System that has more run are for parliament, journalists. Then our mars la pizarro, examines a telenovela about that ar na narcotraffic being. And finally, nic muirhead, on talking heads, which keep popping up on all different kinds of news stories, but not expertise. Weve had to cut these down to fit into one program but they will give you a feel for some of the media suspects that we tackled. Gouri sharm, covering a story that more and more Staff Members are turning down because of the dangers involved. Syria. 2013. Here is just some of the images that run in Mainstream Media over the past year. However, none of took the pictures exclusively for the outlets they featured in. This shot of the rebel siege of aleppo in 2012 was taken by mexican mexican javier. And the guardian ran these photos by spanish journalist meissne last year. But stories like this came at a price. The latest figures from the paris based reporters without borders, more and more star journalists are turning down assignments in syria allowing freelancers to accept the jobs. Comparing freelancers to garment workers in bangladesh. There is a demand for sneakers and there are garment workers who are willing to be paid very little money to meet the demand. The reporters are doing the work but not happening in a safe way. In syria if you call the regime side or the rebel side, it is the same. You are strictly a foreigner. You have nobody to rely on if something happens. Francesca bo she wrote a scathing critique on how the Mainstream Media treats freelancers. Who are second class journalists who get paid meager wages. Get paid a lot more money and i think there are examples of free lancers being sent into situations conflicts where they are not either adequately trained or particularly well insured. It is finances are so stretched, people going into conflict zones, in syria in particular, should be aware of. In a freelance isnt being controlled or employed or engaged on commission, surely the industry shouldnt have a responsibility to then have the control. Economics has become part of the problem. A shrinking newsroom budget and journalists losing jobs means Media Outlets are depending more on independent journalists. Earlier this year, a handful of british papers include the times, the independent, the guardian and the observer said they would no longer accept admission he from stringers. Too dangerous. The both london based papers offer assistance training and in the case of syria advice. Back in august the employer handed out a statement asking the journalists to consider assignments in syria. Consider, if not for the freelancers, the lengths they go to and the risks they take, these are the stories that would go untold. User generated content, ugc has come a long way from letters to the editor. The power to control user generated content, audiences are increasingly aware of their own changing role. Look over the past 12, 18 months and see the massive news events that wouldnt have been covered without the contribution of citizens. Something from almost a Necessary Evil used sparingly to a very established part of media news con10th thats been put out. Ordinary citizens seem to instinctively understand they have the power to change or influence information. I think us as a news organization, it is very much trying to figure out what is this relationship, this connection with the audience . The Shopping Center siege in nairobi in september showed yet again that am thur are churs can deliver amateurs can deliver images but its up to professionals to know when to incorporate it and where to draw the line. When bombs explode at the Boston Marathon back in april, newsrooms were caught up in a stampede of citizen content and journalistic quality was trampled underfoot. Reports of the boston bombings were actually quite alarming but i think whats interesting about that is Mainstream Media also made a number of mistakes in these steps and were ahead of themselves in their reporting and so its not just the citizen journalist that made mistakes. For many media organizations the shifting landscape between their output and their audience is unfamiliar ground. Bringing order to this uncharted territory is a user generated content, middle men, working with citizen reporters to get them the best deal for their photos and videos. Where demotics first made a splash was in 2009 in the back of the elections in iran where news organizations were restricted, proirts were unable reuters were unable to shoot there. Pictures being up ton place he like facebook, twitter and flickr and things like that. People on the ground in iran. The key difference that established news organizations is that we identify the signal from the noise. Theres reduced friction both in terms of the contribute and the publishing and broadcaster that buys the calypso the public gets to the meaningful content quickly. An eyewitness with a smartphone will be where news is breaking long before the professional arrives. Journalists, producers and the organizations they work for have to adapt to a new media landscape, at the heart of the news production cycle. More and more people have mobile phones. More and more people have instant access to the recording of instant history. In a way and a scale that has never before been seen. So that makes everybody a potential journalist or at least everybody