Journalism and American Democracy

Alright, alright…I guess I’ll take the free iPad you’re throwing at me.  Admittedly, I was not the first person to jump on the iPad bandwagon.  It seems like a lighter computer with a more annoying keyboard.  I sound like an old grouchy man, but it’s true – these are my feelings.

After messing around with all of the cool apps that the iPad has to offer, I consider myself mistaken – they’re awesome.  And addicting.  I’ve found that after discovering and personalizing Flipboard, I get annoyed with your plain ol’ newspaper over breakfast.  Why?  Because all the sudden newspapers are a hassle.  They unfold into huge spreads, they are not really visually appealing, and I find myself zoning out  while skimming over headlines of news I don’t really want to read, now that I know what personalized news is like.

That is not to say that I’m going to start purging my shelves of physical books, only to amass a gigantic library of e-books on the iPad.  Nor does it mean that I will reach for my iPad when I need to write a 5 page paper.  There are some limitations to this amazing little machine, and I don’t want to get too carried away here.

In the end, receiving iPads in this class offers a unique experience for us students: we can get a real feel for all that iPads have to offer.  This extends beyond the classroom and beyond class content, and that, my technologically equipped friends, is something very exciting indeed.

All semester long thus far, we’ve been trying to answer the question, ‘What kind of journalism does the public need?’

When our class was given iPads, one of the first things I asked internally was, ‘Why do I need this? I’ve got a laptop. I’ve got a smartphone. What can this do that these can’t?’

After having them for almost two weeks, I’m still looking for the answer. I’m sure it’s out there. I am sure that this tool can enhance our class’ ability of meeting its goal of broadening communication across various communities. I am still on the search for how to maximize this ability, though.

My Twitter community has broadened, that’s for sure. I’m tweeting more often due to the amazing app that is Flipboard. I love Flipboard because it is visually conducive to selecting information that suits the user. For example, when I’m on Twitter on my laptop or android, I can’t always tell if something might interest me based on the 140 character limit the posts allow for. On Flipboard, I get pictures, previews, and variety on a visually aesthetic layout. I’ve found that I read more news on my iPad than I do on any website on my laptop or any link posted through my smartphone. I’ve also re-tweeted more through Flipboard. I think it’s because of this I’ve had some random followers add me lately, such as “Communication News”.

Aside from being more engaged with the news, having the iPad has been a great convenience for other classes. In particular, for classes that have multiple PDF readings due on the same day, instead of printing out longer documents, I can just bring them up on the iPad. I’m still trying to figure out how to be able to take notes on the documents I’m viewing (i.e, having the ability to highlight or insert notes to areas right on the document), but I’m sure once I do that, my communities will be broadened even more by being able to better engage in my classes and the material.

The iPad has definitely altered my relationship with news and politics, because I am paying more attention. Is it necessary? Probably not, but then I also would not be as informed about the world around me, and as my dad says, “knowledge is power.” It’s definitely a powerful tool and I look forward to continuing to discover all that it has to offer over the course of the semester.

The public’s demand for instantaneous news, commentary and sources has led journalism to take hold of social media and run. Journalists often acknowledge that they interact with one another on Twitter far more than they do with the public. More than interacting, though, they compete. The first to have the story and tweet it, wins.

It follows then that journalists need constant connection to the web. They need it to check facts, to log stories on their respective sites, and, of course, to disseminate their findings through social media. As a journalism student, understanding the process of journalism and having the ability to track it as it happens provides invaluable insight into how news is reported and why the story never seems to be complete. The iPad fosters this kind of learning through apps like Flipboard to keep on-the-go students always plugged in.

From the first “BREAKING” tweet to the publication’s headline and link, the facts inevitably change. Of particular relevance is this summer’s CNN & Fox News flop when the two outlets proclaimed that the United States Supreme Court overturned the Affordable Care Act under the logic that the individual mandate was unconstitutional. We now know that Chief Justice John Roberts’ opinion was that the individual mandate as a penalty was unconstitutional but as a tax was a reasonable exercise of the United States Congress’ powers under the commerce clause. But at the time, viewers watching the two sources had the wrong facts, all because of the desire to have the story first, a preference that results from the use of social media and smart technology.

