Making online journalism and new technology accessible to all?

I went to the Political-New Media and Company symposium from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. and it only got interesting to me when it was almost over, during the question and answer session. At this seminar people asked about the ramifications of new technology on people with limited or no access to the technology. No real answer to this question was provided. Faculty at Scripps push podcasting, blogging and using twitter; however, many students in the journalism school struggle with these inventions. How can we expect low income or ill-informed people in inner cities and rural areas to know what these technologies are and how to use them if students don’t know about them? I know the question was asked towards the end of the Q and A session so the panelist really didn’t have time to get into the issue of journalism being "elitist."

I feel that journalism is not elitist however faculty and students at Scripps sometimes forget about how blessed/ privileged we are to have the knowledge that we do. The student panelist answered the question by saying that anyone can find access to new technologies if they want. I agree there are always libraries that provide free access to the internet. However, how will anyone know about "Youtube," "Twitter," "blogger/blogspot," "Linked In" and other resources if no one tells them that they exist? The internet is so vast that one must tell someone what to look for on the internet in order for the internet to be effective.

To me, this would have been an innovative topic for a whole panel discussion. I would have liked to see a dialogue on how Scripps and the panelist plan to introduce new technology to everyone. This could be a good topic for me; not new technology in online journalism, but the accessibility of online journalism and the technology we already have to different segments of the population. If people can't access new technology or don’t know what to do with new technology when they can access it: what good is new technology?

Don Jason
dj320306@ohio.edu