[chinese blood, irish heart] - DEFUNCT

Internet & Journalism 3- 'New News'

In this era of New Journalism and the Internet, the traditional role of journalists as information gatherers is becoming obsolete. Their task has been regulated to more as information directors: to ensure that the flow of information to the public sphere is checked, verified and not propaganda.
With the Internet and its seemingly limitless knowledge, there are many online news websites that do not adhere to proper journalistic practices such as source verification, copyright/slander and objectivity. With more and more consumers turning to the web for their news digest, online news is becoming packaged more into short, concise and sensational news bits, it is also sometimes accompanied by audio visual files that provide a more sensory interaction.
Most surveys conclude that consumers would generally scan information rather than actually take the time to read and slowly digest the information that is shown to them. This all pays tribute to the fact that our society is becoming more of an instantaneous culture and ‘present minded’. As a result, it is much more difficult for critical journalism to be represented in such a packaged and concise manner.
Online news websites have yet to achieve the same status as print journalism. The fact that an article is printed in a national newspaper holds more weight than something that has been published online. The reason perhaps being is that a newspaper is tangible and has been a solid news source for over 200 years. Not to mention its journalistic credentials.
I have always assumed there is a secret invisible war being waged between print and online journalism. In the next few decades we will see the rise of a singular news platform that will dominate the public sphere. Print journalism is severely limited in its interactive abilities and stems from 200 years of history, perhaps in this new modern age that it will soon be obsolete. In defence of traditional journalism, we should seek to preserve these journalistic practices in the domain of cyberspace.

Follow ups:

posted by Ed @ 10:42 PM Comments: 0