We live in a highly-connected world. Almost everywhere in the world, it is relatively easy to access the internet and go on social media, read news online, or just surf the web.
What does this mean for journalists?
Well, compared to a decade or two ago, journalists can now very easily gain information or news sources using the internet, particularly social media. When in the past you probably had to go out of your way to find a reliable source or have to get in touch with such a source through mail or telephone, these days a simple tweet, direct message or status update would get you the answers you need.
Social media in particular has been a highly useful tool for journalists. Websites such as Twitter allow journalists to get in touch with pretty much anyone in the world. A simple tweet could reach out to thousands, maybe millions of followers around the world. A journalist staying in Australia could reach someone staying in Singapore and get an inside scoop of a news story, for example perhaps the haze affecting Southeast Asia, with a few simple messages. Facebook helps in gathering information as well, from trending topics (using the hashtags) as well as updating statuses with important news updates. It can also be used to source for reliable correspondents.
The widespread usage of social media has also connected the world on a larger scale, allowing breaking news stories to spread across the globe in mere minutes. Because of this, it is a lot easier for journalists to gather information and find sources through the web, and hence deliver a breaking news story online within a few hours of the news event.
What does this mean for journalists?
Well, compared to a decade or two ago, journalists can now very easily gain information or news sources using the internet, particularly social media. When in the past you probably had to go out of your way to find a reliable source or have to get in touch with such a source through mail or telephone, these days a simple tweet, direct message or status update would get you the answers you need.
Social media in particular has been a highly useful tool for journalists. Websites such as Twitter allow journalists to get in touch with pretty much anyone in the world. A simple tweet could reach out to thousands, maybe millions of followers around the world. A journalist staying in Australia could reach someone staying in Singapore and get an inside scoop of a news story, for example perhaps the haze affecting Southeast Asia, with a few simple messages. Facebook helps in gathering information as well, from trending topics (using the hashtags) as well as updating statuses with important news updates. It can also be used to source for reliable correspondents.
The widespread usage of social media has also connected the world on a larger scale, allowing breaking news stories to spread across the globe in mere minutes. Because of this, it is a lot easier for journalists to gather information and find sources through the web, and hence deliver a breaking news story online within a few hours of the news event.
It is also easy for journalists to connect with their audience with social media. Columnists can gather ideas for stories by interacting with their audience, while other journalists can gather feedback or generate interest in their stories using social media.
Smartphones are another sign of a hyper-connected world. Almost everyone owns a smartphone these days, and having it is just another easy means of accessing the web, wherever you are. What this means is, people can easily take photographs or videos and publish them online. Any of these pictures and videos can be accessed by anyone using the web, which means that if they were to be related to a news story, journalists have easy access to them. It is also as easy to ask for valid permission, if applicable, for usage of said content.
Basically, the world we live in now enables journalists and the media to gain information, sources, and content for their news stories extremely easily.
However, as with most things, such a hyper-connected world has its downsides.
For one thing, the internet is full of satire articles or false news websites that could easily be accessed by anyone unknown to that fact. If a big fake news article is being shared too often, many would automatically assume it to be true. This could lead to the mainstream media thinking the same, or a journalist thinking the same, and producing a story with regards to it, which then turns out to be false news. The repercussions of such a story could be great.
Similarly, false news websites tend to produce hoaxes of many sorts, which could lead to widespread panic and unnecessary chaos, depending on the scale of the hoax. Either way though, having easy access to such hoaxes is not a helpful thing, and it is the job of the more informed public (and sometimes the media) to reassure people that that news article in question is only a hoax, and that the news source cannot be trusted.
This brings up another point, one of journalists using social media and the internet to find sources. Sometimes it is hard to determine if a source can be trustworthy just from the media. Journalists who might be in a rush to "cover the top news story first", in a way, might feel pressured to pick up the first few sources they come across, which may or may not be trustworthy. This would then cause misconceptions or mistakes in the story, which discredits the journalist. In big news stories, there are usually a wide number of people on the internet that could provide information on said story; the journalists just need to be careful on which sources they pick.
In these cases, it is usually better for the journalists to do some prior research into that source, or find more sources and compare information in an attempt to provide the most accurate story to their audience.
Having easy access to the internet also allows organizations, both good and bad, to reach their audience. In the case of "bad" organizations, we have the cases of ISIS releasing disturbing videos to the world. It also allows such organization to radicalize youths into joining their cause, something which has been happening a little too frequently in recent months. It is then usually up to the social media platforms themselves to put an end to this.
Smartphones are another sign of a hyper-connected world. Almost everyone owns a smartphone these days, and having it is just another easy means of accessing the web, wherever you are. What this means is, people can easily take photographs or videos and publish them online. Any of these pictures and videos can be accessed by anyone using the web, which means that if they were to be related to a news story, journalists have easy access to them. It is also as easy to ask for valid permission, if applicable, for usage of said content.
Basically, the world we live in now enables journalists and the media to gain information, sources, and content for their news stories extremely easily.
However, as with most things, such a hyper-connected world has its downsides.
For one thing, the internet is full of satire articles or false news websites that could easily be accessed by anyone unknown to that fact. If a big fake news article is being shared too often, many would automatically assume it to be true. This could lead to the mainstream media thinking the same, or a journalist thinking the same, and producing a story with regards to it, which then turns out to be false news. The repercussions of such a story could be great.
Similarly, false news websites tend to produce hoaxes of many sorts, which could lead to widespread panic and unnecessary chaos, depending on the scale of the hoax. Either way though, having easy access to such hoaxes is not a helpful thing, and it is the job of the more informed public (and sometimes the media) to reassure people that that news article in question is only a hoax, and that the news source cannot be trusted.
This brings up another point, one of journalists using social media and the internet to find sources. Sometimes it is hard to determine if a source can be trustworthy just from the media. Journalists who might be in a rush to "cover the top news story first", in a way, might feel pressured to pick up the first few sources they come across, which may or may not be trustworthy. This would then cause misconceptions or mistakes in the story, which discredits the journalist. In big news stories, there are usually a wide number of people on the internet that could provide information on said story; the journalists just need to be careful on which sources they pick.
In these cases, it is usually better for the journalists to do some prior research into that source, or find more sources and compare information in an attempt to provide the most accurate story to their audience.
Having easy access to the internet also allows organizations, both good and bad, to reach their audience. In the case of "bad" organizations, we have the cases of ISIS releasing disturbing videos to the world. It also allows such organization to radicalize youths into joining their cause, something which has been happening a little too frequently in recent months. It is then usually up to the social media platforms themselves to put an end to this.
Although there are some cons to being a journalist in such a hyper-connected world, overall, it is still a huge advantage compared to journalists of the past. As long as the journalist does his or her own research beforehand and is meticulous while finding sources of information online, the internet provides a huge platform for them to do so. It is also a huge platform in which journalists can interact with their audience, and find new top news stories to report on.
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