The Many Transformations of Media

HOW DID WE GET HERE?

It was not always normal for people to read their news via the Twitter explore tab. News and information was once something that required a lot less deciphering and had a lot more reliability. This change both has its pros and cons, as people now have the choice of which news company/platform they want to receive their news from; yet, there are now more chances for false information to be believed by a mass amount of people. As citizens, we now have a much larger responsibility to discern if what we are reading is true, credible, accurate. This challenge is exciting as it promotes more of an engaged community; however, it often leads to those who defer to believe everything they read to believe false information and spread it among those who also practice this ideology. With all of this change very apparent in the present day, how exactly did we get here?

THE FIRST TRANSFORMATION

There have been many changes in the way that humans communicate news and events across history. I would say that the most significant change in communication was when writing was first developed. Before writing, stories and news were communicated through word of mouth which allowed for alterations from minuscule to dramatic. When systems of writing were established, news and stories became not only permanent, but more credible. I find this to be an interesting parallel to how news is today. Even though writing is viewed to be more credible and unalterable, it is becoming increasingly more difficult to decipher the truth. It is almost as if we are in an age of over-saturation, not just in the realms of journalism, but throughout. With so much information being presented to us, we have more of a responsibility than ever to fine tune our discernment skills in order to remain knowledgeable of what is true.

Photo from Pexels.com

THE CULPRIT TRANSFORMATION

The second transformation that I find to be the most influential and important is the transformation to technology driven news. This is where the discernment skills, that I have previously mentioned, became of much importance. There are no longer a few established, credible sources where we receive our news from. Now there are thousands of companies who compete with each other to put out the news that they think will allow them to receive the most revenue. Not to mention the countless other bloggers and social media users who use the easiness of the platform to present the news in the way they see fit. The competition aspect creates many problems in the realm of truth. Many companies and individuals are willing to put out a story that may not be fact-checked because of the amount of money they will gain by presenting it a certain way. One great example of this is Tabloids, arguably the type of "news" with the least amount of truth. If you are looking for some humor, here are some of the most insane tabloid headlines throughout time. (Can you believe people actually think this stuff is true?) However, countless people read these tabloid stories and take everything they say to be the absolute truth. Here is an article that provides some tips that are helpful when determining whether or not the news article you are reading is fake. (God bless people like this)

SO WHAT?

This may seem like a very cynical post especially from someone who wants to be a part of the journalism world. However, I take the need for discernment to be a challenge I am more than willing to take on. My goal is to be a truth driven journalist and to place accurate news as a higher priority than revenue. I also have an optimistic outlook and can see that the public craves truth more and more. We are all tired of being lied to and having people be swayed in a certain direction based on completely false information. This, in turn, will separate the true journalists from the money hungry ones. Nevertheless, all we can do is continue to stay alert and hope for the best.