This summer I was able to follow the Supreme Court ruling on my iPad while also watching CNN and it was enlightening to be able to watch the various media outlets flounder on their Twitter feeds and live broadcasts. I have had an iPad since March 2011 and I have found it an invaluable resource in my work as a journalist and as a student. As a journalist, I appreciate the connection it gives me when I am out and about (I do not have a smart phone). As a student, it enables me to stay connected as news breaks between class periods and to view the stories of multiple news sources at once, instead of flipping through stacks of newspapers or PIP on my TV (I don’t have PIP anyway).

While I don’t think that smart technology is crucial for the everyday public to remain informed, I think that there is a world people are closed off to when they don’t use it simply because so many have chosen to join that public. The iPad will help us to understand that public – even if we don’t plan to permanently be a part.

What has the iPad done for me?

When the device first emerged, only jokes came to mind. I’m sure we’ve all heard them. But little did I realize the convenience it would bring to my life as a university student.
Even before I received it I bragged about being in one of the few classes at ND that gets an iPad. “Guess what? I get an iPad for one of my classes!” My friends were jealous. But my excitement was merely because of the brand, not necessarily the device. Then the day came where I received my first pad – or tablet device, you decide what to call it. I was like a kid again opening my new Power Ranger toy – being that I was poor growing up I always got the knock-off, so you can imagine my excitement when I got this name-brand item.

After receiving it, I immediately searched for any app that even remotely interested me. From angry birds to PDF Notes, each app I could apply to school work, if not leisure. Since receiving it I have essentially transferred my being as a student into this device. My environmentalist side appreciates the paperless annotations; my nurturing side appreciates the Skype sessions with friends and family; my [Notre Dame] student side appreciates that I don’t have to look like the hunchback – pun intended – every time I walk with my backpack on because of my laptop. My back appreciates the latter as well.

Above the convenience, it has allowed me to be an overall better student. I am more organized and efficient with my time and work. It will be a shame when I have to return the iPad at the end of he semester. I might just have to save up to buy my own.

In high school and for my first year of college, I will honestly say I mostly used my iPad for Facebook and Netflix. And even though I still use my iPad for Netflix and Facebook, I now rely on it for the news as well. But the truth of why I only used my iPad as a fun device before this class is because I never really knew it could be used for much more. I always believed that the apps in the realm of learning would cost money, money I didn’t want to spend, and frankly didn’t have. But this class has opened my eyes to see a new side of the iPad. The side of the iPad marketed in commercials as the everyday and everywhere device.
Before, trying to find all my news on a computer constituted searching through New York Times, scrolling through twitter, and checking Facebook pages of ABC, CBS and other major networks. But now it’s all in the same place. Flipboard, which I believe as one of the greatest apps for news, filters my twitter and Facebook feed into one, combined with cover stories of the day and popular news. “Settle It” allows me to catch up on the political colloquy I never fully understood. While always noticing that Obama’s Health Care bill was a great debate in the presidential election, all of the news articles I came upon about it were about whether or not people were in favor of it, not what it was about. “Settle It” allowed me to comprehend what this bill was made of and how it will effect the people. Not only is the iPad great for political news, but it also allows me to compress all of my sports news into one click of an app rather than searching through endless blogs and websites. Bleacher report allows the reader to choose which specific sports and which specific teams they want to show up on their news feed. All of these apps and many more enhance my learning experience in the news today.
As a general statement, using my computer to find news always seemed like a task, yet on the iPad, apps allow me to find the news I want to find in a more efficient manner. I believe that learning an effective way to encounter news is one of the most important lessons one could give to an aspiring journalist.

