So having talked to Stuart, I realised that the original idea of wanting to cover the topic of news, all it’s outlets, distribution plus the changes it has gone through in the past couple years is too big a chunk to swallow with too broad of topics to cover. After some guidance and instructions, I have now decided to set my sights on social media, during and after 2019’s Anti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill Movement instead.
There are many interesting aspects including how people received news and information, the rise of live feeds, leaving comments and emojis, notifications on smartphones, a distrust in the mainstream networks, the divide in society (Yellow and Blue) and also protestors having used iPhone features such as Airdrop in passing messages in order to stay under the radar.
It’s Still News
At first I was really concerned about having to gather a whole new set of research, but having looked in to the interviews that I have already done, of course there are questions that would be considered off topic right now, but then the positive thing is that there is relevant material in all interviews that were conducted.
The previous interviews and research might not have specifically focused on the topic of social media, but all interviewees have mentioned the use of social media as a source of distribution. News as one of the most sought after material of them all, a lot of the previous work is still pretty much relevant moving forward from now on, for example:
–Moment Hung has shared his experience in resolving an issue as a civil journalist on the Clubhouse app.
–Jenny, the anonymous protestor has spread messages and vital protest information retrieved from multiple forums and social media platforms via Telegram groups.
-William Pang has been assigned as a camera man to provide instant live feed to be posted on their Facebook page.
So despite the sudden shift in gear having send an instant panic down my spine, after having analysing what I have on hand it is not so bad after all! If anything all the interviews and books I have read and translated are still very much relevant, and if not the “old” research based on news media can still serve as a good comparison of media and it’s methods old and new. Rest assure that taking the dig in to news as a base understanding actually is going to benefit the essay writing later on.
ANDY WAS HERE
ANDY was here 🤓 