One of the main changes technology has brought to journalism is through its shift from print to a much wider array of mediums. Peoples main source for news is now online or on the TV. The invention and advancements of cameras have made it easier to capture the news and to broadcast it to the public so that they can view it first-hand. Us viewers can now feel closer to the news than ever, even when it’s being filmed on the other side of the globe. This has allowed us to view and learn about the suffering some countries are going through. Seeing these video clips of the aftermaths of attacks and the destruction wars have caused on cities has led to more people donating or helping in way or another as they feel more compassionate. This has been one advantage of how improvements in the quality of journalism have affected how people respond and react to it. Since almost everyone now owns a phone with a camera, whenever a story worth being on the news occurs, people will try capture some of the events or aftermath and this is often then shared on social media and used by news corporations. Technology has made it easier than ever to capture and share stories. In this communication era there is more and more content being published online than ever, but this has come with some downfalls. In the rush to be the first to publish and share news stories there is now a lack of effort in the ethical dilemma of publishing accurate and truthful information. Stories can often be less accurate as the search for the truth was compromised for speed and the need to be the first to report. This is done in order for the story to gain traction before others, they are choosing popularity and originality over credibility. The competitive nature of journalism has affected the quality of reporting in certain areas. An example of this is how the war in foreign countries are portrayed and how it is affecting the lives of those countries inhabitants. The news often makes it seem as if everyone is living in deplorable conditions and does not show that this is the case everywhere in the country. Viewers from abroad therefor get a distorted view of the reality of living in the country shown. More dramatic and sad stories gain more traction and are more popular which is often the focus of most news corporation and journalists. We viewers don’t always get to see the good things that are happening in these countries and are shown an incorrect picture of what life there is like. This is one big issue with journalism that needs to be addressed, although it is important to know about the horrifying events happening around the world there is also a lot of good to be seen which deserves recognition and this should there be reported on more.
Another way technology has affected journalism is through the use of devices to record audio. These devices have often been used to record important conversations interviews and speeches which the world wants to hear. Hearing the audio come from the mouth of the person who’s thought it allows the viewer to find the information more authentic and credible, instead of it just being typed out and used in quotation marks. It also allows us, the audience, to get the true gist of what is being said. This is because hearing the voice allows us to recognise things such as sarcasm which can then be misinterpreted or used against them if not heard correctly. In the past and still to this day there are examples where journalists use something that an interviewee has said and use it against them, making them look bad when truthfully they had no bad intentions. They to this to make the story juicier, something that celebrities are often victims of. This brings up another ethical issue that has surfaced in journalism since the advancements in technology, hacking. The famous examples are the phone and email hacking scandals of England’s members of parliament. Technology was used in a bad way to access private and confidential information. It was then published by journalists and news corporations and leaked to the public. This goes against the moral code of a journalist to only post information they’ve been given the right to share. This brings up a moral dilemma though, it it right to expose people for doing wrong by breaking their privacy? Most people would agree that it isn’t.
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