Journalism, The Dying Art

It is no secret that we are indeed living in the age of technology. From smartphones to laptops; to iPads and tablets. These are all tools that are used on a day to day basis by people all over the world across different working fields. They have shaped the world in which we live and have changed the direction of journalism as whole.

With the ever-evolving technology and hyper-connectivity news is able to break and spread much quicker than ever before. Citizen journalists are starting to become more prevalent through the use of their smartphones as a result of the being part of the ‘here and now’. This however, is proving detrimental to the field of the once ‘elitist’ journalists. As the internet keeps on expanding through numerous social media platforms for millions of people to express their views and opinions, the printing press is edging near its ‘extinction’ http://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/apr/15/what-is-the-future-of-journalism.

Yes, the development of technology has helped the journalism field in terms of being able to broadcast news stories as it happens and on the go. However, what this has brought about is the current trend of citizen journalists’ voices overpowering those of aspiring, qualified journalists. Another aspect that is slowly picking away at the printing press and journalism field as a whole is that of robo-journalism which uses algorithms and indices to search for and find data and information for news stories.

Citizen journalism and robo-journalism are in fact contributing factors to the evolving art of journalism however their negatives outweigh the positives as a there are shortcomings that accompany these current forms of journalism. These derivatives of the good, old fashioned printing press media lack what journalists are taught throughout their studies with particular mention to ethics and credibility. How do we know that what a citizen journalist is saying should be trusted or if it is in fact true? Where did he or she get their information? Was it merely reproduced, ‘retweeted’ or shared. Those are the fundamental questions that come with being credible journalist and producing reliable and truthful stories.

The field of journalism and technology alike is changing with the times as new tools and platforms are being provided to broadcast news on a number of platforms. Journalists and news agencies are adapting to the current trends within the field while evolving and reinventing themselves. The printing press is a suffering branch of journalism but it does not mean that journalism is dying by any means. The future of journalism lies within the social media sphere of things with the main attraction being broadcast media.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmFlKKOKenw