New Forms of Media Publishing

With the existence of new media - the Internet - comes websites that can alter the roles of traditional journalism. Gone were the days where journalists acted as gatekeepers, as the ones who fact-checked information for credibility before publishing them (Ibbotson & Rudin 2002). Now, not only are journalists publishing news on the Internet, but also people who are irresponsible with facts. For example, recently, a fake picture of Osama bin Laden's corpse has been circulating on the Internet, and even got published by news media (Young 2011).

Another role of the traditional journalist that has changed is the way the gathering of information is done. Before the existence of the Internet, journalists had to rely on books, documents and old newspaper articles in order to do research. Now, journalists just need to do research online in order to get the information that they need (JournoList 2011). However, not many journalists are experienced in gathering information online (JournoList 2011), so they are forced to learn this skill.

A change that is worthy to take note of is that journalists that live in the Internet age are expected to work more. They now have to create videos, podcasts and they also have to work longer hours than before (Bunz 2009). Their hours are so long that they now spend more time doing research online instead of going out and doing it in person (Bunz 2009).

References:

1. Ibbotson, T & Rudin, R 2002, An Introduction to Journalism, Focal Press, Great Britain.
2. Young, S 2011, Web's bin Laden 'death photo' (just the photo) is fake, MSN, viewed 3 May 2011, <http://photoblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/05/02/6568249-webs-bin-laden-death-photo-just-the-photo-is-fake>.
3. JournoList 2011, The JournoList: The Internet for Journalists, The JournoList, viewed 3 May 2011, <http://www.johnmorrish.com/journolist/>.
4. Bunz, M 2009, Journalism has improved in the internet age, say media professionals, guardian.co.uk, viewed 3 May 2011, <http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/pda/2009/sep/17/digital-media-future-of-journalism>.