Magazine

Computer-Mediated Communication Magazine
ISSN 1076-027X / Volume 4, Number 7 / July 1, 1997

Editor's Page

Special guest issue editor Christopher Harper introduces this special issue exploring journalism online. We delve into readers' response to online work, alliances, interviewing techniques, and the Web as a new medium.

SPECIAL FOCUS: DIGITAL JOURNALISM

Online Newspapers as Familiar Artifacts in New Settings

Sue Mings introduces the beginning of critical research on how people, specifically college students, view information on the World Wide Web. While online publications tout new technologies available on their sites, the survey found under controlled conditions that the research subjects passed over many of these sites and used the online publications in much the same way that many use more traditional publications.

The Web and the Paradigm of the Front Page

Is the World Wide Web poised to become the "fourth" medium, joining print, radio, and television? Probably, argues Flora Garcia. But there are a variety of issues facing online publications--particularly how news is delivered--before the Web can truly take its place among "Big Media."

Interviewing and Information in a Digital Age

Is an interview online an effective way to use the Internet? Will electronic mail and discussion groups dominate a journalist's arsenal for reporting? While many journalists are not rushing to computer-assisted reporting, others are already there, particularly those who have won five Pulitizer Prizes in recent years by using computers to ferret out graft and corruption. I-chin Chang focuses on those who use the Internet tools and how effective they are.

Not-so-strange Alliances and Their Impact on Online News Media

Who holds the advantage in the world of online news? Traditional news organizations have a decided edge, particularly if they create strategic alliances with other publishers. Nevertheless, Ann Auman argues that these alliances are creating more diversity in news coverage for many readers because they have access to a wide range of articles from organizations such as New Century Network, a group of nearly 70 publishing partners, and Microsoft's Internet sites, which now compete with many traditional news outlets. Interviewing and Information in a Digital Age

DEPARTMENTS

Special Event

Join us in the Chat Area of the Computer-Mediated Communication Studies Center on July 15, 1997 at 10:00 pm EST (7:00 pm Pacific) for an online discussion of this special issue's topics.

Book Review: What's Ahead in the Digital World

Christopher Harper reviews Data Smog: Surviving the Information Glut by David Shenk, What Will Be: How the New World of Information Will Change Our Lives by Michael Dertouzos, The Highwaymen: Warriors of the Information Superhighway by Ken Auletta, and White House to Your House: Media and Politics in Virtual America by Edwin Diamond and Robert A. Silverman.

The Last Link: Build It--Will They Come?

Christopher Harper speculates on the relationships among the qualities that make use so accessible: distribution reliability, access, and sponsorship.

Letters to the editor always welcome: mailto:john@december.com