Is Internet Journalism the Future of Journalism?

Ciera Burnett

Liba 102

April 30, 2011

Professor Russell

Is Internet Journalism the Future of Journalism?

Journalism is such a broad topic and I think that the future of journalism can never be determined. Many people today are stating that they think that maybe internet journalism could be the future of journalism. What do you think? Well I do not know exactly what to say but internet journalism could possibly be the future because that is what people spend most of their time doing. Common sense dictates that there are several different types of journalism but people are just drawn toward electronics more. Therefore, that would just be the cause of internet journalism going up. I have come up with three reason of why I think that internet journalism is the future of journalism. I think that internet journalism is the future of journalism because people are always on the go and with the new smart phones; it is easy to access the news on the web. Secondly, people are always on the web using social networks and things like that so most of the times news is posted on the social network sites. Finally, if you are trying to hear about news quickly editors are mostly likely to post it on the internet first.

I have done some research and I have concluded that even the federal government thinks that internet journalism could be the future of journalism. In the Associated Press Joelle Tessler wrote an article about FTC explores future of journalism in Internet age were he/she discusses how even the government is deliberating on whether or not internet journalism is the journalism of the future. “The federal government is wading into deliberations over the future of journalism as printed newspapers, television stations and other traditional media outlets suffer from Americans' growing reliance on the Internet” (Tessler). I totally agree with this statement because many people rely excessively on the internet when they can pick up a book or simply just watch it on TV. Many people have come to the conclusion that since so many people rely on the internet for so much that even companies have started to pay to put their advertisements on different web pages. I think the reason for that is that they feel that since not to many people are watching TV anymore they might as well go to the place that attracts the most people. This is the internet! The Federal Government has come up with the conclusion that the media business is going into a state of economic distress. They are saying that the media business is losing a lot of money because of the high rate of internet usage for media purposes. A lot of the Medias audience and advertisers are migrating to online media.

The question that I have for you now is, do you think that the Federal Government can stop this transition from traditional media to internet media. “The Federal Trade Commission began a two-day workshop Tuesday to examine the profound challenges facing media companies and explore ways the government can help them survive”(Tessler). They are trying to help the economic distress that the media companies are experiencing by having this two-day workshop. The purpose of the workshop is to figure out what can they do to help the media companies to make money. As I have said before the media companies are losing so much money because their audience and their advertisers are slowly migrating to online media. I do think that if they all meet with each other that they will come up with a conclusion on how they can improve each type of journalism. I honestly do not understand why the Federal Government is making the changes is media such a big dispute. I think that change is good. I think that people would prefer internet journalism anyway rather than the other types of journalism.

When it comes to journalism, you have to think about what the audience likes most and what would draw them in. The reason for that is so that they can keep making money and expanding their businesses. Many people would think that internet journalism has become so big in the industry because it is just easier to access. For instance, many people run to the internet to watch TV shows that come on TV. So just, take the time out and think about it, eventually the internet media/journalism was going to take over the industry anyway. "News is a public good," FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz said. "We should be willing to take action if necessary to preserve the news that is vital to democracy." “ Media executives taking part are looking for a new business model for an industry that is watching traditional advertising revenue dry up, without online revenue growing quickly enough to replace it. Government officials want to protect a critical pillar of democracy—a free press” (Tessler). Therefore, as you can see in the small passage above that the government is not too happy about the reality of the online revenue growing because they think that the traditional way of doing things is better.

The Federal Government has concluded that eventually internet journalism is the future of journalism. They all are think maybe that good things why not let us use it for what it’s worth. Therefore, the government decided to start letting people access the news and different media online but at a cost. “Among the options being discussed: tax law changes that would allow media companies to earn tax credits or become tax-exempt entities, and copyright law changes that would force search engines and other online aggregators to compensate media companies for the content they produce” (Tessler). For instance, on some news websites they ask you would you like to subscribe and most times when you do there is a monthly charge. They are charging you because they have to pay all of the companies whom they are getting news from and they cannot possibly do that if they are letting people just access the websites free.

“In a survey conducted over May and June this year, PR network Oriella asked media moguls how the Internet was affecting their business, their publishing formats, and even the quality of the content issuing forth from their newsrooms. In a survey of 770 journalists across 15 countries, the company determined that, while media creators are slightly more optimistic than they were last year about maintaining revenues vis-a-vis the rise of online ad budgets, many are still worried about whether traditional media formats can succeed in the long run” (O’Dell). ‘Everything is moving towards digital communications. Should we expect those who do not adopt and keep up to survive? The trouble is, the media industry has just not been able to figure out how to moneitse access to online content (The Times is a prime example) BUT, with the release of apps such as Flip Board we’re seeing some real innovation and perhaps a path forward”(Boyle). “However, many respondents also said that publishers were considering new online sources of revenue, such as paywalls, membership plans, and premium mobile content for phones and tablets. This may be due to the fact that, over the past two years in particular, publications have been reporting significant loss of reader/viewership as well as ad revenues to online media”(O’Dell).

In the above passage I gave you a few excerpt that were giving in a survey about the topic we are discussing. So far, with the information that I have gathered everyone is going toward internet journalism could possibly be our future of journalism, but at a cost. Every author or persons that I have talked to about this has stated that it would maybe be a good idea only if you can get taxes from it like if you were to sale newspapers.

Finally, I am going to talk about how internet journalism is the future of journalism but also how it can hurt traditional journalism. From my research I have come to the conclusion that many people think that internet journalism can help the journalism companies out of the economic distress but it can also hurt traditional journalism. Traditional journalism is simply just the root of were journalism first started. The Internet is helping journalism point to the range of information available online and to the way the Web has opened the practice of journalism to more people. “The Internet has some plusses: It has widened the circle of those participating in the national debate. However, it has mortally wounded the financial structure of the news business so that the cost of doing challenging, independent reporting has become all but prohibitive all over the world. It has blurred the line between opinion and fact and created a dynamic in which extreme thought flourishes while balanced judgment is imperiled” (Master). “It’s been bad in some ways for the media industry—especially newspapers, at this point—but over the long haul, I think the shift to the Web has helped the practice of journalism. It is subjected journalists to more real-time scrutiny and opened the profession to talented people not affiliated with major media organizations’ (Master). In the upshot of all of this, the news on the internet is rather shallow; it lacks a sense of history and context, and an appreciation for the complications of taking over the reins of government.

In conclusion, the internet journalism is the future of journalism. It may have a few kinks that still need to be fix but me just see it as the next generation way of keeping up to date on the world’s news. You never know internet journalism just might be the key to helping the media news get out of an economic distress that they are in now. Internet journalism is hip and it’s what everyone is talking about now.” Internet journalism is not a world we know very well at all. It's conducted more on the screen and less in bars, which makes it rather less useful for getting stories about people throwing up over one another, which is what one's after.”(Hislop)

Works Cited

23, July. "How the Internet Is Affecting Traditional Journalism [SURVEY]." Social Media News and Web Tips â Mashable â The Social Media Guide. Web. 28 Apr. 2011. .

"@Future of Journalism: Internet Audio | Media | Guardian.co.uk." Latest News, Comment and Reviews from the Guardian | Guardian.co.uk. Web. 28 Apr. 2011. .

Master, Cyra. "Media Insiders Say Internet Hurts Journalism - Magazine - The Atlantic." The Atlantic — News and Analysis on Politics, Business, Culture, Technology, National, International, and Life – TheAtlantic.com. Web. 28 Apr. 2011. .

Tessler, Joelle. "FTC Explores Future of Journalism in Internet Age." Breitbart.com. Web. 28 Apr. 2011. .