Will The Real Journalist Please Step Forward!
Is it possible that you and I, or anybody on social media are journalist? Maybe! No, not in the traditional sense of legacy media types, like newspapers, magazines and tv networks but if you are actively on social media, posting, or tweeting, or live streaming, you are contributing content, and you are contributing news in some form or another.
“Everyone Is A Journalist,”
Social Media has changed the face of journalism and, Everyone is a journalist says Yu Rong Lim, journalist for the Wellesley College student newspaper, The Wellesley News. Even as I was writing this assignment, I received two prominent news stories today.
First, Rapper DMX died at 50, and second, Prince Philip, Husband of Queen Elizabeth, Duke of Edinburgh died at age 99. I received these two stories, not from traditional legacy media news sources, but one, from a friend on Instagram, and the second, from a classmate on Twitter.
In this changing face of journalism, social media has transferred more control from mainstream media journalist, into the hands of everyday people. Nic Newman, founding member of the BBC News Website stated in his article, “The Rise of Social Media and its Impact on Mainstream Journalism,” for Reuters Institute, for the Study of Journalism, said that “there is a historic shift in control towards individual consumers.” He also stated that “User generated picture or video scoops regularly lead television bulletins and the front pages of newspapers.” Individual users and their content are being used by mainstream media, redefining the way mainstream media is being produced, and even how it is received.
A great example of this occurred on June 22, 2016, when the late Rep. John Lewis, lead Democrats in a sit-in protest, on the House Floor, over gun control. The C-SPAN video of the sit-in went viral. But C-SPAN should not get the credit for the actual footage. Although they, being the mainstream media, broadcasted the footage, it was not their journalist, nor their camera crews that took the video. A little backdrop for why I say this. According to the House Rules Book, the Speaker controls the video feed, and on that day, that’s exactly what the then, Speaker of the House, Paul Ryan, did when he took the House out of session, it cut off the video feed. This being the case, how did C-SPAN continue to show live footage of the sit-in? James Poniewozik, journalist, puts it best in his New York Times article, C-Span, Gun Control and a Protest Made for Streaming
. “The Democratic sit-in over gun-control legislation, captured mainly by House members’ smartphone video, had all the elements: emotion, chaos, conflict, life-or-death stakes and the frisson of unpredictable reality. But television cannot claim credit for the show alone; it was a coproduction with social media.”
So exactly who were the media and, who were the journalist during this event? C-SPAN or House Members? C-SPAN (the mainstream media) took user-generated (house members) content from social media, and broadcasted it. The power and control to capture the sit-in on video was stripped from C-SPAN, but not from individual users of social media, specifically House Members that were present during the sit-in. They had all the power and all the control of the moment. It was the “House members smartphone video,” that C-SPAN continued to broadcast.
Another impact that social media has had on journalism, is the speed at which news can be disseminated by major news organizations, and received by consumers of news. In his paper, “Twittering The News, The Emergence of Ambient Journalism, Alfred Hermida wrote, “Twitter has been rapidly adopted in newsrooms as an essential mechanism to distribute breaking news quickly and concisely.” It also has increased the response rate of user feedback, to the speed of instantaneous. However, with this accelerated speed, comes greater competition amongst media, and their race to be the first, the first one to break the story. This race to be the first, coupled with using user generated, but not always accurate, content, has caused some issues in journalism, where some journalist aren’t being diligent to verify the accuracy of their source’s content. It’s even more prevalent among us as users. Have you ever shared a post, only to find out later that it was Fake News, or a post, seemingly time sensitive and relevant to a current event that was taking place, only to find out that it was content from a few years ago, but presented in such a way that it looked like footage or news that just occured due to the current event? I’ve have! Not a good feeling once I realized it, that I was guilty of this “race to be the first,” mentality. In this race to be the first, and the bad tendencies that come with it, there is a need for “slow news,” says Dan Gillmore @dangillmore, co-founder of News Co/Lab at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Mass Communication and Journalism. This need for slow news applies to all, especially to us as users of social media.
We should all do what the Pro Truth Pledge, one of the learning materials, in this weeks module of my social media class, suggest. I actually had been practicing aspects of the pledge long before I even heard about it. There was no greater need for this pledge, than during the early part of the covid-19 pandemic. So much misinformation being shared. So much inaccurate, agenda driven and outright lies being shared. If we, as users, only would’ve employed some of these @ProTruthPledge practices, imagine the difference that would’ve made.
Now, in no way was this meant to be an exhaustive analysis on the subject, nor was it meant to disrespect those who have put in the work and chosen the career of journalism in the traditional sense. I wrote this simply to provide resources and to highlight how you, I, we, are all journalist, reporters, columnist, anchors, editors, authors, etc., to some degree, even though we may not work in the field of journalism. And as such, we have a great responsibility as we navigate the social media landscape. We should not sacrifice quality and truth on the altar of the “race to be the first.” Much like the scientist, that came up with vaccines to slow down and even eradicate the COVID-19 virus, that lead to a global pandemic, each one of us plays an intricate part in preventing an infodemic. In this day of fast lane news, and warp speed feedback, we should consider taking the slow, scenic, news route, avoiding the Grand Canyon sized potholes of posting and sharing inaccurate content, by employing the Pro-Truth Pledge. I remember something a friend of mine once said, “Surrounding the truth, are lies and opinions!” and it stuck with me. What diligent digging we must do to reach the treasure trove of truth. So when the next piece of hot juicy news comes flying like a SSC Tuatara, into your social media town, take this lesson from famed actor, Denzel Washington, in this on the scene, impromptu interview with @ElyseSamuels of The Washington Post.
So I ask the question again. WILL THE REAL JOURNALIST PLEASE STEP FORWARD?
