Journalism in the Age of Digital Technology

Abstract

The information age has created many challenges for every profession. In the case of journalism
the introduction of information technology has altered considerably various aspects of the
profession. The high tech revolution has significantly altered the way the public obtains its news
and information, and has deprived the mass media of its traditional monopoly. This paper will
explore intersections between new media, journalism and technology in order to enhance our
understanding of the influence of information and communication technology, especially internet
technology on traditional journalism. The media and the practice of journalism, however, have
been slow to adjust to the Internet and the global ramifications produced by the new information
technology. In the past decades, journalists in the Western World have benefited from the
tremendous growth in information communication technologies – ICTs – and in the last ten years
the ICTs have also penetrated the developing world and have made available computers, Internet
access, and mobile technology. This development has probably eased journalistic working
procedures in these parts of the world. Though journalists throughout the world still separate
“domestic” from “foreign,” while their audiences casually chat between continents.
Today various computerized sources are regularly being used in media organizations. This paper
investigates the adoption of information technology, three broad themes reflecting the role of the
media in the digital age emerged from the Journalism, how journalists use these new tools to
advance their profession, write for global audience and news gathering, the role of Internet; what
the security and ethical implications are in this new realm; and whether freedom of the press
necessarily means freedom of access, confusion created by new digital technologies and the
power, speed and usefulness of digital creation, transmission and reception.
This paper also considers that while the new digital platforms and technologies do present
significant challenges to traditional journalism, they are also enabling technologies that offer
opportunities to reinvigorate newsgathering. Although the future of journalism is a digital one,
the core competencies of a good journalist will be as important as ever.