The advent of digital age has equipped everyone who has access to internet with a powerful tool to make his voice heard via a variety of Web 2.0 platforms, may it be social networking site, blog or video/photo sharing network. Blogging, in particular, has turned the table for news production which used to be a privileged profession for a number of traditional journalists but now has become the playground for numerous yet mushrooming bloggers, also known as citizen journalists. It is also worth noting that with the growing popularity of blogging as an alternative platform for delivering news and commentary, most journalists from conventional media have started to set up blogs either outside or within their news network so that they are able to communicate with readers on topical issues from a more personal perspective.
This essay aims to break the myth that the rise of citizen journalists is reducing the need for traditional ‘quality’ journalism. I will firstly invite a debate over several drawbacks of traditional media where citizen journalists can fill in the gap, then deal with the problematic conceptualization of blogging as a replacement for traditional media in the quest for quality journalism, and finally include my working definition of quality journalism. In this essay, I will focus on the nature of “blogging” and “citizen journalism” as news media so both terms are interchangeable.
1 Why blog instead of traditional media
Traditional media business proves financially and institutionally vulnerable, which may translate into poor execution in terms of accuracy and objectivity. Commercial news corporations heavily depend on avenue from advertising though many online news cites such as the Financial Times and the Wal...
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I say this because there were points in which I personally could not really understand what was going on due to my lack of exposure to this problem that American journalism is facing. More specifically, terminology that was used, especially from business standpoints, and the different companies that were involved made it harder to keep up with the issue at hand. However, with a little editing and better explanation of terminology, I think that this film could extend to a wide audience that would include both digital natives and digital immigrants that are experiencing this transition within American news reporting. This paper will examine the difference between old and new journalism and its new standards, “The New York Times Effect” and its 21st century challenges, important qualifications to be a successful journalist, and the future role of journalism within American society.
Since the advent of television networks, Americans have relied on local and national newscasts to inform them of the world’s happenings. In the 1950’s there were no other mass informational outlets besides the network news and newspapers. Today we have the internet, which allows independent research, but the majority of Americans still depend on network and cable newscasts for their local, political, and foreign news. With the responsibility and power of informing an entire country, are television newscasts as reliable as most Americans assume them to be? Most Americans don’t consider where their news is coming from or who is producing it. Network and cable news are owned and operated by people and thus are not as objective and unbiased as we would like to think. In light of the war in Iraq and the most recent presidential election, critics of television network administration are voicing their concern for today’s presentation of the news. Increasingly more Americans are demanding a rehabilitation of newscasts, starting with ownership.
Chris Master incorporates the ‘duty of journalists [as] to reshape information and get that information to the public’, while this is important and periodically essential, it is his broad knowledge tells us that ‘the best journalism is the journalism to challenge the orthodox, respectfully challenge the public opinion and occasionally deliver bad news’(pg 5). While this is almost evident in Masters’ book, but the fact he did not deliver these stories that seem perfectly fit for ‘today’s journalism’ he attains a kind of benevolence, and consideration for his subjects. As seen in his anonymity, which shows the reader how it is not worth the social and media torment of the journalistic process. Quite powerfully he delivers the calming words that many of us already know, perhaps by our own nature or experience: ‘In order for there to be good journalism, journalists need to find a balance between what they want to present and what the public wants’.
Theses and Professional Projects from the College of Journalism and Mass Communications. Paper 2. http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/journalismdiss/2
The author provides a rough timeline of the objective norm emerging in American journalism, and explains the inner origin of these co...
The “marketplace of ideas” would become a significant part of journalism and is still present and in effect today. One might argue that the “marketplace of ideas” has run amuck. As technology continues to advance we are witness to the ever-changing adaption made to journalism and its techniques. No longer is the schooled journalist, or the wealthy publisher the only ones to report our d...