potentially able to commit what we might call an act of journalism. The stream is uniquely interactive television. We depend on you, you are one of the voices of this show. So join the conversation and make it your own. The stream. Weeknights 7 30 et 4 30 pt on Al Jazeera America and join the conversation online ajamstream. Consider this the news of the day plus so much more. We begin with the government shutdown. Answers to the questions no one else will ask. It seems like they cant agree to anything in washington no matter what. Antonio mora, Award Winning and hard hitting. Weve heard you talk about the history of suicide in your family. Theres no status quo, just the bottom line. But, what about buying shares in a professional athlete . Throughout israels relatively short history, media and politics have been closely intertwined. Perhaps never more so than the crop of journalists and politicians sworn into the 19th knesset. In the field of journalism to another field, politics. Whats happened is that this objective media has changed its nature and became very opinionated. In 2011 we saw the rise of the journalist our the media person as a celeb. And once that happened, personal politics went up so the two things emerged if a way and gave rise to the possibility that a journalist or media person who is a celeb could go quickly and efficiently into politics and that is definitely evident with the lapid. Lapid has made the world of politics look easy. In 2005 he interviewed another journalist turned politician. Did it exactly the same thing. Lapid gave up his anger chair, and ran for parliament. Spend their time sceu the knesset, absolutely not. Its moving from being a spectator to being an actor. I have written extensively for 25 years. I thought maybe naively that by moving to the action, i would change the face of israel. Which turned out to be wrong. Its not as easy as i thought. It didnt work for daniel ben simone. The line between politics and journalism is becoming increasingly blurred. And as more and more people cross it, the Fourth Estate in israel is facing questions on its role as a check on power. Interviewed, head of labor in 2006, and about two months later, he welcomed her into the labor party. So people said the interview was you know very soft and very complirmting because she was already complimenting because she was already planning her move into politics. Now, theres distrust and basically i think its a positive thing. Obviously, when a jowrn a journalist moves to politics, its because you have a hidden agenda thats why journalists and politicians are the less trusted professions in israel. In israel, todays journalists are tomorrows politicians. Its a resolving door. Although one revolving door although it seems to be headed in one directionment n search of power. For years, the columbiaian tv soap opera, the telenovela, has been a staple. Around latin america. Cinderella story lines. Melodramatickic closeups. Buildups to the happily ever after. That narrative rehashed and rerun got old. And audiences got tired. Then came the that i narco novela. Around the Spanish Speaking continent. This year one narconovela sparked a new controversy. Because it went to the heart of the history, the three canes tell the story of the castano brothers. The real founders of one of the countrys most notorious paramilitary groups. They killed thousands were knee deep in drugs trafficking, often with the blessing of the countrys political elite. But the drama doesnt sit well with the journalists who are trying to tell the real story. The problem is that the castano brothers are shown as heroes. Their evil side is shown thats true. But those of us who make films know perfectly well that there public are feel connection to those. Large brush strokes, the story tends to get distorted and the murderers end up legitimized. When there is criticism we have to listen to it. And some people told me they felt underrepresented and that i should have given the victims point of view. But theres no way the channel would have bought that because they want to use famous figures already etched on the psyche. Who was murdered or displaced it would have been rejected because it doesnt have the same resonance as the cayenas. They use story telling devices, they take dramatickic license, they exaggerate things out if necessary, to edit out and edit in. News outlets in columbia yah has shied away with from covering all sides. These channels are taking advantage of a political story to produce narcodramas. And theyre getting to respect the dignity of the victims. When it comes to historical memory in this country, we demand a socially responsible media because whats at strike is the rights of the victims and to fight for Transitional Justice to pave the ways. With a slew of narconovelas in production, that seems unlikely. However, this will be the other columbian export that is not all that good for you. Every morning from 5 to 9am Al Jazeera America brings you more us and global news than any other American News channel. Find out what happened and what to expect. Start every morning, every day, 5am to 9 eastern with Al Jazeera America. Start with one issue education. I. If one was to guess where the worst case of a mass murder of journalists took place, countries like iraq sudan and syria would come to mind. Traveling as part of a