Journalism in Media Over Time - Final Exam Essay PDF

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Journalism in Media Over Time

There are a plethora of technological changes that have influenced the course of journalism over the last 50 years. With the advancement of digital technology, the internet, and smart phones, journalists can obtain information quickly and relay it to the public in a matter of minutes. Those very same advancements, also give the general public a chance to report the same issue in the same amount of time and, in some cases, even faster. To start off, the digital camera was introduced in 1975, which opened up a door for photojournalism. The presentation of the digital camera primarily made the use of dark room photo developing obsolete. In turn, photos could be transferred to the public in only minutes instead of hours. Over the years, the digital camera became smaller and more compact which made it easier for journalists to take it anywhere and report events even faster. When 1990 came, so did mediums of photo editing. Photoshop made it possible for journalists to edit and alter photographs. The biggest problem that came from the introduction of Photoshop was that, because it was so easy to use, anyone could modify an image which also made credibility a pretty big problem. The advantage that came from this technology was that it opened up a new field, digital forensics, or the “recovery and investigation of material found in digital devices”. Smart phones have come a very long way since the term was first coined in 1995 in reference to AT&T’s “PhoneWriter™ Communicator”. The Simon, however, was first introduced in 1992 and can be referred to as the first smartphone even though it was not called a smartphone. Today, the most commonly known smartphones are the Apple iPhone and the

Motorola Droid. Smart phones made reporting information even faster than before. With a video camera and camera, pictures and videos could easily be taken on the go. With internet access, information could easily be retrieved. With email and texting, journalists could easily send stories to and from each other. There can be disadvantages of smart phones, however. Some courthouses won’t allow phones in the courtrooms and smart phones weren’t exactly made for printing. Nevertheless, smart phones are still good for journalism on the go. Podcasts, originally called “audioblogs” allowed people to download and listen to audio recordings whenever they wanted. The name, “Podcast” is derived from the words “broadcast” and “iPod” since most podcasts are often played on an iPod. People could upload recordings onto the internet in which they then could be automatically downloaded to a subscriber’s iPod. The multimedia files could also be distributed over the internet and played on their iPhone. The term social media has become very wide-ranging due to all the different forms. Some are more popular than others but over time, that can change. News organizations can use this to their advantage because if they know 5 million people are on Twitter and only 5 thousand people are on Myspace, then they know who to direct their information more to. Journalist use social media to quickly distribute news and information. Social media can also provide a broader selection of opinions and eyewitnesses which helps solve credibility problems. When YouTube came along in 2005, the slogan “Broadcast Yourself,” said it all. YouTube allowed anyone to create an account and upload just about any video – as long as it wasn’t inappropriate and followed their terms of service. A prime example of journalism at work on YouTube would be a video that was uploaded in July of a man named Eric Garner getting put into a chokehold by a New York police officer. After the video was uploaded, you can clearly see Garner laying on the ground unconscious by the end. Daniel Pantaleo, the police officer who

placed Garner in a chokehold, was not indicted. However, Ramsey Orta, the man who filmed the incident, was indicted for weapon possession less than 1 month later. An article written by Ryan O'Connell on thewrap.com quoted Orta saying, “‘when they searched me, they didn't find nothing on me,’ Orta said after his arrest. ‘And the same cop that searched me, he told me clearly himself, that karma's a bitch, what goes around comes around.’” Now, with a worldwide audience, YouTube contains almost anything that you can think of from How To videos of just about everything to music videos to foreign TV shows to news broadcasts – even ones from other countries – so if you missed that CNN News broadcast last night, don’t worry. Chances are, it’s already on YouTube. When it comes to the elements of journalism, the only technological change that doesn’t show good journalism would be Photoshop. Editing the photo shows that the truth and loyalty to citizens is compromised which makes verification false so everything else will be wrong. The elements Journalism’s first obligation is to the truth and journalism’s essence is a discipline of verification applies to digital cameras, social media, and YouTube because with a digital camera, a picture speaks 1,000 words, on social media there are so many people that can be eyewitnesses to an event and with YouTube, it’s hard to say that a video lied. The elements Journalism’s first loyalty is to citizens, Journalist’s must serve as an independent monitor of power, and Citizens, too, have rights and responsibilities when it comes to the news applies to digital cameras, smart phones, social media, and YouTube because like I said a picture speaks 1,000 words, with social media there are many witnesses, and with YouTube it’s hard to say a video lied. Also with YouTube, the video example I used is a perfect example to monitoring power and Orta is a perfect example of citizens having rights to news. Social media fits these categories because people can post evidence of such events that they witness. The element Journalist’s must provide

a forum for public criticism and compromise only applies to YouTube because people can leave comments. The element Journalist’s must strive to keep the significant interesting and applies to smart phones and social media because you can update them so quickly. The element Journalist’s must keep the news comprehensive and proportional only applies to digital cameras because a picture says 1,000 words. As technology continues to grow and develop, journalism will become much easier for everyone to partake in, even more so than today. With larger and faster advancements in technology, we can expect to see holographic imaging on phones, hover cars, and maybe even teleportation devices. All of which will make reporting happen in a matter of seconds rather than minutes!...