Digital Journalism and Its Impact - Book Report/Review Example

Order 526870 Topic: Losing the News Extended Book Review The face of the various democracies and the state of affairs in those countries is an apt comparison to the state of the newspaper industry today. All is not well with the newspapers, they are in real trouble and survival of the fittest and the ablest has turned out to be a doubtful proposition. Are the newspapers responsible for the weakening process of the traditional democracies and their once glorious system of functioning? Alex S. Jones(2009, p.3) writes, “Traditional journalists have long believed that this form of fact-based accountability news in the essential food supply of democracy and that without enough of this healthy nourishment, democracy will weaken, sicken or even fail.” The fourth estate has been the most feared and respected institution for the politicians or wrong-doers in any area, and it continues to be so, notwithstanding the fact that its healthy survival is in peril. The Newspaper management has an important function to perform apart from their profession of creating readable newspaper literature---they need to pay month after month, reasonable remuneration to the staff at all levels, who toil without intermission, to produce good stories. Impartial reporting is expensive; it demands lots of investigation and verification. Newspapers cannot work with the liberty with which the various Websites, blogs and cable news shows function. Their main objective is entertainment value---the news items must be readable! More and more people must visit the site and view the show---and that is their source of revenue!He gives lots of importance to ethics of journalism. It is as important as the principles enshrined in the Constitution. Information revolution began with the onset of the internet revolution, it is progressing for better or worse and it will be critical for the shapes of things to come in the nation in the years to come. The survival of the democratic principles in any nation depends to a great extent in the existence of a free and vigilant press. Digital Journalism and its Impact: Pen has always been mightier than the sword—but that was the pen handled by the moving fingers of the journalist sitting to write the draft of the story, amidst the pile of researched papers. The internet journalist is the push-button journalist. Alex Jones is eminently suited to recall the historical role of newspapers as nation-building assets, apart from being a profit-making and employment generating establishments. For the traditional journalist, reporting and creating stories was the mission of his life—not merely commission! Such a journalist did the high quality reporting for a specified purpose, an objective, a goal and an accomplishment in life! He nurtured a value-embedded professional life. With mixed hopes Jones writes, “The Internet and digital technology have sent the news business into a frenzy of rethinking, an upheaval of historic proportions whose outcome is much in doubt. Things that are precious may well be lost or terribly damaged and new things that are marvelous will certainly emerge.”( p. xviii) When profit-mongering becomes the criteria, ethical journalism is the first casualty. For, then the journalist will write what the society wants, not what the society needs! Entertainment value has taken the front seat, and that is not a healthy trend, because there is no limit to the shifting scales of entertainment. Economic downturn has added to the woes of the newspaper industry. The customer, due to economic reasons, gets satisfied by reading the headlines through the net, than go out and pay for a newspaper/magazine/book in hard-earned cash. The role of public to support valuable content: They say the customer is the king; they say eternal vigilance is the price of liberty. Good old political honesty and defense of democratic principles is at great discount on account corruption that has seeped in bureaucracy, politics and to some extent even in judiciary. Only the people, therefore, can save the newspapers that are supposed to be the harbingers of democracy and defend freedom. It is in the long-term of interest of the people. Jones highlights the importance of bearing-witness journalism, for which the newspapers will have to spend a lot by engaging best of the reporters who need to be at the spot well in time. He writes, “Firsthand coverage of disasters such as Hurricane Katrina and wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are examples of this kind of bearing-witness journalism and it’s most challenging.”(p.4) Newspapers need to be accountable for the traditional journalistic values and people should understand the merit of paying for news stories. The newspaper industry cannot be expected to deliver the best, with a sense of drowning about its present existence and future survival. People should stop being actively ignorant, caught in the influence of the internet revolution. Not reporting news alone, but creating news awareness is the essential functions of a true journalist. That awareness can be created by perseverance and with the will to go into the details. It is the duty of the journalist to bring before the people, the implications of the news item. The attitude to dig the well when the house is on fire is fraught with dangerous consequences, especially for a country like America. News has a cycle; it may be defined by the hours of the day. But all news items are not weather forecasts! Jones mentions about an important front-page article giving details about how young men in Minneapolis had been recruited for jihad in Somalia. This is no regional or national news. It has international ramifications that demand attention from the countries affected by jihad. The failure to anticipate 9/11 catastrophe is due to lack of investigative journalism. The iron core information: Jones is the strong defender of the system needed to provide the iron core news and tenders valid reasons for that. He writes, “While I agree that people can learn from every form and style of news, I believe that eroding the iron core of hard news is a bad thing.”