Photo by Thomas E. Adamo
Journalism guru’s gathered to participate in a panel discussion on the morning of February 7, in the Moraine Valley Community College Library to discuss the present and future out look of journalism.
Panelists included Rob Hart, morning host on 101.1 FM (formerly of WGN Radio); Dan Lambert, editor of the Palos Patch online newspaper; Jeremy Shermak, instructor of Communications at Moraine Valley, and moderating the discussion was Troy Swanson, learning and teaching librarian at Moraine Valley.
The discussion focused on the changes in the traditional ways of how news consumers receive their information. In the last decade, many of people have refrained from having the paper boy have target practice with their doors and windows. No longer do readers have to wait for Clark Kent to finish saving the day to receive breaking news: newspapers are becoming extinct.
“News is not dying, but the models of making news happen are withering away,” said Swanson. The internet has evolved to be the dominant source of receiving and giving out information, giving everyone who wishes to be a writer a chance to flex their skills as bloggers. Trust in sources are what’s most important. Even mainstream news organizations make mistakes too when trying to report the truth of a story. It’s important for the reader to keep track of that media groups’ credibility record.
Phones are allowing people to take the news whereever they go. Popular cable television networks such as ESPN and CNN have had major impact with attracting news heads to their websites. ESPN offers up to daily sports coverage by a variety of writers covering many different sports teams and events. CNN has also evolved into having great online reporting coverage for breaking news all around the world.
Phone applications are another trend that’s starting to pick up between cell phone users. People can now get instant notifications when breaking new happens with desired apps. More platforms are starting to break the barrier of sharing news. Some of the biggest breaking news accounts have been shared to the world through social networks like Twitter.
Hart mentioned that the news of the death of Osama bin Laden was first broken on Twitter.
“Before, you needed to work for a main media outlet or a legacy organization to have an audience, now anyone with a computer or internet connection can now breed information. It’s dangerous in some ways, but I don’t see it as a major negative. It’s a democratization of information by allowing as many people as possible to share views and information. In the long run, it’s an additional,” said Lambert.
