Imminent Death of Journalism

Abstract

There have been major challenges that have been emerging over the past two decades that have given rise to the assertion that the journalism is facing imminent death. Traditional journalism has been enjoying a prolonged duration whereby they had been in charge of all that which is consumed by the public as news. Additionally, the traditional attribute has been that news always consumed on a daily basis irrespective of what had happened during the day. In the event one missed on any news publication or program, it would be impossible to recover what they had missed. The contemporary situation, however, is characterized by the emergence of the internet and digital technologies whereby the access to news has been made real time.

Introduction

There have emerged obvious challenges that face the journalism industry in the contemporary world. With the immense growth of technologies that are trying, by all means, to stray from traditional journalism values, individuals have increasingly become more entitled and desiring to voicing their opinions. The internet has become a major competitor of the print media, with the current situation being that the rate at which internet platforms are releasing news to the consumers is making it impossible for the print media to compete. The traditional journalism is finding it really difficult to compete in this environment as they cannot meet the rate at which news is being gathered and disseminated to consumers at almost no costs. The emergence of bloggers and citizen reporters has further complicated the environment for journalism, with revenues significantly falling due to the emergence of the online platforms. The paper looks at the diverse attributes that have been responsible for the poor performance and consequently imminent death of journalism.

Imminent Death

I agree with the observation that journalism is facing an imminent death about the continued decline of the traditional values guiding the profession as the provision of timely, factual as well as relevant information. Challenges facing the independence as well autonomy of journalism are additional issues that have been considered to be the core reasons for the projected death of journalism. Overall, there has been an emergence of a host of issues that together have been eroding the core values that had been central to the success of the profession.

Overall, journalism profession has been one of the most respected fields, especially about the role that they have been playing in ensuring that people are adequately informed of the occurrences in the society. Objectivity, fairness, timely delivery of news, as well as relevancy of the content that is being delivered, is some of the issues that traditionally characterized journalism. These qualities are however under threat owing to the emergence of the assortment of issues that have the upholding them a major challenge for the professionals (Dvorkin, 2016). While journalists were among the well-paid individuals, the current situation has seen their decline significantly, with those starting out being worst hit by the situation. The implication of this state of affairs has been a decline in the levels of motivation that these journalists have in the delivery of quality work. The lack of job stability has additionally been a major threat to the field, with the contemporary situation being characterized uncertainties among the professionals regarding their job security.

The emergence of the internet age is one of the issues that have had the most negative impact on journalism. The internet is accessible 24 hours a day, and the enormous content that is accessible via the platform is updated at a rate impossible for the traditional journalism to match. The implication thus is those journalists do not have to wait for the following day to report any breaking news as the story will already have reached diverse quarters and fast becomes old news (Thurman & Walters, 2013). Other than waiting for the morning paper, journalists are now compelled to write stories and publish them online. It thus makes it possible for people to receive their news on an hourly basis and not the traditional daily basis. The state of affairs is a major challenge for the journalism sector as the implication is that deadlines have been made much smaller and that journalists are placed under a lot of pressure to meet these deadlines and get stories out.

Even with the capability that journalists have of publishing their stories on the diverse online platforms, the assertion is that there is a huge likelihood that they are going to be beaten by the millions of other players in the field as the citizen journalists. The diverse social network sites as Twitter and Facebook serve to ensure that news spread at an extremely fast rate, implying that by the time journalists write their stories, they are already out to the masses who consume their news. Further, bloggers have had the major contribution to the decline of journalism (Burns, 2012). It follows that bloggers all over the world are always updated on the issues that make issues and the fact that they operate in the global arena implies that while one part of the hemisphere is asleep, the other one is updating the world on current happenings, ensuring that there is no break in reporting.

The Age of Bloggers

The extent to which the bloggers are operating has additionally served to take away the jobs that would have possibly been taken up by journalists as people are becoming less inclined to rely on the traditional sources of news of newspapers but the blogs and newspapers. The additional challenge that is faced by journalists is that the reporting on celebrities has become almost impossible due to the online sites as Twitter, Facebook or Instagram (Thurman & Walters, 2013). The overall upheavals and challenges faced by the news industry can best be described as being unparalleled. These developments on the internet as well as in aggregation of news, social media, and online news have played the greatest role in transforming the manner in which news is produced, distributed and moreover accessed (Lăzăroiu, 2014). The impact that these variations have in the industry can also be classified as being profound, with such components as the advertising revenue for these major news agencies recording significant declines in the recent years, with the Asian industry recording a similar trend.

It is further evident that the overall consumption of news from the different media as television, radios, and newspapers has recorded a major negative impact owing to the continued progression of internet news platforms that is fanned by the globalization elements. These attributes have contributed to the increased commercialization of information through the internet. The emergence of the digital age has discouraged the role and works that journalist had in the gathering and the consequent dissemination of news, an issue that has had the major impact on the survival of journalists (Thurman & Walters, 2013). Social media platforms, and the expansiveness of the online news and opinions, are one of the challenges to professional journalists who act as main distributors of scarce and limited information. The extensive pace of accessing data and information has led to the distribution of non-organized digital coverage of major news for more than a decade (Burns, 2012). The digital world has led to the rise of non-professional individual playing the role of journalists. The sale of crucial and critical data and information has contributed to the commercialization of information through purchasing information from the public. In the current technology the eyewitnesses, publishers, authors, and the youth have become the main sources of information. The role of journalists in breaking the news has been taken by individuals who act as the major breakers of new stories.

