Article: The Future of JOURNALISM, Digital Vs. Traditional
Theme: Journalism
By: Roshini A/P Mahendran | Instagram
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| The age of digital media: What does it mean for traditional journalism? |
“Journalism can never be silent: That is its greatest virtue and its greatest fault. It must speak, and speak immediately, while the echoes of wonder, the claims of triumph and the signs of horror are still in the air.”
A drastic change has been observed in the society with the evolution of technology. Before the advent of modern-day technology, when one speaks about journalism the idea that clicks in our minds are newspapers, radio or television. These are called traditional journalism which refers to mainstream media journalism, where journalistic authority is based on institution. Traditional journalism is more reliable and credible as journalist faces several guidelines which are essential to obey, and if they do it vice versa it may lead to legal prosecution held against them. Someone who works in the news gathering business, such as a photographer, editor or reporter is called a journalist. Journalism is all over the world and all over us. We are surrounded by journalism as we live in a world full of news and reports. It dominates television, radios and occupied us in the vast publishing industry of popularization. Journalism changes our perspectives on issues concerning us.
In another saying, it can't be denied that journalism has a deep impact on our daily lives. This proves that the published sources have been truly checked and approved. Furthermore, it is accurate. Therefore, all information and facts must be accurate to adhere to the expectations that journalists face. On the other hand, digital journalism is considered to have fewer restrictions. A journalist who is creating the sources is not required to obey strict ICT, unlike media reporters. This means that more freedom and opinion. In addition, digital journalism has more opinions. These sources are more subjective, unlike traditional sources which are more objective. These allow different perspectives of argument to be seen, viewed and heard. Journalism has changed news organizations and some journalists have transformed from their traditional role as the watchdog of power into institutions of power themselves with an ability, indeed, a susceptibility, to abuse that power. The courage in journalism is sticking up for the unpopular, not popular because journalism is what maintains democracy. It's the force for progressive social change.
In another saying, it can't be denied that journalism has a deep impact on our daily lives. This proves that the published sources have been truly checked and approved. Furthermore, it is accurate. Therefore, all information and facts must be accurate to adhere to the expectations that journalists face. On the other hand, digital journalism is considered to have fewer restrictions. A journalist who is creating the sources is not required to obey strict ICT, unlike media reporters. This means that more freedom and opinion. In addition, digital journalism has more opinions. These sources are more subjective, unlike traditional sources which are more objective. These allow different perspectives of argument to be seen, viewed and heard. Journalism has changed news organizations and some journalists have transformed from their traditional role as the watchdog of power into institutions of power themselves with an ability, indeed, a susceptibility, to abuse that power. The courage in journalism is sticking up for the unpopular, not popular because journalism is what maintains democracy. It's the force for progressive social change.
The main question which is been playing in every individual mind is will the present and progress of ICT kill traditional journalism? Many believe that ICT is a true form of journalism and could potentially be a future of it, while some people including me believe that ICT and traditional journalism can work together in acting as message diffusing system. Michael Eric Dyson once said that if journalism is the first draft of history, then digital literacy is the first blush of the first page of history. Get this right, the journalist can produce the news that ICT or social media is able to spread far and wide or vice versa. By this I mean ICT accentuates and compliments journalism, rather than replacing it. It is true that the internet can be used to disseminate falsehoods quickly, but it is just as quickly roots them out and exposes them in a way that the traditional model of journalism and it is closed, insular, one-way form of communication could never do. ICT has introduced a new trend to the journalism world; communication and interaction with the audience, which traditional journalism can seriously benefit from.
This new dimension has many advantages and is able to partake in wider news gathering to reach outsources directly build a good personal relationship and increase them with audiences. Thus, I don't believe that tradition is dying in the current world of ICT. Camera-Phones are at the root of the Citizen-Journalism revolution. This is said by Phillipe Kahn. I do however believe that ICT is one way or another, that technology is a form of journalism because it is a channel that allows the people to receive or report a piece of news. But it is not replacing traditional journalism. Both ICT and traditional journalism can enhance and the two can work together in informing the world effectively and productive because Mark Parker once said that the physical and digital worlds are beginning to come together more seamlessly.
This new dimension has many advantages and is able to partake in wider news gathering to reach outsources directly build a good personal relationship and increase them with audiences. Thus, I don't believe that tradition is dying in the current world of ICT. Camera-Phones are at the root of the Citizen-Journalism revolution. This is said by Phillipe Kahn. I do however believe that ICT is one way or another, that technology is a form of journalism because it is a channel that allows the people to receive or report a piece of news. But it is not replacing traditional journalism. Both ICT and traditional journalism can enhance and the two can work together in informing the world effectively and productive because Mark Parker once said that the physical and digital worlds are beginning to come together more seamlessly.
