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In this day and age most people from developed countries have their own smartphone or computer. These are some of the technological tools that have changed journalism for good. These advancements in technology have made it easier and faster to capture, create and share content. Back in the day it was necessary to write everything out in shorthand when interviewing someone, now it is possible to record audio on many different devices such as phones and digital voice recorders. This has facilitated what once once a difficult task as it was necessary to learn shorthand to keep up with the speed of someone talking. Journalists do not usually have to worry about this now and can focus on interviewing them leading to a better piece or story. They can now also be more accurate than before because when listening to the recording they can notice extra information such as tone of voice. This can affect what is being said as it would likely be forgotten otherwise if taken down on notes and cold lead to a possible misunderstanding.

Other tools that has revolutionised journalism are the laptop and the tablet. These allow journalists to work on the go. They no longer need to go back to a desk and can work abroad or in a coffee shop at their own convenience. Writing an article as soon as the information has been processed will make it easier as it will be fresh to them. Journalists can also access any information they may need on the go via the internet, improving their articles or reporting as well as fact checking. It allows them to be more accurate and knowledgeable about the subject they are writing about as they can do additional research to back up what they are saying. However, the internet can be misleading and it is important they take into consideration their sources as not everything published on the internet is completely accurate.

New software and applications have made it possible for journalists to edit and share information with more ease than ever. Pictures and videos can be edited quickly with the likes of Photoshop and many other simpler phone apps such as Airbrush. Journalists can now be more creative than ever as there are infinite number of possibilities to create and edit original content for the world to see. It is commonly said that photographs speak a thousand words but the ability to edit photos brings up the issue of credibility as journalists and the media are manipulating images more than ever. Trust is also key and people are often sceptical about what they are viewing as it is often a distorted view of reality. This issue is further explored in my blog post “Is Photography actually a truthful representation?”

 

 

 

 

Social media is an ever-growing industry with giants such as Facebook and Twitter with hundreds of millions of users. Social media has been a powerful tool to help keep us connected with friends and families as well as allowing to find new ones. These platforms also have other uses, they allow us to share and publish what’s on our minds with the world. Anyone now has the opportunity to share information and their thoughts online. This allows anyone with access to social media and a few friends or followers to act as a journalist and post online. It is no longer necessary to work for a big news company to be a journalist, anyone can pick it up. However, that being said it is not easy to gain a large base of followers or viewers and make a living out of it. Over the past several years many people have learned how to make a living out of blogging. Blogs that often to do well are fashion blogs and travel blogs, these seem to be some of the most appealing and successful to viewers.

These bloggers make money through advertising on their website as well sponsorships by products and companies who want them to advertise their products. One major advantage of being a blogger is that they can write about whatever they want they do not have to follow an agenda or a set of rules unlike most journalists working for news corporations. Journalists working for large companies often have to write in a certain way and have a certain political standpoint even if they disagree with it. A blogger on the other hand is free to write about whatever they want, it does not have to be big headline news and could just be about what they have got up to that day. The internet has allowed for people to write about a wider variety of subjects, things that would not usually be seen on the news. The writing style is also often different and the writing on blogs tends to be more casual and you can see the use of humour to make it more entertaining and amusing for the audience. This more informal approach however may not always be the most affective style when writing about more serious matters. It will make the author seem less trustworthy and knowledgeable. It would be more appropriate for a fashion blog to be more creative in the style of writing to make it more entertaining, meanwhile a blog about current affairs in war stricken countries would need a more informative approach and a more serious tone.

Another way social media has affected journalism is through its growing use by news corporations. They now share stories and headlines on their social media to their followers. This allows them to keep interactive with their audience. They can receive feedback and information from their audience and learn from it, making it easier for them to improve their service in the future. Even on the news, they now share tweets other people have posted online for the world to see. They have adapted the way they report and share the news to keep up to date with the latest trends. Many people follow Facebook pages and Twitter handles to keep up to date with what’s going on with the world and it has become a new way for people to read their news. If headlines catch their eyes they can click on the link and read the article in full. This brings up an interesting point of how people are now more selective of the news they read. Since most people read or view the news on the internet they can choose what information they choose to consume and what to ignore. The internet has changed the way people view the news for good. Many people now often just look at the headlines and don’t bother to even click on most of the articles. This is why making clever and interesting titles is more important than ever. If titles are of poor quality the articles won’t be considered interesting enough to read.

Around 40% of our world’s population has access to an internet connection. To put this into a larger perspective and to see the exponential increase, in 1999 only 1% of the world’s population had access. This escalation of technology and connectivity has had a large impact on journalism. This blog post will investigate the different ranges of new technologies and also their pros and cons on journalism.

Over the last ten years there has been a large increase in the range of available sources and tools to not only receive but also articulate news. In the 20^th century people would receive news at not only specific times of the day but also mainly from television, audio and newspapers. However, the rise in technology has drastically changed this. People of the 21^st century are receiving news 24/7, whether they desire to or not.  With the introduction of 3g and 4g in the 21^st century, people are always connected. An individual may be in the middle of nowhere on a trip but still be connected to the whole world. Large news companies such as BBC news, CNN, have mobile applications which allow you to receive notifications. People check their phones more frequently than they use to, people can be always up to date if they would like. On top of being able to have access at any time of the day and from many different available sources, we are now available to access news from all around the world. When it comes to news the continents of the world are more connected than ever, disregarding obvious omissions such as North Korea.

