The Internet and Journalism

Imagine a journalist at work forty years ago, tapping away on a typewriter into the wee hours of the morning, a flask of whisky by his side, scattered notes strewn all over the desk, a heavy rotary phone ringing constantly with scoops of the coming day. Now think of a journalist in 2010, typing away on his laptop, information saved in word documents, websites saved in bookmarks, answering video calls and sending text messages on his iphone, conducting interviews on Skype with unmet subjects thousands of kilometres away, and sending off his scoop of the day to his editor via e-mail, all without having to leave home. Yes technology has come a long way since the days of the humble typewriter, and one of the biggest technological advances of them all was the advent of the World Wide Web in 1990 by Tim Berners-Lee and Robert Cailliau which began a chain reaction that would forever change the way journalism and journalists operate.

Subsequently, it is the intention of this essay to argue that the internet has improved journalism for the better good of the industry and society, and that as journalism adapts to this relatively new technology, it will not only survive the internet age, but thrive. This essay intends to do this by arguing about four of the many areas in which the web has helped to improve journalism since its inception into the industry. The four areas to be argued are: 1. the globalisation of news and its associated online interactivity, 2. the quality and quantity of news gathering sources, 3. the speed of news flow between two parties via online connectivity, and 4. news production costs and the associated environmental impact. Furthermore, these points will be backed by scholarly evidence, quotes, and statistics which will help to give evidentiary support to this essay’s argument.

Firstly let’s look at the globalisation of news. Since the advent of the internet in the nineties, and the slightly more recent discovery of the World Wide Web as a possible media of mass communication by the press, consumers have never had it so good before. The internet has made possible the publication of more than 5000 news sites maintained by common news organisations including news magazines, broadcast/cable news providers, and newspapers (Pavlik 2000, p.233). These sites have provided global access to news from all parts of the world. Thus for the first time, anyone, anywhere in the world with an internet connection could access news, such as the contents of different newspapers, and interact/immerse themselves with multimedia content relating to those news articles, as well as links to other websites and much more from any country, at any time, at no cost. It is also worth noting that this interactive aspect of the web gives readers from across the world a presence at news events like never before, allowing visitors to these websites to discover and develop their own idea of the story and perhaps come closer to the truth by removing one level of filtering, which some would argue is a better form of journalism, as it creates a bigger audience appeal than simply reading about the story in a newspaper. As Feldman (1997, p.20), an online media guru puts it, “... interactivity is generating new forms of media products which rely fundamentally on interactivity as the basis of their appeal”.

The second reason the internet has helped to improve journalism to such an extent is by the way it allows journalists quick and easy access to a large quantity of quality news gathering sources. Now instead of perhaps travelling to distant cities, libraries, or other storehouses of data, and taking weeks or even months to collect material, the reporter can often report much of a complex story from his desk and computer (Parry 2003 p. 1). With increasing amounts of public records and corporate information published online, more and more reporters are now effectively using online tools to gather information to check their facts before releasing a news story to the public. Journalists have recently indicated that they liked the immediate delivery capabilities of the Web, and they were likely to visit a corporation’s Web site before telephoning a corporate media relations expert (Callison 2002, p.29). This was also proven in a survey done by professional Dan Middleberg and journalism professor Steve Ross which found that the percentage of journalists using the Internet for article research had increased from 66% in 1995 to 92% in 2001.  Therefore this indicates that journalists opting to use the internet for research are saving on time and effort, helping them to provide the public with well researched accurate facts and information from reliable sources at a much faster speed.

Thirdly, the internet provides another benefit that we shall refer to as connectivity (Heinonen 1999, p.47). This in essence is the ability of a reporter sent on an assignment to deliver material to the newsroom via the internet as well as receive information on the spot from editors in the newsroom and digital archives. This ease of access to quality news resources gives journalists a certain freedom, allowing them to escape from the confinements of the newsroom, letting them work at home on their PC’s, or in the field using their laptops and a wireless internet connection to access information. Connectivity allows journalists to become instant online reporters, giving them the ability to stream live webcam footage and provide constant newsfeeds to online publications. The result of all this is that reporting becomes much faster. This ability to stream live footage creates the opportunity for journalists to work increasingly close to news deadlines without risking a complete breakdown in the reporting process, which is especially significant in opening up possibilities for on-deadline operations in video journalism. Thus, this information suggests that internet connectivity has not only allowed journalists the opportunity to work almost exclusively in the field and at home, but also to provide the public with news and information at speeds un-parallel to a time before the internet existed.

Fourthly, the internet is helping to reduce newspaper production costs and the associated environmental issues with printing and distributing such papers. The cost of printing and delivery, roughly 60 per cent of the cost of producing the average newspaper, has been greatly reduced, virtually eliminated, in fact. Publisher Levor Oldham said common sense was behind this reasoning, “Clearly, the future of newspapers is on the Web” (Pavlik 2000, p.234). Furthermore as mentioned earlier, online publishing has another related benefit besides cost reduction; the environmental impact associated with printing newspapers is greatly reduced. A life cycle study shows that the CO₂ emissions caused by the production and distribution of one copy of an average sized 177 gram newspaper in Australia, totals about 0.95 kilograms of greenhouse gasses. This includes paper from trees, materials, production, shipping and customer use. The loss of natural habitat potential from the 177 gram newspaper is estimated to be 0.73 square meters. Therefore these statistics suggest that by publishing their news articles online, newspapers are saving not only themselves, but perhaps more importantly the environment.

Consequently by arguing in this essay that the internet has improved journalism it has become clear that the overall answer is much more complex than a simple, “yes it has”, as there are many aspects it has improved, as well as some it has perhaps not, but that is another argument. However it is important to note that the internet since its advent has become a significant part of the wider journalistic landscape, and it is here to stay.

Journalists who embrace the internet as a useful medium are finding a whole new world of information, creativity, freedom, and convenience at their fingertips, although those who don’t may well find they are left behind in an era that nobody may soon remember except for the historians and their history books. Nowadays the internet has almost become a pre-requisite for journalists who want to be successful, as it allows them to work closer to deadlines, report to the news room from the field, broadcast their news on a global scale, access and research quality information for their news stories, publish their stories online, and reduce their associated costs, as well as much more.

By conducting this research and writing this essay I believe that there is a strong supporting argument for the internet’s usefulness to journalism. Consequently it is safe to say that journalism has come a long way from its humble beginnings, nevertheless it will need to continue to adapt to this ever changing world if it is to survive in this online world of the future. However I believe if it can do this, there is no reason why it can’t survive, if not thrive. 

By Reuben Franklin

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Heinonen, 1999, Journalism in the age of the Net: Changing Society, Changing Profession

Pavlik, 2000, 'The Impact of Technology on Journalism', Journalism Studies, 1: 2, 229 — 237

Livingston, & Bennett, 2003, Gatekeeping, Indexing, and Live-Event News: Is Technology Altering the Construction of News?

Parry, 2003, Journalism and the Internet: Putting Things into Context

Knight, 2003, Globalised Journalism in the Internet age <ejournalist.com.au>

Callison, 2002, Media relations and the Internet: how Fortune 500 company web sites assist journalists in news gathering.

Cottle, & Ashton, 1999, From BBC Newsroom to BBC News centre: On Changing Technology and Journalist Practices http://con.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/5/3/22

Bromley, & O’ Malley, 1997, The End of Journalism? Changes in Workplace Practices in the Press and Broadcasting in the 1990s, A Journalism Reader, pp. 330-50.