Journalism in a rapidly-changing world
The time we are in is one of massive changes across all spheres of human endeavor. It is important to bear in mind that there are widespread changes across the social, cultural, technical, environmental, economic sphere which has the impetus to influence the world and human existence. With these changes cutting across all areas of human endeavor, it has major impetus on the conduct and practice of journalism. The vast and massive emergence and spread of digital technologies have also contributed to this dynamic. This essay will take a look at journalism in a rapidly changing world by first deconstructing journalism in time past to understand what has changed and what is changing globally.
The conduct of journalism in time past was traditional and the most common means of deploying information to the global audience was through print media, mass media, and electronic media. This was done through the propagation of information on TVs, radios, the world wide web (WWW), email, fax, newspapers and magazines, posters and flyers, etc. But as times changed and various technologies emerged, the paradigm of journalism assumed a change and we are in the era of social media where information is communicated using various channels to various audiences across the globe. The pace and speed with which journalism takes place cannot be compared with what obtains with journalism in time past. Information nowadays is without barred as anything can be communicated and it reaches a wide global audience in seconds.
As a result of various factors that borders on human interaction, the world has tilted towards the information age in which there is the enthusiasm to keep abreast with what’s happening globally and this has awoken the consciousness for information across all divides. The availability, access, and adoption of various technologies in developed and developing countries have helped the drive to ensure that information through journalism is catalyzed and given the attention it deserves.
With journalism in a rapidly-changing world, it has with it lots of benefits and drawbacks which I will quickly shed light on. As revealed before, there is now quickened pace and speed with which information is sent across divides. This has increased global knowledge and consciousness about the issues at hand. It has also helped social courses that border on issues affecting humans. The deploying of hashtags for revolutionary issues has received wide appeal amongst people and the #Blacklivesmatter in the United States of America and the #Endsars campaign in Nigeria are a huge testament to this.
But much more than these benefits, journalism in a rapidly-changing world has with it some elements that are against the ethos of journalism. Someone somewhere can propagate and concoct lies, send them across the social media space, and once it receives public attention it can usurp the balance and security in geographical space.
This essay has considered journalism in a rapidly-changing world by first understanding the changes that occur with time, the conduct of journalism in time past to understand the now and the benefits and drawbacks of journalism in this rapidly-changing world. It is essential to note that information is key in human interaction and engagement and to forestall unnecessary discord, it is ideal to ensure balanced and objective reportage in journalism.