When I first heard about the iPad becoming a new staple of apple products, I wondered why this was a necessary machine. So many people already have desktops or laptops or both, and the iPhone had already made it’s way into the hands of many people around the world. The iPhone had everything you needed and it was the size of a pack of gum too! Why would people need that in the size of tablet? I thought this way about the iPad for a while, up until this past summer. I started to changed my opinion when my friend purchased an iPad for school. Actually seeing her use the iPad made it so much more impressive to me. It was so simple for her to use, and she was able to use many apps for school, as well as her own personal use. I was impressed by the impressive visual nature of the tablet, as well as the number of apps which were useful to my friend in her school life, as well as her everyday life.

After being told we would be getting apps for the class, I was pretty excited about this prospect, and now, with a few weeks of experience with the iPad, I feel as though my interaction with the news has become even better. Walter Lippmann, in his piece, “The Nature of News” writes, “All the reporters in the world working all the hours of the day could not witness all the happenings in the world.” However, with the iPad and its many apps, an average person can get pretty close to encountering many news stories of the day. My experience with the news has been greatly enhanced with the Flipboard app. I, like many people I know, enjoy the feeling and organization of newspapers and magazines. Although a completely different feel to it, I do enjoy the organization of Flipboard to be similar to that of a magazine. Not only that, but it also allows for me to follow my favorite news sites and commentators and updates the stories whenever I open the app. It has allowed for such an ease of participation and knowledge of news stories that I feel as though would not have been as easy with a laptop.

As someone who has never used an iPad before this semester, I am still trying to figure out exactly how a tablet device fits into my daily schedule, habits for media interaction, and means for consuming news and information. The iPad is very useful in that it packages many significant capabilities into an easily portable device, yet at the same time I have not solidly identified distinct ways and times in which I would use my iPad instead of my laptop. I feel at times like I am experiencing “technology overload” with so many means and sources by which to access news and information.

I want to first make clear, however, that I really enjoy having an iPad at my disposal. “Apps” can be really cool and useful in that they let you jump quickly to a specific source, utility, or category of information, and many apps pull stories and features from a variety of media outlets, which allows you to obtain an overview of relevant news in a minimal search time. The number and variety of apps available for download is tremendous, and I have found some apps related to personal interests that are often fun and helpful to have handy. The iPad also has fairly high-quality camera and film features, and these can be nice to have in a portable device. Aside from the nice leisure features, the apps on the iPad do allow me to access news in a sometimes quicker, more direct, and comprehensive fashion.

At the same time, I feel that the majority of the basic functions I perform on my iPad can also easily be done on my laptop. While apps on the iPad are often useful in that they are quicker to access and use, the information itself can still be accessed fairly easily on my computer, and sometimes I feel like I have two devices that serve largely the same purpose. With a portable device like the iPad, I think it has the potential to set an internal expectation for the consumer to constantly be looking up and taking in news and information. Similar to how Lippmann expressed concern that the amount of news was becoming too big for the public to absorb and interpret, the iPad presents so many capabilities and so much news that it can be a bit overwhelming to try to harness its full potential. The iPad has a wonderful interface and presents many terrific opportunities, but sometimes it feels like there is just not enough time in a day to utilize the iPad to a great extent. The iPad does present me with many great new ways to access news, but it sometimes feels like it is a bit unnecessary for me as well.

An iPad is time. It’s the time between classes, the time waiting for class to start, the time waiting in line, the time that is normally wasted on some activity that requires virtually no attention, that is merely a buffer, a loading screen. This is when I reach for a phone, or an iPad, and make use of the time which would have been wasted, and in this sense an iPad brings efficiency to life: it makes me better at the expense of nothing valuable. This is perhaps the largest difference modern technology brings: with the advent of easily transportable mobile computers time, whether spent on work or entertainment, is never farther than my pocket. This had made me both more mobile, and more willing to put up with the little annoyances in life since I can retreat into a screen.

