Well I know everyone is going to be saying good things about what the Internet has done to journalism, so I thought I'd cover the other side of the coin! Despite the pros of the Internet, there are some undeniable setbacks too.
1) Lack of responsibility
If a newspaper journalist fabricated news, twisted facts, or wrote irresponsibly in any way, we can always be assured that public pressure will force the newspaper to investigate the journalist. But most online journalists are independent of any such authority, and often have the liberty to say whatever they want without recourse. Although many will call this "freedom of press", but in any society, there cannot always be complete freedom of press. Who will take responsibility if the news of an irresponsible online journalist were to create social unrest?
In a country like Singapore, it is still not that difficult as we are small in size and thus any offenders can be traced and caught easily. But in other countries, this may not be the case. What could possibly make things worse is when a local online journalist creates social unrest in ANOTHER country. This will not only threaten the people in that country, but also the international ties between the involved parties.
2) Lack of credibility
Because many people now have the notion that online journalists are free from the pressures of media control, they are more ready to believe online journals than newspapers. It is true that online journals sometimes produce news faster and with more intimate details, but they are not always from credible sources. One good example is The Onion. The Onion is very obviously simply a spoof, but up till now many people still believe that it is reliable. If people can believe even this... who is to say they won't believe everything else?
Other than the reliability of news, this may even affect the academic field. Many professors have complained that students are relying more and more on online sources for research information, one of which are online journals. If online journals can't always be trusted.. how can we always trust academic papers that are produced based on information from online journals?
3) Overexposure
The newspapers may provide coverage on the same issues over a long period of time, but it is always at most twice a day, and from a unchanging point of view. However, due to the abundance of online journals and the ability to post news at any time of the day, readers can become bombarded by repeated coverage of the same piece of news. Although this is not necessarily a bad thing, but it can be unfair to those involved in the event.
Singapore's very own Ris Low is a great example. In the past, such an issue would hardly have garnered more than 2 or 3 articles in The Straits Times. However, with the arrival of STOMP and other online journals, Ris Low's incidents have become blown-up beyond proportion. The sensational value of her incidents have overshadowed other news events that many would say are more deserving of this coverage.
No comments:
Post a Comment