Always thinking

Meshing Old with New

Fortunately, this is not an either-or paradigm where the consumer's choice of information is relegated to the "old" media with its limitations or to the "new" media with its many flaws. The blogosphere is increasingly populated by writers and readers who not only represent more mainstream — as opposed to extreme — opinions but who also subscribe to the values of traditional journalism.
Bai, who has specialized in the new media's impact on campaigns, likens the blogosphere to a teenager who is fast maturing as he approaches adulthood. As recently as 2003, Bai has said that online conversations were shaped by "early adapters, and they tended to come from the outer edges of society." Little wonder that the opinions batted about in the blogosphere of that time reflected the youthful exuberance of the bloggers.

But by the end of 2005 a survey by the Pew Internet & American Life Project found that 60-something Americans went online to get their news in roughly the same percentages as those Americans between 21 and 40 years of age, the generation of their children. "In 2008 you have everybody on the Web," Bai says. "They've changed the nature of the Internet community. It has become more diverse, more representative of more constituencies. And the more mainstream the technology becomes, the more mainstream will be the sensibilities of those who use it."

Another factor is at work driving Internet news toward the centerline: "Old media" is rapidly occupying this new media's space and soaking up much of the audience. The news reports of newspapers, television networks, National Public Radio, local television and local radio stations, and other traditional producers are expanding on the Web, even as their historic operations have cut back. Between 2005 and 2006, the online audience for newspaper sites rocketed upward by 37 percent. And in a hopeful sign for these traditional media, 29 percent of the under-40 year oldsvisit newspaper sites "regularly."
Most of these old media sites also host blogs written by their staffers, which provide counterweight — and maybe role models — to the more extreme bloggers. In a typical week during the run-up to the 2008 presidential primary season, the number of visitors to The New York Times's political coverage and its blog, The Caucus, far outnumbered the hits on ultraliberal Daily Kos or the conservative RedState.com. Even the pioneering Drudge Report, which has evolved into an aggregator of story links from being a source of sensational scoops, devotes the vast majority of its space to mainstream newspaper and broadcast coverage barely distinguishable from Google News.

Some see this convergence of old and new media as a win for both sides. Rosen, one of the early advocates of Web-based journalism, is among them. "The rise of blogs does not equal the death of professional journalism. The media world is not a zero-sum game," Rosen says. "Increasingly, in fact, the Internet is turning it into a symbiotic ecosystem — in which the different parts feed off one another and the whole thing grows."




  고등학생때만 해도 "입시열"에 의해서 컴퓨터 할 시간이 얼마없었다. 그러다 보니 필요한 책은 구입하거나 도서관에서 빌려서 보고, 뉴스는 TV또는 신문에서 접했다. 그 당시 나에겐 그것이 보편적이었고 당연한 일이었다.
그러나 대학생이 되고나서 하루에 3시간 이상 컴퓨터와 씨름하는 생활을 하다보니, 뉴스들은 인터넷 포털사이트의 뉴스를 통해 접하고 책도 필요한 논문을 인터넷에서 찾아보게 되었다. 그러면서 손으로 넘기면서 책을 보는 시간이 줄었고, 신문도 거의 보지 않게 되었다.
  이렇게 내 생활이 변화했지만, 나는 이러한 뉴미디어가 갖는 영향력을 실감하진 못했다. old media인 신문이나 TV, 라디오는 사람들에게 보편적으로 인정받는 미디어 매체이고 뉴스와 정보에 있어서 신뢰를 받지만, 뉴미디어는 신매체이다보니 사람들의 관심을 끌기 위해 가십거리를 뉴스메인으로 내세우고, 뉴스와 정보도 정교하게 가다듬어 있지 않은 것을 많이 접해서 보편적으로 뉴미디어에 대한 사람들의 신뢰가 없다고 생각했다. 그러나 우리가 그렇게 생각을 하고는 있지만, 실제로 우리가 뉴미디어를 사용하는 정도는 올드매체에 비해 훨씬 빈도가 높다. 윗 글에서 언급된  "In 2008 you have everybody on the Web," visit newspaper sites "regularly." 만 보아도 이미 뉴미디어를 통해 정보를 얻는 것은 일상적인 일이 되어버렸다는 것을 알 수 있다. 그렇다면 우리가 생각했던 것처럼 뉴미디어의 환경이 그렇게 허술할까?
"The rise of blogs does not equal the death of professional journalism. The media world is not a zero-sum game," Rosen says. "Increasingly, in fact, the Internet is turning it into a symbiotic ecosystem — in which the different parts feed off one another and the whole thing grows."