ONLINE JOURNALISM: CONTENT CONTROL DILEMMA
The internet is one of the most powerful tools today and journalists are tapping on this resource effectively. Their contributions to the web has made online or web journalism extremely popular. A large majority of people use it to get information on all current news happenings across the globe. Online journalism is also taking over the roles of traditional media like newspapers. However, there are some problems plaguing it. The internet is free and anything free comes with its own set of problems. And one of the biggest problems is that there is no control over who uses your content. Any one can copy and paste your material to their websites or blogs by just crediting the source site or by linking it back to the site. One might think that this is a great way to increase visibility. Yes, it is but only in the case when the material is being put on the right kind of sites. A problem that many journalists and news websites are facing today is that their stories and website links are being posted on explicit content site. What can a journalist or a news website do when suddenly their work appears on an explicit content site? Well, the options are very limited. The first option could be to contact the site and ask them to remove the material. Secondly, they can utilize technological barriers to prevent the copying of material from their site. But most of the times copyright issues cannot be invoked. According to the current law, if the source of the material has been given sufficient credit then it amounts to fair use. Big names in the industry have also been a victim of this and are making efforts to seriously monitor this. Some journalists who contribute to news portals might fail to understand how their content lands up on unwanted sites, and might hold the source site responsible. But this is debatable. How can anyone be held accountable for information that is in the public domain? Any material in the public domain can be used with sufficient credit despite the source site having the copyright to the material. This presents many challenges to online journalism and many journalists also give a second thought to contributing on the internet. But even as they grapple with such issues, journalism is about immediately spreading any news or information and it should not be limited by any boundaries. But the question still remains, how this menace can be controlled? Visit: http://www.newscollective.com/blog/?p=4491
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