New identity for journalists

Going back to the topic of re-mediation, I notice how nowadays online newspapers (such as the NewYorkTimes online edition) have not only appropriated the digital media as a whole, but the particular form of blogs is being extensively used by journalists to keep readers informed. I think this corresponds to a logic of immediacy on top of the hypermediated news sites. By keeping the posts structured in a journal style, with date and time of publication, the journalist gives us almost a sense of presence. Furthermore, posts are subject to comments which are many times answered by the journalist. The journalist or reporter is almost involved in 'chatting' with the reader, and news are delivered in a much more personal way. This gives a sense of presence and immediacy in the delivery of information. At the same time, the journalist gives much more personalized information than we are used to see in a newspaper.

Re-mediation of a new form of expression, in the network, impacts back to an older form of media, the newspaper, seen in the inclusion of blog-styled journalism. The journalist's identity (or professional self) is consequently shaped by the new digital media.

(Cyber)-centering of the subject

A common thing between the art online community from my previous post, and blogs - which also form small communities within small webs of related blogs - is that the content is shaped by a spatially abstracted audience. Posts in blogs, as posts in the deviantart site, are generated for the audience, and in most cases, the post only exists if other people comment on it, or link to it from other parts of the web.

This observation is extremely important for my quest around the new digital networked self! A particular 'loose' element (e.g. a post in my blog) needs to be maintained by external links to it, which define its proper (cyber)place. Reciprocally, the user of a blog extends his created content to a variety of other dispersed digital elements. The subject collects media items and external links as an attempt to re-center himself in the complex stream of online information.

A blog may define a subjects (cyber)place in the new digital media. Without a blog, webpage, or online community membership, one may feel not to exist within this new culture. When I create my blog, I define myself as part of the new culture and establish my online 'territory', which acquires a totally different meaning. The notion of 'territory' is no longer one of a fixed and fenced space, but of a mobile and open space. Mobile because links to it change (and so its online 'place'), open since it is formed by 'reaching out' to others.

A blog is an extremely versatile medium. Although the basic structure of it is quite fixed, all sorts of features can be added. One can post Youtube videos, insert pictures, sounds, and keep RSS feeds which bring updated information to the same space as my own text in the blog. This gathering together of different 'digital media-pieces' allows one to have a sense of control over the dispersed information found around the web. With a blog, I try to give meaning to an overwhelming stream of information, building my own account, struggling against submersion.

The blog re-centers the Internet around the subject.