Entry 10

Journalism has indeed been affected by the Web 2.0. In today's context, people are always on-the-go, even a simple action of picking up a newspaper can be time consuming. Hence, people have turned to the web to read the news and be updated with what is currently happening.

Personally, I reckon that the Internet has made journalism worse but in a way, better. In the past, journalists would have to go to a scene, go back to the office to write up the article and then head to the printer's office to get it printed. All these were somewhat of a hassle for journalist as it was time consuming and when time was hindering their efficiency in printing the story, it also meant that people have to wait for the story to be printed in order to know what happened.

(Old New York Times)

(Online New York Times)

With the increased amount of users on the web, journalist seek to post their news on the web for these people. This is because with the busy schedule of our lives these days, people are searching for quick and efficacy when going about doing their daily routines. 

Technology has helped to improve stories and made them more newsworthy. Utilising social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, it provides a snapshot of events happening around the world. For example, when a journalist finds something to write about, he/she would snap a picture and post it on the Straits Times Facebook page and everyone would be able to see it in seconds once it is being uploaded. This provides a first-hand witness of the story and furthermore, it offers analytical perspective from the ground faster than print or what television can provide. This in turn, helps to make the story more newsworthy. Also, it can increase awareness much faster from the public. 

Twitter has also changed the way journalism works. Twitter is also known as "micro-blogging" which meant that people are able to churn out their news within a limit of a 140 characters. Journalist again would snap pictures or post links to the actual article using Twitter. Because Twitter is being used by the mass, posting snippets of their articles there would meant that it would cover a greater mass of population who will read their articles as compared to posting it on print where only a minority would get to read it. 

It is undeniable that people are going to have a debate on how the Internet has destroyed businesses for newspaper companies. However, we have to bear in mind that because technology has been advanced and so has the demographics of people in the world has changed, it is only appropriate for us to adapt to change, since "change" is always considered "good".