MASS AMATEURIZATION

In the reading Everyone is a Media Outlet, Clay Shirky hits on a very important term, "mass amateurization". Shirky in his detailed explanation of how everyone has become a media outlet clearly distinguishes between professionals -Journalists who have gone through rigorous training and amateurs -everyday people sitting in their under garments behind a computer screen. "A profession exists to solve a hard problem, one that requires some sort of specialization...to label something a profession means to define the ways in which it is more than just a job. In the case of newspapers, professional behavior is guided by the commercial imperative and by an additional set of norms about what newspapers are, how they should be staffed and run, what constitutes good journalism, and so forth."

What are our standards of professionalism. Why don't we trust newspapers anymore?

Shirky states that if amateurs are considered journalists than how can you differentiate professionals from everyday media-users. "And if anyone can be a journalists, then journalistic privilege suddenly becomes a loophole too large to be borne by a society." Shirky comments based on his understanding of journalistic ethics and legislation -laws that protect journalists and their work. In conclusion he says that Mass amateurization breaks the definition of professionalization. In all Shirky states, "When reproduction, distribution, and categorization were all difficult, as they were for the last five hundred years, we needed professionals to undertake those jobs, and we properly venerates those people for the service they performed. Judgment and information reported becomes skewed all of a sudden. The analysis behind any story will always be important, even if social media and citizen journalists break a story. The job of a professional doesn't end there.

Social media and the news cycle. A never-ending cycle. 

Shikry clearly labels professionals as the experts and on the other hand describes amateurs trying to take over the business entirely. He goes on to say, "Mass amateurization is a result of the radical spread of expressive capabilities, and most obvious precedent is the one that gave birth to the modern world: the spread of the world printing press give centuries ago" (Shirky). Shirky illustrates how user-generated content has flourished in the last century. According to Shirky this content is narrow but wide-spread: MASS. According to John V. Pavlik and Shawn McIntosh in their third edition of Converging Media, state "Digital media do not cause people to become active media producers, or "produsers," as they are sometimes called in an attempt to capture how we use (not just consume) and produce media content now. However, they do give people ready tools to produce if they wish and to do so far more cheaply and easily than analog media.

Jenkins in, Why Heather Can Write, states, "They [the student writers] are active participants in these new media landscapes, finding their own voice through their participation in fan communities, asserting their own rights even in the face of powerful entities, and sometimes sneaking behind their parents; back to do what feels right to them" (Jenkins) Mass amateurization has allowed children in this scenario to develop skills of writing and understanding scenarios around them. They have a better take on knowledge and how to use it practically. Mass amateurization helps structure the mind preparing it for details and for curiosity sakes. Adults as well as children are learning -mass amateurization.

The future of media professionals is in good hands. People will soon realize that information is valued when presented accurately and in details, ethically sound, without breaking societal norms. Professional Journalists will be needed that have the background, the education, and mindset to produce vital information. Presentation of that information might be technologically advanced, but the public will crave for the TRUTH. Mass amateurization might not completely vanish, but it's role and definition will be changed. Citizen journalism is a good example of Mass Amateurization, but even citizen journalists will crave to be educated and trained professionally.

What it means for the world and social media.  

Works Cited

Jenkins, Henry . Convergence Culture, Where Old And New Media Collide. New York University Press, print. 

McIntosh, Shawn , and John Pavlik. Converging media: A new introduction to mass communication. Oxford University Press Inc, print.

Shirky, C. . Here comes everybody, the power of organizing without organizations. Penguin Pr, print.