The Changing Nature of Journalism

News has been around for centuries, whether it is for recreational purposes or world updates. Journalism creates a platform for that news to be distributed. In the 1600s, the printing press was created in Germany as newspapers became a popular item to purchase (History of Journalism, 2020). During World War I, newspapers played a crucial role to bring the fastest and most reliable news. Though, they didn’t seem to last, between 1970 and 2016 it was noted by the American Society of News Editors that an estimated amount of 500 dailies went out of business (Lepore, 2019).

Looking at the future of journalism, digital media will act as the principal medium and overshadowing print media. Consequently, there have been a reduction in employment of journalists. In the early decades of the twentieth century, American newspaper were slowly developing with the invention of radio and the Great Depression in which “the number of dailies fell from 2,042 in 1920 to 1,754 in 1944, leaving 1,103 cities with only one paper”. Statistics show that between January of 2017 and April 2018, a third of the nation’s largest newspapers, including the Denver Post reported layoffs (Lepore, 2019).

Present-day journalism threatens news culture as it prefers individual expert systems over teamwork and knowledge-sharing. Thus, new media technologies challenge one of the most fundamental truths of journalism, in which the professional journalist is the one who determines what the public knows (Rottwilm, 2014). It does not filter what is being written on the Internet that creates exposure to more and more diverse sources of information. Hence, it confuses readers whether to trust it or not. “In the United States, just 17% of those on the political right say they trust most news, whereas half of those on the political left do”. Publics will increasingly rely on self-interested sources and rumours circulating both online and offline. This causes bias and will hurt political process, civil society and private enterprise (Selva and Nielsen, 2019).

On the bright side, with the creation of the Internet it is more of an opportunity rather than a defeat as journalism finds a new and different way of publishing news. Before the advent of the world wide web, reporters and photographer could not do their job without editors, publishers or broadcasters. Technology reduces the cost of many reporting and publishing tools, journalist has become their own “business unit” (Changing Nature of Journalism, 2014). Not only, it is time-efficient, it also is practical as one could just read it off their mobile. People could access it through channels like search engines and social media (Selva and Nielsen, 2019).

Therefore, employees need to be versatile in order for them to change professions. Rottwilm stated that large corporations tend to encourage employees to follow established procedures. On the other hand, small to medium corporations are encouraged to take risks and find innovative ways to increase efficiency. Many recent studies recognize issues in regards to journalists’ reluctance to innovate, share knowledge, and embrace the new technology as it changes the process and nature of journalistic labour. Thus, this is agitating to their professional status and autonomy. As of now we are living in a digital, globalised, multicultural, and interconnected world that has changed the work of journalists tremendously in recent decades. Consequently, journalistic ideology might have to reinvent itself as well (Rottwilm, 2014).

References

Just Business Today. 2014. Changing Nature Of Journalism. [online] Available at: <https://www.justbusiness.today/changing-nature-of-journalism/> [Accessed 23 March 2020].

Lepore, J., 2019. Does Journalism Have A Future?. [online] The New Yorker. Available at: <https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/01/28/does-journalism-have-a-future> [Accessed 23 March 2020].

Open School of Journalism. 2020. History Of Journalism. [online] Available at: <https://www.openschoolofjournalism.com/resources/about-journalism/history-of- journalism> [Accessed 23 March 2020].

Rottwilm, P., 2014. The Future Of Journalistic Work: Its Changing Nature And Implications. [online] Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. Available at <https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/sites/default/files/research/files/The%2520Future%2520of%2520Journalistic%2520Work%2520-%2520Its%2520Changing%2520Nature%2520and%2520Implications.pdf> [Accessed 23 March 2020].

Selva, M. and Nielsen, R., 2019. Five Things Everybody Needs To Know About The Future Of Journalism. [online] World Economic Forum. Available at: <https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/01/five-things-everybody-needs-to-know- about-the-future-of-journalism/> [Accessed 23 March 2020].