Was the birth of the internet the root of death for real writers? Is the internet the root of the death of the author? Is there any positive future for journalists? Journalism surrounds humans and encapsulates historical moments into collections , prepared and distributed , and distribution of news and related commentaries. According to the Oxford Dictionary, journalism is the activity or profession of writing for newspapers, magazines, or news websites or preparing news to be broadcast. It can take the shape of a newspaper, magazine article, podcast, blog, radio, television etc. At first, the term journalism only applied to the reportage of current events in printed form, like newspapers, but as the age of technology rises, journalism has taken new forms, becoming more accessible to readers and easier for people to publish their opinions and become self-proclaimed journalists. The evolution of journalism through time, is it rising to its full potential or declining?
The Acta Diurna is the earliest known journalistic material dated 59 BCE in ancient Rome. It recorded daily events such as public speeches. In China during the Tang dynasty a report called a bao was issued to government officials. During the 15th century in Germany a revolutionary step took place by Johannes Gutenber, the first regularly published newspapers. The English then released Weekly Newes, The Daily Courant, etc. The government imposed taxes, restrictions and even censorships until the 18th century when freedom of press was introduced. As time passed the quality of writing dropped, people became more interested in scandals of themes such as sex, murder, gossip rather than deep thought provoking stories or historical moments. Feedback loops started to highly influence how journalists wrote and what they studied? , because the juicier and more appealing the story, the more copies were sold and the higher rate editors charged for advertising space. This was a new era for journalism popularly known as yellow journalism. Later the popular New york times emerged, they employed factual reporting and unbiased investigation. standards of practices and ethics emerged During World War One journalists went to the front lines, the veracity of the news was a matter of life or death so news became more accurate. Journalism became a threat and power, to spread secrets or hopes or simply facts. As technology advanced news could now be brought by reporters in the form of videos and broadcasting news, this was the way in which the vietnam war was reported. Now journalism takes all shapes and sizes, the internet makes it wildly available yet untrustworthy.
Journalism: Why is it positive? Why is it negative?
Too much information is not always enough information or the right information to transmit an idea to the public, but rather confuse it. This is one of the problems that modern-day journalism faces, in a place where one is able to access any type of information quickly within a touch from their fingertips in their smartphone, everyone is able to know everything at once and yet nothing at all. Everything because people can quickly access an article, a video on Tik Tok or youtube about a topic they are interested in, and yet nothing at all because the ease of journalism through the internet has created echo chambers. Journalism today has been highly criticized and portrayed as the equivalent of the "Wild West'' of news. Essentially, the world of journalism has no rules or whatsoever and information flows fast and is easily accessible for most. This has allowed people to stay informed always and has helped educate. While this is a positive attribution, most of the information in media platforms and other sources such as newspapers or magazines is not all useful and/or real.
Fake News // Echo Chambers
The general public today scrolls their devices whenever they have a free moment. The content we see is always linked to the content we saw yesterday. Echo chambers are environments where people solemnly encounter information or opinions which reinforce or affirm their own beliefs about a matter. There are many reasons why this could happen, one of them could be through algorithms if the articles one reads are online. These types of echo chambers are called filter bubbles, in which algorithms keep track of the things one views, likes or comments and suggests similar articles, opinions, videos or images. Another way to get trapped in a echochamber regarding journalism is to voluntarily or subconsciously only read articles that commune with one's thoughts or opinions. Nobody wants to hear something they disagree with or wish were not a reality, however, the world is a place where events occur constantly and it is impossible to agree or like everything that happens. Ofcourse, much of the blame regarding these problems would be fake news. If journalists, editors and entire press companies deliver fake news then it may become very hard to resist them, but there is something you must know about this: falling into an echochamber is the fault of the reader.
Are journalists/editors to blame for this?// Bloggers
Bloggers
People today do not always look for the truth but instead seek entertainment in many cases. This leads editors and writers to deliver what the people demand for which may lead to unreliable or irrelevant information in many cases, the inaccuracy varies from press company, authors and other factors. These threats have been made by the reader, who would rather be fed false information right away rather than wait for a couple of days for accurate information. Not all journalists and editors publish partially unrevised works that may not speak truths, many newspaper sources, podcasts and other sources wait to publish until they have properly gathered concrete evidence to back up their information. The problem is that people do not really read these sources, some do not wish to pay a fee to sign up to reliable information while others simply do not bother to read other than the cheap article that their feed has presented to them. These are among some of the reasons why the quality of journalism has declined; an insufficient amount of support from the reader which means no financial support or whatsoever. Jim Eckstrom the editor of the Olean times herald in a private interview for this deepdive article on journalism mentioned that he doesn't don't think good editors/journalists are to blame. It is up to us, the viewers, to follow the truth, and shame the lies, even if the truth is ugly is up to us, the viewers, to follow the truth, and shame the lies, even if the truth is ugly
Biggest Struggles for Journalists/ Editors
In the past, when information was published through prints and other non-digital forms, people who disliked what they read, could get angry and throw their newspaper to the trash or stop buying a certain press. Now, people are able to respond in comment threads with unthoughtful and disrespectful words blaming journalists who have published an article they disagree with. This has encouraged violence that in many cases may cause the death of the author. Although being a journalist has always been something dangerous (especially political journalists), today it is more dangerous than ever. In Mexico alone, 4 journalists have lost their lives in 2023 for being writing about political matters in the country. The decline of its quality is also a direct consequence that journalists have lost financial support and are being constantly threatened.
The Future of Journalism// Interview
The future of journalism has been questioned several times throughout history, the quality seems to be decreasing and the quantity increasing. But is that the case for every journalist? Jim Eckstrom shared his nuanced perspective, in which he mentions that the use of the internet is both positive and negative. It makes news more readily available, accessible and quicker. On the other hand it is easier for echo chambers to be formed or for there to be too much news. He believes the quality itself has in some cases declined. Good journalists and press still have good quality works worth reading, but the public does not seem to pay a lot of attention to this and would rather read whatever affirms their personal pre-existing beliefs and thoughts on a matter. And with so much freedom, some “writers'' will write and publish anything – bringing down the quality of journalism. Journalists in the present face many struggles, such as pressure, threats from people. less economical support and the loss of readers.
Journalism is not on a steady upward or downward slope, as many challenges as journalism seems to have, there are also advantages. The future of journalism lies in the hands of the reader who can choose between praising people who are well prepared and deliver important reliable information rather than biased inaccurate or irrelevant information. Jim Eckstrom believes that these struggles will persist through time and it will become a journalist's daily struggle, but he leaves us pondering on the question "Do you want to be educated and informed, or comfortable in your own head?" So the power is in the hands of the public. Take control.
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