Digital World Takeover

Monica Stewart, a committed newspaper reader that refuses to receive news from media platforms.

There is no surprise that print continues to die, although some news consumers still want to hold onto the nostalgia of the newspaper. Digital journalism continues to take over the news world, as readers receive their content from different media platforms. 

Twitter has become a big platform for news, and other platforms such as; Facebook and Instagram share some content as well. 

With this much easy access to news content, the question is, what is the future of digital journalism? 

Here are a few ideas of what the next generation of news will look like. 

Anyone could become a journalist

The fact that platforms make it easier for individuals to write or share content it’s easy for anyone to become a journalist. Today we see more bloggers using these platforms for news and opinions. Due to this increase of more media writers, it’s easier to be influenced by the opinion of the writer, and facts are often undervalued. 

Also, if a person can become a journalist behind the screen of their phone, it results in organizations cutting off newsroom staff. Sullivan mentions how the New York Times was trying to find ways to reduce its newsroom staff to cut costs. 

So, is it fair that staff inside the newsroom are being cut due to the takeover of the digital media? Should media journalists still have to follow the ethical guidelines as a news organization? 

I think if someone wants to become a journalist whether it’s in a newsroom or on media platforms, they still should follow ethical guidelines. I think it’s important to be ethical because journalists already have this stereotype behind them that they often push out fake news. Therefore, with ethical guidelines, there will be a few expectations to follow to avoid being attacked by news consumers. 

Another shift that will be seen in the digital media takeover is the combination of an advertising takeover. 

We follow the ads

It was easier to ignore the advertisements in the newspaper, however, it is difficult to avoid ads on the internet. Most consumers find ads annoying, in fact, more newsreaders are signing up for ad blockers. However, it’s difficult trying to avoid an advertisement because most will catch the eye of a consumer. 

More advertising companies are joining with news organizations to draw in consumers. For example, the most recent 2020 advertisement from the New York Times is the new face for the Gerber Babies brand. This resulted in huge revenue for Gerber because this is the first adopted baby for their brand and she also is a person of color, which brings in diversity for the Gerber company. 

(Screenshot from the New York Times on an iPhone XR)

Therefore, as much as we find ads annoying and you want them to stop interrupting you while you’re reading, the digital world makes it way easier to push their advertising through your smartphone. 

Now, with all this increase in following the media world, one may ask where consumers are going to receive their news?

The vacuum of social media 

More news consumers are trapped in just reading news sources from social media platforms. There isn't a problem with receiving news from social media, but the issue is that consumers fail to check to see if the source is credible.

Suciu mentions how most readers do not read the full story on social media, they consume the social media recap. This is true because I have also been someone who just read a recap and the first sentence of the story to grasp the information. Which I learned is an issue because the full story provides more details you may have missed and misinformation spreads quickly. 

Also, there is an issue with this idea of fake news on media platforms. It’s easy for someone to push fake news or articles on social media because this is a tech-savvy generation. Also, some organizations are quick to throw out stories without the full facts, such as TMZ. They are quick with pushing content, but they are not always accurate with the facts of the content. 

Will this result in the cut of news organizations' websites?

It’s difficult to say because more news organizations are hopping on board with media platforms to draw the attention of the reader because they know this generation are more media readers. You see different organizations even trying to join trendy apps, such as; TikTok to draw in a younger audience. 

Then, the biggest change that I predict will happen in the digital media realm is there will be no more articles to read, only to listen. 

Podcast versus reading

We see more organizations creating podcasts as a way to grab the attention of consumers by adding more entertainment. The youth of today will rather listen to the news than read the news, that’s why podcasts are becoming popular. There were 48 million weekly podcast listeners in 2018 according to Statista data. The audience is expected to grow to 115 million by 2021. 

I can see podcasts winning this battle against articles because consumers will not have to read simply because podcasts are more convenient.

For example, if you are on your way home driving from work and want to consume news. You would not want to read and drive, it will be easier to plug your phone to the auxiliary in the car and listen to a podcast. 

For me I try to multitask a lot, therefore sometimes it’s difficult for me to try to sit down and read an article when it’s better if I can listen to it. Also, I think turning more articles into a podcast is a smart move as you see more of Gen Z always have headphones in, it will be a great way to push content through. 

Also, when a podcast becomes popular, the host receives more interviews with prominent figures. As news consumers, we love to hear from well-known people, whether we are a fan of theirs or simply to just critique behind their interview. 

Overall, digital journalism is creating new rules than traditional reporting and is taking over the journalism industry.

With this new media takeover will journalists continue working from behind their computer or phone? Will we see news organizations vanish?

Let me know what you all think!