Impact Of It On Journalism Media Essay

Impact Of It On Journalism Media Essay The evolution of technology continues to revolutionize the journalism industry. Television, computers and the internet are among many technologies which have significantly impacted the way in which news is researched, written and published. This report will analyse the impact of IT on journalism over the past four years. It will look particularly at how recent web technologies have impacted journalists research techniques and affected the expectations of readers. It will further look into the ethical implications such technologies have bought to journalism and the sustainability issues pertinent to the industry. Researching news Web 2.0 technologies have had significant influence on journalists researching techniques. They have impacted the ways in which journalists find story ideas, make contacts and acquire information. The 2009 Arketi Web Watch Survey revealed journalists sources of story ideas (Figure 1.1). The results demonstrate a considerable reliance upon Web 2.0 technologies, including blogs, Wikis, RSS feeds, podcasts and social networks. Figure 1.1 Sources of Story Ideas Neumeiers article reviewing the 2007 Arketi Web Watch Survey suggests that the connections Web 2.0 technologies enable, allow journalists to make contacts and ultimately acquire information. Such virtual networking means journalists can obtain information, including opinions, quotes and photos, without personally knowing a contact, but by contacting or following them via social media sites (Sherratt, 2010). Web 2.0 on whole, provides journalists with convenient access to a wide variety of both primary and secondary information sources. Reader expectations Recent technology influenced trends have impacted the expectations of news readers. Unlike a newspaper, if an online reader is if dissatisfied with a news source, they are able to easily and freely switch to another. According to a 2010 survey, 57% of online news seekers visit between two and five sites a day; while only 21% have a single site they routinely visit (Pew Research Centre, 2010). Journalists are hence forced to meet the expectations of online news seekers in order capture and maintain their readers attention and ensure their stories are read. Social news, citizen journalism and mobile internet are all recent trends influenced by technology which have impacted the expectations of news readers. Social news News consumption is a socially-engaging and socially-driven activity (Pew Research Centre, 2010). Tom Regan describes online journalism as a two-way one-to-one model in contrast to conventional, one-way, we write, you read journalism. He claims in his article, The Digital Journalist written in 1997, that there is a strong demand from readers to be able to interact with the writer and other readers of news stories. In 2010, with Web 2.0 technologies, which encourage participation and interaction on the internet, an even greater expectation is held by readers to be able to contribute to and share news. The Pew Research Centre (2010) survey revealed that most readers believe that keeping up with the news is a social or civic obligation. The survey also highlighted that 37% of online news readers have contributed to the creation of news, commentary about it, or dissemination of news via social media. These trends have been influenced by advancements in web technologies which allow reader s to comment on stories, participate in forums and easily share links. The impact of social news consumption means that successful news stories encourage and facilitate reader participation. Citizen journalism Citizen journalism is a growing trend influenced by widespread individual access to cameras and online publishing platforms. Nine percent of news readers surveyed in 2010 revealed that they have contributed to the news by creating their own original news material or opinion piece (Pew Research Centre, 2010). These amateur news pieces can include reports, pictures, videos or audio and are usually published on blogs or social networking sites. Twitter, a micro-blogging site established in 2006 (Lur, 2010), is one such example of a site where citizen journalism is widespread. Twenty-six percent of its US users say they primarily use the site for news seeking (TNS and The Conference Board, 2009). On many occasions Twitter users, assisted by newswires (which monitor topic trends and divulge the latest news to a network wider than the original posters (Catone, 2009)), have beaten mainstream media in breaking news stories. For example, reports of earthquakes in the UK and China in 2008 were initially found on Twitter (Catone, 2009). Competing with such on-the-spot reporting is almost impossible for mainstream journalists as readers expect all reports to be equally as current as Tweets. However, Tweets are generally uninformative due to their 140 character limit and citizen reports are usually seen as unreliable (Kanalley, 2009). Professional journalists are hence expected to, and must hence compete by, promptly reporting exclusive, informative and accurate news which citizen journalists cannot offer. The future of citizen journalism is promising with the launch of sites such as BBCs Your News. Yeon-ho, the creator of, OhmyNews.com, a popular Korean citizen news site, describes the future of journalism as a pro-am (professional-amateur) concept of combining citizen reporters with trained professional journalists and editors (OConnor, 2007). This is backed up by BBCs claims that Your News makes use of a huge range of material being sent to the BBC by the public, some of which has provided real newsgathering value (Hoffman, 2006). Mobile internet The continuing increase in the use of mobile internet devices, such as Smartphones, has a corresponding affect on the number of readers accessing news via mobile internet (Diaz, 2010). The number of US mobile internet users is expected to rise from 89.2 million in 2010 to 134 million in 2013 (eMarketer, 2009), inevitably leading to a further increase in mobile news readers. The nature of mobile news will affect the expectations readers have on how news is presented. On the internet, readers tend to scan pages; similarly, or to a greater extent, they will do so on their mobile devices. Well written information for the web is said to have 50% less words than a print article and should ensure information can be easily extracted through scanning (Thomas, 2010). Journalists will hence need to ensure their works can be easily scanned. News organizations websites will also need to be compatible with, and easily accessible and appealing on, mobile internet browsers and devices with small scr eens. Ethical Implications Integrity of information Among the Australian Journalism Associations Code of Ethics is an obligation to report and interpret honestly, striving for accuracy, fairness and disclosure of all essential facts (Australian News Commentary, 2010). The integrity and accuracy of the information journalists provide to their readers can be tainted when sourcing information from the internet. One such example of inaccurate journalism is that of a quote believed to be by Maurice Jarre, reported  after his death by newspaper websites in the US, Britain, Australia and India. The quote was published on Wikipedia by a university student in Dublin, who later confessed the information to be a hoax (Pogatchnik, 2009). This story highlights how a lack of consideration of the integrity of sources can result in inaccurate reporting. Consequences of such can include damaged reputations, misled readers and law suits. Using privately published information Information found on the internet can often be publically published without the creator knowingly doing so. A survey on internet users found that out of those surveyed, 78% of the adult online population would change information they publish about themselves online if they thought the material would later be reproduced in the mainstream media (Press Complaints Commission, 2008). Using information found on social networking profiles, may therefore be considered breaching journalists ethical codes which aim to respect personal privacy and fairly, responsibly and honestly obtain material (Australian News Commentary, 2010). Writing for a global audience The internet is a global community; therefore, news published online can be accessed by readers from around the world. Journalists must hence consider the different cultural interpretations of the language, imagery and particularly humor and slang contained within their news stories. A Michael Jackson skit performed on Australias Hey Hey Its Saturday program in 2009 is one such example humor which caused international offence because of different cultural background and interpretations. The US and the UK believed the skit was racist and disgraceful; while the majority of Australian audiences enjoyed the lighthearted humor (Duck McCabe, 2009). A 1998 article titled Writing for the Web reiterates the point that humor is prone to elude, and possibly offend, a percentage of the audience. The article also makes references to the differences in how dates are written, which may result in inaccurate reporting, and alternative meanings of words and hand gestures, which may be insulting in so me cultures (Morelli, 1998). Sustainability issues The impact of online news has resulted in a continuing drop in newspaper sales which positively affects the sustainability of journalism (Malik, 2010). An audit revealed that The Age newspaper consumes approximately 146kg of paper, per year, per subscription (Monday Friday) (House in Harmony, 2009). A 2010 comparison of The Age sales shows a 4.1% drop to 189,500 since 2009; a figure attributed to an increase in online readings (Malik, 2010). If these newspapers were not printed, approximately 3250kg of paper would have been saved in the year, along with reductions in carbon emissions produced by printers and other publishing machines. This decline in sales also reduces the emissions produced by deliveries to homes and retailers and reduces the consumption of plastic used to wrap delivered papers (House in Harmony, 2009). However, reading news online will increase the time readers spend on their computers and consequently produce more computer-generated emissions. Nonetheless, the co nsumption of news will be less wasteful as readers selectively view articles online, instead of purchasing an entire newspaper. Furthermore, increasing developments in Green IT improving energy efficiency and aspiring to reduce e-waste mean that a complete conversion to online publishing is a sustainable initiative for the future. Conclusion Technology, particularly the internet has had a significant and continuous impact on the journalism industry. Web 2.0 technologies have made it easier for journalists to find news stories and acquire information; while the expectations of news readers have been impacted by recent technology influenced trends including social news, citizen journalism and mobile internet access. The use of the internet to research and publish stories means that journalists must ethically consider the integrity and privacy of information they exploit and the obligations which come with writing for a global audience. Publishing news online also proves to be a sustainable initiative for the future as it reduces paper consumption and carbon emissions.

