Bone Marrow Drive

Bone Marrow Drive, UNH

Lights, Camera....Quality?

The most interesting thing mentioned in our last class, well second(shout out to Jables Fables)most interesting thing said was the concept of relevance taking the place of quality. Relevance is huge, it makes news news, but to equate it to quality, I am not sure I agree with that.

I associate quality with professionalism. When something is professional, especially with news, it requires my attention because I trust that it is not just true but there was thought put into the piece. I don't think there is a synthetic replacement for good reporting and for thought.

If I am going to watch something on the web, I want it to be professional; that for me trumps relevance. I want to feel like I am at the movies, not watching America's Funniest Home Video. I am used to quality, high definition, and for me to back track just to see something that is spur of the moment, like a car going off a bridge or cellphone video of a hanging, doesn't seem worth it.

I think shaking video, raggedy angles can be cool if the content of the video is amazing, I guess relevance would trump quality in the absolute extreme. The point and shoot camera does have spontaneity on its side, but that gets old fast. I don't think of news as entertainment, and shooting video for its sensationalism is entertainment. It has a place, but it should not be the only focus.

I think a reason why these amateur videos are so popular is because they are so accessible and so short. There is a hook in convenience, but convenience or relevance as quality will flame and die out. It is important, though I would imagine a difficult task, for reporters to be in multimedia mode, but they shouldn't sacrifice one piece for another and become a Jack of all trades: good at everything, great at nothing. The future of news is the great, it is in the quality.

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