Disruption of Journalism: Taking the good with the bad?
In any business, understanding your audience is important. But is giving more control to your customers losing leverage?
Growing up in the nineties, watching the evening news was a nightly routine with my father. Followed by Letterman, but that's not the point of this. As a child watching anchors or reporters do their job felt like the only way to get necessary or important information. How else would I know if it would be cold the next morning when I was waiting at the bus stop? And there was nothing like watching the bottom line hoping your school came up as a closure when weather permitted.
As I’ve gotten older, my perception of those providing me information has changed a bit. The general idea now is to question what you hear rather than taking it in for face value. Concerns of misinformation or information manipulation are constant. Being able to answer any question with a simple Google search has turned us all into breaking news outlets. The idea that anyone can answer any question with a mobile device is great. But with that ability comes more concern.
Are new outlets obsolete with the advance in technology? Of course not. There are events that will always draw eyes. The discussion during elections and the coverage down to the final count, for example. But now someone can happen upon information and break the news themselves. A lucky fan was able to speculate Kansas City Chiefs Quarterback Patrick Mahomes signing his contract extension and took to Twitter to break the news, beating the normal insiders.
Social media allowed for a fun moment like that for a fan to get in on the action. But what about more “serious” information? Is that how people want to learn about issues in their community? Would it be a guarantee that the masses would trust some random Twitter handle with the existence of bots? Probably a cynical outlook on a net positive.
With any advancement there are concerns to address. In the end, new outlets will be fine. Missing the chance to break a story here and there will not end their existence. If anything, it will force readers/viewers to put more effort into sifting through to ensure they’re getting good information. “Fake news” is not so rampant that it will cause distrust amongst a large portion of the country, right?