There are many types of traditional newspaper and one of the examples is the Suara Tunku Abdul Rahman newspaper which is commonly known as STAR newspaper. One example of modern journalism is the Vox media. Vox Media is a digital media company in the United States. This Vox Media company was founded in July 2005 as Sports Blogs and later in 2011, it was renamed as Vox Media which later became a prestigious media company that lives the concept of the power to connect with a global, passionate audience. They are more committed to developing standout technology, and high-tech advertising. Vox media are shaping the future of journalism and the entertainment world. In the other hand, the Star newspaper is an English Language newspaper in a tabloid-format in Malaysia. As Malaysia’s first newspaper launched on June 23, 1995. It also provides breaking news and insightful opinions and compelling content. The content includes current news, community, tech dynamic video and lifestyle. The website was recognized in 2014 as one of the best in Asia. The foundation community has million-strong followers on both Twitter and Facebook. The Star Online is a part of a portfolio that offers contents through a digital companion. Breaking news and business updates delivered to them an option for SMS services for those readers on-the-go. In my opinion, traditional journalism such as The Star newspaper can survive in this contemporary media industry. This is because even in this era with the presences of modern journalism such as the Vox media, The Star newspaper still continues to be one of the highest sources of media used to buy our society to get recent news. Unfortunately, based on the web site, Daily Monitor www.monitor.co.ug reported that most newspapers report a 30 to 50 percent drop in circulation and that is having a serious effect on advertising, their lifeline. This was reported on Sunday, February 11, 2018. Generally, as a result of the digital revolution, they have moved from the world of scarcity of information gathered by a few reporters in a newspaper companies, edited, printed and distributed to the public, to a world drowning in online content via the internet, and nearly all of it free and in real time. Those social media are an example of Twitter and Instagram.
However, I still stand strong with my opinion that traditional journalism still is able to survive in the modern media industry because not all the news from modern social media news platform can be 100% trustworthy. Most people tend to spread fake news as we can see many of those fake news lingering in our social media apps because there are no restricted rules of what want is able to share. Because of this many people tend to get confused about what to believe and what to not. So, to play the safe part and get the correct information, many will opt for the traditional way such as buying the newspaper. Henry Anatole Grunwald said that “Journalism can never be silent: That is its greatest virtue and its greatest fault. It must speak, and speak immediately, while the echoes of wonder, the claims of triumph and the signs of horror are still in the air.” The journalist must implement this saying in their career. Traditional journalism is the outside looking in. Citizen journalism is the inside looking out. It helps to have both points of views, in order to get the complete story. This saying made an implement in me to strongly believe that traditional journalism will continue to stay alive despite our current digital world.
However, I still stand strong with my opinion that traditional journalism still is able to survive in the modern media industry because not all the news from modern social media news platform can be 100% trustworthy. Most people tend to spread fake news as we can see many of those fake news lingering in our social media apps because there are no restricted rules of what want is able to share. Because of this many people tend to get confused about what to believe and what to not. So, to play the safe part and get the correct information, many will opt for the traditional way such as buying the newspaper. Henry Anatole Grunwald said that “Journalism can never be silent: That is its greatest virtue and its greatest fault. It must speak, and speak immediately, while the echoes of wonder, the claims of triumph and the signs of horror are still in the air.” The journalist must implement this saying in their career. Traditional journalism is the outside looking in. Citizen journalism is the inside looking out. It helps to have both points of views, in order to get the complete story. This saying made an implement in me to strongly believe that traditional journalism will continue to stay alive despite our current digital world.
The "age of digital media" is witnessing the innovation and radical change across all aspects of journalism, creating economic difficulties for legacy media and a frenzied search for alternative business models to fund sustainable journalism for the future. The global recession since 2007 continues to deepen the sense of economic uncertainty arising from a period of unprecedented change with significant and wide-ranging consequences for the journalism industry as well as scholarly research in the field of journalism studies. Although corporate websites, chat-rooms, email customer, and electronic news release distribution are now viewed as standard aspects of public relations practice (Galloway, 2005) many public relations practitioners are struggling with the impact of new media, and especially the Internet.
Research has shown that practitioners are not fully embracing new media, are ill-equipped to do so and have a fear of the technology (Alfonso & de Valbuena Miguel, 2006). The terrain of public relations practice is also shifting with new media bringing about substantial increases in stakeholder strength through facilitating communication within stakeholder groups and between different stakeholder groups (Van der Merwe, Pitt & Abratt, 2005). Information ‘pours out of digital spigots [sic]' (Stephens 2007, p. 35) and news now arrives ‘astoundingly fast from an astounding number of directions’ (Stephens 2007, p. 35) and it is often free. Anyone with a computer linked to the Internet has the ability to publish information for potential global consumption and it is clear that the internet ‘is revolutionizing many aspects of public relations research and practice' (Taylor & Kent 2006, p. 145). The Internet gives public relations practitioners a unique opportunity to collect information, monitor public opinion on issues, and engage in direct dialogue with their publics about a variety of issues. (McAllister & Taylor, 2007) However, much of the academic literature has an overall tone of lament that practitioners were simply transferring traditional approaches and models of public relations practice to the web and were not evolving their practice.
