As part of the generation of the digital age the use of the internet should be second nature. School kids of the noughties take lessons overseen by teachers not scribbling on a chalkboard but flicking through a power point display with interactive monitors in front of every child.
I on the other hand seem to be firmly stuck in the technological past. I like newspapers and a good old fashioned pen and paper. Unfortunately as a trainee journalist this is something that is going to have to change.
Even the basic of searching for news on the internet can pose problems for a technophobe like me. I type my desired item into Google and an array of related links appears. Apparently simple, but on further investigation these links do not relate to what I want. The news is out of date, the articles relate to Uxbridge in Massachusetts not Uxbridge in Middlesex.
As a journalist, news need to be up-to-the-minute and relevant and in a concise, readable format. I need to be able to scan articles relating to my local area as well as keeping up to date on national and international issues.
As I rule I begin the day by scanning the BBC news website and the Guardian online whilst simultaneously watching BBC breakfast and trying to avoid logging in to Facebook. These outlets provide me with an overview of national and international news. However the articles I am given on the websites home page are designed for a wide audience and are dictated by what the news agency chooses as most important. I may have to navigate around the website to find the information I really want.
It is possible to define my search by using manual search engines, which allow you to make advanced news searches specific to locations and time periods. However, this can be a time a consuming process and it would be much more beneficial to a time restricted journalist to have a variety of set search stipulations for different areas which could be directed to one forum.
Google reader is a platform which allows publishers of online content to instantly alert surfers when they have published new content. This is done through subscription to RSS feeds. When I first heard this my face fell. Abbreviations in relation to computers usually stand for an incomprehensible group of words which will never mean anything or be used in any sensible way by me. I was delighted to hear the RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. Ignoring the Syndication part, Really Simple was something I could relate to.
The RSS feed is available by clicking the RSS button in the web address bar, which can be copied and pasted into the subscription box in Google reader. Feeds from these websites will then be updated instantaneously in Google reader.
Although not all websites have RSS I have managed to create a page of personally relevant feeds from local and national sources of interest.
It is also very easy to direct RSS feeds to other platform, such I have done with blogger. It is a good way to share relevant sites and to driect readers to sites of shared interest or further information. This allows you to make your work broader and more interactive
For a journalist a personalised RSS feed platform can be invaluable as a time saving and organising resource. However it is never going to provide you with exclusive news or opinion and debate in the way of less regulated and more widely contributed to resources such as Twitter. However carefully selected sources will be much more reliable.
The format of the page is quite unappealing to the eye but this is outweighed by the dense amount of information that the page contains and the ease with which you can scan and select articles from the extensive list.
Despite this I have found myself using the old websites as sources of news and neglecting to use Google reader as frequently.
Until now...with the delegation of beats in different areas of Hillingdon the previously unused news feed for West Drayton became my first source of information. The news was unsurprisingly sparse and I am not banking that Santa’s Christmas canal ride will be the story to launch our journalism careers, however the RSS feed provided us with lead which may have taken much trawling of net or even a visit to West Drayton to find.
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