Mass Amateurization

"Mass Amateurization" described  by Shirkey has been the proliferation of journalists (and photographers) who have been producing work on the internet.  The question of who is a journalist has been the debate in the digital era and Shirkey gives examples of the confusion in trying to define who fits the description.  He uses the word scarcity on a number of occasions to illustrate the need for a professional (in any profession) where the need of excelled education is needed as a qualifier.  The lines become blurred because as Shirkey illustrated with Judith Miller of the New York Times going to jail for protecting her confidential sources, the topic of journalistic protection has different legal ramifications on state levels than on federal levels.  And although journalists have a legal layer of protection of their sources on a state level, should a blogger be afforded the same protection?

There are traditional journalists who now blog and there are bloggers who are non traditional journalists who have gone on to get "real" journalist jobs based on high quality writing and journalism skill set based on their blogs.  Clay Shirkey believes that because many people are publishing and writing, the profession of journalism is not unique, and therefore not as valuable.

The example that Sharkey uses of the French cleaning women being sued by a transportation service for not using their service is of comical standards, but illustrates the need for professions to have to change with the times.  It is somewhat like the end of the agricultural in industrial revolutions in this country nearly 100 years ago when businesses no longer needed the man power because it could be done by machines.  "Mass Amateurization" according to Shirkey is the the death in some senses of traditional journalism, but also a birth of a new profession and genre of journalism (including photographers and producers).

Jenkins nails it by stating "contradictions, confusion, and multiple perspectives should be anticipated at a moment of transition when one media paradigm is dying and another is being born".  The Harry Potter Wars are surely a sign of "who is a journalist?" ever more blurred.  The concept of children authors is fascinating, and probably one of the positive aspects of "Mass Amateurization".  To the great dismay of many traditional journalists,  Mass Amateurization is on the cusp of a new professional format that will change the profession of journalism as we once knew it.