 in the press The Electronic Intifada and the Challenges of Online Journalism With the recent announcement that the Boston Globe might fold if it can't cut $20 million in union costs, the state of print journalism seems to be in a state of flux. The print edition of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer also folded to budget concerns, but the paper has continued to publish as an online-only news source. Are online editions the future of journalism? And how does online publishing differ from print journalism? As part of an assignment for Henry Jenkins's Theories and Methods class, I recently interviewed the managing editor of The Electronic Intifada, an online-only news source dedicated to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, to get her opinion on the state of online journalism. Below, you'll find portion of my report. Maureen Murphy is the Managing Editor of The Electronic Intifada (EI), a nonprofit online publication--found at electronicintifada.net-- that features news, opinion, and analysis about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. (Disclosure: Maureen Murphy is also my cousin.) EI was founded in early 2001 by Ali Abunimah, Nigel Parry, Arjan El Fassed, and Laurie King--four activists who had never met in person. Murphy explains: "The Electronic Intifada project started as a reaction to the corporate media narration of the second Palestinian Intifada. It was started by a bunch of activists who didn't know each other, but who were able to find each other through the internet." EI was originally conceived as a supplement to the mainstream news media's coverage of the conflict, but it has quickly grown to a news source in its own right. EI averages 3000-5000 unique visitors daily, and they got as many as 30,000 visitors a day during the recent crisis in Gaza. One of EI's main principles is to make the conflict understandable and accessible to everyone. As the managing editor, Murphy's evaluation of content submissions is key to supporting EI's educational goals. She says, "Sometimes it's a challenge because we get submissions that are for an audience that is intensely interested in the conflict, but a lot of our audience are people who come across us in a Google search. They just want to know what's happening because they can't make sense of what they read in the newspaper. Making our content accessible is a priority for us." Though the website strives to be accessible, Murphy has to balance the educational mission with EI's established position as one of the leading English-language publications devoted to the conflict. According to Murphy, "EI is where a lot of debates are held--Where does the solidarity movement go next? Where do Palestinian Politics go next? Those tend to be more advanced discussions." EI's established position as one of the leading English-language publications devoted to the conflict. When I ask Murphy how she knows whether EI is achieving its mission to educate people about the conflict, she replies, "We did a readership survey a couple years ago and a lot of our readers were university instructors and students, so it seems we're getting the audience we hope to get. But it's not just about educating people who are in education...We want average people to be reading EI and to have a stake in the conflict and work towards its resolution." Murphy must then read submissions with an eye not only for good writing and relevant material, but also for stories that can educate readers and maybe, just maybe, make them care enough to take action. EI is also a product of its medium. Murphy explains that EI's cofounders "were amongst the first to realize the possibility of the internet as a medium for activists. One of the cofounders created what is thought to be the first blog from a war zone. He was basically doing daily diaries from the West Bank during the clashes that were happening there in the 90s. The cofounders were people tired with traditional ways of doing things and they wanted to use the internet to present an alternative narration." The combination of compelling alternative narration and the affordances of the internet has allowed for a specialized publication like EI to thrive. Production costs are low and distribution costs are nil. Further, EI is able to reach interested audiences all over the world. Most readers access EI from North American and Europe since it is an English-language site, but Murphy says that people frequently translate EI's articles and distribute them in other language communities. The accessibility of EI's content has also become important to the mainstream media as Murphy explains, "During the recent Gaza War, the media were not allowed by Israel to enter the Gaza strip, [so they] were coming to us for contacts because their journalists weren't able to get in." Though the internet allows EI to reach--and possibly enlighten--a very large audience, Murphy also has some frustrations when thinking about the internet as a medium. "I think people take web media a little less seriously," she says. This is especially frustrating because the brand of journalism EI offers readers is much more complex--and arguably more serious--than much of what's found in the mainstream press. Still, the internet as an aggregate isn't governed by standards as strict as EI's editorial policy, so the same Google search can direct a reader to EI as well as other sites with varying levels of journalistic credibility. Of course it can be argued that many major newsrooms may have questionable journalistic standards, but there is an implicit level of trust that comes with the colophon of say, the New York Times or the Washington Post. The internet also allows for content to spread easily through social networks and interest groups. While this is good for EI in many ways, this spreadable environment poses intellectual property issues that weren't apparent in the days of print-only journalism. Murphy explains, "It's harder to keep control of your content because of the viral nature of the internet. Something published on EI will find its way to many other places without us knowing or consenting... The point of EI as an educational project is to have as wide an audience as possible so it's not like we're