The New Age of Journalism

Marc Krauss

mk155806@ohio.edu

In Knowlton and Reader’s “Moral Reasoning for Journalists,” they claim that much of the public views journalism ethics as a bit of an oxymoron. To them, journalism is seen as anything but ethical most of the time, and in some cases for good reason. As a natural competitor, I take this statement as a full-on challenge. I know that my own career as a journalist will not turn the tides of millions of negative views of journalism, but it will sure be fun to try. 

It is hard to argue that the fruits of labor some journalism produces is for all the wrong reasons. With all the money riding on large corporations in charge of producing much of the mass media the public consumes, they will go to great lengths to win over readers or ratings. When you have media outlets worth upwards of $40 million, you start to understand the money riding on producing ratings. Especially in today’s social media driven society, hard news seems to be falling to the wayside as soft news takes over. As the next wave of journalists, will we feel pressured into doing anything for those ratings, or will we focus on what good journalism is all about -- being ethical? But we will also have to deal with when and how to balance hard news and soft news, understanding just exactly what the readers or viewers want.

Modern journalism can best be understood by that sense of ethical responsibilty and duty. We are the last line of defense for the public and help keep our society informed and in line. The reading by Kovach and Rosenstiel mentions the primary goal of journalism is to provide citizens with the information they need to be free and self-governing. By doing this, you allow the public the tools and information that they need to make informed decisions on whatever topics are being covered. In my humble opinion, that is something that is often forgotten when producing journalism. Provide the information to the reader or viewer and allow them to make their own informed decisions on the issue.

As we all know, however, this transparency does not usually exist in today’s day and age of media. There seems to be a never ending debate over which news channels show favor to certain issues and which don’t. There are also studies over which news channels actually report hard news. It was an interesting read, while the results were pretty much just as I expected. 

Kovach and Rosenstiel also brought up some interesting points about a free press in an electronic age. They mention that the beauty of the technology boom is that almost anyone armed with a smartphone or laptop computer can be apart of new-age journalism. This kind of freedom can be a double-edged sword. With more and more people adding to the journalism pool, I guess you can say that the results are being more watered down and less professional. As the reading says, “Journalism must become a force in empowering citizens to adapt and shape their own communities based on verified information.”

Obviously the new age of journalism is something that needs to be understood and embraced so that the next wave of journalists can succeed.