Times Change, the News Hasn't.

Amanda Sherman

as480920@ohio.edu

How it Started

Reading through the Introduction and the first chapter of The Elements of Journalism by Bill Kovach and Tom Rosentiel, you get a sense of how news delivery has changed over time, but the meaning of the news has stayed the same. Through the years, new technology has brought new advances in how to spread the news. 

News has been dated back to ancient times. Romans would post daily news about their senate, politics and daily happenings on Papyrus and then it would be posted in place where the public gathered. This is essentially no different than posting on a community board at a local college. It's no secret that coffee places are the best place to get local chat and gossip, again this is no different than the news postings in the 17th Century in England or the early pubs of America. 

Since then, the local chatter turned into printed paper focused on "public opinion" as mentioned in the text, dating to the 18th Century when free speech and free press was realized. This started with Cato speaking out against the norm of news at the time. An article cites that it was the writers behind Cato that gave unreserved endorsement to free speech as being indispensable. Thus starting a trend in news that became rooted in America. 

Over the next 200 years, print continued to develop and so did the news. Better machines and more brands popped up. The news could be read through newspapers and magazines at first then radio and television were developed with news hours and 24/7 news channels. It got an even further reach when the internet was developed.

Image Source: Sotheby

How it is Going Today

Today we live in a world where there are endless ways to get the news. Social media is at the forefront of this narrative. As mentioned in the book, social media has changed the way we get news and how it reaches an audience. A recent article reported on a study that showed over fifty percent of internet users get their news from social media. With this being known it makes it easier to understand that we are the newest way to get news out. We have become the editors, researchers and news gatherers according to the text. With every share, like, and search we get the news out there.

Image Source: Netbase Quid

Has the News Changed?

Over time it is clear that the way we get the news has indeed changed. We no longer have written scrolls left to view in a town center. We are not as afraid to speak our mind in the news as we once were over two hundred years ago. Developments of the internet and social media have paved the way for countless more ways to get the news.

 But still the news itself hasn't really changed. It is still a form of public opinion. Generations of advancements and people have indeed changed the way it is received but not what people want. In short, people still want to know what is going on in their city, the country and the world.