PressEthic

It is an intimidating prospect, for those of us who hope to earn a living in this profession, that working journalists are increasingly being outdone by private citizens all over the world who have the tools, talent, and the location to provide quick and accurate news online in the form of blogs and podcasts. An example of this growing phenomenon is Pajamas Media, an online organization that aggregates blogs from all over the world, conducts podcast interviews, and also provides commentary and analysis from professional news services.

During the Israel-Lebanon conflict this summer, Pajamas Media featured podcast interviews with a seventeen year old Israeli blogger named Eugene. These interviews with Eugene were a kind of access to the conflict that simply has not been available in the past. Pajamas Media also featured online interviews with Arab and Israeli bloggers at the same time, allowing them to debate each other from their safe, remote locations.

Through the various news organizations and citizen journalists that are members, Pajamas Media has been able to collect interviews with a great range of politicians and officials such as John McCain and an Israeli officer during the Israeli-Lebanon conflict. The interview with the Israeli officer lasted 14 minutes and was broadcast in its entirety, something that television news is not capable of. Thus, online interviews have the freedom to be as thorough as possible and thereby more substantial than television.

Pajamas Media claims to represent a new demographic - people who don't consider themselves liberals, conservatives, or moderates. PM calls these people Freerangers - those with a variety of views spanning the political spectrum. PR Newswire claims that the recent midterm elections were shaped by this new demographic.

PM CEO Roger Simon said:

Freerangers are the X-factor in American politics. By researching and recognizing this voting bloc, Pajamas Media hopes to offer an alternative to the tired and overused labels that are commonplace in the mainstream media

Representing a new demographic, employing an army of citizen journalists, Pajamas Media feels like a prototype for the next level of news media. Lack of worldwide, ubiquitous internet access currently prevents PM from taking the place of the New York Times, but how long can this last?

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