'We Media' and democracy - Charlotte Howes

Over the summer I gathered information about news stories from several different sources throughout  periods of the summer holiday. The first news story I heard about was the two American journalists being shot dead live on air on a TV news programme. I heard this instantly via the BBC news app which I feel is a very reliable source. However, when the news story first came through it said 'an unknown source confirms' this suggests to me that the story could be slightly untrue and the person who provided information didn't really know detailed information on the scene. Obviously, this was such a shock and an awful thing to hear I was intrigued to know the motive of the man who shot them or the situation of the news presenters friends and family so I clicked on the notification to read more about the story. After, I had locked my phone I received another notification from the app saying the man who shot the TV presenters shot himself and had a car crash but didn't die, then another confirming he was dead. The information provided later about the tragic incident was enough for me to believe the story as it was on a national news website and was shown on the television on several different news broadcasts. I personally felt disgusted at the fact two innocent people were killed for no apparent reason and it was such a shock to hear about as it isn't everyday news it was unusual, which got me talking to friends and family about the event.

Another absolute shocker was hearing about Cilla Black's death, it was a such a unexpected awful thing to hear about. Again, I heard about this via the BBC news app it was all over my social media news feeds almost instantly. However, the cause of her death seemed very unreliable when it was first announced as nobody seemed to know just how she died when several days before she was fit, healthy and able to go on holiday with her family. After the news became global it was apparent that she had a stroke from being in the sun too much and she died later on that afternoon. I then discussed this news story with family members like my nan, people who enjoyed her voice and her television career. Something else that was quite important was the TV drama which aired earlier this year and was an insight into Cilla's life with Bobby and how her career lifted off of the ground. Portrayed by Sheridan Smith it was truly an amazing and successful thing to be shown on television. When Cilla passed, the drama was re-shown on television which again had a lot of viewers but this time when you watched it, it was more moving and emotional because her death was so recent and for some people it hadn't properly sunk in. 

Another tragic death over summer was of the wonderful Stephen Lewis. I was devastated to hear this news as I love the comedy he is commonly known for 'On The Buses'. He died at a good age, 88, at least he didn't die young and he lived a good life. I heard the news originally from a social media website, Facebook. For this reason I hesitated to believe the news as some sources on Facebook are very unreliable and are just rumours or presumed stories of what people think. I discussed the news with my dad and he didn't believe it initially either but sometimes it's because we don't always want it to be true. Later on that day I watched different news broadcasts with the death of Stephen as their headlines. This showed to me that even though quite often the news you read on Facebook is made up or just rumours some of it can actually be fact. However, just because this one news story was true, doesn't mean that my opinion on the reliability of social media sights will change because 90% of the time the information I read and I discuss with people is complete and utter lies, which then people makes you part of the lie for discussing it with others. It's such a viscous circle when believing things that are put on social media sights as you then become part of the rumour too. 

The last news story I heard about over summer was the Shoreham air crash. This killed 11 people and overall 14 people were injured from this awful incident. I found out about the crash almost instantly after it happened, any kind of air crash is seen as a 'blip'. Car crashes happen everyday and air is meant to be the safest way to travel, although, this was not a airline crash it was a jet part of the air show. However, plane/jet crashes put people off flying even though the amount of crashes each year are minor in comparison to car crashes but people still choose to drive. This is probably because not every car crash is put on the news but every plane crash is making it seem like a bigger deal, in no way is this suggesting the death of 11 people isn't a big deal, no person should die, when they are innocent unaware people. The enormous explosion pictures were covering social media websites, televisions, newspapers and the descriptions were all over the radio's and news coverage on TV. I instantly believed this news story, as it seemed very reliable, as the BBC had full coverage and details straight away which was better in comparison to some stories which are just bits of information received from 'unknown sources'. 

I have noticed that Dan Gillmor (the author of 'We Media' and democracy) is correct in saying the central idea that media is changing is because of the increase in democracy. It allows people to post their own news stories and easily make up their own ideas of the story and opinions. It allows them to lie about a news story and people believe what they're saying just by the click of a button. I realise now how technology is an important factor in the news as to how quickly news travels for e.g. on the BBC news app it is an instant notification which is useful when you're out and about daily.