rp071813@ohio.edu
Credibility is the key concept to good journalism. Today, news and information stories have become accessible to almost anyone in the world. Since the market has evolved, practices of the old, traditional newsroom has phased out. This means that media is in a transition period as well as journalistic practices.
The internet created a new world of possibilities for producers and consumers of news. Digital information is constantly being pushed into the public. With such an abundance of media outlets, large and small, how does the consumer choose which to believe? Options can be overwhelming but they also give us assurance in the outlets we trust.
As consumers, we listen to those who have lead us correctly in the past, but do we separate ourselves from them if they are inaccurate? This decision is viewed from all different perspectives of readers but I want to talk about the position of the journalists. A new era of journalists have been trained to create and capture more that just the written story. Expectations go further than the text. Video; photography; and social media are all factors in current journalism.
With the digital capabilities of these content creating techniques, information is reported faster. How can you be perfect and thorough when competing with speed? You can't. This is where error can strike a journalist and their context can be misinterpreted in a story.
This is where journalistic credibility is lost, right? Not exactly.
If a journalist owns his or her mistake and corrects the problem, they will be viewed as responsible. It is easy to make a mistake and dismiss it, but it takes courage to review those problems and grow for the experience. Consumers want to know that they are getting the truth. If a journalist corrects their mistakes and takes blame, the consumer will feel valued.
As transparency and credibility are essential to a journalist's identity, the major media companies may not be as worried about those subjects. Big news is big business but news and business do not mesh in the terms of shared ethics. There is a blurry middle ground that has yet to be defined with the digital age. The industry has moved toward personal devices, but these techniques do not generate big revenue.
Every website we search, whether for products, entertainment, or even news; advertisements follow. So many deceptive schemes and practices have been developed to make people think that what they are looking at is the most important content or product. Unfortunately, advertisements bring more money to media companies than the journalist's stories. At the end of the day, a journalists has much less power and assurance because if they write a story that puts their media company in danger with another corporate power, money will stay and people will go because times are hard.
If news is going to remain trusted, journalists must communicate with their readers. This also means that consumers should be curious and check multiple sources. Fact checking is becoming an important part of the media as well as those who want to disprove the media but humans always make mistakes. If a journalist can catch their mistakes and be transparent in revealing their truth, they will build credibility with consumers.
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| (advfundamentals.com) |
Credibility is the key concept to good journalism. Today, news and information stories have become accessible to almost anyone in the world. Since the market has evolved, practices of the old, traditional newsroom has phased out. This means that media is in a transition period as well as journalistic practices.
The internet created a new world of possibilities for producers and consumers of news. Digital information is constantly being pushed into the public. With such an abundance of media outlets, large and small, how does the consumer choose which to believe? Options can be overwhelming but they also give us assurance in the outlets we trust.
As consumers, we listen to those who have lead us correctly in the past, but do we separate ourselves from them if they are inaccurate? This decision is viewed from all different perspectives of readers but I want to talk about the position of the journalists. A new era of journalists have been trained to create and capture more that just the written story. Expectations go further than the text. Video; photography; and social media are all factors in current journalism.
With the digital capabilities of these content creating techniques, information is reported faster. How can you be perfect and thorough when competing with speed? You can't. This is where error can strike a journalist and their context can be misinterpreted in a story.
This is where journalistic credibility is lost, right? Not exactly.
If a journalist owns his or her mistake and corrects the problem, they will be viewed as responsible. It is easy to make a mistake and dismiss it, but it takes courage to review those problems and grow for the experience. Consumers want to know that they are getting the truth. If a journalist corrects their mistakes and takes blame, the consumer will feel valued.
As transparency and credibility are essential to a journalist's identity, the major media companies may not be as worried about those subjects. Big news is big business but news and business do not mesh in the terms of shared ethics. There is a blurry middle ground that has yet to be defined with the digital age. The industry has moved toward personal devices, but these techniques do not generate big revenue.
Every website we search, whether for products, entertainment, or even news; advertisements follow. So many deceptive schemes and practices have been developed to make people think that what they are looking at is the most important content or product. Unfortunately, advertisements bring more money to media companies than the journalist's stories. At the end of the day, a journalists has much less power and assurance because if they write a story that puts their media company in danger with another corporate power, money will stay and people will go because times are hard.
If news is going to remain trusted, journalists must communicate with their readers. This also means that consumers should be curious and check multiple sources. Fact checking is becoming an important part of the media as well as those who want to disprove the media but humans always make mistakes. If a journalist can catch their mistakes and be transparent in revealing their truth, they will build credibility with consumers.
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