After reading Gauntlett’s article called “Media Studies 2.0,” I was wondering how web 2.0 could change online newspapers in future. Web 2.0 emphasizes the interactive feature between internet users. For example, it is very easy to see many comments posted by readers under news articles on online newspapers. In fact, these comments are my favorite feature of online newspapers. I always read users’ comments after reading an article. It is very interesting to see how people react to certain issues taking advantage of their anonymity.
In fact, this became kind of serious problem in South Korea in recent years. Internet users sometimes post very offensive comments to some controversial articles to attack reporters and sources. These comments, which are really the direct product of web 2.0, became so powerful in Korea that online newspapers started to censor many of its comments. Some major newspapers in Korea started to force internet users to use their real names when posting comments, not nicknames. What’s ironic about these comments is that many online newspapers also started to put these comments into news articles as valid sources for stories. Reporters often times put these internet users’ ID and comments to reflect what public thinks about certain issues. I find this very controversial. I don’t know if I can consider these random users as valid sources. But then, these comments are indeed what people are honestly thinking, so I can’t ignore these comments either. Is there similar issue like this in America, too? If not, do you ever think these comments will be used in online news article just like Korea?
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