The overwhelming majority of Americans (92%) use multiple platforms to get their daily news, according to a new survey conducted jointly by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project and Project for Excellence in Journalism.
People are always going to seek news. I think it is part of human nature to want to communicate and understand the world around them. What is changing drastically though, is the ways in which people seek out news. Now, more than ever, people are turning to new media outlets such as social networks to get the latest news and gather information. New media is quickly shifting into the prominent role of providing news and information. In the 2008 article, “Where Young Adults Intend To Get News in Five Years,” Seth C. Lewis explores how young adults intend to approach news in the future. It was concluded, in 2008, that traditional media will overcome new media as the main source of news for young adults. This idea is clearly not the case today. Young adults are getting their news from social networks and other online news sources more than ever.
In a case study on the New York Times Interactive Tech Dept. “The Journalist as Programmer”, Cindy Royal, Ph.D & Assistant Professor, gives very valuable insight into the future of Web journalism. Royal explains that “modern news organizations now use a variety of modern technologies to assist in telling stories in ways that increasingly combine media, data and user engagement.”
It is not difficult to conclude: Data and Journalism go together. They always will. They are rapidly growing to compliment one another in the world of news & journalism, whereas in the past, they have been two separate entities. Journalism has always relied on data and without data, journalism has no fuel. No life. Essentially, the duty of a journalist is to take data and convert it into an easily understandable form that people can readily consume. It is both obvious and safe to say–the future of journalism relies on data. There is no journalism without data. They are two peas in a pod. They stick together like birds of a feather. Although the METHODS of obtaining news may change, the heavy reliance on data will remain long into the future.
Journalists, journalism students and journalism educators can prepare for the future of journalism by staying up to date with new, cutting-edge ways to interact & obtain news. Staying interested in learning about better ways to integrate data into stories is essential. Be aware of what’s going on in the technology world around you and stay engaged.
Tags: Future of Journalism, Journalism, New Media