I have gotten a surprising range of comments on my iPad, all the more surprising because I already owned an iPad beforehand, and yet it seems as if my iPad is now open for comment. They’ve ranged from the envious to the praising, from the curious to the crucial, and from among these critical comments I select one to rebut. Specifically, that it was a sign of my generation’s need for ‘instant gratification’. Patience is, after all a virtue. But waiting is not. A love of waiting is as ruinous as a hate of it, since the key to patience is the right time, not before, but certainly not after. The iPad, like a cell phone, like indeed a regular phone, like indeed the postal service, like a thousand inventions and devices before it, simply makes things easier, more convenient, and faster.

I like to imagine a man making the same complaints made of us to a telegrapher, or perhaps even a man who prefers heralds complaining about letter writing, “You and your need for ‘one month gratification!”. It has not changed my wants, my desires, or the fact I really hate boredom. It has merely given me the means to alleviate such. It is a tool, and frankly that is all it could ever be, a tool.

At least until the robot takeover begins.

As somebody who has not always paid attention to the news, I know first hand the challenges associated with understanding the news for the first time. After starting college last year, my interest was sparked about the issues going on in the world and I was truly interested in grasping them. However, I struggled greatly to understand the news I was reading and found that I was missing background necessary for comprehending news. Getting informed involves much more than just turning on CNN or flipping through The New York Times. But I couldn’t figure out where to get the background information that would help me understand stories in the news today. Even when I spent time reading the headlines and stories for weeks in a row, I still felt like there was so much I had missed when discussing events going on in the world with others.

Using the iPad has completely changed this feeling. The iPad allows me to become involved with the news and I feel up to date on a wide range important issues and events going on. Apps like Flipboard, Google Reader, and Skygrid incorporate a wealth of news sources so that I can read about issues from many different angles and frames. The iPad has greatly expanded the news sources that I use. I used to be someone who mainly read The Chicago Tribune and occasionally The New York Times, but now am fascinated by Poynter articles, have become a big Politico fan, and my love-hate relationship with Huffington Post continues to develop. The iPad, and especially Twitter, allow me to see articles from each of these sources right next to each other so I can easily compare what they say. This deepens my understanding of the issues greatly; I am not just being fed an opinion by a single source but instead critically analyzing the way the facts are presented differently by each media organization.

My classes in college provide a lot of motivation for me to stay involved with the news and the iPad allows me to follow through on it. In the short time since we received the iPad, I feel that I have been transformed to a “news junkie” and I can’t say that I don’t enjoy it. As someone who believes that all American citizens are born with the obligation to be involved with what is going on around them, I feel lucky to have this resource that allows me to do so with such convenience. The iPad has greatly expanded the breadth of the news that I take in while deepening my interest.

Compared to many of my classmates at Notre Dame, I am relatively resistant to technology and social media. While I do have a MacBook Pro, which I love dearly, and am an avid Facebook user, this is where my technological capabilities end. Prior to this class, I never even considered getting a Twitter, despite various attempts at cajoling by my friends. My lack of an iPhone makes me somewhat of an anomaly at Notre Dame. Since my computer can be a bit heavy to carry around all day, I am often in the position of being unplugged from the news and social media while I am away from my room. Ever since getting the iPad for our class, I have become much more aware of events going on throughout the day. When I leave my room, the iPad is now the first thing I put in my bag, as if it would be tragic if I did not have it for the day, when somehow I had previously managed without it for 20 years.
The iPad has allowed me to remain connected with news of all kinds in a manner that was previously not possible for me. I check Flipboard between classes to get a glimpse at any important stories that may have transpired in the last hour or so. While I absolutely appreciate the opportunity to be more efficacious in my relationship with the news, the iPad also provides boundless opportunities to procrastinate. I realized that I had reached a new low when I was checking Twitter and Facebook on my iPad while watching Netflix on my computer. Do I realize that is my own fault for allowing myself to be distracted? Yes. Do I take responsibility for it? No. It is definitely the iPad’s fault.
In all seriousness, though, having the iPad has caused me to interact with the news in new and different ways through the use of such apps as Flipboard and the Pioneer Press app, which I prefer to the full site because of it being more neatly laid out with fewer advertisements. However, possession of the iPad has also raised the question with me, how connected do I truly want to be? For the purpose of this class, having the news literally at my fingertips at all times is a fantastic thing. However, do I want to foster an addiction to my email, Twitter, Facebook, and various news apps beyond this class? Check back with me at the end of the semester.