Unhealthy Diet

â€Å"Discuss the social and individual factors leading to unhealthy diet, its effects and some possible solutions for this problem† There are more and more people having unhealthy diet while there are also more and more issues about our body appearance. In this essay, I want to discuss these phenomena, its influences in our lives and give some suggestions as well. Regarding the reason why unhealthy diet has become popular, there are several to consider.First of all, a lot of girls want to be hinder because they think that thin is beautiful so they eat a bit at any time. For this reason, these people can't get enough nutrition and vitamins even reduce resistance of their bodies to illness. Another reason for unhealthy diet is pressure in our society becoming higher; therefore people are becoming busier so they don't have enough time to have normal meals. They must have meals as fast as possible thus they choose to eat fast food. Both of personal and society factors lead this p henomenon.As is well-known that unhealthy diet leads to a lot of problems in people's life. As I stated above, people who have unhealthy diets can't get enough nutrition, vitamin even reduce resistance of our bodies. ‘In addition, unhealthy diets also often contain too many calories so unhealthy diets have negative influences. Firstly, obesity is one of the most immediate results of an unhealthy diet. ‘(Holly C 2010) Secondly, an unhealthy diet will not include the necessary vitamins and minerals required for the maintenance of your immune system.For this reason, people will get illness easily. Even if there are more and more problems about unhealthy diet, we can change this status in the future. For example, newspapers should show people what healthy diet is and how dangerous this diet is. Government appeal healthy fast food to replace the traditional one. We must have balanced diet so that we can have healthy body in our lives In conclusion, we should remove unhealthy diet in our life and prevent something similar as it in the future. BAL Anthony