In his editorial "Words Triumph Over Images," Curtis Wilkie blames today’s media for being “reckless” and “a mutant reality show”. He believes that television and radio are “unfiltered”, which causes the quality of journalism for newspapers to be unmatched. Yet, it is unfair to label all media that is not print as lesser because the quality of any media relies on the viewers and the individual journalists, and in drastic situations like a hurricane, reporters may have many road blocks. Any of these aspects can affect the quality of journalism, which invalidates Curtis Wilkie’s claim.
The introduction of the internet to modern society has brought about a new age of information relation. Since there is no longer a need to wait until the next print day, news from all over the world is available at a person’s fingertips within hours or even minutes of the event. With this advent of such easily accessible information, new problems for the news media have also arisen. Aside from potentially losing good economic standing because newspapers are no longer being purchased in the quantities they used to be, the credibility of the information itself is also put into question. No one would argue that credibility of news sources is unimportant, but there is a discrepancy in what takes precedence; economy and speed or getting the information out correctly at the first publishing by taking the time to make sure all facts are checked. The importance of having a system of checks on all information submitted is paramount. People trust what they read and believe it to be so without always questioning. If all information were to not be checked thoroughly, there would be instances where people read an article only for information included to be wrong and they go on believing such information. This can be very dangerous as misinformed people make misinformed decisions. With an increase in errors being made by citizen bloggers and even major publications, many are worried that journalistic ethics and credibility in the news media are being sacrificed in order to maintain swiftness in the news circuit and to retain personal profits. Though getting information to the masses quickly is a major part of the media’s importance, this should not mean that the credibility of that information being presented should be sacrificed for it...
Journalism and the Code of Ethics Introduction: What is the 'Standard' of the 'Standard Thesis - Current code is irrelevant to journalists. Why do you need to be a member? Importance of ethics in mass media. How to use [IMAGE]? A qualitative look Areas of concern ---------------- 1.
Print media is on the decline, this can be seen in the U.S.newspaper industry as it is facing “its worst financial crisis since the Great Depression” (Kirchhoff). A few huge newspaper chains declared their bankruptcy, while many others have shut down (Kirchhoff). This has lead to many reporters and editors to be out of the job, lesser pay and even becoming web-only publications (Kirchhoff).
New technology has developed rapidly since the birth of the internet, and it continues to expand and evolve affecting many domains, especially the print media. This essay will investigate the influence and impact of current technology of the electronic media and World Wide Web on print media, and how future developments in technology will affect the future direction of the traditional newspaper. The way in which “Bloggers” have influenced traditional journalism will also be explored and how this has affected the journalism profession. In addition, the negative impacts of how the electronic media is being used as a political forum will also be investigated. Finally, the author will predict the consequences of future developments in this rapidly growing industry and the implications this may have on the direction of print media.
"Journalism Ethics Online Journalism Ethics Gatekeeping." Journalism Ethics for the Global Citizen. Web. 05 Dec. 2010. .
In today's time, there are numerous individuals who are in the blogging field. Some of them are doing great, while some are most certainly not. There are numerous reasons why a few people are showing improvement over others in this field. One of the principle reasons is the general procedure of the blogger keeping in mind the end goal to bring more perusers and more client engagement.
McLoed and Hawley (as cited in Wilson, 1995) elucidated appropriately, "a recurrent journalistic controversy has involved the question whether journalism is a true profession or merely a craft." Sparked primarily by Lippmann and Dewey, extending into the age of the penny press (mid 1980s) and later, the attempt to commercialise the news (late 1980s) to our present era, there has existed a contentious debate on journalism being distinguished as a profession (Wilson, 1995). Encapsulated in a democratic homeland since the advent of time, media systems are habitually acclaimed as the “fourth power,” with its journalists often hailed as the “watch-dogs” of such a society. Lending itself to act as ‘gatekeeper’ for the wider society and performing the traditional role of journalism, the media (overall) exist as powerful “instruments of knowledge” that perform the function of providing information to the masses in a public sphere, where issues may be discussed, justified and contested (Scannell, 1995, p. 17). Evidently, media workers play a pivotal role in our society; however, their status in the realm of professions is not definite.