Table of Contents
People used to have to wait for the newspaper to arrive or the nightly news to get information about what was going on in the world. Today, technology communicates news events ‘in real time,’ just moments after they happen. Technology also gives everyday citizens the opportunity to participate in journalism–they can post their own videos and photos of news events as they are happening, comment on the news, and even write and publish their own accounts and opinions online. Technology has not only changed how people receive news; it is changing the very nature of reporting and sharing information about current events.
Exploration Questions
- How does the internet affect journalism and reporting
- How does social media affect journalism and reporting?
- Should social media outlets be held to the same standards as newspapers and television news outlets? Why or why not?
The internet allows citizens to post their own photos, videos, written accounts, and commentary of news events. Does this make traditional news outlets less necessary? Why or why not?
Search Terms
127 our experts are availableright now
- citizen journalism
- journalism mobile devices
- news reporting and technology
- participatory journalism mobile devices
- guerilla journalism
- news reporting mobile devices
- news reporting social media
- news reporting twitter
- news reporting facebook
How does Social media Affect Journalism and Reporting?
You probably don’t stop to think about it often, but technology has dramatically changed the way people access information. When looking at different sites, one in particular caught my eye. The article “ How Social Media Is Reshaping News” says, “Our recent survey revealed social media doesn’t always facilitate conversation around the important issues of the day. In fact, we found people were less willing to discuss their opinion about story on social media than they were in person.” (MONICA ANDERSON AND ANDREA CAUMONT)
What the sentence is saying, is that not everyone is feeling comfortable talking in person, so, many people would rather talk on social media where they don’t have to make a physical appearance. Sometimes being able to communicate online rather than in person can be helpful, but then again it is also has its cons. Journalists and reporters are putting technology to use on open publishing sites. Social media is a place where journalists can post their stories and receive feedback from anyone. Media can provide different apps and sites to help revise and give suggestions to their papers.
The Website inc.com states, “At one time, journalists merely strove to serve a local audience, delivering news specific to the broadcast area. This meant putting together a few newscasts each day that were viewed by everyone who tuned in. However, technology has given businesses the ability to learn about website visitors and deliver information specifically targeted to each person’s interaction with a site.”(John Boitnott) This is saying, that journalists would physically write and try to make readers excited to wait for the next paper. They would have to go to different places to collect information to get ideas for their paper and then they would add the data to the draft. Next, according to the website called, depts.washington.edu many voices are heard in the writing industry.
The website states, “As the public turns toward participatory forms of online journalism, and as mainstream news outlets adopt more of those interactive features in their online versions, the media environment is shifting, slowly and incrementally, away from the broadcast model where the few communicate to the many, toward a more inclusive model in which publics and audiences also have voices.” (Chicano Movement Geography, depts.washington.edu/ccce/digitalMedia/newsimpact.html.)
What are ways technology can affect today’s writing industry?
- Give writing templates
- Allow you to find apps to revise writing
- Allow you to interview people online
- Let you receive feedback from others
- Let you send writing to different people
- Allow you to go back and make edits
Those are different ways today’s technology can help with journalism and reporting. Nowadays we are all using the internet to look up articles and read papers. A while ago people would use typewriters and go to interview people so they can go back to their station and continue on their newspaper writing.
Work Cited
- University of Washington – UW Departments Web Server. depts.washington.edu/.
- Chicano Movement Geography, depts.washington.edu/ccce/digitalMedia/newsimpact.html.
- Social Media Use in 2018 – Pew Research Center.