With past evidence suggesting that public relations practitioners were open to using new technology (Porter & Sallot, 2003), it seems incongruous that even a traditional mainstay of public relations practice like media relations is not taking advantage of the possibilities offered by the web (Alfonso & de Valbuena Miguel, 2006). A recent study of 120 corporate websites from six European countries, the US and Singapore (Alfonso & de Valbuena Miguel, 2006) found that the ‘use of Internet tools to build strong and solid relationships with the media is far from ideal' (p. 274). The significant weaknesses detected highlighted that these companies may neither have comprehensive, well-designed public relations strategies nor sufficient resources to execute them and, further, that any shortcomings in an organization’s public relations practices were more evident due to the power of the Internet. (Alfonso & de Valbuena Miguel, 2006). In another study, Jo and Jung (2005) examined key elements of the website homepages of top companies in the USA and South Korea and found that there was little that could be categorized as examples of symmetrical two-way communications with the majority of South Korean elements being those of press agentry and the majority of US website elements being public information.
The findings supported what other studies in the area have shown in that ‘public relations practitioners do not yet use the internet to increase interaction between organizations and their publics’ (Jo & Jung 2005, p. 27). Deļ¬ning new and emerging media. This is proven and stated in the case study of James, Melanie. (2007). A review of the impact of new media on public relations: Challenges for terrain, practice, and education. The Asia Pacific Public Relations Review. 7/8. Walter Cronkite once said during an interview with Ron Powers for the Chicago Sun-Times for Playboy, 1973 “I think being a liberal, in the true sense, is being non doctrinaire, non dogmatic, non-committed to a cause - but examining each case on its merits. Being left of center is another thing; it's a political position. I think most newspapermen by definition have to be liberal; if they're not liberal, by my definition of it, then they can hardly be good newspapermen. If they're preordained dogmatists for a cause, then they can't be very good journalists; that is if they carry it into their journalism."
Research has shown that practitioners are not fully embracing new media, are ill-equipped to do so and have a fear of the technology (Alfonso & de Valbuena Miguel, 2006). The terrain of public relations practice is also shifting with new media bringing about substantial increases in stakeholder strength through facilitating communication within stakeholder groups and between different stakeholder groups (Van der Merwe, Pitt & Abratt, 2005). Information ‘pours out of digital spigots [sic]' (Stephens 2007, p. 35) and news now arrives ‘astoundingly fast from an astounding number of directions’ (Stephens 2007, p. 35) and it is often free. Anyone with a computer linked to the Internet has the ability to publish information for potential global consumption and it is clear that the internet ‘is revolutionizing many aspects of public relations research and practice' (Taylor & Kent 2006, p. 145). The Internet gives public relations practitioners a unique opportunity to collect information, monitor public opinion on issues, and engage in direct dialogue with their publics about a variety of issues. (McAllister & Taylor, 2007) However, much of the academic literature has an overall tone of lament that practitioners were simply transferring traditional approaches and models of public relations practice to the web and were not evolving their practice.
With past evidence suggesting that public relations practitioners were open to using new technology (Porter & Sallot, 2003), it seems incongruous that even a traditional mainstay of public relations practice like media relations is not taking advantage of the possibilities offered by the web (Alfonso & de Valbuena Miguel, 2006). A recent study of 120 corporate websites from six European countries, the US and Singapore (Alfonso & de Valbuena Miguel, 2006) found that the ‘use of Internet tools to build strong and solid relationships with the media is far from ideal' (p. 274). The significant weaknesses detected highlighted that these companies may neither have comprehensive, well-designed public relations strategies nor sufficient resources to execute them and, further, that any shortcomings in an organization’s public relations practices were more evident due to the power of the Internet. (Alfonso & de Valbuena Miguel, 2006). In another study, Jo and Jung (2005) examined key elements of the website homepages of top companies in the USA and South Korea and found that there was little that could be categorized as examples of symmetrical two-way communications with the majority of South Korean elements being those of press agentry and the majority of US website elements being public information.
