There is no doubt that the world of journalism is currently experiencing an "ice age", freezing out the dinosaurs (newspapers) and making way for an evolution of the digital newsroom.
Some people welcome this change. They are the ones smart enough to recognise that the expansion of online journalism is inevitable, given the inconveniences of newspapers, and who have set up their own blogs in response to this.
Kaye Sweetster focuses on blogs for much of her research on mass communication, and says that "it now appears there is much more to examine in regards to the impact of blogs on society, personal communication, and the media.
"The mainstream press seems to have ended its love affair with blogs in that there are more “scare” stories out there talking about the *dangers* of blogs".
This suggests a more pessimistic view regarding the developments of online journalism; accusing it of pushing journalism towards a point where news is no longer about facts and objectivity, but is more concerned with comments and opinions.
Blogs are an opportunity for users to regurgitate news, and in doing so, taking away the "new" element that is necessary for something to be considered newsworthy.
Robert Niles considers such concerns in his Online Journalism Review Blog, saying that blogs are a ""parasitic" medium, that wouldn't be able to exist without the reporting done at newspapers".
He says: "You bust your rear to get stories in the paper, then watch bloggers grab traffic talking about your work. All the while your bosses are laying off other reporters, citing circulation declines, as analysts talk about newspapers losing audiences to the Web."
An example of news outlets responding to this new demand can be seen on NME's website. The "news" element of the Mariah Carey story is very brief and short, and the website is more focused on showing users the various links that they can follow in order to access more multimedia based material and comments. Links to external websites offer users the chance to listen to songs, watch videos, order ring tones and join forums related to Mariah Carey.
The website also advertises sites such as Google and YouTube to give users even more material based around their topic of interest.
This could lead to the criticism that the digital newsroom is a form of anti-journalism, in which some users are no longer interested in the traditional aspects of journalism, and would rather get involved in a culture where "everyone's" a journalist, so to speak.
However, Niles goes on to say that "even "parasitic" blogs provide value beyond the original news reports they cite, (because) Blogs animate the news for readers that newspapers alone don't always reach."
He uses this "Bloggers vs. Journalists" debate as a basis for explaining the advantages of Google Trends. Here is my example of how often users search "bloggers" in comparison to "journalists" for general searches and news:
It shows that currently, Google users are interested in bloggers and journalists fairly equally, which is a good sign for anyone concerned that traditional journalism is losing out to the more contemporary form of blogging.
However, this still poses problems for print journalism, and as Roy Greenslade points out, many people in this profession are losing their jobs as a result of more advanced technology taking on their previous roles.
He asks the question, is "a future on screen, a future with many fewer journalists?" And evidently, it appears the answer is "yes!" Especially for sub editors, who Greenslade predicts "will be the first journalistic victims of the digital revolution".
So how should people respond to this new "ice age" for journalism? In my opinion, we can only make the most of it. Newspapers are good for long analysis and features, but so is online, which is also much more urgent and immediate, so it should come as no surprise that the digital newsroom is presenting print journalism with tough competition.
And Mindy McAdams agrees, saying that "Journalism is not newspapers", but nor is it "dead — it’s all over the Internet".
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