News is everywhere: on the internet, in newspapers and on blogs – yet original journalism is becoming endangered.
News aggregation websites are filled with ‘feeds’ of news stories arranged according to topic etc., and brand themselves as news agencies. An example of this is All Headline News who paid an unspecified sum for using Associated Press content without authorisation. One of the most popular news aggregation sites is Yahoo! News which includes content from Associated Press, Reuters and ABC News.
The issue with aggregation websites is that they succeed off the work of other news organisations, which can also be an infringement of copyright. There is no copyright for facts although, the research and arrangement of the article by the reporter is through their own skill and labour, which can be defined as copyright. A news organisation or website should be defined by ‘shoe-leather’ reporting, where reporters find a story outside of the office.
If a local story is published online by other organisations, there should be credit attributed to the reporter and their organisation. Online organisations should support traditional media including newspapers by striving towards original content, with a unique appeal to its audience.
Local newspapers have continued to succeed because the reporters engage with local communities and report on issues that matter to them. Aggregation websites do not hold the same charm because it is a collection of articles from various sites. These articles are defined by categories instead of local areas and issues.
RSS feeds and aggregation websites are useful, although they fail to promote a diversity of reporting and opinion. Journalists can never get the full picture of a story and neither can readers. However, this does not justify the rise of aggregation websites who misrepresent themselves as news agencies, when they fail to deliver original news.
Local newspapers need the support of the online organisations that can publish their material and profit because of online subscriptions and increased advertising revenue. Instead of aggregation websites, organisations could explore different angles local journalists do not have time to cover. New angles and views are always interesting to read about, even if a basic story has been covered.
Newspapers need support in light of budget cuts, less advertising and declining readerships. Websites grab a reader’s attention for longer using videos, images and three dimensional multimedia techniques which newspapers cannot do, to the same extent. Snow Fall by The New York Times combines original journalism to tell the story of skiers caught in an avalanche and uses advanced techniques to show mountains, the path taken and even a time lapse of storm clouds.
The use of websites to aggregate news should be more innovative and develop the original journalism produced. Repetition of news should not be encouraged. Journalists and news agencies alike should continue to strive towards originality, and not settle for anything less.
Lisa-Marie Janes is a postgraduate student on the MA in Multimedia Journalism
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