Is New Media killing journalism?

So what exactly is ‘new media’ anyway? Not the internet surely? It’s hardly new is it? OK, it’s not as old as the newspaper, the television and all that jazz (hey, jazz is pretty old as well now isn’t it?), but come on – it’s over 25-years-old now. Give it some respect. Sort-of invented in the 1960s, the unstoppable interweb is dominant in most of our lives now, and has been available in the mainstream for donkeys years. It’s also the obvious culprit for all the ills in the world. Never mind new media - might as well call it “new scapegoat”. It’s responsible for perverts and kids killing themselves, apparently. Nobody has any free-will anymore; they can only act on what the internet tells them. Supposedly.

There’s no denying that traditional notions of journalism are challenged by their online counterparts. The internet has widened the scope of journalism. Anyone with a computer and an internet connection can take part. Obviously, when you knock down the barriers in this way, a great deal of weak and unsuitable material is able to get through; but it also allows new voices to be heard, opens up the possibility for a more diverse and engaged form of media. The internet surpasses old media in its constant, up-to-date nature. It’s also raised the competition. Now that we can read what The Guardian, The Independent, the BBC, Sky News and co. have to say at the click of a button, they must improve the quality of their stories, otherwise we’ll just click elsewhere.

It’s not as if the internet can ever completely replace the offline world anyway. For many people, it’s the rustle, feel and smell of the paper that they long for. A total sensory experience that a computer screen just doesn’t quite match. And in a world where we spend our entire day staring at a screen, it’s nice to spend some time looking at something that’s not illuminated by a back light. Just a thought.

Killing journalism? It’s certainly not killing the quantity of newspapers and magazines out there. Pop along to your newsagents, you won’t be laughed out of the shop as if you were looking for something obsolete, you’ll be greeted with a bewildering array of newspapers and magazines to match every taste.

Maybe it’s the audience that’s changing. Younger audiences are more likely to read stuff on the internet and not bother with the traditional print version. Okay, so the media and computer savvy probably do head online to check out what’s happening in the world. But that’s the problem with life. Eventually the youngsters become the oldsters and the cycle starts all over again. Something else will be blamed for killing journalism by the time the teenagers of today are reaching octogenarians. Probably many times over. Maybe journalism really will be dead then. Obsolete. But I think it’s doubtful.

Citizen journalism is made all the easier by the internet. It facilitates the good, the bad, and the ugly of the blogging world, and all for free. And maybe you might wonder who’s going to employ a journalist when someone is willing – enthusiastic, even – to do it for free on his or her blog. However, there is no value in reducing costs if the quality is reduced as well. Professional journalists – whether they are writing online or off - have more time and resources to produce superior writing, the chances are they’ve had better training. And, at the end of the day, if a citizen is better at their job than the journalist, then the only answer is for the journalist to step up their game.

So we arrive at another whipping boy: advertising. I don’t know if I can really say anything particularly meretricious about the advertising world. As the internet is free, and newspapers sales are declining, then more and more advertising is needed in order to fund the journalism. I’m sure we can all put up with a few pop ups and a few pages in the newspapers devoted to advertising if it funds what we want and need. So long as it doesn’t interfere with the integrity of the free press, all forms of media have the choice to increase their advertising content. If they push it too far, readers will migrate elsewhere, and the benefits will decline.

So in answer to the question, is new media killing journalism? The answer isn’t definite. It’s a “not-really”, but, hey, since when has there been anything definite in the media?

A previous article by Amy Davies (”The Rise of Citizen Journalism“) was published in Point-e in September, 2007. She also maintains the blog, Ramblings.