Don’t Steal This Post

Jump to Comments

The premise to “Steal This Film 2” is one that people worldwide are coming to know very well. We are currently in the age where media content can be stolen very easily. The idea of copying somebody else’s work and passing it off as their own is the number one rule not to cross in journalism, and something we also all learned in the first grade.

In today’s affluent technological society, anyone at anytime can view, delete, import, export, add, amend, and change parts of words, pictures, audio, and video online. Is it stealing? Is it improving? What are the fine lines that are drawn in different cases such as this? If one thinks about it, can’t much of this be done on a site such as Wikipedia?

There are definitely ways in which journalists can survive in this type of atmosphere. As shown in the film, up and coming music artists are taking different aspects of other artist’s material and getting great feedback from it. Many might say that an original piece of work that is changed into “new” content is new content indeed. Others might say that it’s not.

At the same time, journalists can also thrive because of these emerging tactics. Putting aside all of the bad names that people have bee given for stealing other’s work, if artists can help one another with their respective material, then whether it is video, text, or pictures, things will ultimately be better in the long run.

Everyone has been through the phase (or are still in it) in which they download music “illegally.” Programs such as Napster, Kazaa, and Limewire have all taken financial hits from the recording and movie industries, and so have the people who use their sites. As the film has shown, however, many people don’t necessarily disagree with the principle of these two industries, but the way they are going after people is simply too much.

For a young journalist breaking into this competitive field, I think that it’s almost essential that they know how to maneuver through the internet. They should know how work with audio, video, pictures and text. Traditional news organizations can benefit from their online employees by making their news more widespread. They can still report on television and in newspapers, but also make their internet site better with all types of web value. Both these organizations and new journalists can both bring input to the table in order to do provide the news in a better light.

This so-called “free for all” can benefit and can be a bad thing at the same time. No one wants to work on something, then have it stolen and passed off as someone elses work. At the same time, if people combined their media together, then the production value could go through the roof. In due time, we will have to see where our digital content will take us.

*all images courtesy of google and videos courtesy of youtube and google

1 Comment

Filed under Other

Tags: Sean McKenna