How do the new tools available to journalists help them connect to precarious audiences?
Journalists can use computer applications like Wiki to help audiences build communities based on current news disclosures or aid them in findings solutions to community problems. We can practice crowd sourcing, as reporters use blogs to inform readers about stories in progress, then ask for relevant information. A newspaper reporter did this recently while launching a series about the causes and effects of the disease spina bifida. We can apply the tools of interactivity, video, sound, data mining and narrative storytelling to link ourselves to the public in appealing, even educational ways. We can offer civic education to help people unlearn what they are misled to believe by popular culture built on blind faith, self-indulgence and fear. The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina gave journalist an opportunity to show their professionalism and ability with new tools, as Americans showed a sudden interest in the plight of the poor and the failures of government. During an era when anybody can
