Virtual Journalism Summit speakers note changes in journalism

Well known contributors to the “virtual world” met Monday April 6 at the Virtual Journalism Summit in the CUB Auditorium to discuss how the convergence of media will affect journalism.

Speakers at the all-day Summit included Second Life founder Philip Rosedale, ThinkBalm co-founder Erica Driver, virtual world journalist Bernard Drax, and others.

While virtual world journalism is a foreign topic to many, many speakers at the Summit assured the audience that there is a very active community of people who report within 3-D spaces. On that topic, many speakers and audience members seemed conscious about how the virtual world will change the face of journalism. While journalism in the real world has undoubtedly undergone major changes within the last few years, speakers had different opinions on how the virtual world will change it further.

One of the most common topics of the day was the anonymity available in the virtual world, and how readers and writers often will not know the validity of a source. Speakers had different opinions on whether or not this anonymity was a good thing.

Second Life founder Philip Rosedale seemed to believe that there was less anonymity in the virtual world than in the real world. “The reality of it is… the projection that you make of yourself through an avatar is in all likelihood a more realistic, interesting, and discoverable representation of your real personality than you are,” he said. Rosedale said anonymity will be something virtual world participants cling to as a safety buffer if they choose to report on heated subjects. Rosedale also argued that due to how lifelike the virtual world is, media and the way people report on the world might not be changed much at all.

Virtual world journalist Bernhard Drax said for him anonymity is not an issue, since he is well known in the virtual world for his real identity. Drax said the virtual world changes reporting very little, other than that reporters in the virtual world need to express that some sources “claim” who they are, noting that reporters need to be very upfront with their readers in order to be good journalists.

Drax seemed very aware of how journalism in the real world is changing also, and said students today need to try hard to uphold journalistic standards, “Journalists of the next generation need to be intensely aware between the difference in journalism and re-writing a press release,” he said.