Honors Theses

Date of Award

2010

Document Type

Undergraduate Thesis

Department

Journalism

First Advisor

Kathleen Wickham

Relational Format

Dissertation/Thesis

Abstract

This project retells the hidden history of 350 American POWs who were forced to serve as slave laborers in Germany during WWII, and how these men received recognition in 2009 through the online reporting and reader audience participation of CNN.com. Though traditional platforms produced information on the subject, it took an age of instant communication to fully break the story to the American public. This project looks at why and how online and participatory journalism created an impact that changed a legacy. Information on the history of the soldiers was gathered using books and a documentary published on the subject as well as personal interviews with two survivors. Online journals and research reports provided the data about the use and emergence of online and participatory journalism as well as information on the changing role of the journalist as a gatekeeper. It was found that the ease of online communication and the embracing of new media have lead to a shift in the role of journalism online. Traditional gatekeepers of information, timeliness, and space no longer define the process by which an audience receives information. The audience can now receive and actively participate in contributing and changing news within journalistic standards.

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