The Evolutionary Ladder to New Media

976 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: CGD 218 week 1 The Evolution of Media

It started out with the air ways, families sat by the radio sets in their homes waiting for a familiar voice to greet them with the latest news. A few years later, those airways filled with a new signal, one that carried thousands of pieces of data that a television set at home would convert to video. Throughout the innovations in the airwaves, newspapers and print media hung on by a thin line.

However, with the introduction of new forms of media powered by the internet, Fathers do not have to wait for the morning newspaper to read the headlines. Mothers can keep up with the latest gossip, and kids can laugh away at videos online. In addition all of this information shoots across the airwaves within seconds from mobile phones and computers. Many professionals believe that traditional forms of media have had a front-row seat to their own death in the hands of the technological era, but media has not died, it has evolved to better suit the needs of the people.

As humans evolve we have developed a need to constantly have information readily available at our fingertips. With the internet age, new media outlets such as online editions of news papers and social networking have emerged as the providers for people to get faster and better access to pertinent information. Patrick McGovern, Chairman of International Data Group, stated that " If it is news, people want to hear it as soon as they can” (AFP). McGovern’s company, International Data Group, manages over 400 publications, many available exclusively online. Publishers like IDG have begun to understand the need to keep up with current and up to date early in the technology age. With the media market today, “current and up-to-date” means reporting the events going on presently...

... middle of paper ...

...ey. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2010. Opposing Viewpoints. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 19 Nov. 2011.

Morton, Neil. "The Internet Will Make Newspapers Obsolete." 2002. Rpt. in Mass Media. Ed. William Dudley. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2005. Opposing Viewpoints. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 21 Nov. 2011.

"New Media Underscore the Challenges of Journalistic Gatekeeping." Newspapers Becoming Extinct? Ed. Jennifer Dorman. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2011. At Issue. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 18 Nov. 2011.

"Traditional Newspapers Becoming Extinct." Newspapers Becoming Extinct? Ed. Jennifer Dorman. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2011. At Issue. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 17 Nov. 2011.

Works Cited

"The Web news fallacy." The Wilson Quarterly 33.3 (2009): 76+. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 29 Nov. 2011.

Show More
Related

  • Rhetorical Analysis Of In A Defense Of Newspapers By Jonathan Choi

    412 Words  | 1 Pages

    In Jonathan Choi’s article “In a Defense of Newspapers” Choi attempts to persuade his audience that newspapers need to be valued and protected as important news sources. Choi uses various rhetorical devices to increase the persuasiveness of his argument. Choi uses evidence in the form of data and examples, a humorous and entertaining tone, and ethos to convince his readers that newspapers need to be protected.

    Read More

  • The Decline in Journalistic Substance: Does it Matter?

    965 Words  | 2 Pages

    In response to James Fallows’ four premises in his “Learning to Love the (Shallow, Divisive, Unreliable,) New Media,” April 2011. I must say that while I want desperately to argue against his fears, as I am an optimist at heart, I cannot. I have turned this over and over and I have to say that with only a few points of specific contradiction, as a whole I agree. I believe that this is becoming an age of lies and idiocy. I agree that already there is a tendency for media to follow dollars instead of issues. I believe that we Americans are becoming more isolated. Finally, our ability to concentrate is not only undone by technology, but also by our own expectations to be entertained by the media. However, I do not think that the responsibility lies totally with the Gawker.coms of the world, but within ourselves. This is a trend that has been a long time coming. And, like a train down the track, it cannot be easily stopped.

    Read More

  • The Growth of Radio

    1070 Words  | 3 Pages

    Dominick, J. (2009). The Dynamics of Mass Communication: Media in the Digital Age. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Higher Education

    Read More

  • Explain What Industries Have Been Built Around The Four Media Technologies

    635 Words  | 2 Pages

    The decline of newspapers has been widely debated as the industry has faced down soaring newsprint prices, slumping ad sales, the loss of much classified advertising and precipitous drops in circulation. I don’t think that the old ways will ever truly disappear, but they are used less and less.

    Read More

  • The Changing Role of the Us News Media

    922 Words  | 2 Pages

    The internet is our modern source for news media; the importance of the newspaper has not only declined, it is in a sense, obsolete. We now turn to the internet for opinions, news, and entertainment. Even though the way in which we consume information (PBS) has changed, the importance of an unrestricted and watchful media has not changed. (Magleby, Light, & Nemacheck, 2010)

    Read More

  • Power Dynamics in the Age of Information

    991 Words  | 2 Pages

    Introduction: In today’s modern society, the spread of information constitutes the greatest freedom that individuals possess. The nature of information is one of power. Those who acquire and retain information tend to be the individuals who are most powerful. The past 60 years in human history have been marked with various technological advances in the field of information distribution; all of which shifted the balance of power. This Age of Information has allowed for the rapid transmit of knowledge throughout the world, leveling the distribution of power across nations and societies. A popular example of the modern information distribution is through news stories. News articles deliver the latest and most interesting stories from around the

    Read More

  • Photojournalism Essay Intro

    1977 Words  | 4 Pages

    Herbert, John. Journalism in the Digital Age: Theory and Practice for Broadcast, Print and On-line Media. Oxford: Focal, 2000. Print

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Slate Magazine

    345 Words  | 1 Pages

    In the United States, there is no shortage of news sources. Be that as it may, these sources are not considered equals. Some of these sources are considered to contain quality informative content, while others are notorious for containing only “fluff.” Since the creation of Slate Magazine in 1996, their website’s reliability has been questionable to many because of their unique presentation of news stories. In other words, critics of Slate argue Slate is not a real source of news because its condensed, constant, and partial coverage. However, after conducting extensive research on Slate Magazine, I believe it is an excellent news source if used for its intended purpose of offering the public analysis and commentary on current events in a

    Read More

  • The Powerful Effect of Fake News

    2875 Words  | 6 Pages

    In order to understand new media, one must first have a solid background of the old media. The old media traces its origins back to the “elite or partisan press [that] dominated American journalism in the early days of the republic” (Davis 29). With the advent of the penny press around 1833, the press changed its basic purpose and function from obtaining voters for its affiliated political party to making profit (Davis 29). With more available papers, individual companies competed with each other with “muckraking journalism”—investigative journalism exposing corruption—and “yellow journalism”—sensationalist journalism that completely disregarded the facts (Davis 30). The press continued to evolve its journalistic approaches and next shifted to “lapdog journalism,” r...

    Read More

  • How Community Newspapers Could Engage The Youth

    519 Words  | 2 Pages

    As technological advancement continue to unfold, more people, especially the youth depend more on digital media for their news rather than on print media like our community newspapers. Newspapers have gradually been relegated into a less prominent facet of communication. Newspapers are now seen by most young people as a boring means of acquiring news and they rely more on entertaining sources like the internet or television, for obtaining news and information about what is going on around them.

    Read More

  • Gate-Watching In Social Media

    2071 Words  | 5 Pages

    A prominent notion discussed by scholars is gate-watching, a concept that is considered to replace traditional gatekeeping in journalism. The establishment of the gatekeeping theory can be attributed to White who researched the ‘reasons given by a newspaper editor for discarding possible news issues’ (White 1950). However, the emergence of web 2.0 has rendered such studies irrelevant, when considering the increased blurring of roles between journalists and an audience. Scholars are now suggesting that a new concept, termed gate-watching, will ‘replace traditional gatekeeping journalistic roles’ (Shoemaker et al 2001). Bearing in mind the previous limited space of conventional media, gatekeeping ‘refers to the important role of journalists to select whether or not to admit a particular news story to pass through the gates of a news medium into the news channel’ (McQuail 1994, p. 213). However, the unlimited space offered by the internet, which allows for the active participation of the audience, makes Shoemakers discussion more useful in contemporary studies. Bruns, bringing together ideas from previous works by Shoemaker and Wrigley, identifies that the ‘collaborative participation of users in news selection’ (Bruns 2006), is a distinguishing feature of gate-watching, and reflects the changing role of journalists.

    Read More

  • The Decline of Print News

    928 Words  | 2 Pages

    It’s a question that keeps floating around in the public sphere: is print advertising and newspapers dead? The world is becoming more and more fast-paced and although, our want and need for the up-to-date news and breaking stories has not changed, the way in which we consume it has. This background report investigates and explains the downfall of the newspaper and the technological shift to online news. It will also discuss differing opinions of this relevant topic of the future of journalism from a range of reliable primary sources and investigative data.

    Read More

  • Print Media vs Digital Media

    1470 Words  | 3 Pages

    Paul Grabowicz. "The Transition to Digital Journalism." Print and Broadcast News and the Internet. N.p., 30 Mar. 2014. Web. 27 May 2014.

    Read More

  • The Pros and Cons of On-line Newspapers

    1326 Words  | 3 Pages

    For centuries, newspapers have provided the world with up-to-date, useful information. During the World Wars, America turned to the printed press to receive reports, as the newspapers were a vital source of information for the public; however, over the last sixty years newspapers have evolved from more than just tangible chunks of paper that can be sold on a street corner.

    Read More

  • Digital Information In Jamaica

    1001 Words  | 3 Pages

    Hence, any debate of the future becoming digital must take into consideration the reaction of the media to the technological innovations of the world, from the Personal Computers (PC) to the smallest Smartphone. Although mass media has increased with technological innovations, what driv...

    Read More

More about The Evolutionary Ladder to New Media

Open Document