As a journalist our primary tool is the internet and our ability to use search engines. Google is the most useful portal, for the most part it will connect a person with virtually any piece of information posted online.
As a class exercise we were told to research the internet usage of “old people” or the 65+ generation. We were given a guideline of what to look for: facts-quotes and sources-anecdotes and stories-expert analysis. These four factors contribute to the story.
For example, If I were to write a piece on the “The Older Generation Online” I would use the following information:
FACTS: Pew Internet & American Life Project has up to the date reports and statistics covering generational internet usage in patterns and percentages.
QUOTES AND SOURCES: There is a community of elderly people online which referred to as Silver Surfers and within that website there is a blog in which the older people are asked to join and contribute to. The blog is run by Digital Unite. This blog works as a communication portal for the elderly online and offers assistance with internet and computers.
ANECDOTES AND STORIES: Age Concern (ageconcern.org) is a website that also offers assistance to older people using the internet. One link on the website is called “Your Computer Stories” which has sound bites from various elderly people about their internet experiences.
EXPERT ANALYSIS: There is an interesting blog online run by Walter van den Broek, a practicing psychiatrist, who actually did a study on the the elderly online. His piece is titled “Generational Divide in Internet Use” This piece talks about this issue from an MD expert opinion.
I was able to find the four guidelines all through Google’s search engine. This just goes to show how useful the internet can be when you are researching a news story.