(p.178) Iron core news is the heartbeat of the functioning of democracy. Printed newspaper is the life-force around which all other subsidiary systems depend upon. It is just like the moon depending upon the sun for his light source. Newspapers must command a sustainable audience and all the right thinking people must form, or continue with the existing habit of reading the newspapers and important journals. He alerts the people to write, “Newspapers—indeed, almost all news organizations—may have a mission, but they are also businesses, with all that implies.”(p.xiv) With all the web mania, even now, he estimates, 85 per cent of the original, fact-based news originates from the newspaper settings that records, explains and investigates. Others copy, modify, change some sentences here and there and create the content. The compulsions of the news channels are they have to run for 7x24 hours and the various sections of the people engaged in the industry for their own survival. He agrees that the younger generation has taken fancy for the digital technology, but cautions about its limitations. Sustaining foreign bureaus, cultural and science staffs and investigative teams is a specialized job whose responsibility can be fulfilled by newspaper establishments only. Web journalism doesn’t support long articles; their appetite is for short articles of 150 word-fillers. Jones writes,"...if news is important to democracy, it comes mostly from traditional journalism, and that role is performed at its best when the five standards of accuracy, balance, holding government accountable, separating news from editorial, and establishing checks on maximizing profit are observed."(p. 50-51) He gives his final verdict on the subject of iron core information with words of caution, by asserting that to destroy the editorial value of an editorial product, is suicidal. He suggests newspaper managements to develop separate online business activities, with appropriate strategies and asks a pertinent question, “One must ask whether a genuine, vibrant democracy can thrive without iron core of traditional, objective journalism.”(p.33)The industry is in turmoil but reminds the newspaper managements about their recent past: “Even so in the 20th century, the public service of publishing iron core news was what gave newspaper owners a matter of honor and respectability that went nicely with their growing profits.”(p.156) Conclusion: Alex Jones is a great storyteller, but throughout the book I felt one issue strongly. He is greatly concerned about the shrinking base of the core journalism system. How traditional news has suffered? Jones gives an example, citing the coverage of Britney Spears’ rack garners getting higher ratings than Iraq. Should the Government come to the rescue of the Newspaper establishments, by giving them subsidies? Never! This would be the fatal mistake of establishment to receive such subsidies. That is indirect submission of the press to government dictates. The free press needs to be the free press, and free from all fetters. On completing one important writing assignment, a responsibility which he took of his own, Jones had once remarked, “ I felt that I had honored the journalistic traditions and standards that I had been brought up to believe in—of fairness and objectivity and accuracy.”(p. xiii) He has thorough knowledge as to what true journalism is and he is proud to maintain its traditions. All those who care about human values, democracy must study the contents of this book-- not mere reading would serve the purpose. I would say that this is an issue-based historical book, and the issue is the serious one not only concerning USA, but the entire humankind. The book should be made mandatory for all students of journalism, company executives, politicians in the making and the teaching faculty. By not supporting the core news establishments, a very dangerous trend is setting and it must be arrested well in time. The crux is not about the closure of one or two newspaper establishments. It is about shutting the widows of the big mansion of democracy, one by one. He repeatedly emphasizes the dangers of new on the web, their style of writing tailor-made, catchy headlines and articles tailored to immediate attention. The younger audience, the generation that is in a hurry may like it. But the fact to be underlined is such news production doesn’t demand in-depth study or investigative journalism. The newspapers must survive this onslaught, and that survival process should not be at the cost of their fundamental mission—to serve the public to the best of their ability and judgment. Works Cited Jones, Alex S. Losing the News: The Future of the News that Feeds Democracy (Institutions of American Democracy), Oxford University Press, USA; 1ST edition, September 2, 2009 Read More