Journalism In A Digital Age

Michael Naku aka Soxi 

Community reporting and the role of journalist in the digital age....So far, the Internet and the World Wide Web cannot set an agenda, primarily because the audience remains small, and many online publications depend on major brand names as the primary sources of information.

Therefore, the broadcast outlets and newspapers that operate the Web sites still maintain control of the setting of the journalistic agendas and the public debate. Still, online journalism stands to dramatically alter the traditional role of the reporter and editor.

First, online journalism places far more power in the hands of the user, allowing the reader to challenge the traditional role of the publication as the gatekeeper of news and information.


The user can depend on the gatekeeper to select and filter the news in the tradition manner, or the user can drill down to the basic documents of a story. In short, the user can look over the shoulder of the reporter by researching the original documents and easily comparing one reporter's story with those of others by scanning news publications throughout the country. Archives also become easily accessible.

Second, online journalism opens up new ways of storytelling, primarily through the technical components of the new medium. Simply put, online journalists can provide a variety of media--text, audio, video, and photographs--unlike other media. Data searching provides a means to access information unable in other media.

Third, online journalism can provide outlets for nontraditional means of news and information. As A.J. Leibling once said: "Freedom of the press belongs to those who own one." The Internet enables everyone who owns a computer to have his or her own printing press.
Info from Google search.