Media and Communications major- course assignment.

1. QUESTION #4
• “Ever since the arrival of printing - thought to be the
invention of the devil because it would put false
opinions into people's minds - people have been arguing
that new technology would have disastrous
consequences. . . . Scares accompanied the introduction
of the telegraph, telephone, and broadcasting” (Crystal,
2008).
• Discuss some of the fears of the impact of internet on
journalistic and communication standards.

3. *N.B.
Since the internet is relatively young as a
media platform when compared to traditional
media, in this presentation, the “Internet” is
placed synonymously with “Modern/ New
Media”, being compared to “Journalistic and
Communication standards” that refer to those
of “Traditional Media”.

4. What are Journalism and
Communication Standards?

5. • Professional polls taken worldwide have
brought across five common values shared in
journalism and communication alike, that are
seen to be the most critical and fundamental.
• It is from these values, that standards and
practices arise.

6. What are these values?
• ACCURACY
• INDEPENDENCE
• FAIRNESS
• TRANSPARENCY
• PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY

7. Standards derived from some of these
values…
1.) Accuracy.
• Standard: To maintain high standards of
reporting, writing, and editing in order to
produce work that is as error-free as possible.

8. 2.) Fairness.
• Standard: To be fair in publications and in the ways
in which journalists interact with subjects and
consumers of their coverage. This also deals with
acknowledgement of relevant points of view and
representing them in an even-handed way,
especially when they conflict with that of the
publishers.

9. 3.) Transparency.
• Standard: To make every effort to disclose
information that constituents and critics may find
relevant, useful, and helpful about the way
journalists do business – and publish.

10. 4.) Professional Responsibility.
• Standard: To stand for high quality journalism, good
taste, and genuine regard for the subjects and
consumers of all publications.

11. EARS

12. 1.) Accessibility to information:
• The platform on which news is released to the public is
no longer narrowed with limitations to television,
radio and print, with the arrival of the internet. People
no longer need to wait on news from these outlets.
• Information ‘pours out of digital spigots [sic]’
(Stephens 2007, p. 35) and news now arrives
‘astoundingly fast from an astounding number of
directions’ (Stephens 2007, p. 35) and it is often
free.”

13. • As the quote above suggests, persons are able to
access information via the internet based on their
own time. This information may then appear to
reach users much faster and by extension,
information may be obtained from countless
sources.

14. 2.) Appeal to audience:
• Online journalism has a strong advantage over
traditional journalism where appearance is
concerned. Simply put, online journalists can
provide a variety of media--text, audio, video, and
photographs in very appealing combinations--
unlike other media.
• Data searching provides a means to access
information unable in other media.

15. • From both numbers 1 and 2 Journalists now have a
fear of losing their trust and attention as sole
owners and publishers of news, their accessibility
to information is limited when compared to that of
the internet.
• THREAT: To the standard that follows accuracy.

16. 3.) Counteraction and feedback from consumers:
• . Through the internet, persons are able to make
comments and therefore give feedback on whatever
publication they choose. They are therefore able to
highlight and voice their agreements with and
counteraction to whatever is published

17. • For both journalism and communication, the
internet opens up to allow users freedom of choice
in developing or editing content based on their
own standards. It can therefore be said that the
internet being open offers a unique character over
other forms of communication.

18. • Journalists in traditional media therefore fear this
freedom to the public, as persons are able to
question their publications directly and openly,
that may cause conflicts and give consumers a
voice in changes to be made.
• THREAT: To the standards that follow
Transparency and Fairness.

19. 4.) Professionalism:
• It must be noted that online “journalists” are not
always those professionally trained and qualified
as the internet allows anyone to publish
information through it.

20. • The internet provides outlets for nontraditional
means of news and information - as A.J. Leibling
once said: "Freedom of the press belongs to those
who own one." The Internet enables everyone who
owns a computer to have his or her own printing
press.

21. • Professionalism also suffers in the sense that
Traditional media loses gains in the market, where
more businesses are using the internet as their
avenue for advertising. Internet ads are somehow
more appealing and can be thrown out over
various pages, from that of search engines and
websites, to social media platforms.

22. • For example:
Classified advertising, a key revenue stream for
newspapers may abandon printed publications.
Information can be far more easily found on line about
the right job, apartment, or roommate than in print. Just
go to the classified ads of an on-line paper and enter a
search word like "engineer" or "bus driver." The computer
will provide a list of possible jobs by city, state, or even
nationwide within seconds. An apartment? Simply type in
number of bedrooms, square footage, location, and price
range.

23. • Journalists of traditional media fear their media
losing credibility, as well as their professional
status becoming devalued, which will also
affect their economic status.
• THREAT: To the standard that follows
professional responsibility.

24. CONCLUSION

25. The internet places unlimited power into the hands of
all its users, allowing them to compete with the act of
traditional media being the gatekeeper of information
and news items alike. Where news is generally filtered in
traditional media, therefore putting restrictions on
journalism and likewise communication, the internet
opens a platform for any user to exercise freedom of
choice in choosing what material they wish to digest and
further communicate.

26. By extension, the reader has a wider variety of sources
from which to obtain information and can therefore draw
comparisons among the sources if they wish. The
technological advancement held by the internet, creates a
more user friendly and appealing medium through which
users can be informed and entertained simultaneously.
Most of all, with the grand power of “freedom” being in
the hands of all users of the internet, the internet strikes
multiple fears in one string to journalistic and
communication standards.

27. THANK YOU!!! 