Media Literacy Project: Social Media And Its Impact On Journalism

For our media literacy project, we decided to focus on social media and its impact on journalism. Social media plays a huge part in modern society, and it has affected many things; be it positive or negative. For journalists it has also had good and bad outcomes. Journalists have had to adapt to our changing culture by understanding the value social media has in regards to today’s news. Social media has changed many aspects of journalism. Now, for the consumer, sharing news has become more important than searching for it. Based on who you follow or who you’re friends with will determine what kinds of information pops up on your timeline. Because of things like Twitter, where news is easily accessible with real-time updates, there is a demand for instant news stories that quickly inform. Newspapers cannot cater to the majority of the population because of how easy it is to press a few buttons on your phone to view the New York Times’ Facebook page. In the past most people got news from daily newspapers or from cable TV programs, but now simply logging onto various social media sites can give you the news quickly and efficiently. Over 10 percent of views to The Telegraph Online now come as a recommendation from Facebook, Twitter, etc. Social media has also allowed …show more content…
People are able to get news more quickly and effectively. Social media can help journalists by previewing their story before it is put on print. People who are not an employed journalist have the power to become a journalist thru social media. Blogs are a great example of how individuals are becoming journalists. The ability to share and comment on news stories pushes the democratic process forward. People share their opinion and draw better conclusions when they are able to share content and view other sources of a story. The positives to the change in news culture outweigh the