Journalists Juggle Many Roles in Today's Digital and Social Media News Environments
What Happened to the Morning Paper and Evening TV News?
Yes, there was a long
period of time in American society when most American adults read a morning
paper and then sat down in front of a television to watch evening network news. Prior to the 1990’s, we were all receiving
very similar spins on the news, mostly because the news we were consuming was
being produced by professional journalists who were guided by a journalistic
code of ethic, and their editors who, guided by the same ethics, acted as an additional
check. Together journalists and editors were
the gatekeepers of news. News was on a
deadline for both print and broadcast platforms, and if a story was not
completed in time, well, then it might have to wait until the next day, or next
edition. For journalism students, the
goal was to find a position with a leading news organization, cut their teeth
on a few juicy news stories where they could sharpen their writing skills, and with
a little luck, have a job for life. However, to quote the “most trusted man in
America”, legendary anchorman, Walter Cronkite, “And that’s the way it was”.
The Way it Is…Journalism in the Web 2.0 World
Over the past 20 years, we
have witnessed an amazing transformation in the business and art of news
production. in the way it is produced, funded, distributed, and digested. All of this was in response to a tidal wave
of new technology that quickly crashed down upon the field of journalism. As news became digitized and socialized, the
role of individual journalists evolved to keep up with the times. The concept of a lifelong job at a major news
organization in either print or video?
Well, that may exist for a lucky few, but today, if you are thinking
about becoming a journalist, you need to hedge your bet by being well versed in
a variety of story-telling techniques and become masters of more than one
medium.
Rewriting Journalistic Skill Sets in the Social Media
World
The basic principles of
journalism and journalistic ethics still apply today, but how you deliver your
stories and package your stories for different news and social media platforms can
vary. Articles, which tend to reside on news organizations websites, are written
more formally than Blogs, which may appear on a News organizations blog site or
a journalist’s private blog. Microblogs, which appear on X or Instagram, need
to relay key details in a sentence or 2, while videos can be long-form on
YouTube, but should be short-form on Instagram, X or TikTok. The concept of news as a one-way street from
news organizations to readers and viewers has been replaced with two-way
conversations, in which viewers react, comment and share the news. If you
are about to start off on your journalistic career, not only will you have to
be a writer, photographer and videographer, but you will also need to
understand search engine optimization. In
addition, you will need to take the time to become familiar with several of the
most popular social media platforms, like Facebook, X (formerly Twitter),
Instagram, YouTube and TikTok, and understand their unique features, strengths,
weaknesses and demographics.
Embracing Change: How Has Technology Challenged You?
2500 Years ago, the Greek
philosopher, Heraclitus said, “There is nothing permanent except change”. As
technological advances occur more rapidly than ever in the digital age,
journalists will have to remain at the cutting edge of communication technology
in order to remain relevant. What are
some of the challenges that you have encountered as journalists or journalism
students and how have you overcome them?
What concerns you the most about emerging technology and what new
technologies light you up?
Additional Resources:
The following video, produced by the DW Media Forum, focuses on the new skills that today's journalists need in order to be successful in digital and social media.
.jpg)
Comments
Post a Comment