Eoto 2 Reaction Post

 EOTO #2 Reaction Post

During my peers EOTO presentations three presentations really caught my attention; those topics were whistleblowing, alternative media and citizen journalism, and gatekeeping and agenda setting. In each of these presentations I learned new theories and terms I didn't know before. 

Whistleblowing

The definition of whistleblowing is someone who reports waste, fraud, abuse, corruption or danger to public health and safety to someone who is in a position to rectify the wrongdoing. Their main purposes are to be transparent by exposing the wrong doings of others. White-blowers act as the behind the scenes information for journalists and news outlets. They could do things like report people in power, regular citizens, anyone they deem important to spread news about. 

Their main impact can be good because it helps expose wrongdoings to protect people as well as promoting fairness and accountability. Although whistleblowing can be seen as very beneficial it also comes with risks such as losing your job, legal consequences, threats to public safety, and other consequences that can harm your reputation. 

Alternative Media and Citizen Journalism 

Alternative Media is defined as a non traditional source of news and information that challenges the narrative presented by mainstream media; some examples include podcasts, video platforms, and independent journalism. Which leads us into our next term which is citizen journalism which is the practice of ordinary individuals reporting on news events, often using technology like social media or blogs, rather than traditional media outlets. When looking at these two terms defined we can see exactly why the go hand in hand. 

Although alternative media and citizen journalism allows for the public to vocalize their opinion through journalism there are pros and cons to both terms. Some of the pros include social movements, accountability, communication, diverse perspectives, and independence. On the other some cons are potential misinformation, biased reviews, defamation, and negative influence. 

Gatekeeping and Agenda Setting

The term gatekeeping is the activity of controlling and limited the general access to something; a example would be if you asked someone where their pants were from and the didn't want to tell you because they didn't want you owning the same pair as them. Agenda setting is a communication based theory that explains how media influences what we think is important. These two terms go together because they both explain how media influences the public perception.

Gatekeeping in the media can cause people to decide which stories are newsworthy which determines public awareness. It can shape perceptions by choosing to highlight or ignore certain events and topics going on in our word. While agenda setting does the similar act of viewing those topics that are being highlighted as important while not really caring about the topics the media chooses to not highlight.