politicians convoy killed, 34 of them were journalists. Four years on there have been no convictions and during this year, seven journalists have been murdered. Doing stories about criminal acts, about corruption in government, or in collaboration of crime sector or any sector can really put you in danger. Being a journalist. The philippines is a unique case i think we have a very robust democracy, a very noisy press. I think were the freest in southeast asia. At the same time, we are not a model for what Good Journalism is all about because we have journalists are being killed. The current president , beniquo aquino iii, says they are working to resolve cases but its not helping. The up is doing more than the president. At least up has introduced an elected course for would be or aspiring journalists. That trains them. That the president , yes, he has had the laugh but at the end of the day, cases about killing of media men are largely dependent on the lawyers and the judges. The disappointment has come from a position that the Aquino Administration has taken, against freedom or the life of a journalist has pen taken to court that it is now must leave it to the judicial process to bring that to its conclusion. Unfortunately, our court system is not built for quick use of the. Its not the journalists never get their day in court. It is just that they are the ones in the law and breaking them may mean up to six and a half years in jail. It wasnt meant to be this way. In 1986 after 20 years of the authoritarian Ferdinand Marcos government, a civilian force overthrew the government. In the days since the dictatorship the philippines has enjoyed greater freedom but like other postauthoritarian states. Very problematic issue because you had a press getting used to its freedom and taking with it a degree of exuberance that swung the pendulum over to the extreme. To the degree that nobody can tell me what is right or wrong. However the occasional misdemeanors that philippine journalists commit, dont compare to the ones against them. All the media murders that go unpunished, those are the big stories when it comes to journalism in the philippines. He has spoken on the mumbai terrorist attacks. You cant have a situation where 20 people hold 1. 1 billion to. Sending him an sms or email add 1en 06 a. M. Motivated. Where are we going to jail them . While seth can comment on just about any subject you may ask why a Brand Management consultant is doing all the talking. Im not the only motor mouth or the talking head in india. If im being called, theres a reason for being called. If you have anyone to blame, ask the guys who call me. Im not forcing my way into an intruder and saying, hey guys listen to me. Here is someone who pretty much does. Meet greg packer from huntington new york. He has made it his mission to get into the media as many times as possible. For the last 18 years he has excelled at it. I like to be in the media because its a way for me to show off you know what im doing and my friends and my family. While he could have done all that on facebook, it would have meant that consumers would have lost out on the 2 cents on the new iphone or the brooklyn bridges 125th anniversary. Its mazing its Still Standing after 125 years. Alt he said he traveled to specifically to get his name in the paper or his mug on tv. Nobody is going ostop me even osama bin laden. A particular example of pecular laziness, in which they need to find a voice off the street to Say Something completely obvious. If you are for example standing in line to buy an iphone for 24 hours, it is fairly obvious that you oar fan of the iphone. Why do you then need to interview one person off that line to say the iphone 5 oh i really like the iphone. It seems to be that packer happens to be that guy over and over again. I see that myself that probably somebody else will call me because ive been around. Thats what happens. What we need is people reporting. What we need even more than that is diversity of voices. For journalists what makes the seths and the packers so appealing in the fast pace of 24 hour news is their availability. And too often in newsrooms bookers who look for Diverse Voices end up because of their deadline with the same old voices. You have 24 hours to fill. There are dozens of 24hour news channels. They are all talking about the same thing at the same time. And if you have to fill that air time youre going to go back to the same people who appear to be able to talk about anything. It could even be you. Perhaps theres a media pundit in all of us and given the right platform, just about any story will do. Youve been watching our year end special, a quick look back at some of our producers favorite features from 2013. Next week, well be focusing on the man who blew the whistle on the biggest unwarranted Surveillance Program in history, edward snowden, nsa leaks and the repercussions theyve had on the Global Information highway. Well see you next week on the listening post. Check check a second bomb attack in two days in the russian city of volgograd. At least 15 are dead. Youre with al jazeera, live from doha. 7time formula 1 champion Michael Schumacher is in Critical Condition after a skiing accident. The Lebanese Army gets a 3 billion boost from saudi arabia. We examine why. This addiction had a negative impact on my life. I think i need to