Hi Phil - yes I think we are heading into that middle ground. On pictures I agree of course that consumer technology is making the equipment better and more accessible, but I would say this has been happening for years and so maybe you underestimate the value of the professional photographer or photo journalist. Most of us can't take photos as well as a talented or trained photographer and there are places I would not go, or be able to go, to get the photograph. Personally I think the technology is making it faster and easier for those who do this work to deliver it to wider audiences while the value of their role continues with a lower barrier to entry. Cheers, jod
________________________________ From: owner-backst...@lists.bbc.co.uk on behalf of Phil Wilson Sent: Sat 28/03/2009 13:39 To: backstage@lists.bbc.co.uk Subject: Re: [backstage] Clay Shirky: Newspapers and Thinking the Unthinkable Hi, There's just two bits in John's last message I'd like to pick up: "If you want a (quality) picture of an event, someone has to be there and some poor pictures from a phone camera are not a replacement." I think this is a false dilemma. Guys in my office have phones with 8MP cameras. My 18-month old phone has a 5MP camera. I suspect a good lens and skill with photoshop is vastly more important than the photographer being professional. "If you feel that the Journalistic community is full of people trying to subvert the truth, espousing mis-information, I dread the day that a billion unaccountable blogs replace them." This is also a false dilemma. Some in the "journalistic community" do espouse mis-information. Some blogs are accountable. We are already, to a certain extent, in that middle ground. Isn't that the point of Clay's essay? Cheers, Phil - Sent via the backstage.bbc.co.uk discussion group. To unsubscribe, please visit http://backstage.bbc.co.uk/archives/2005/01/mailing_list.html. Unofficial list archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/backstage@lists.bbc.co.uk/
