The Impact of Online Journalism

Jennica Lurie
jl390412@ohio.edu

The emergence of interactive online journalism has had both a positive and negative impact on the journalism industry as a whole. The fundamental values of the profession have changed to accommodate new forms of reporting and writing. Some say that these new values no longer emphasize the importance of accuracy, among other things, but others believe that citizen journalism has created a dialogue with the public that changes the amount of impact the everyday man or woman can have on society.

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Digital Media Ethics

New ethical guidelines have begun to form due to the drastic increase in online and citizen journalism. Many wonder why digital journalism isn't held to the same standard as broadcast or print reporting seeing as it is as much of a platform for breaking news and content as any other type of news media. The ethical dilemmas surrounding these emerging platforms have made way for a clash in opinion between traditional and online journalists. Traditional journalists believe strongly in accuracy and fact checking before delivering the news, whereas online journalism is all about reporting the story as quickly as possible and in the smallest amount of words. The question arises often about who exactly can be considered a journalist these days. If every person who tweets is now considered a journalist, this takes away from the professionalism of traditional journalists, but the interaction is one that is unmatched.

Changing Fundamental Values

According to the State of the News Media, 45% of people believe that the Internet has resulted in the loosening of standards within the field of journalism and 11% of people think that journalism has become more superficial and less analysis based. These numbers show that a large amount of the general public believes that online journalism has had a more negative impact on how we receive the news than a positive one. This is not to say that some great characteristics haven't come from the emergence of online journalism. Citizens are able to obtain their news more quickly and from a multitude of sources. The fact that we are able to see updates of news stories that we care about as they are happening is a tremendous accomplishment in the development of the distribution of news. Another positive feature that comes with online journalism is the idea that people are able to interact with the news. Blogs and online newspapers make it possible for people to comment and leave their opinions on the news stories that they care most about. When people are able to share and retweet stories that mean something to them it creates a wider circulation, which leads to the public becoming more informed. 

Click-Bait

Click-bait has become a common occurrence on many reputable sites including the New York Times and Time, which has created unrest. When people see titles that intrigue them, they click not realizing that the article may have nothing to do with the name of the title.

All-in-all online journalism has brought on an abundance of both problems and possibilities that affect many different parties including the general public. Without it, the majority of the population would have no idea where to get their news from. This is a digital age and as a people we must accept the integration of the Internet into our every day lives.