The Sea Wolf

The crew of the seal hunting ship the Ghost stood in disbelief as they gazed upon their recently departed first mate. Then a most unusual thing occurred. The captain began yelling at the dead man like a raging storm. Oaths rolled from his lips in a continuous stream. And they were not nice and thoughtful words or mere expressions of indecency. Each word was a blasphemy, and there were many words. It is this lack of remorse for others that defines Wolf Larsen, the antagonist in The Seal Wolf by Jack London. From the beginning of the book you are introduced to the contrast of characters at hand. The feeble gentleman Humphrey Van Weydon, who is cruelly forced upon the voyage, and the devilish and somewhat divine captain Wolf Larsen. This combination of good and evil sets the stage for an amazing battle of wit and perseverance. But to understand the great battle between these two men, you have to understand the almost invincible nature of Captain Wolf Larsen. Wolf is a five foot ten inch, tan skinned brute. His height is not at all the most striking characteristic of the captain. His amazing muscular build and strength rival that of an enlarged gorilla. In fact, the author repeatedly compares Wolfs immense strength with that of a wild animal. The name London gives him is perfect to describe his nature. It is this godlike ability to kill anyone with his bare hands that keeps the crew in fear of him. There is a scene in the book where the crew attempted mutiny on the lone captain. The men jumped all over his back and from then on Wolf Larsen had seven strong men on top of him. The forecastle was like an angry hive of bees aroused by some intruder. No man less than a giant could have accomplished what Wolf Larsen did next. Step by step, by the might of his arms, the whole pack of men striving to drag him back and down, he drew his body up from the floor until he stood upright. The captain then proceeded to make his way up the ladder thus freeing him from this group of murderous tyrants. The whole crew of the Ghost hated Wolf with a great passion, but no one could do anything because his strength and fighting ability were unmatched. The second aspect of Wolf Larsen that makes him so great is his mind. Larsen was born and bred on the sea. Wolf never saw the inside of a schoolhouse. He taught himself everything he knew by reading the great works of American literature. Poetry and novels are the only thing that can take Wolfs mind off the sea. Through his learning he developed a â€Å"live for yourself only† theory on life. You could use such words as egocentric or arrogant to describe Wolfs trust no one attitude. But its easy to see that he got that complete self-reliance from his childhood. Wolf didnt have any parents that ever took care of him. As soon as he was of a decent age (around 10) he was on the boats as a cabin boy making his living. He taught himself reading and writing. The only thing Wolf could be thankful for is the body he was given, everything else he got on his own. The opposite of his first-mate Mr. Van Weydon, who was brought up with nothing but money, and learned at the finest schools. Wolf Continuously mocks death. More so the death of others around him than his own, but it is clear he does not fear his own demise. He lives his life around the theories of Charles Darwin. He believes that the strongest should survive and he is the strongest therefore nothing should stand in his way. Wolfs thinks of himself as godly, where as the rest of his crew would compare him to no other than Lucifer himself. It becomes evident by the end of the novel that the only that is able to defeat Wolf is himself. London is never clear on what exactly kills Wolf Larsen, but it is deeply implied that a brain tumor slowing eats away at him taking away his senses one by one. â€Å"Good-bye, Lucifer, proud spirit,† Maud whispered. Those were the last words echoed as Wolf Larsens body was cast into the deep blue. The epic final chapter to a life matched in comparison by few. The life of The Sea Wolf.

Howard Zinn s Development Of Slavery - 1363 Words

From the 17th to the 19th century, Europeans expedited African people to perform exhausting labor, thus restricting their freedom. In a People’s History of the United States, Howard Zinn described the development of slavery by stating the contributing factors. For instance, European settlers coming from Europe and Spain would station at Africa to force Africans to return to America and work on plantations. African slaves were brought to the North American colony of Jamestown, Virginia, in 1619, to aid in the production of such lucrative crops as tobacco. In addition, to being plantation workers, slaves could also work in the houses of their owners as butlers, cooks, and nurses for children. Furthermore, slaves were taken away from their†¦show more content†¦However, he did not believe blacks should have the same rights as whites, stating; â€Å"... I am not, nor ever have been, in favor of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the white and b lack races† (history.com). Furthermore, Abraham Lincoln s Emancipation Proclamation of January 1863 was a masterful propaganda tactic, but in truth, it proclaimed free only those slaves outside the control of the Federal government--that is, only those in areas still controlled by the Confederacy. The legal end to slavery in the nation came in December 1865 when the Thirteenth Amendment was ratified. John Brown, in contrast, set off a revolt, where blacks and whites fought alongside, against the south. He â€Å"devoted his life, and finally sacrificed it, on behalf of freedom for the slave.† (The People Speak) He was a white American abolitionist who believed armed insurrection was the only way to overthrow the institution of slavery in the United States. Before conducting his insurrection through armed intervention in northern Virginia, Brown met with his followers in the free black community of Chatham, Ontario. Another wealthy, white, American, was Robert Carter. Car ter was the plantation owner and was also a member of the Virginia Government Council. In addition to being on a high political standing, Carter