Since receiving an iPad for our class, my relationship with the news has undoubtedly changed. Admittedly, I was skeptical whether I would notice any difference at all – after all, isn’t an iPad basically just a stripped-down version of my computer with a touch screen? Regardless, I think it does make some difference. I definitely feel more ‘connected’ to the news – I’m much more inclined to pull out the iPad for a few minutes and flip through some news stories than I am to surf the web on my computer and go looking for them. Part of this may be my affinity for the pleasing esthetics of certain news apps such as Flipboard or NPR. The sleek look they have/their presentation of the news makes it more appealing (and isn’t presentation everything?), whether or not I’m consciously interested in seeking the news. The actual layout of the device may compel me to engage with the news as well. Having an app right on the home screen, where I can connect with one click, simplifies the process immensely, whereas I would have to navigate through a myriad of web sites on my computer to retrieve the same information. However, aside from the sleek design and functionality of the device, I have to admit that part of my new level of participation is the expectation of my participation in the class. In other words, I am well aware that someone else paid for me to have this device, and now they expect me to use it. Were this sense of obligation not a factor, I am not sure that I would be as active on my iPad…well, aside from Angry Birds. I do appreciate having a piece of technology that allows me to quickly and easily call up information from around the world almost instantly; it certainly makes you feel ‘in the know’. However, I’m still inclined to question whether this level of ‘connectedness’ is a good thing. At what point does it switch from staying informed to becoming too time-consuming? What sorts of effects could these devices have on other types of media? Do those effects even matter? By communicating in cyberspace via sites like Twitter, are we hindering our own ability to think/talk/analyze at length and at a deeper level? I doubt we’ll solve these questions in our class alone, but I suspect it won’t be too much longer before society begins to answer some of them. Hopefully we’ll be comfortable with the answers we find.

To say that the iPad has significantly altered the way in which I interact with the news or any other institution would be making a gross overstatement. Sure, having an iPad increases my ability to access news (political or otherwise) and personalizes my relationship with it, but the impact appears to be minimal. It is very convenient to have a news source with up-to-the-minute news available at all times of the day and (quite literally) at my fingertips. It is also extraordinarily useful to receive fully personalized news that is catered directly to my interests. Beyond these changes however, my political interactions and the way I relate to different publics remain pretty much the same.

I view the iPad (and other mobile devices) as a small step forward in communications technology, rather than a significant leap forward. They provide little beyond the capability of a computer beyond their portability. The technologies themselves don’t necessarily change the way I interact, instead the applications developed for them do. Twitter, for example, makes the news more interactive but the iPad itself does not make Twitter any better. The use of Twitter on either the iPad or a computer allows news followers to comment on stories and even discuss issues with the creators of news in real time. Through Twitter and other means of discussions, individuals can break the barrier between the “news making elite” and become a part of an entirely new public.

The one application that is not available outside of the iPad is Flipboard. This plays in to the personalization of news that is experienced with mobile technology. No longer do I pick up a paper and browse for stories that interest me nor do I have to scour news websites to find interesting stories. Flipboard presents news according to my interests and is easily customizable. Although this is not a drastic shift in the way that I interact with the news, it does allow for increased convenience. Thus, the iPad is merely a small step of change in my connection with politics, publics and the news. While it does make the news more accessible, convenient, and customized, the iPad does not change the way in which I use, interpret, nor understand the news.