By PK Jarju
Worcestershire, UK
With the coming of the internet, journalism has changed in that the world has become a global village and events happening in remote parts of the world can now be easily reported and accessed by millions of people around the world by the click of a button.
And with a quarter of the world’s population now digitally connected, the media industry has become a multi-platform and the way news is gathered and reported has changed.
The internet has given birth to millions of bloggers and posters whose online postings can be read by anyone, anywhere and at anytime with a lap top, computer or mobile phone.
In the Gambia for example which has restrictive media laws, the net has given birth to many online newspapers like Freedom Newspaper, the Gambia L, Jollof News, the Gambia Echo Maafanta and the Gambia Journal, which publishes critical articles against the government which local media organisations dare not publish due to fear of persecution.
Writing on the topic Net gains and pains for journalism, Bill Thompson an independent journalist and regular commentator on the BBC World Service programme Digital Planet said: “We've seen blogging turn from a curious habit of the self-obsessed into a defining use of the internet for all forms of communication, watched citizen journalism rise and become partly absorbed into the mainstream, and seen news feeds, aggregators and personal recommendations on social network sites replace the front pages of major news providers as the way people find out about breaking news.”
In the world today, almost every major newspaper and television station has a web presence. Even small newspaper businesses in poor countries like the Gambia now post their stories online.
Major media organisations like the Guardian, the Sun, the Daily Telegraph and BBC news online now upload sound, images and video as well as provide links on stories with background and related reports.
The above media organisations now interact with their readers by allowing them to post comments on articles either online or via SMS texts. Readers can also subscribe to websites and get breaking news stories send directly to their mobile phones.
The radio is not also left behind in this digital revolution. Radio stations like Kiss FM, BBC World Service, Paradise FM and Unique FM now streamed live online and can be listened to by people in offices and anywhere in the world.
The increasing use of internet sites like Twitter and Facebook by people to share information and stories is rapidly growing and threatening 24-hours news channels like the BBC and Sky.
For example, in June 2009, US base TMZ.com was the first to break the news of pop star Michael Jackson’s death. The site was also the first to provided up-to-the minute coverage of actor Natasha Richardson's skiing accident, brain swelling and subsequent death in March 2009.
In fact some media commentators like Robert Courtemanche have argued that: “The internet has slowly, but surely taken over the role of “see it here first” journalism. Even 24-hour news stations like CNN, MSNBC and FOX News do not have the ability to show news as it happens anywhere in the world. The internet does. There have been an increasing number of events chronicled on the internet first. The Virginia Tech shootings, the 2004 Indonesia Tsunami and the recent bombings in Mumbai, India were all shown online before television. Printed newspapers don’t even have a chance.”
In March this year, Sky News’ Kat Higgins reported that a poll conducted for the US based Pew Research Centre, has found that online news has moved up to third place in the popularity stakes - ahead of newspapers and radio.
The survey also found 92 per cent of Americans use a range of platforms to get their daily news with 61 per cent using the internet to get some kind of news. Around 37 per cent of internet users said they have contributed to the creation of news, commentary about it, or dissemination of news via social media.
The high number of internet users is attracting a lot of advertisers away from newspapers. Many newspapers such as the London Lite have had to close down while others like the Daily Mail and General Trust had to shed 1,000 jobs at its regional arm Northcliffe Media, which publishes more than 100 newspapers in England and Wales.
Commenting on the decline in advertisement in print newspapers, South African based online PushPrint Newspaper argues that: “Internet advertising is cheaper and the channel itself has spawned a consumer profile that is young, hip, technically savvy, easily bored and remarkably vocal. Instead of just consuming news, they generate it – tweeting, face booking and blogging to challenge the traditional domain of newsrooms.
“This generation views hard copies of newspapers and magazines as “yesterday’s news” and online technology and applications as the new information frontier. Traditional print media has been badly affected on various fronts and the pressure is on to maintain revenue streams while expanding into digital formats.
Although the internet may have succeeded in revolutionising the way news is gathered and presented, many people are critical of online journalist, bloggers and twitters.
As online journalism is not regulated, the accuracy and credibility of its stories is often questioned by some readers and journalists in the print media. And this is one of the reasons why famous journalists like Andrew Marr, presenter of the BBC’s Sunday Morning Show, sees internet bloggers as “inadequate, pimpled and single, and internet journalism as the spewings and rantings of very drunk people late at night. It is fantastic at times but it is not going to replace journalism.”
