Journalism: An Ever Changing Profession

Hayley Ross
hr332511@ohio.edu

For as long as journalism has been around, it has been changing and improving. New technology and changing roles of both journalists and audiences are influencing the way journalists create news and the way that audiences receive their news.

New Technology

New technology has completely changed the way that the public can consume news. The internet has made information accessible to anyone at anytime. Technology is also so transportable that news can be consumed on the go and in a faster manner than ever before.

The Guardian's article "Journalism in the digital age: trends, tools and technologies" gives an overview of the various ways that technology has changed the way that journalists do their jobs. According to the article, technology has influenced journalism ethics, accountability of journalists, and the mobility of news.

The article by the American Journalism review titled "Let's Start Talking About a Radically Different Future of News" gives an example of what the future might look like if technology continues to increase. Everyone will have the world at their fingertips.

The New Role of Journalists

Journalists have always had the task of presenting the public with news in an unbiased and truthful way. In the past journalists were the only ones who had the information to provide to the public. Journalists have more of a duty to provide accurate information now that technology has increased and anyone can put information out on the web. Reputable news organizations have an obligation to make sure that the information they put out is accurate so that audiences are getting correct information.

This is changing the definition of what a journalist is and who qualifies as a journalist. This question has been asked many times over the years and will continue to be asked with changing technology that gives anyone the opportunity to create content to be published.

The New Role of the Audience

Audiences have the ability to contribute information and produce their own content. They can also engage with journalists through comments and reaching out to journalists. Social Media has significantly increased the amount of content that audiences produce and the contact that they have with journalists. Audiences can tweet information instantly or comment on an article through Facebook with the click of a button.

The video below created by Newseum discusses the impact of Social Media on Journalism and the ways that it has changed the way that we communicate with each other and engage each other online.



Journalism is an ever changing profession that will continue to change as long as the world continues to advance in technology and people continue to get more involved in creating news. There are debates about whether or not journalism is moving in a good direction with more engagement with the audience. In my opinion, as long as information is accurate and it is clear who the author of the content is, it doesn't matter whether or not the author is a professional journalist.