Effect of Technology on Journalism (Essay Sample)

Effect of Technology on Journalism Student's Name Institution Introduction Undeniably, the evolution of computing technology along with internet has changed the face our society. The quickening pace of technological evolution since the 1980s has engulfed most professions and has changed the way they operate. Many age-old facets of journalism have almost disappeared and have been replaced by modern institutional mechanism. Numerous high-tech technological innovation continuous to have enormous impact on the development of news dissemination and the way journalism is conducted throughout the globe. Historically, the scientific breakthrough in the advancement of the printing technology in the 1830s ushered a new era of print media. Large scale publishing of newspapers led to the expansion of print media and created of big media houses and new agencies. However, the recent internet revolution has changed this vertical transmission mechanism of news sharing into a broader horizontal model. Such structural change has meant that news creation now involves greater participation of common people rather than being limited to few large firms. Essentially, it can well be argued that most of these changes, if used in the right manner ethically, will have positive influence on the business of journalism (Franco, 2009). Effects of Technology on Journalism The messages and/or story that a picture can convey cannot be challenged and/or refuted by the readers. Every image has a story of its own and can convey deep messages about any event or happening. Presently, every news agencies and journalist have come to rely heavily on the use of pictures in the print media. Pictures are one of the most important and relevant supplement to the words of the journalist. Images and pictures will not only back up the claims of the journalist or of any individual who intends to reports a particular incident but will also increase the credibility of any news agency. The modern day smart phone technology has made capturing of any image virtually free. This technology has become the cornerstone of the modern day news reporting. Hence, news which have images to showcase the message in the article is now almost taken for granted. It also provides the leverage and freedom to any individual to capture situations, moments that goes against social and ethical norms of society (Krotoski, 2011). The cost of distribution has almost become negligible. The internet which has connected most places in the earth has become the nucleus of a variety of news be it political, economic, sports, fashion. Even the journalists have to be in constant touch with the internet in order to unearth pieces of evidence or information that can become the basis of their future journalism. The expansion of social networking sites have also increased avenues for news reporting. Most of the content posted in social networking sites are news. The social networking technology has played an overwhelmingly role in bringing news related to social issues, political issues and economic matters in the forefront and in this process has helped people to be better informed. Such swift dissemination of news has pressurized social and political institutions to be more vigilant and unrelenting to individuals who have broken the norms of society. The fall in the cost of distribution has helped the society to be become integrated. Also, it has also helped the public to participate in scrutinizing of any event in order to determine its usefulness to the society. This has meant that journalist have to be more proactive that ever before. Essentially, the expansion in journalism has meant that the likelihood of exposing any wrongdoing has increased. Undoubtedly, this will have positive impact and will motivate individuals with influence to be more responsible, transparent to their institutions (Franco, 2009). Another impact of computers on journalism and its related activities is on the business and the way it is conducted these days with the help of technology. Previously, writing the leads for any stories use to take a very long time. This meant that the paper on the typewriter had to be changed every time an editing or a change needed to be made. However, the modern word processors like MS word have made the task of ...