Elite media… Manhattan’s elite

Week 4:

Russell (et al.) compares elite media and institutions with bloggers and ponders the following question: “Do bloggers, with their editorial independence, collaborative structure and merit-based popularity more effectively inform the public?” (Reader, page 136). Do you agree? Use examples to illustrate your point of view.

Yesterday while watching the TV series Gossip Girl, it suddenly occurred to me that the entire basis for the show is the Internet.   Every episode centres around new media’s facilitation of a gossip network surrounding fictional characters in New York.  The show explores the notion of youth responding to ‘participatory culture’ (Van Dijk 2009:54) in the form of scandalous video, audio and text updates.

http://gossipgirl-blog.cwtv.com/

This is a replica of the blog the show is about.

While Gossip Girl may not be the ideal academic example to illustrate the idea of ‘bloggers effectively informing the public'(Russel 2008), it does epitomise Russell, Ito, Richmond and Tuters idea of “media convergence and networked participation”  and the use of ‘communication created by the public and based on peer-produced and -distributed information, storytelling and exchange'(Russel 2008).

The published gossip relies on ‘collaborative structure'(Russel 2008) for information volunteered by individuals from the Upper East Side.  With the popularity of ‘Web publishing tools and powerful mobile devices… have prompted readers to become active participants in the creation and dissemination of news'(Russel 2008).  The nature of the decentralized system of forwarding photos, gossip, knowledge or personal whereabouts allows for the untraceable informing method that facilitates the New York gossip network.

Initially, in earlier episodes the show alluded to one information provider, yet as seasons have progressed, it has become evident that the idea of ‘one’ gossip girl, is representative of the emergent ‘produser’ and ‘participatory culture’.

Editorial independence is key toGossip Girl‘s foundations.  Russell, Ito, Richmond and Tuter’s highlight the importance of reader interactivity, the key is in ‘encouraging comments and analysis, fostering contributions of reporting and fact-checking, or asking readers to weigh in on and help shape the news agenda, is what truly interactive news websites… are designed to do.'(Russel 2008)
The characters in Gossip Girl have no editors or publishers to review their facts, instead if a post is updated without sufficient citation peer reviews are encouraged in order to solidify rumours.  Thus, rather than being singular opinion, the rumours are verified and taken as truth, not unlike that of the rising wiki.

Blair Waldorf, one of the shows protagonists demonstrates similarities to viral marketers ‘carefully leaking disinformation… in order to advance in agenda, thwart detractors, and manipulate public opinion'(Russel 2008).  She represents the attainment of ‘merit based popularity'(Russel 2008), or rather merit based prominence (she is not universally liked), due to her incessant dedication for society to view her in a most successful and celebrated light.  She achieves this with constant updates of incriminating news and stealth means of knowledge procurement.

Correlations can also be drawn between the ideas of blogging ‘expanding the ranks of informed citizenry and facilitating the development of an engaged and participatory transnational culture’ and Gossip Girl bringing closer the characters based in Brooklyn and those in Manhattan.  These two areas indicate disparity of aesthetic wealth and polished lifestyle that mimics the greater global climate.  Despite the variation in lifestyle, characters from both areas engage in a trans-class, trans-area contribution to the blog.

The fictional Gossip girl blog successfully reaches all manner of people; attributes the divulgence of knowledge to merit based popularity, advocates editorial independence to engage disparate users in contribution and depicts a collaborative structure that enforces a ‘participatory culture'(Van Dijk 2009:54).

Russell (et al.), (2008) ‘Culture: Media Convergence and Networked Culture’ pp. 43-76 in K. Varnelis (ed) Networked Publics. Cambridge: MA: MIT Press.

Van Dijk, J, 2009 “Users Like You?  Theorizing Agency in User-Generated Content” Media, Culture and Society 31:41-58.