After watching the Frontline documentary, a few concepts really stuck with me. These happen to be things I've been thinking about throughout the semester and have spent quite some time considering. I've decided that they cannot be swept under the rug.
Journalism has been merged into the world of entertainment and the lines are becoming fuzzy between feature and hard news reporting. In the documentary, one says that giving the public what they want, not what they need, is the biggest tragedies. As the definition and standard of “news” and “journalism” are broadening and changing, the rest of the world is struggling to stay on board.
The documentary highlights how with early t.v. news, there was a sense of mission and news companies operated in public interest, convenience and necessity. Now, companies expect to turn an ever-increasing profit which has caused them to loosen their ethical standards for viewers and revenue. To stand out, cable broadcasts started presenting their opinions, which is what most of them rely on today.
And finally, due to customers’ desire to get the news how and when they want it, journalism has been forced to focus almost completely on the internet. This has also caused some to take the initiative to create their own news broadcasts. Enter: citizen journalism. I agree that this has lessened the value of the term “journalist” and that most blogs are simply people talking about an already-presented issue, rather than breaking news on their own.
As long as news sources and aggregates depend on news, they will be forced to rely on reporters of one shape or another. I wish the penalties for unethical journalism were more fierce.
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