With the introduction and exponential increase in technology there has been a shift in power in journalism. The power has shifted from reporters to audience. Firstly, due to the large range of different ways to tell news (applications, internet, newspapers, radio, tv) audiences have the power to choose how and where they would like to receive their news. The industry has become increasingly competitive. Individuals are now able to publish on comments, forums, publish photos, videos which the world has access to. In recent years we have seen an introduction of a “live feature” which certain companies have taken on with strong importance, such as Facebook, Snapchat, and BBC. The live feature is interesting to an audience as it in real time, an individual is able to be present in a moment across the world simply from their phone, it feels so real.

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This graph looks at the pros and cons of technology on journalism. Although the pros seem to outweigh the cons with availability and transparency of news having a large significance, the cons have an importance and must be considered by those who communicate news and those who receive news. The increase in connectivity in the world has allowed small rural areas to have access to news and in general more people to be informed. With the increase in globalisation in today’s world, being informed about what is going on in the world is very important as well as being culturally sensitive. For instant a company making trades with others must be informed about what is going on in these countries and it will impact their business.

With the increase of everyone being able to be a reporter, it is simply impossible to verify everything that is published, therefore we must be wary of what we read. Unverified news can harm communities and people. An example of this is when the stock prices of Apple decreased by 5.4% when a false report that Steve Job suffered a cardiac attack. Not only this but as now anyone can become a journalist in a sense, it has increased the competitiveness of the industry. Individuals may publish their perspectives of the news, however this could be dangerous as it may not be an accurate representation of the issue. People are also taking more risks to get news coverage as the industry is so intense. Veracity is essential in the publication of news, as people are very gullible when they read news, for some reason many of us instinctively trust what we read and see on news posts. However, accuracy is more important than speed. Although in some cases, speed of delivery is important, such as the news of an attack getting to people nearby, however in most of the time accuracy is indispensable. Therefore, although technology has greatly benefited the world when it comes to journalism, individual readers must be cautious and simply aware of technologies’ effect on today’s journalism to benefit from what we now have access to.

Every day we are faced with photographs on the headlines of the news. A photograph in its medium is able to capture a specific moment in time and make it last forever. One feature documentary photography has over written journalism is this universal element. Anyone who has the ability to see, is able comprehend this form of expression. Due to the truthful nature of photography, we instinctively believe what we see in photographs. Though, this perhaps should not always be the case.

One must be wary of this, as documentary photography is deceptive. The first way it is deceptive is that when the photographer captures his picture, he is selecting a frame of what he would like to represent. This can already be deceiving as only a selection of truth is represented. For instance, when Kevin Carter photographed “the Vulture and Child” in 1994, he clearly framed his photographed making it much more impactful. When we see the child with this vulture stood behind him, we feel empathy. This photograph depicts extreme hunger and poverty. However, what this photograph does not show and tell is that the mother left her child to collect food from the charity aid which had just flown in. This photograph does not capture the aid and the airplanes filled with food and aid workers, it does not portray the full story. A photograph without its context is therefor much more impactful, but perhaps less accurate in telling the truth.

Some artists have realised this and have intertwined words and photography to portray a perhaps more wholesome picture. An example of this is Facebook’s well known “Humans of New York” page. Brandon Stanton, the photographer, photographs individuals he meets on the streets of New York city, speaks to them and publishes a short description of them alongside a portrait of them. What is interesting about his work, is often that the stories add a lot and say more than the photograph, and vice versa – they both complement each other. From his works we can conclude that photography and language both help in an accurate representation of the truth. This is also what we see on headline news. We are shown a dramatic photograph which immediately captures our attention and then we may delve into the story by reading what the author has written. It is a combination of language and photography. What photography has over other mediums is its scientific nature, a photographer is able to duplicate a framed moment, whereas a sculptor or an artist must translate this moment with their artistic medium such as clay or paint. Although photography is more ‘believable’, it may not be able to convey as much expression and emotion as other mediums. This arises one question, how to we distinguish when documentary photography is considered a form of journalism or a form of art?

Secondly, another way photography can deceive is through alterations and distortions which can be made with many different technologies. This is very evident in today’s present society. Often people place filters on their photographs, altering tones. We must ask ourselves to what extent are we allowed to alter photographs, and at what stage do we start hindering the truth? Although this is a subtle alteration, it is still hindering the original representation. Even though one may not think this affects the truth, it may still affect the mood of the photograph. Technology has been used to alter photographs to make them more aesthetically pleasing. The images we sometimes are shown online, in magazines, on TV are often distorted physically, marks are covered, cellulite is removed, all to represent a more “beautiful” and aesthetically pleasing picture. The evolution of technology and the capacity to alter photographs has definitely impacted what we consider beautiful today compared to what was considered beautiful 50 years ago. Therefore, when one looks at photographs one must be cautious of this and keep that in mind.

In conclusion there is an ethical issue which photographers and especially documentary photographers must consider and remember. The issue relates to the beauty and truth. Although documentary photographers must sell their photographs to make a living and to an extent they must be aesthetically pleasing. They must also remember that their medium is trusting of their audience and they should use it with caution. Capturing a moment and selling it as truthful therefor brings up ethical issues. It seems as though today photographers are photographing what society would like to see rather than what they would like to photograph. Looking for what will sell and make the news which will likely affect the quality of the reporting.

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.