Monday, 1 October 2012

Rumour has it!


The web has transformed and reshaped everything in the virtual world. Blogging, texting, and tweeting are all immediate personal reports and social commentary coming from the streets and the homes of ordinary citizens. More than ever, people are now getting their news first from platforms such as the web. News reporting from the average citizen is now as easy as record, upload, and view. The social network revolution has allowed anyone with a blog to be a reporter, and any individual with a cell phone to be a photographer or videographer.  News editors are now anyone who has a Facebook, Twitter or Youtube account.
Social media expedites information faster than newsroom editors can write and release reports in the traditional fashion. Journalists are often competing with average citizens for breaking news. Anyone in a crowed can capture a video or photo of a tragic event showing first hand account and upload it for public consumption. Social media is having both positive and negative impact. Not everything that circulates is authenticated or completely accurate. The more sensational or perhaps outrageous the story, the faster it goes viral. Publicized untruths, for example, rumoured deaths of celebrities and other exaggerated stories can spread like wildfire and be hurtful or damaging in a matter of hours.  
Newsfeeds, blogs, and groups have evolved and changed the way we network with each other, using visual technology. New reporters and journalists are now using these networking sites not only to broadcast their stories but also in getting their leads and sources.
I think that sometimes the quality of news is enriched due to a collective commentary and a variety of opinions and reports.  The media is not always controlling what is published!  The decreased quality of news reporting in this day and age is the question of accuracy of facts and stories.  Individuals have to be careful what they perceive to be real. 

3 comments:

  1. Great article. The advent of Social Media now provides us with a whole host of information, and like you said not all of it is truth. I think this forces (some) people to search out validation on the things they read, to get different perspectives, and eventually form their own opinion on the matter.

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  2. Very true. I agree that the information thats posted isn't controlled. Anyone can post anything its all in the matters of if that person is a reliable source, and if people will believe it to be true of false news!

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  3. I really liked this blog it was very well written and it was clear and to the point. I completely agree with your statement about how everyone today is mostly getting their news from social media plat forms because it is much faster. Because it is true about how today anyone with a cell phone with a camera and access to a social media platform can beat the news reporters to telling everyone what is happening. I also agree with how some citizen journalists create fake scenarios, a good example of this would be the Justin Bieber and Selina Gomez sex tape. Everyone knew it couldn’t possibly be true but did it ever spread like a wild fire. One thing you could have added to this is about how some journalists bend the truth to make their stories more interesting. They will take parts of the story that catch a readers or watchers eye and that’s how they get their audiences to listen. Other than that I think you wrote this blog very well.

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