The death of journalism as has been traditionally known is further supported by the assessment of some of the challenges that the traditional media as newspapers are producing in the industry. The best example is seen in the metro which is a by being a free paper; it cuts on the role played by journalists as the decent content they provide to their leaders ensure that leaders do not have to buy from other traditional sources that sell their content.

The role that is played by ethics and law is an additional issue that has been considered a contributor to the decline of journalism. The press complaints commission plays the role of censoring the players in the journalism industry and undertakes this by using their code of practice. The code is meant to be the cornerstone of the system that is in support of self-regulation in the industry. The assertion, however, is that through the rules and regulations that are depicted in the code, employed as a mode of interfering and stifling the efforts of the media to give their readers the current record of things they happen (Thorsen, 2013). The commission as used the code to continuously criticize the work of the media, with the example of the world’s phone hacking scandal being a classical example. News International faced several lawsuits from people who alleged that their phones had been hacked for the newspaper, with more lawsuits expected. The assertion from this example is that although laws are necessary for the regulation of industry, the case of journalism is facing very stiff regulations and monitoring that is seen to negatively affect how they execute their jobs (Thorsen, 2013). Further, it serves to discourage other prospective news agencies from venturing into the industry with the tough regulations and penalties being a major deterrent element.

Media Consolidation

Consolidation of the media is additionally a core element that has been seen to pose a significant threat to the journalism industry. The assertion is supported by the fact that the recent years have seen an increase in the rate as well as some media outlets that are being consolidated under the control of the few large corporations. Although these corporations are not specifically interested in the Medias they own, they need them to project their skewed perspectives and interests to the targeted audience. The implication has been that the authority, as well as legitimacy the media had among the users, has been diluted by these tendencies (McNair, 2013).  Additionally, the negative impact that consolidation has on journalism is the fact that they lead to a decrease in the number of independent news organizations. The owners of these agencies control what is collected and disseminated to the public and act as the mouthpieces for these corporations as they seek to advance their interests (Thurman & Walters, 2013). The journalists working in such news companies are compelled to be biased in their reporting as they influence their audience, spread propaganda suiting their conglomerate owners.

The Challenges Newspapers Face

The contemporary world has seen an increase in volatility that the news companies operate, considered being higher than what has been witnessed by any other company for past 100 years. It has additionally been seen that there has been a constant decline in the number of newspapers that are distributed in Europe from the 1950s (Burns, 2012). The explanation behind this trend has been that the targeted audience has been seen their interest swayed towards the television with the growth in advertising revenue having been seen to compensate for the trend and allowed the news media to continue flourishing. Between the year 1950 and 2000, there was an increase in the advertising revenues by more than 300% (Burns, 2012).  It has however been seen that the emergence of the internet and digital age within the last 15 years has changed the trend, with the advertising revenues in Europe falling across the board since 2000.

The emergence of the new media has acted to disrupt the news industry by making it possible for the consumers to disaggregate their preferences. Newspapers have traditionally acted as aggregators, whereby the combined general news with the coverage of business, sports, entertainment among others (Thurman & Walters, 2013). The aggregating function has however been taken over by such services as Yahoo and Google. It follows that the news that is related to Google and Facebook profits compensate for the declining revenue by newspapers. The future of journalism is further bleak, with the progressive aggregation of data making it hard for professionals in such fields as investigative journalism.

There has additionally been an increase in the issue of commercialization as well as competition among the different news companies. The environment, in this case, is characterized by an increase in the need by the news companies to make profits by focusing chiefly on such aspects as advertising that are believed to bring in more profits to the news companies (McNair, 2013). The desire to make profits has contributed to a situation whereby the local and more relevant content to the consumers is being ignored by these companies whose focus is on the projects they believe are going to bring in more revenue. The implication is that the consumers feel disconnected from such media as they content that is accessible does not reflect their interests and consequently turn to the other platforms they believe their demands (Oakham, 2013). The focus on the profits has further seen the news organizations favor in being used as mouthpieces by the big corporations that pay them to bring in more revenue. The assertion is that with the emphasis on the making of profits, these news companies have abandoned their core goal of remaining objective in their reporting to be used by major corporations as puppets in the spread of propaganda. The implication of such emphasis on profits is that these companies lose credibility in the eyes of their audience and consequently lose their loyal consumers.

The commercialization aspect has had a detrimental impact on the journalism industry as the players have to ensure that they depend on as much information to their viewers as possible but in a limited timeline. The issue here is that the programs that are aired by the news companies are pre-programmed and that any consumer interested in a certain aspect has to be available on the schedule that the program or article is going to be aired. The reality, however, is that the consumers have always been inconvenienced by this state of affairs as they are compelled to arrange their schedules to align with that of the news company, which is impossible on most occasion (Thorsen, 2013). The emergence of the subscriber services where consumers pay a fee to be able to watch the news articles or programs at their convenience has made the news companies lose a significant clientele base. The fact that the traditional media have fixed schedules in their programming is no match for the subscription services that offer both real-time news and updated versions of their articles on their digital devices.

