Technology- Is It Enhancing or Impairing?

D'Asia Leathers
Dl320913

Technology and cable go hand-in-hand with how society receives its information, nowadays. If you’re not getting it from your phone, it is more than likely coming from HLN, CNN, Fox (yikes) or any such outlets. However, how can we assure we’re receiving credible, unbiased and safe information? Lawrence R. Samuel lists topics deemed off limits as “politics, sex, adultery, unemployment, poverty, successful criminality and alcohol”—now the basic food groups of cable.

Technology, Oh Technology

We are fortunate enough to have been provided with many technological advances throughout the century and even this decade, and there are more we are still encountering every day. These technological advances usually serve us good, but just as with any other good thing, there are risks attached.

One new form of technology that has been bestowed upon us is the drone (the little things we sometimes see in the sky and wonder if they’re a bird or just a really far away airplane). Drones are great for many reasons- they’re high in the sky and are therefore able to get an aerial view of many places and along with that, there are few interferences in the air. However, drones film anything within an outside view, so how do you determine what’s private and what’s public?  There are many private and commercial entities (including news outlets) that are utilizing drones. Because of this, there has recently been a minuscule battle between First and Fourth Amendment advocates, pitting news organizations that want unfettered access to the view from the air against privacy advocates and even lobbyists for big technology companies who want at least some rules to keep drones out of people’s personal lives. Many news organizations have argued that you don’t need a person’s permission to photograph them when they’re out in public. However, just because you can doesn’t mean you should.

Another technological advance we have been granted with is live streaming. One of the most recent and memorable live streams is the death of Philando Castile that was filmed live on Facebook by Diamond Reynolds, Castile’s fiancé. However, there are always live streams with more positive lights such as my cousin going live during her son’s talent show. Live streaming is a way to experience things that are occurring in real time, without actually being present. Before, you would find out about something like a talent show or police shooting after the fact. Now, we have this ability to transport to where it’s actually happening — “it’s a real visceral, emotional connection.” Some live streaming advocates argue that live streaming has given incredible power to victims of systemic violence, both online and offline. But how are these advances affecting us?

So What Does This Mean for Us in This Biz?

The great thing about live streaming (and the reason it is becoming more common for people to use it-especially when getting pulled over) is because everything is in real time, so it is therefore impossible for anything to be distorted or edited. However, this is not the case with most technology. As millennials, most of the information we retrieve comes from the palm of our hands- in our cell phones. And while there are many credible sources we can look to, there are also a variety of sources providing a variety of information. And in a crazy turn of events, the fake stories are usually the ones that receive more attention than the truthful ones. During these critical months of the campaign, 20 top-performing false election stories from hoax sites and hyperpartisan blogs generated 8,711,000 shares, reactions, and comments on Facebook. As journalists, and even advertisers, it is imperative to remember we always seek truth only and report it. And it is even more imperative we inform the public that this is what our sole purpose is.