The findings supported what other studies in the area have shown in that ‘public relations practitioners do not yet use the internet to increase interaction between organizations and their publics’ (Jo & Jung 2005, p. 27). Deļ¬ning new and emerging media. This is proven and stated in the case study of James, Melanie. (2007). A review of the impact of new media on public relations: Challenges for terrain, practice, and education. The Asia Pacific Public Relations Review. 7/8. Walter Cronkite once said during an interview with Ron Powers for the Chicago Sun-Times for Playboy, 1973 “I think being a liberal, in the true sense, is being non doctrinaire, non dogmatic, non-committed to a cause - but examining each case on its merits. Being left of center is another thing; it's a political position. I think most newspapermen by definition have to be liberal; if they're not liberal, by my definition of it, then they can hardly be good newspapermen. If they're preordained dogmatists for a cause, then they can't be very good journalists; that is if they carry it into their journalism."
Based on, my personal opinion of the level of professionalism in the field of journalism in Malaysia is quite good as 50% of the people chooses traditional journalisms while another half prefers digital journalism. It is common to see that normally only the old folks prefer the traditional, unlike the modern generation who wants everything digitalis and just at the tip of their fingers. Professional ethics in Malaysia are measured using the scenario technique (Hunt & Chonko, 1985; Singhapakdi & Vitell, 1992). The use of scenario to determine professional ethics of journalism to allow for the inclusion of background information and detail in an ethical situation (Tsalikis & Fritzsche, 1989). Tsalikis & Fritzsche (1989) stated that there are two ethical standards: traditional and professional, with the traditional level of ethics being stricter than the professional level (since the professional level may be compromised because of the need to succeed and to meet corporate goals).
The professionalism dimension considers the norms and values of the journalistic profession at large, a dimension that goes beyond a specific newsroom. This dimension is shaped by professional journalists' organization, education and cross-organizational culture that is built and shared during the journalists' careers. Like other employees, journalists in Malaysia are caught in the dialectic between their professional ideals and the profit-motivated concerns that keep news organizations in business and financially viable (Berkowitz, 1994). Although journalists are often depicted as independent, morally virtuous, and acting in the name of the public good (McManus, 1997), Borten (2000) argued that journalists are trapped in a dialectic between professional codes and norms less feasible.
Although some writers have viewed journalism as either a profession or a professionalizing occupation (Abbot, 1988), it has often been seen as lacking several pre-requisites of professionalism (Porter, 1968). In this study, we posit that journalists should act professionally, taking guidance from their codes. Quah, Eq & Leong, Hoo & Yeing, Shi & Eng Chai, Guok. (2010). Ethics Code Awareness, Usefulness and Professionalism of Malaysian Journalists. Journal of Business Systems, Governance, and Ethics. 5. 31-42. 10.15209/jbsge .v5i2.183. This study has shown that Malaysian journalism is lacking several pre-requisites professionalism but still, I believe that Malaysia is doing good in their professional journalism and making the journalism traditional and digital world a better place here.
The professionalism dimension considers the norms and values of the journalistic profession at large, a dimension that goes beyond a specific newsroom. This dimension is shaped by professional journalists' organization, education and cross-organizational culture that is built and shared during the journalists' careers. Like other employees, journalists in Malaysia are caught in the dialectic between their professional ideals and the profit-motivated concerns that keep news organizations in business and financially viable (Berkowitz, 1994). Although journalists are often depicted as independent, morally virtuous, and acting in the name of the public good (McManus, 1997), Borten (2000) argued that journalists are trapped in a dialectic between professional codes and norms less feasible.
Although some writers have viewed journalism as either a profession or a professionalizing occupation (Abbot, 1988), it has often been seen as lacking several pre-requisites of professionalism (Porter, 1968). In this study, we posit that journalists should act professionally, taking guidance from their codes. Quah, Eq & Leong, Hoo & Yeing, Shi & Eng Chai, Guok. (2010). Ethics Code Awareness, Usefulness and Professionalism of Malaysian Journalists. Journal of Business Systems, Governance, and Ethics. 5. 31-42. 10.15209/jbsge .v5i2.183. This study has shown that Malaysian journalism is lacking several pre-requisites professionalism but still, I believe that Malaysia is doing good in their professional journalism and making the journalism traditional and digital world a better place here.
Taking everything into account, I dynamically believe that presence of digital journalism will not put an end to the traditional journalism even it is imperatives that the traditional media company increase their internet presence and it has a great probability of successfully making the leap to the digital world. Traditional media do not have all the time and resources to cover all the stories. It really does substantially to what you are looking at when you are looking for news. As media proliferates, people have a variety of media choices, and competition for traditional media is pretty intense. Some people prefer newspapers rather than logging into twitter, but some prefer vice versa. With all the ICT journalism and traditional journalism, I am absolutely sure that the traditional journalism will not extinct and continue to live in this world as both the traditional and modern journalism can depend on one and each other for success. We all should bear in mind that we cannot abandon traditional media, but we can be smart by integrating it with our social media campaigns. Making them work hand in hand to see results skyrocket.
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