The high rate of which a few journalists have been used in peddling propaganda by the different quarters has had the impact of arousing an attitude of mistrust and suspicion in the entire industry before the eyes of the public. The assertion, in this case, is that some journalists have been bribed or induced by other means either report or ignore certain stories touching on the public. In some of these cases, the news articles revolve the unearthing of negative issues affecting the mass or a group that is suffering due to the acts or ignorance on the part of a certain faction (Burns, 2012). The fact that the public accepts to report and share with the journalists their plight in the anticipation that it will be aired in their media produces major elements of betrayal and injustice that has eroded the trust they have in the profession.

The implication has thus been that these individuals are disconnected with the news and any individuals purporting to be a representative of the news companies. The resultant impact is that this industry suffers from a lack of individuals who are willing to offer the report or accept interviews with even the good professionals in fear of being used (McNair, 2013). The implication is that the industry suffers from a blanket mistrust and access to first-hand information which has a major impact on their relevancy.

The challenges being faced by journalism in the contemporary world are significantly obvious, with the emergence of the Internet being at the helm of the factors that are sending the industry to its death. There, however, are other issues that are seen to be contributing to the death of this industry that traditionally was considered to be amongst the best. The changing in the journalism platform encompassing the emergence of the internet and the consequent need to remain relevant in the industry has increased the need for which the news companies need journalists to deliver information for them to disseminate to consumers (Lăzăroiu, 2014). The implication of this state of affairs is that accessing to information has become the foundation of every news company. In the effort to get as much information as possible, journalists result to media filter their news to suit the needs of a section of consumers but at the same time end up overlooking those of another group.

The issue of laziness, as well as flooding of journalists in the industry, has resulted in a situation where journalists are skimming through news sources as they try to get information to be disseminated. The common outcome of the attribute is that as they skim over the sources, they end up leaving the important information relevant to their consumers (McNair, 2013). When this trend is sustained, such news companies have lost their share of the market to their competition, occasionally going under as their content is not being consumed by the target audience.

The global arena has recorded an increase in volatility and radicalism in numerous regions. The traditional journalism used to send journalists to these regions to collect and disseminate information to the consumers. The rise of extremism, radicalism and global have changed the state of affairs with the there being significant fatalities of journalists gathering information from such regions. Coupled with the fact that the consumers have been swayed towards the social and internet sources of information on the regions which is real-time, these journalists have been demoralized (McNair, 2013).  The fact that there are enforcement authorities and agencies that prohibit the coverage of such issues by journalists, with such elements as arrests and prosecutions and even persecutions characterizing their work serving to discourage them from pursuing such news articles. The fact that the use of the emergent technologies as the media and drones rarely involves human casualties has further increased the rate at which the traditional news companies are replacing journalists with IT specialists. 

Summary

One of the prevailing attribute from the above assessment is the fact that journalism as we know it is on its death bed, with the death being imminent. The emergence of the internet and technology revolutionized the pace as well as the quality of news received by the consumers in the different parts of the world. The internet and technology other than increasing the ability of consumers to access the news in real-time also started eating into the advertising revenues for the news companies had been their main source. The current technologies and the internet have further allowed consumers to access their favorite news article at their convenience without having to observe the schedules programmed by the news companies through the subscription services. Issues as commercialization and absorption of news companies by corporations have further dealt a blow to the independence of the media, eroding the confidence consumers have in them. The poor pay that journalists get and the increased pressure to deliver information has further eaten into the quality of news content that these companies deliver to the disdain of the consumers. These attributes in addition to the fact that collection of news articles in the contemporary world is characterized by an increase in the risks faced by journalists have only served to discourage people from pursuing the profession. It is through the assessment of these issues and factors that make it certain that the death of journalism is certainly imminent.

References

Burns, L. S. (2012). Understanding journalism. Sage.

Dvorkin, J. (2016). Why Click-bait will be the Death of Journalism. PBS News Hour.

Lăzăroiu, G. (2014). The Role of Social Media as a News Provider. Review of Contemporary Philosophy, (13), 78-83.

McNair, B. (2013). Trust, truth and objectivity. Rethinking journalism: Trust and participation in a transformed news landscape, 75-88.

Oakham, K. (2013). He said, she said: the challenges to modern journalistic practice in covering climate change. In Transforming the Future Conference (pp. 1-9). Global Cities Research Institute RMIT.

Thorsen, E. (2013). Live Blogging and Social Media Curation: Challenges and Opportunities for Journalism.

Thurman, N., & Walters, A. (2013). Live blogging–digital journalism’s pivotal platform? A case study of the production, consumption, and form of live blogs at Guardian. co. uk. Digital Journalism, 1(1), 82-101.

Sherry Roberts is the author of this paper. A senior editor at MeldaResearch.Com in custom nursing essay writing services services if you need a similar paper you can place your order for college essay writing services.