Digital Media Offers Opportunities To New Journalists, But Challenges, Too

Making a career out of journalism was once bound by a person’s ability to find a ladder to climb in local and national media. Today, the internet has enabled anyone with talent to carve a career, though this flow of free information has not always been a completely good thing. As outlined by The Guardian, the prevalence of fake news on the web has created a barrier to good reporting. This is just one of the problems facing modern journalists who are seeking to learn the trade, as more readers question their ability to harness the good aspects of digital media while avoiding the bad.

Providing legitimacy

The flow and volume of information coming from digital media is subject to intense scrutiny by the public. According to the BBC, 71% of people are concerned about the legitimacy of internet-sourced news, a figure rising from 59% in 2018. To cut through the chaff, budding journalists should seek to lend their finds with an air of legitimacy. One way to do this is through verified media. While there are algorithms today that can fake sound and video, this is often high-level tech. The current level of technology and it’s ease of use with smart devices enables journalists to easily record sound and video while outside without compromising quality. Use the benefits technology has to offer to bring legitimacy to your work and show that it has a set-in-stone, reputable source.

Appreciating change

The rapid change in which media sources are considered reliable has been startling, and can be overwhelming to some journalists more familiar with traditional methods. For students with a pre-conceived notion of how journalism should be conducted, this will be a familiar feeling. However, there are so many ways in which news and events are conveyed; according to The Telegraph, even emojis are now a serious source of academic discussion as they pertain to journalism. What this should show prospective journalists is that they can’t take any source of information for granted.

Opportunities are endless

The role of independent journalists means that people can often now be self sustained. Websites across the political spectrum will take journalists on without tying them down to contracts nor editorialising every piece of work. Medium, for example, has offered a way to promote work on behalf of journalists without restricting journalistic freedom. Further afield, governments across the world are now trained in various skills to help them remain independent, especially when it comes to reporting from danger zones – a role often overlooked due to the inherent dangers involved in it. The tools are there with digital reporting and an ever broadening global society, making life as an independent journalist easier than before.

What should modern journalism students bear in mind before embarking on their career journey? Media is muddled, and it’s crucial to show that you can be trusted. Media changes rapidly, and what may seem fanciful today could be important tomorrow. Finally, media doesn’t need to be created from the office; today, it’s entirely possible, and even perhaps better, to self-sustain.