The power of the media is an awesome thing. The events and people you read about and the way you feel about them are invariably influenced by the tenor of the reporting, or by editorial decisions to withhold some details while emphasising others.
Yet change is in the air. The internet and social media have made news reportage more democratic than ever before. More and more people are sharing content through blogs, tweets, videos and Facebook posts. Whether it is about the Arab Spring or the World Cup, the result is a spectacular and overwhelming volume of information and opinion.
Quality or quantity
Making news reportage more democratic has, however, also raised some serious issues relating to quality control and ethical (not to mention legal) standards. Indeed, websites such as Storyful have generated enormous interest from brands and newsrooms thanks to their dedication to filtering out quality items from, in their own words, ‘social noise’.
This suggests that in spite of such major changes to the ways we source and assimilate news, quality will always be what gives an item a sense of credence and creates assurance in the reader. People everywhere can now potentially contribute to the spread of news, and to stories that may have previously gone unheard. Yet there is still the same need for compelling, honest, impartial and informative content. To that end, the role of the journalist hasn’t gone away, just evolved.
Inquisitive, eye for details and a good writer Learn to make the most of you talents with a part-time journalism course.
