Technology in journalism: damaging or valuable?

Emma Dollenmayer 

ed569918@ohio.edu 

Photo provided by CNN

One of the primary ethical values of journalists is to minimize harm, and to do so, journalists and the media must remain respectful to the victims they are covering. 

When drones were first introduced as a new technological device that would assist in journalistic reporting for events that may not traditionally be "safe," reporters alike had good intentions. However, using drones to retrieve coverage from events such as natural disasters and protests only promotes parachute journalism while simultaneously invading victims' privacy. 

The usage of drones in journalism is still a relatively new concept. The new technology was introduced in 2011 and has since been a progressive way of reporting for retrieving data and photojournalists. The problem is that the public doesn't trust drone usage. Global Investigative Journalism Network stated, "With their annoying buzz and invasive tendencies, criticisms of drones resemble the weaknesses of news media to sensationalize and intrude." 

Again, the usage of drones directly relates to parachute journalism because the reporters can utilize footage from a different angle in which the reporter is not directly seeing the ramifications of events associated with trauma. 

Drones aren't the only new technological device that has changed journalism and how the public receives and processes it. Virtual reality devices raise the same questions drones do: can they be trusted? 

In addition to minimizing harm, trust is a vital value for journalists. 

International Journalists' Network reports, "Now that misinformation is increasingly a problem for the media industry, the challenge for VR journalism is to prevent dishonest organizations and individuals from producing fake VR work and passing it off as real." 

We have learned in ethics that the average citizen is often unable to decipher between trustworthy news and fake news. That is simply because the public doesn't take the time to look more into where the information is derived. If the average individual is introduced to VR and AR, a specific individual is physically and explicitly stating what could come across as factual information. So, how will journalists ever work to gain the public's overall trust with so many distrustful external forces? 

Again, though, a lot of times, the intentions of these journalists are well-meant. Given "the makers of 'Clouds over Sidra,' the much-discussed VR piece produced by the United Nations" (Mehendale), intended to evoke empathy from those using immersive journalism to understand a refugee camp better, the journalists strayed from what journalists are supposed to do, and that is report facts. Instead, they began orchestrating factual information to make the experience more dramatic. 

Though different technological advancements have positively impacted the journalism community, it also carries a lot of negatives as it has continued to give the public a reason to question whether or not the profession is ethical, trustworthy, and transparent. So, maybe, the answer is to return to the basics, and therefore, respect and trust will come with time.