Response to week 6 reading 'New tools for reporting.'

With all the various tools available to writers these days, it's almost impossible not to get caught up in trying to make each piece more superior than the last. And while writing for me is more like a hobby, rather than a career choice, I am slighly overwhelmed by all the tools available to help me create the perfect story.

Although I do feel slightly out of the loop, because I thought del.icio.us meant something yummy tasting and twitter is the sound a bird makes. How wrong could I be?

For me the del.icio.us concept is a new favourite friend. Now I can be anywhere in the world and find all my favourite bookmarks in the one location. In the past it's been so frustrating working on both a PC and a notebook, because I have had to save my favourite pages to both. Well, not any more. Now all my favourite bookmarks can be found in one easy place - del.icio.us!

Although I've heard the buzz word 'Podcasting' for the last few years, I've never really been interested in how it can help me in my daily life. However, as an off-campus student and part time worker, I have learnt how invaluable podcasting can be. I no longer waste two hours on the train going to work, instead I listen to the iLectures from Deakin Services Online. And if I miss my favourite radio show during the day, I can listen to it later that night or the next day if I want.

So it seems that my little writing 'hobby' has stepped up a notch, with so many more tools to help me write my next masterpiece!

Response to week 5 reading 'Ohmynews in South Korea'.

The ingenious creator of Ohmynews, Oh Yeon-ho really was thinking ahead when his idea for an online news site came to life in 2002. What a fantastic idea to create a space where stories or articles are gathered from a vast array of sources all over the world.

Oh's idea that 'every citizen is a reporter' was revolutionary and has only snowballed since then. The concept of providing a platform for any would-be journalist to display their writing talents has proven hugely successful with over 60,000 citizen reporters who provide content. The success of the site is evident with reviews that highlight its appeal.

Director of OhmyNews International, Jean Min says that the goal is to combine traditional journalism with citizen journalism. In the case of OhmyNews, the 65+ fulltime staff must be able to perform multiple roles. Reporters need to know how to edit and editors need to know how to write. It's not about just being a reporter and submitting a story and then moving onto the next one. Community journalism is unique therefore everyone needs to be multi-skilled to adapt to the medium.

While speaking at the Media 08 conference in Sydney in March this year, Jean Min discussed the success of OhmyNews and how important it is to understand your audience because at the end of the day, they are the content.