Journalism in the future

Alessa Rosa

ar224811@ohio.edu

Everything in this day and age is rapidly changing, journalism included. Because of this rapid development, it is important to consider what journalism will be like and what will the ethics that come with reporting include.

Picture taken from Google.com

FORM

Journalism in the future may change drastically. Some argue that news will be tailored to the audience as ads are tailored to the consumer. Paul Sparrow from American Journalism Review claims in his article, “Let’s Start Talking About a Radically Different Future of News,” that “ To be successful, the next generation of news/media companies must deliver critical or entertaining information customized for a specific person based on their location, job, relationship status, interests, contacts and eventually, even their mood.” He calls this next stage, micromedia. As journalism takes the form of micromedia, audiences will be able to receive customizable and relevant information to their choice of tool (phone, tablet, smartwatch, etc.). I am in accordance with Sparrow and believe that in order to compete for the public’s attention in today’s time, there needs to be a change in how and what we present to individuals. We can see this shift already happening in social networks. Through social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, people are able to click on the news links that interest and affect them personally. There are some concerns with having personalized news, however.  In order for news to be customized, people need to share personal data. Thus, news organizations need to provide secure and trustworthy means in which to do this, or else people will be hesitant to agree.

ETHICS

As the future approaches and from whom and they way people receive information changes, our ethics code must change as well. Recently, there has been a shift toward individualized code of ethics in journalism. Having personal ethics when being a journalist is troublesome, however. First, as journalists we have a duty to the public, and so having personal ethics when it has the greatest effect on the public is not sufficient. In “Why New Journalism Ethics Have to be Public, Not Personal, ” Stephen J. A. Ward explains, “An ethics is public in justification if it is required, ultimately, to justify its norms by reference to some conception of the public good, not individual goods.  Here, he highlights the importance of having a public code of ethics as opposed to a personal one, because news is impacting the public. Not only, should we have a standard set of ethical principles that are not personal, but we should have them be global. As news evolves with time, it has begun to cover and be shared globally. Global media ethics is a set standard of ethics that would provide for responsible and equitable sharing of worldwide information. It is important to note that global ethics is a necessary because our news are reached globally. It only stands to reason that some sort of international standard is set.

Journalism is and will continue to change in its form. While this development occurs it is vital that journalist professionals do not pursue personal and subjective ethical principles, but instead adhere to public and even global standards.