http://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/commentary/theluddite/2007/06/luddite_0621?currentPage=2
I enjoyed reading Tony Long's piece, not just because I agree with him, but because he makes some very encouraging points about the state of journalism.
Especially his point about the "on-site" insta-journalist. A fantastic example of this would be the ten second or so cell phone video some college student took outside of the Norris Building in Virgina Tech. What we were treated to on every single news channel was a grainy video in which one or two men are running about on the screen, almost immediately running off screen, and then the popping of several gunfire shots. Nothing more than this, and the empty roars of criticism were heard loud and clear across the nation about the inability for a camera crew to "capture the action" like this "brave" college student standing by the window of a building did with his trusty cell phone camera. As much as I dislike television media, it was rather senseless to place such shoddy footage of the incident on the air. For all we, the viewer, could tell, this could've been any college campus in the country, or any business square for that matter, dealing with some crazed gunman who's walking around with his gun in the air, popping off shots until his brains are finally removed from his head by the assistance of an officer's rifle.
Only when the amaetur proves himself worthy of our attention should it be granted to him.
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