double the number (25%) who made the same claim twelve years ago.

If this trend continues, the Prime Minister of New Zealand, Helen Clark, will consider repealing section 59 of the Crimes Act, which allows parents to use "reasonable" force, "by way of correction towards the child".

I wonder what the percentage would have been in 1970, the year I was born.

My mother had a wooden spoon called George. Most of the time, George spent his days head down in a stew or cake mix. But, on those rare occasions when my recalcitrance and truculance pushed my mother beyond the limits of her forebearance (in other words: when I drove her around the bend), George was allowed to pull his head out of the pot and and whap it against my bottom instead.

Usually, of course, the mere threat of George was enough to send me cringing to the floor, whimpering that I’d stop whatever insanity-causing behaviour I was engaged in. For instances of mild disobedience, a smack to my bottom or a rap of something hard against my hand conveyed my parents’ (and my teachers’) displeasure.

My parents were hard-working, thrifty, generous, thoughtful of the needs of others, welcoming, self-disciplined, self-sufficient, unjudgemental and, above all, honourable. Through their actions, their words — and their discipline, they instilled within me the importance of living my life to their standards. Which I try to do, every day.

If I had been born in 2005 instead of 1970, upon the eve of the repeal of section 59 of the Crimes Act, my parents would be borderline criminals.

I don’t know whether a little smacking hurts a child. I don’t believe it hurt me. I have a good relationship with all of the wooden spoons in my life, with no lingering traumatic assocations.

And I have never as an adult had the desire to hit another person to hurt them.