Issues of Journalism with Regard to New Technologies - Essay Example

Task Issues Journalism Is Facing With Regard To New Technologies in the Contemporary Period The increase in new technologies has impacted all sectors as it has brought about new approaches to almost every aspect of life. Journalism has been impacted significantly by the rise of new technologies, which make news coverage easy and efficient. Multimedia journalism, which entails print and online news coverage, has come in to greatly change the way news are reported and transmitted to a large audience. Traditional media was expensive, and it was hard to find one way of passing information to a wide audience. Newspapers and television broadcasts were being used, which were expensive, but today with the advancement in technology and the onset of the digital age, news coverage has been simplified (Sloan and Parcell, 2002). New technologies have come in to solidify news coverage, and despite the fact that news coverage requires the journalists to have skills, the new technologies have come in to provide the audience with more choices of where to get information and interact with others. Journalists have been forced to get skills in news coverage so that they can make their broadcasts appealing to the viewers. Today, live broadcasts are increasingly gaining familiarity and journalists are able to pass their messages conveniently by including videos in their broad casts. This has played a crucial role in ensuring that the viewers understand the message being passed by relating to the video since it provides them with the opportunity to understand the issue being discussed. The coverage of news on television has also been enhanced by the new technologies, which enable journalists to report live from a scene that is far away from their studios. The use of satellites has made this possible as the journalists communicate directly to the studio then to the audiences’ television sets. This has greatly enhanced news coverage as the audiences are able to relate and get information from a particular scene at the real time. Mobile phones are also becoming widely used by journalists to pass information. Research shows that people who never used to get information because4 of lack of sources are continuously getting informed through their mobile phones. This has enhanced the work of journalists as they are able to pass information to their audience efficiently. It is also notable, that mobile phones are used in radio broadcast where the journalists will repot about some information directly through their mobile phones to their stations and then this is broadcasted on the radios and television broadcasts. This has increased the efficiency of broadcasts since journalists do not have to travel to their stations to report on the coverage they record. Through e-mails and the ability to transmit news through the telecommunication infrastructure, virtual news rooms have been created, and they have enabled journalists to work from the field without having to visit the actual news room. News editors are then given the task of manipulating the news content so that they can transmit it to the audience in the most effective way. This has improved news coverage since there can be many journalists in various parts of the world hence there is a large pool of information. Consequently, this increases the efficiency of media house since they are able to transmit the real time occurrences and from different parts of the world (Pavlik, 2009). Virtual news rooms also have the potential of eliminating costs that would be incurred when maintaining a production center. This is because the communication networks are managed by systems and this makes it more efficient in terms of cost and reliability. The digital age has enhanced relationships between journalists and their audience as there is more direct interaction between journalists and their audience. Online newspapers are offering features that were not present in the traditional printed newspapers. The online newspapers provide a feature where readers can make comments on the posts. This has enabled the news editors, journalists and readers to participate in discussions aimed at increasing the efficiency of news coverage. This has greatly impacted online journalism since the journalists are able to know the readers views on their coverage and respond to the questions the readers ask promptly, and this was not possible with the traditional print versions. Print versions did not provide readers with an opportunity to interact with journalists, and if the reader had a comment to make, they would write to the editor. This has been changed by the online newspapers since readers can now post comments’ on articles and get immediate response. Consequently, this has had the effect of increasing the efficiency of journalism by providing them with a more interactive method of news coverage. Today, with the digital age, the internet is becoming widely used by journalists to pass their messages. This has prompted them to acquire the necessary information about internet usage so that they can make their broadcasts be inline with the rules of proper journalism. Since the internet provides a resource where any type of information can be posted, the issue of freedom of the press has been raised in most parts of the world. The issue of freedom of the press has been under scrutiny as some journalist post information they should not on the internet and other sources. Some of that information is the private lives of prominent people, which could defame them. This has been such an issue that some journalists have been sued for the damages they caused to the concerned person. However, people are continuously being educated on the information they should pick up from the web. Journalists have also been forced to ensure the information they post on the web is properly scrutinized so that media integrity is maintained (Friend and Singer, 2007). There have been cases where some media houses report false information since they do not look for the utmost truth of the information the cover. The danger with the internet is that when information is posted, people will tend to believe that it is true, and this has prompted many journalists to be vigilant when posting any information on the web. Journalists have also been influenced by new technologies by maintaining blogs, which they use to cover various news broadcasts. Blogs provide a platform for reporters to express their opinions on various issues in society. However, there are concerns that some blogs are just used for propaganda and most people disregard their usage. Journalists, however, use blogs to pass information and receive feedback from their audience, and this has enhanced how journalist broadcast information. Despite the advancement in technology and how it has enhanced the work of journalists, emphasis needs to be maintained concerning the values of journalism. Journalists have ethical values that they have to follow, and advancement in technology has heightened the extent to which these values must be followed. Journalists have to report true stories, and since the internet and other multi media sources such as blogs and online newspapers provide a platform for posting all types of information, they have to place values on looking for the truth of information before printing it. There are independent journalists who maintain their own sites, and there has been a lot of speculation on the news coverage they post. Journalists should ensure that they maintain their core values by ascertaining that they maintain specificity and detail in their coverage. They also are required to avoid conflict of interest when reporting so that the media can be free and fair and provide only true information. The new ways of news coverage has changed the way the way they report their news and have been forced to add whatever information they gather and present the information in a media friendly manner. News coverage has changed from just being articles and has incorporated graphs, videos and other multi media features. This is aimed at making the news coverage interesting to the viewer since the incorporation of multimedia features makes the coverage were interesting. The audience is able to relate and follow up with the coverage since the videos will provide a real situation. Journalists have been prompted to acquire new skills, which will enable them to be at par with the changing world. Today, journalists need to know how to write a story, take a video and make a follow up on it so that they can know the response of the audience. The work of journalists has changed from the point of them identifying themselves as either print or broadcast journalists, and now they are required to have both skills so that they can be in line with the trends in news coverage. The digital age has come in to increase efficiency and productivity of journalists, but requires an extra cost and skill on their part. Journalist’s creativity has been enhanced by the new technology as it enables them to edit their videos to the desired content. News editors can edit various stories into one hence providing better content to the audience. Increased interaction between journalists and their audience has been enhanced by the new technology as it has provided interactive platforms such ads blogs where the two parties can exchange views (Pavlik, 2001). Despite the advantages new technology has brought to the journalists, it has also raised ethical concerns, which has prompted them to ensure that their news coverage uphold ethical standards of true and fair media. References Friend, C., and Singer, J.2007. Online Journalism Ethics: Traditions and Transitions, M.E. Sharpe, New York. Pavlik, V.2001. Journalism and New Media, Columbia University Press, New York. Pavlik, V. 2009. New Media Journalism, Sage, California. Sloan, W., and Parcell, L.2002. American Journalism: History, Principles, Practices, McFarland, North Carolina. Read More