How social media has altered the legacy of traditional journalism

When you ask someone to describe the state of journalism in the 21st century, the answer is almost never quite clear. In fact, it may be easier to describe journalism by what it isn't. 

Journalism is no longer black and white newspapers at your front door after a lengthy editing process nor is it published material only trustworthy and notable organisations. It is no longer characterised by newsroom hierarchies or story meetings between editors. 

Journalism is no longer what we've known it to be. 

                                                                       

The reality is that the production and distribution of news, which was one allocated to a range of individuals has now been trivialised. Journalism is now scattered across a variety of less than traditional domains...from posts and stories on Instagram to thirty second TikTok videos. 

The formal processes underpinning the production of traditional journalism has almost been completely diminished, and what remains is often unreliable, highly biased and oversimplified. 

To sum up, there is no clear demarcation between the publisher, the distribution and the viewer. This can be detrimental in the vast and volatile social media terrain. 

The nature of the internet means that the role of producer is no essentially undefined. Anyone can produce and publish news. 

Yes... even a meme mocking the infamous Will Smith 'slap' merges seamlessly into the realm of pop culture journalism.

 

One may argue that the increasing involvement of ordinary citizens in the production and dissemination of news is in fact highly advantageous in a democratic Western world. While it has the potential to be useful at times, this viewpoints conveniently ignores the vast array of consequences that flow like floodwater into an already convoluted journalism landscape. 

Not only have unprecedented forms of journalism adversely impacted an industry rooted in professionalism but have also reduced the reliability and credibility of the news being presented. 

I know everyone loves to have a say these days but do we really need hone in on the opinion of every Tom, Dick and Harry when it comes to pressing global and societal issues?  

Separately, the digitisation of news across social media platforms means that the quality of news if significantly altered, such that it may fail to provide a comprehensive take on important global events. 

In plain words, social media journalism tends to take a lazier route to market on events that require the exact opposite to correctly understand. 

For example, news organisations such as The Guardian (among many others) have taken to TikTok to expand their audience reach. Let's remember that TikTok's audience comprises largely of teenagers and young adults, who have the attention span of approximately twenty seconds before they flick to a new video. 

As a result, the format in which news is communicated is informal and complex manners are unsurprisingly relayed in a manner suitable to Gen-Z. 

Apparently ten to fifteen second videos summarise the Ukraine controversy very throughly! 

I think not.