Monday, September 20, 2010

New Media and Journalism

I'm a social media junkie. No, not just because I melt my brain away as a pro Facebook stalker, or make reading Justin Bieber's tweets part of my daily routine. I love social media because I believe it provides an incredible advantage to our generation. It allows us to create networks and communities of people in a world where it's not just what you know--it's who you know. Social media creates and maintains connections. It gives us access to a plethora of information that we didn't have before, changing the face of journalism.

In the delivery of news, there's no doubt that social media is revolutionizing how we get our information about the world. There is a decreasing need/want for traditional newspapers and broadcast television, and an increasing demand for interactive technology. Facebook, Youtube, blogs, and other online media are referred to more than ever as a source of information. But will journalists still be needed? I think so. While new media is convenient and prevalent, it is not always trusted. I believe people will still turn to professionals to get the truth--even if old platforms are dead. There's too much information out in cyberspace to try and discern what's true and what's not. Society will still turn to journalists as an ultimate source of credibility. While platforms may change, the role of a reporter does not. No matter the medium, reporters will continute to collect, condense, and display information.

When social media didn't exist, it was much easier for professional journalists and businesses to get away with false information. Now that society can interact through the internet as watchdogs, journalists and businesses are forced to give credible information because others can call them out in public commentary. I think social media in a sense makes reporters better. They work harder to get the truth. Zia Yusef, executive VP for SAP's global ecosystem and partner group said, “You will make mistakes. If you are sincere about helping the community, the authenticity will show and your mistakes will be forgiven.”

While citizen journalism has the potential to be a positive thing, it also has it's negative aspects. Group 2 described this well, explaining that citizen journalism offers advantages of more coverage, deep and intimate coverage, and a subjective viewpoint, while disadvantages include information overload, information triaging, and a lack of ethical and professional objectivity.

I also really enjoyed this "Social Media Revolution" clip presented by group 2. It illustrated a lot of eye-opening insights about social media:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFZ0z5Fm-Ng

2 comments:

  1. I really agree with and appreciate much of what you said. Your statements on how society will continue to turn to journalists as an ultimate source of credibility, even with the revolutionizing of social media, gave me hope for my future as a journalists.
    I was having a similar conversation a couple weeks ago with a friend who asked me, "With so much movement towards people getting their news online and not through television and newspapers, are you worried about going into journalism? Are you worried about not being able to have a job?"
    I told my friend that I did have worries at times about the uncertainty in the future of journalism, but that I was hopeful. For the most part we don't know what the future of journalism will look like, or what part we will play in that dissemination of information. But, I do feel strongly that even with all of the changes coming about people will still need and want information, in whatever form it will be presented to them in, and there will need to be journalists to gather, dissect, and present that information to them in an interesting, truthful, and compelling manor. So while there is plenty of uncertainty in our chosen field, it's kind of an exciting future ahead with so many possibilities.

    -Garrett Tenney

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  2. Hey Danielle!! Nice post! As Garrett said, I really agree with a lot of the things that you said. When you said that social media is making journalists better, it made me think of other ways that social media is helping journalists. It's not just making journalists be more responsible for that they say, but it's popularizing news stations. Here's an interesting fact. After this seeps month of November, Salt Lake's Channel 2 http://connect2utah.com/ is now number 1 according to the ratings. The attribute much of their success to their social media efforts. http://www.facebook.com/KUTV2News

    Social Media is yet another useful tool for news organizations become known and to get their information out into society.

    Just like you said, I don't think that social media will stamp out journalism. It will make it better. It will definitely popularize it as news stations and organizations use it to their advantage to reach all types of audiences.

    With all of the sources of information that are available to us, I believe that as Journalists learn to adapt to technological changes and cater to what people want, they will always be a great source of news. I believe the desire for knowledge is an innate desire that people have. I believe that society wants to know about the things that are going on in the world around them. I think this is a big reason why social media is so successful...that desire for information about the people around them and the world around them.

    Great post! Keep up the good work! I enjoyed reading this!

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