With the advent of the Information Society, significant importance is being placed upon the field of journalism and has extended beyond the exclusive medium of television, radio and print and has now identified itself with a wider and more inclusive multi-mediality that has embraced the internet and web technologies. In addition to formal publication, informal publication is now undertaken by a myriad of reporters, writers, editors and publishers who would previously be the recipients of information.
Wikipedia (2008) defines Journalism as:
…a profession of writing or communicating, formally employed by publications and broadcasters, for the benefit of a particular community of people.
Ethical and professional issues have often arisen within the field of journalism and media communications in concert with an emergent new medium. The new multi-mediality, however possesses major implications for journalism in particular the key tenets of objectivity and responsibility, guarding the so-called Fourth Estate, as well as presenting new challenges in the realm of quality, freedom, reportage, attribution, defamation, etc.
Newsmen at work.
Stop the Press! is an experimental design for game-based learning in Second Life providing students with a simulation of reporting. Students will experience how to build and work in a team to report on issues, the random nature of information via interaction with a special game feature of the ”newsgenerator” and also seek to order, interrelate and manipulate information via a 3D Mindmap.
Video about Second Life and education:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RAPzDkOozM
Video about Stop the press -game:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RAPzDkOozM
