Journalism is definitely changing daily, especially since traditional media such as TV, newspapers, and magazines are on the decline. So, what's taking the place of traditional media? Why, what else.....the Internet. The Internet has become the new form of journalism, from daily newspapers posting news online, to citizen journalists posting videos or blogs about a new topic.
First, I'm going to talk about citizen journalism. Citizen journalists are basically private individuals that report information like professional reporters do. Their work includes pictures, video and/or audio. They can have information by writing a blog, or by posting a podcast. More information on citizen journalism can be found at the following link and on the following video:
http://journalism.about.com/od/citizenjournalism/a/whatiscitizen.htm
Many people believe that the Internet is hurting journalism. In The Atlantic article titled, "Media Insiders Say Internet Hurts Journalism", Cyra Master reported from a survey from The Atlantic and National Journal that "about 65% of people say that Internet is hurting journalism more than it's helpling", while only 34% of people say that the Internet "helps more". Master aslo points out that the Internet "offers benefits", but the cost of traditional media and news gathering is "too high". An example of this would be the fact that the N. Y. Times has published stories free on Kindle to cut back production of printed dailies because of the high costs. Master also explains that one other benefit is that the Internet has a "widened circle of those participating in a national debate". But, she also points out that the Internet has also "blurred the line between opinion and fact" as well. One last point that Master made was that the Internet "trains readers to consume news in smaller bites", which is bad for magazines and newspapers.
Another issue is that network news sources are also on the decline. Now, with the rise of such shows as "The Daily Show", people are beginning to trust sources like these more than traditional news sources.
Of course, there are those that believe that the Internet is better than the traditional media. In the online article, "How Will Journalism Survive the Internet Age?", President of Media at Thomson Reuters Chris Ahearn noted that "journalism will survive and thrive in the Internet age because of new technologies, retool production and distribution strategies". Ahearn also notes that dominant search engines are "the salvation of journalism". Finally, he sees a platform that "applies consistent metadata to create 'intelligent' information designed to help publishers and broadcasters better manage their own and 3rd party content".
Of course this issue relates to the Long Tail and the Internet as a democratizing tool in several ways. Everyone has an equal opportunity to report or talk about certain issues whenever they want through many different sources, such as a posted video blog on YouTube, a written blog on Blogger, or recording an actual political event in Washington, D.C. and posting it on the Internet. This is very beneficial because now people can keep other people informed instead of reporters always keeping others informed. Also, this issue relates to the Long Tail because media contiues to evolve. Now that traditional media is on the decline, these sources are now turning to the Internet to help them survive. An example would be how the Ann Arbor journal continuously updates its stories online daily. Other dailies and magazines are also doing this on their websites as well.
Well, the question is "What will journalism and news look like 10 years from now?"
There are several suggestions to that. One would be that companies such as Google, YouTube, Facebook, and Wikipedia will be joined by powerful companies to let people find information they want when they want it. Also, interactive touchscreens may be built into everyday work surfaces, which will allow people to share news and information in an easier way. Here's an image of what this may look like:
More ideas on what journalism will be like in the future can be found at the following site:
http://www.fastcompany.com/article/news-flash-future?page=0%2C0&partner=homepage_newsletter
Information in this blog can be found at the following sites:
http://blogs.reuters.com/from-reuterscom/2009/12/11/how-will-journalism-survive-the-internet-age/
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2009/04/media-insiders-say-internet-hurts-journalism/7410/
Video found at the following website:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58iZpMRclwI
Photos found from the following site:
http://www.fastcompany.com/article/news-flash-future?page=0%2C1&partner=homepage_newsletter
Reading this post gave me ideas and I thought of a table with pictures of menu items that when touched and confirmed would be ordered and brought to us my robots or picked up at the counter. I don't know if I saw this somewhere or read about this idea or not. Another thought I had was that when a company sets up an account on a social media site such as Twitter or Facebook, there has to be someone to keep it up to date. If it isn't up to date it kind of looks like a building does that is unkempt and needing some TLC. Printed paper journalism is definately still desired. I get copies of printed newspaper articles weekly from one teacher I have currently. This teacher and many others will not want to give up the hand held printed newspaper easily. This is a fact of today. The Kindle type reading is neat though. No messy ink, etc.
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