Content-type: text/html Downes.ca ~ Stephen's Web ~ Journalism's Death Spiral--A Disaster for Learning? A Disaster for Democracy?

Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community
There are very few, if any, commercial media outlets that cover online learning as well as OLDaily. I am saying this not to self-promote or to blow my own horn, but to offer a counter to this item which asserts, essentially, that the 'part time media' of bloggers cannot compare to commercial media because (a) we don't have time to develop critical insights, (b) we don't have time to fact-check, and (c) we are biased. The fact is, if you look at traditional media, very few writers have the time to look at anything in depth. They get in, they get their story, and they get out. The newspaper or television station cannot devote resources to what they consider niche areas (like online learning) - heck, it's few newspapers or television stations today who have anyone that concentrates on Russia, or even Africa. What bloggers lack in time they make up for in their huge numbers and in their dedication to very specific topics. Reporters may report, but experts blog, and if they only do it part-time, that's because they spend the rest of their time being experts. Try finding a report who can do that! As for bias, well, that was pretty much invented by the traditional media, and they own the store on this one, with examples surfacing pretty much every day (today's examples are here and here).

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
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Last Updated: Dec 07, 2024 3:41 p.m.

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