BLOG: Why the Democratization of Journalism Has Been a Positive Development
- Evan Popp
- Sep 10, 2017
- 2 min read
Before social media and the Internet, there was a clear hierarchy in the flow of information between journalists and the public. Reporters would gather news they felt was important and share it via print or broadcast. But outside of letters to the editor, there wasn't much room for the audience to have an influence on the information being presented.
In the age of the Internet and social media, that old paradigm has been turned on its head. As put in the book Mobile and Social Media Journalism —
Instead of what used to be a dictatorial information stream, journalism is being forced to democratize. While this might be difficult for some journalists, it is a positive development overall.
That's because the requirement for journalists to interact with the public in a more collaborative way brings additional ideas and backgrounds to information gathering and sharing. And it's due to social media that reporters have been forced to take many other perspectives into consideration.
One specific way social media has helped democratize journalism is through its ability to enhance the power of crowdsourcing. In the days before the Internet and social media, the ways reporters could interact with the public and ask for their thoughts were limited. Now it's possible to spend 10 minutes creating a tweet and Facebook post asking for help from the public on a story.
This process allows for a diversity of opinions and perspectives. And, as the book Mobile and Social Media Journalism points out, it makes the audience more invested in the story.
Here are a few other ways the democratization of journalism through social media has improved reporting.
Social media can act as a fast-paced tip line. Members of the public can tweet or message information to reporters far quicker than ever before.
There can be further interaction between journalists and the audience once a story has been published through the use of comments on Facebook and Twitter.
Social media forces journalists to increasingly think about how best to reach the audience where they are, reinforcing the fact that journalists must think of themselves as employees of the public.
What do you think? Do you agree, or do you think social media has had a negative impact on journalism? Tell me in the comments.
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