What makes news, news?

Leah Lindemann

ll456717@gmail.com

As a reader, one may hope that a journalist's duty is to give true and unbiased content. There needs to be an equal level of trust between the publisher and reader. Important news happens every day and it is a journalist's job to decipher what is important to publish and what is not. But how have journalism standards changed over the past few decades in deciding what to post? 

To say that journalism in the 1960's is the same as journalism in 2020 would be a lie. The channel of how news is delivered changed the game for viewers and journalists combined, therefore changing the depth of content. Journalism's only platform used to be newspapers or nightly news given out once a day that only discussed top headlines. But in today's age there are hundreds of platforms that are constantly being updated with content every second. People are now so used to getting new content multiple times a day which has in fact changed the game of news. Since there are so many platforms publishing stories, anything can be made to be considered news as long as it is getting clicks. 

According to the Internet in the Daily Life of Journalists, by Liesbeth Hermans, she states, "The sheer supply of unlimited information forces journalists to stay constantly up-to-date with the newest information and to determine the news values of events. The Internet has increased time pressure in the news production process and the competition for scoops,". Because there is this need for new stories all the time, the quality of the content changed from real journalism to entertainment. 

Starting in the late 2000s people started turning their attention to topics ranging from the hottest social media trends in Hollywood or updates on Kardashian dating life. Readers have become more attracted to shocking headlines rather than content filled real world journalism. So, journalists decided to give the people what they wanted. Not only did content creators want to give the people what they want, but their job depended on doing so. 

 

 Picture source: https://www.newslaundry.com/2020/01/22/first-person-how-the-race-for-clicks-is-hollowing-out-indian-journalism

In the book The Elements of Journalism, Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel states, "News was becoming entertainment and entertainment news. Journalists bonuses were increasingly tied to profit margins, not to the quality of their work,". Journalists didn't become lazy with their content, it was a competition of what would gain the most clicks. Which in the end started a bad reputation for journalists looking unprofessional with their content when it is in fact guided by what the audience wants. 

As of now journalism will not be going away anytime soon. But there needs to be a change of what makes news, news. Because honestly, who wants to read about the Kardashians any longer?