losing the value of our product. But when someone reproduces an article, you wish they would credit you for originally publishing." Murphy accepts that she can't do much if EI's articles are used, changed, or even plagiarized online. She sees those outcomes as consequences of internet-only distribution, and instead of being discouraged by unaccredited use of EI's content, Murphy sees a way to learn about her readers. She explains, "We try to find ways to track it. Not to enforce crediting, but to see what people are interested in reading and what's making the most impact." Murphy considers herself an activist. She describes her role in EI, "It is my activism because it's full time work. I think it's the best role I can personally play. Some people might be good speakers, and some might be good organizers. I can use my anal retentiveness about commas to help. To have a broad understanding of the conflict and to be able to make sound judgments on editorial matters is the best role I can play." Murphy's job is not only a job then; it's a way for her to user her skill set to contribute to a cause she believes in. EI, as a site, also fosters activism. To that end, they are currently in the process of adding community features to the site. Murphy outlines the plan: "We're hoping to develop forums for people to spread the word about cultural events and activism events--to make it a more dynamic resource for people." Murphy sees forums as a way to further engage readers by making them feel connected to EI: "We want to be a community environment where people who feel connected to the issues. We want to be inclusive rather than exclusive. Editorial procedures by nature tend to be more exclusive, so having a forum on the website would help readers feel like they're involved." The EI team is also upgrading the site's interface to allow for more multimedia content, both and commissioned and user-generated. Murphy explains, "We are doing one thing--publishing articles and that's bringing people into the site, but what we want to do is have more user-created content and more dynamic multimedia content." By getting users more involved in EI, Murphy and her team will be better able to use the publication to encourage activism and conversation. Activism can also be construed as bias, especially when dealing with ideas of objective journalism. Many of EI's writers are, like Murphy, heavily involved in activist causes. Rather than seeing personal involvement as a hindrance to objective storytelling, Murphy regards activist contributors as an important component of EI's mission: "It's not like they shouldn't be allowed to write about an issue just because they're involved in it. I think dispassionate journalism is more harmful than potentially biased journalism." She explains that uninvolved journalists don't have at much at stake when reporting a story: "The writers won't necessarily have an impetus to dig deeper into the story because they don't necessarily care. They just want to get who, what, where, when, why, but that's not necessarily what journalism should be. Or at least not what alternate journalism should be." Since EI provides in-depth analysis of a single issue, the potentially biased views of its writers can provide valuable insight into the conflict--insight that mainstream, "objective" journalists may not be willing or able to offer. EI has to present itself as contextually situated while maintaining a level of transparency. EI's editorial policy ensures that the opinions of its staff do not influence the content produced. Readers frequently engage in this conversation as Murphy explains, "People ask us if we have an editorial position on whether we think a one state or two state solution to the conflict is the best way forward. We don't have an editorial position on those issues. We do consider content for whether it makes a well informed and reasoned argument." Murphy's discussion of bias hints at the fact that all journalists are situated within a particular context and their reporting is influenced by that context. Murphy herself is no exception--she values what some may call "bias" because it allows EI's content to engage a devoted group of readers at a more personal level. Murphy also acknowledges her own activist identity in her work, so she can connect with her job on a personal level and still have the guidelines of EI's editorial policy to inform her decisions and maintain journalistic standards. The Convergence Culture Consortium (C3) explores the ways the business landscape is changing in response to the growing integration of content and brands across media platforms and the increasingly prominent roles that consumers are playing in shaping the flow of media. C3 connects researchers and thinkers from MIT's Comparative Media Studies program with companies looking to understand new strategies for doing business in a converging media environment. The consortium provides insights into new ways to relate to consumers, manage brands, and develop engaging experiences, strategies to cut through an increasingly cluttered media environment and benefit from emerging cultural and technological trends. We aim to expand the role of industry leaders by bridging the gap between academic and market research; Partners gain access to both broad-perspective thought leadership and focused analysis on events and campaigns. 
more from this section  • Jordan Miles civil and criminal cases go on, Rich Lord, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Tuesday, February 22nd, 2011  • Video: Protest Held at Mercer County Plant Over Tear Gas, WKBN - 27 First News, Monday, January 17th, 2011 • Christmas Bonus, Chris Young, Pittsburgh City Paper, Thursday, December 16th, 2010 • Turning the tables on BDS, By G. Steinberg and J. Edelstein, Jerusalem Post , Saturday, November 6th, 2010 • Pay Daze, Chris Young, Pittsburgh City Paper, Wednesday, August 11th, 2010 • Israeli ultra-rightist protested in Pittsburgh, Walter Smolarek, PSLWeb.org, Thursday, February 11th, 2010 • PULSE: 20 Top Global Media Figures of 2009, PULSE, Thursday, December 31st, 2009 • Wise guys, Marina Saint Martin, The Gold Coast Bulletin, Sunday, December 20th, 2009 |
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