In the beginning there was newspaper. Over time news started to be offered in different forms. Radio and then television became sources for news, among other things. Back before the Internet, a news story took longer to break because you couldn’t get the word out as fast. That has obviously changed. This change is so obvious because not only do we have twenty-four, seven news networks but the Internet has an endless amount of amateur reporters. If you didn’t know, you are reading a piece by one such amateur. The reason this is important to talk about is because it is changing the face of the media.
What we know now as old media, used to be the golden standard. I read the article “Learning to Love the New Media” by James Fallows which has an interesting contrast between old media and new media. Fallows talks about the old media and their attempt to give the people what they should want. Not what they want, but what hey should want. This may sound strange at first but it is vital. People look to the news to keep them informed. People trust the gatekeepers of the news to give them important information. If the gatekeepers let every story slide by then crucial information would be lost in the flood.
That being said, new media has a lot to offer to the future of journalism. As mentioned in the article, “Learning to Love the New Media” by James Fallows, there are a million sources of news from professional and amateur and even less than amateur reporters. People are deciding more and more what they want. Well I feel that in order for a news start up to be successful they have to cater to what the people want. I still believe they have a responsibility to bring people reasonable and sometimes critical news. This will definitely be harder for news organizations to do but in the long run will pay off for everyone. Telling the people what they want instead of giving them what they want is fast becoming a thing of the past. People want to make their own decisions. This is why it is important for organizations to do just that. Give them what they find interesting, while maintaining the integrity of the news.