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  • Essay / Journalism in the Internet Age

    10 years ago, journalists were simply people who made a living creating editorial material that was then published to readers, listeners or viewers. In today's digital age, it's not as easy to say what I do as a journalist. Nowadays, with the Internet and social media, there are more opportunities than ever to be able to publish. This raises the big question of whether someone tweets about a major news story or starts their own blog, does that make them a journalist? And should these tweeters, bloggers and citizen journalists be held to the same standards as people in more traditional journalism roles? (Marsh, 2012)Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”?Get an original essayWhat is quality journalism? There are no written criteria for what constitutes quality journalism. Much depends on a person's interests, knowledge and preferences. If we look at the Guardian and the Sun, both have very different views, but both have large audiences that enjoy the trust of their audiences, both being rated by their audiences as quality journalism. The digital age has been a blessing when there is breaking news, making it easy for the public to get ongoing information about the crisis through online news sources that can be constantly downloaded. In 1995, online news sites typically published stories that had first been published elsewhere. Within minutes of the attack, journalists and editors at online news services were quick to publish whatever information they could find. Eyewitnesses have published their version of what happened online. After a few days, the amount of information on the Internet was astonishing. (Allan, 2006) In the months following the Oklahoma City bombing, it became clear that the quasi-Internet held great potential for breaking news coverage and for industry players from the press, it became clear that they would not be able to compete with their online rivals when it came to breaking news. (Allan, 2006) Chris Oaks (1995) wrote during the bombings: "perhaps more than any use of the Web, this Internet response to a national tragedy presages what the future of the Internet”. In times of crisis, people need information quickly as events unfold. Online news can continuously upload content during the crisis, unlike newspapers. Online is not always a good thing when it comes to breaking news. The Internet has made it very easy for anyone to publish an individual's theories without any facts or evidence to support their arguments. These theories can then easily spread like wildfire and make their way into mainstream journalism. The crash of TWA Flight 800 is a good example. In July 1996, the airliner sank into the Atlantic Ocean. Since the latest news, there has been a lot of speculation about the cause of the explosion. Many eyewitnesses reported seeing some kind of object or piece of light approaching the airliner at high speed. “Terrorist experts” were quick to declare that Arabs and Muslims were responsible for the explosions. Breaking news stories and mainstream journalists began to rely on these sources for their content. Conspiracy theories began to, 2017)