In 1436, Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press and liberated information to the known world through books and print. Two years ago, a new precedent fundamentally changed information distribution. During the Reformation, the liberalizing of information was a factor in.
Europe's embrace of literacy and education, not readily available to the layperson prior to the invention of the printing press. Books and papers were published along with copies of the Bible in the vernacular, narrowing the gap between the wealthy and educated clergy or royalty and the largely uneducated masses.
Today, technology has ensured media is at everyone's fingertips and is fundamentally changing journalism, bridging the divide between journalists and their audience. Using such tools as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and blogs, information is literally in the hands of the consumer. To compensate, journalists have begun to adapt this technology to capture an exciting new audience which could change the face of journalism through mutual co-operation with readers.
A Newspaper Associations of America study reported in 2008 that newspaper sites were viewed 3.03 billion minutes a month, a staggering number considering print is more firmly established in public consumption worldwide. According to the same study, young adults between 18 and 24 are the smallest consumer demographic of print journalism, likely due to the amount of information that young adults receive from the Internet and through networking. This study was published in an April article by Harvard's Neiman Journalism Lab, which after updating its study this month said "while newspapers are losing readership on the print side, that disappearing audience is not following them online; at best, the online audience for newspaper content is static." Print, according to the lab, is still king. The cure for Internet edition problems seem to lie in the attraction of readership, something the study noted was falling slowly online.
Will social media offer the right pull for readers?
This year, new media captured the attention of the Pulitzer Prize board, which awarded the non-profit firm ProPublica. ProPublica collaborated with The New York Times on a story dealing with the crisis in New Orleans during hurricane Katrina. Also recognized was self-syndicated cartoonist Mark Fiore, whose work is featured on the San Francisco Chronicle's website SFGate.com. Even the Seattle Times was recognized for use of Twitter, e-mail and Google Wave to generate interest in its online edition, setting a precedent in print journalism's acceptance of new media like Twitter.
Twitter is a form of social networking using instant message updates to send information, post website links or offer commentary on any topic, all within 140 characters. The concept seems alien to people unfamiliar with the technology, but since 2008 Twitter has proven to be an effective tool in the hands of journalists and the public alike.
The 2008 American presidential election campaign saw the explosion of interest in social networking, with both journalists and politicians adopting "tweeting" and blogs as a means of communicating with the press and public. Twitter has become an incredibly useful tool, allowing journalists the ability to instantly update stories and respond to questions from the public simultaneously.
YouTube, a video sharing website, partnered with CNN to bring questions from Americans to the debates. Facebook was used by party staffers to organize rallies and encourage dialogue between supporters, with similar attempts in Canada proving to be somewhat effective in rallying university students. YouTube's recent series featuring Prime Minister Stephen Harper drew millions of views, with Canadians of all ages addressing their concerns to Harper through the popular video site.
Newspapers including The New York Times have adopted this technology, staffing website bloggers to discuss fashion, food and other feature pieces. CNN's use of blogging and Twitter is quickly becoming the answer to Canada's Talk Back Toronto and other call-in commentary segments. Even for catastrophes like the earthquake in Haiti and other recent natural disasters this year, a large amount of ground zero coverage was spread mutually through social media by bloggers. The volcanic eruption in Iceland saw grounded journalists communicate to their editors through social networking, relaying their own stories and those of fellow travelers.Bloggers are a unique synthesis of writers, public figures and satirists, often giving a unique take on news. Blogging is a popular practice among young adults, but with often unhindered editorial commentary, not easily applied to papers and broadcasters without some censoring. Many news anchors and print journalists have attempted blogging, with mixed results.
Digg, a popular website that advocates a democratic system of spreading news, offers diversity to readers that gives bloggers a fighting chance for exposure. Readers vote for or "Digg" an entry. The more votes, the greater exposure a story or blog receives. Stories that don't pique the interest of readers are "buried."
Sites like Digg have begun to challenge mainstream news websites by blending aspects of Twitter, Facebook and blogging, creating an interesting alternative to straight news. However, Digg may also be a useful tool for online editions of newspapers to promote their articles, provided they either allow free access to content or strike a deal with the site.
Of course, Digg and Facebook have their faults. Digg, in it's embrace of democratic news coverage, often covers satirical content or editorialized blogs, ignoring objective journalism in favour of public demand. Facebook, while an easy way of spreading information, succumbs to the age-old game of telephone, subjecting any journalist to vigorous fact-checking before publishing related content. Blogs also have drawbacks, dealing with stories often lacking more than one source or heavy editorial comment from the blogger. As a result, this new form of Internet journalism is often relegated to the same status as tabloid sites and gossip blogs, rejected by established media as any form of credible journalism.
A major benefit of social media is the interaction of different technologies with one another, with many tools of social media work in conjunction thanks to media mergers. As these media formats become more popular, they allow journalists the ability to create a more unified experience. For example, a newspaper may "tweet" a story link to their Twitter followers, simultaneously posting the story on Facebook and use the same post to link a YouTube video connected to the story.
Therefore, while the print business isn't on it's deathbed, there is a great deal of improvement needed for internet editions of paper. Still in it's infancy, the social technology we use for leisure today may yet prove to be an effective way of distributing news content tomorrow, should readership become more comfortable with this technology replacing print.
A sobering reality, however, is that with the constant reinvention of the internet and lukewarm reaction to Internet news content, the use of social media in journalism could easily be a temporary phase before new inventions make today's obsolete.