Twitter Impact On Journalism (Essay Sample)

Twitter impact on journalism Name Institution Course Instructor Twitter impact on journalism Introduction The advent of social media created a new chapter in journalism. The agency at which information disseminate from one source to the other has changed and the society seems to be getting the latest information within the shortest time ever. Twitter, initially intended to promote social networking, has become a great tool in the journalism industry. Media houses have embraced the use of the short messages, commonly known as Tweets to define the value of information that they put in air. Tweets often throng the media houses every moment that a new event occurs. Harper (2010, p1) agree that tweeter has expanded the news skies, enabling media business to be conducted in a different way. Traditionally, news room had to wait for information from journalist situated in various regions. However, the emergence of Tweeter created a different avenue of presenting information to media houses for the purposes of dissemination to the greater public. Although the information that the newsroom receive via tweets keep them relevant with the prevailing situations in various locations, such information need treatment with utmost care. Just like social gossip, anyone can tweet the newsroom to cause panic in the society or report non existing activity. Some critics commenting on this situation posit that tweets need confirmation just like phone calls in order to avoid holding the society hostage with false information. Printing or broadcasting information received via tweets without verification is not only dangerous to the reputation of the newsroom, but also to the society. Harper (2010, p1) in her article demonstrated that text messages sent via tweets or through other forms of social media lack credibility. In this case, the relying on such information for guidance might be disastrous. For instance, human beings are susceptible to creating illusions and feelings which at times do not exist, yet people coil the same in order to receive certain selfish gains. Thus, if this be the case, then tweets may as well carry information that is less relevant or accurate. There are fears that the mistakes made through the tweets might reach the public thereby damaging the reputation of the news rooms or respective individuals whose identity is in public limelight. With the speed at which tweeted information reach million of audience, its use by the media houses have opened new trends or authenticating received information as well as feeding the same for public consumption. For instance, to keep up with the pace of the tweeted information, news rooms to conduct verification exercise which authenticate or refute the received information before public sharing. Elsewhere, tweeter can make the audience be satisfied with bogus news. Largely, ordinary readers might not take the trouble of confirming the validity of information that they receive. Thus, in one way or the other twitter might not be the best way to share information intended for public circulation. Technological advancement seems to affect every corner of the society. Prior to the creation of social media, sharing information with media houses entailed sending letters to the news rooms or asking the news reporters to attend a given ceremony. The creation of social blogs outdated the use of letters to the editors or news rooms. Many people have advanced their attitudes towards contacting the news rooms by embracing the new technology to advance communication. In fact, the social media has removed the bottlenecks associated with contacting a media house for audience. Many journalists have found the new technology handy in their work, opening the area of coverage as well as defining a new cause of doing journalism. This research examines the impact of Twitter in journalism. The consumers of the media products are no longer passive members as they used to be in the past. Today, through the use of twitter, audience have the chance of commenting directly to news rooms about news disseminated to the public. This aspect has forced the media providers to think of new methods of attracting audience as well as disseminating information to the target population. Arguably, if the story carried by the media house does not reflect the reality on the ground, the audience would break the silence by refuting the sharing of such information. Thus, twitter creates a platform for criticising news rooms and giving opinions about the quality of the information that news room offer to the society. Nevertheless, the concept credibility of social media is question that many critics tend to fathom. To a given extent, the intersection between the social media and journalism are constructive and to another end, the same is not true. While twitter created a platform for sharing information between members in this social cite, it relevance has extended to the media houses thereby redefining journalism industry by pilling pressure on what the audience need receive and that which should not be shared. Literature Review The advent of digital technology such as Twitter has attracted considerable research in the field on journalism. Twitter facilitates instant online information dissemination and reception of short fragmented messages outside the formal structures of journalism. Thus, it challenges the individualistic top down perception of traditional journalism. Primarily, the fragmented messages that people receive through twitter are individualistic information as opposed to the verified information by the licensed media houses. In this sense, Twitter creates a culture which has never existed in journalism, but borders on individual expert as opposed to knowledge sharing. Arguably, the fear peddled by the some critics that Twitter is capable of disseminating bogus information tends to support this argumentation. A considerable research on the significance of Twitter in journalism tend to focus on the evolving means of communication which is characterised by collaborative nature of news reporting which allows the disruption of the exiting journalism norms. Studies indicate that the initial approach of Twitter was to create a platform for shaping short fragmented information among the members of this social network. At the initial stage, media houses focused on using internet especially the email in shaping information. Afterword, the news rooms adopted the new way of sharing breaking news, Twitter became handy in doing the same. In deed, today every media house has Twitter and other social network accounts which they use to share the breaking news as well as engage the audience in commenting on the sprawling news. Hermida in his studies on Twitter accounts of various media organisation indicate that journalists are not any different from the non professional audience who shovel material in Twitter. The messages sent by the journalists or the non professional audience are simple and tend to capture the headline of the main story. The feed pattern tends to give the news room the headlines of the main activity and a link that would enable the audience to capture the rest of the information. Some critics posit that ambient journalism perceives Twitter as a platform that creates awareness where, multifaceted, real time digital networks allow the dissemination of news in the periphery of user’s awareness. According this ambient journalism school of thought, Twitter provides, mix news and information which to a given extent has some close relationship with the reality, but without a credible order. Arguing from this sense, journalism is not only the process of negotiating a change to the digital world, but also a networked one. The core of journalism rests on the quality of information and news that various credible media houses would dispense to the target audience. The production and authenticity of the information disseminated define the core of journalism claims. Zelizer in her article posited that the presumed legitimacy of journalism depends on its declared ability to disseminate indexical and referential news or information of the world at stake. The message or information sent or circulated by the journalist in thus not any ordinary argument or view, but a content that the rest of the society can contest and prove beyond any doubt. Thus, journalists are distinguished from the rest of the society project public communication based on the credibility to interpret and present reality. There is some professional touch in the news or information that a journalist shares with the public and that which the rest of the society would share during the normal communication. Nevertheless, some critics argue that the presumed authority that journalist enjoyed has since waned because of the advent of social media. At one point, social bloggers did not receive the attention that journalists received, but today the bloggers are no longer trespassers but sources whose information tend to count in the society. In the same, Twitter, which was once regarded as a digital technology with little impact in journalism has transformed the journalism. Critics commenting on the elements of journalism contend that although the rest of the society may have the chance to present information from one point to the next as observed in the social network, professional discipline, declaration of discipline as well as discipline verification distinguishes the other forms of communication from journalism. Some authors indicate that the most recognized codes of journalism are reporting fairly and honestly. In this sense, journalism and truth are interrelated aspects that work together. The duty to collect information and report the same without any bias further differentiate bloggers from journalists. The credibility and believability of information shared through any form of community defines the real meaning of j...