Watch this Space by Milissa Deitz: book review

Watch this Space: The Future of Australian Journalism (2010) is part of the Australian Encounters series by Cambridge University Press, Monash University, and the National Centre for Australian Studies.

Some people think the contemporary and alternative mediascape – of citizen journalism, such as blogs and twitter – has lost sight of the core values and quality of journalism. And that readers are now more interested in ‘celebrity news’ rather than ‘serious news.’ Deitz quotes Todd Gitlin, an American media academic, who said that journalistic approaches “cover the event, not the condition; the conflict, not the consensus; the fact that advances the story, not the one that explains it.” Hence Dietz examines these traditional ‘virtues’ – objectivity and balance, quality control, ethics, and fact-checking.

Deitz begins by referring to the demise in 2008 of The Bulletin, an Australian weekly magazine established in 1880, after 128 years in business. Its first 20 years boasted “half Australia writes it, all Australia reads it.” It was also interactive – in much the same way that media is today. But it had run its course of relevance – and will current social media do the same in the next 10, 20, or 128 years? Are we all journalists now, she asks.

Dietz discusses corporate and state-owned media, alternative media, counter-culture, and the business models of news and journalism providers. She also examines what makes news? And what defines news? Are the lines between ‘serious news’ and entertainment blurring? Is the need to get the news online as quickly as possible, with frequent updates, eroding its quality?

Deitz believes the new technology and social media is restoring the partisan plurality of perspectives by including more people, ideas, causes and genres. “In an era when mainstream media and political communication often degenerate into sound bites, infotainment and spin doctoring, a willingness to blend once-distinct genres and vehicles into previously unimagined combinations is surely cause for optimism.”

In summary, Dietz thinks the changes in journalism are returning it to its radical and democratic roots. “After all,” she concludes, “democracy is another word for the media.”

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