Digitalisation of journalism has posed a wide range of challenges to preserve the factual foundation of news, but with the chronic outbreak of disinformation, the need for good editors and reporters on the ground has arisen like never before.
News production is undergoing dramatic changes as digitalisation transforms the media landscape, leading to an information explosion. The rise of independent content creators, who often disregard ethical boundaries in reporting, has resulted in a diverse range of communication techniques being employed to inform audiences. This trend raises a crucial question for media experts: What is the future of news?
While the news industry has long grappled with chronic issues such as editorial biases, racism, economic dependencies, nepotism, and corporate loyalties, producers are now facing additional pressures from the digital realm. Debates about the positive and negative outcomes of digitalisation persist in the global media industry, yet news gathering remains a significant force in shaping social perceptions.
News production for the information society
Before the rise of digital media, a limited number of media outlets based in Western countries held a monopoly on the dissemination of information. Digitalisation opened a new chapter, compelling many media outlets to introspect, reform the way they were conducting the journalistic business, or risk losing unquestioned credibility in the eyes of their audience.
On the other hand, with the proliferation of independent content creators, journalism has also become a race for clickbait. This transformation, driven by economic concerns as well, has sometimes led to a complete disregard for traditional understandings of what news is supposed to be within its ethical boundaries.
Concepts like democratising access to information online have become even more relevant, disproving prejudiced prophecies that the end of journalism is near. While grappling with the harsh reality that many platforms we once revered have devolved into mediums of disinformation and manipulation, fostering polarisation, the digitisation of news has heightened the necessity for redeeming factual journalism. This involves undergoing several stages of fact-checking, editing, and proofreading before dissemination among mass readers.
Given the 24/7 information flow, which often blurs contextual aspects of visual or written content, professionals who draw attention to fundamental issues and offer a perspective with contextual integrity are essential. This approach is crucial for creating a healthy public opinion and safeguarding the “public interest,” expressed as one of the key pillars of news media. Journalism grounded in truth and contextual backstory becomes feasible with the establishment of more journalism schools, providing undergraduate and graduate programs. A journalist with proper training and an inclination to report facts with honesty and fairness plays a pivotal role in combating disinformation in the age of digital media.
Shifting standards in news ethics!
Another challenging aspect involves safeguarding the morality of the news. News ethics can only be upheld by establishing best practices rooted in journalistic principles, prioritising the public interest, and pursuing the truth. The shift towards digital journalism, while reducing the demand for print publications, has expanded the audience significantly, allowing a few technology giants to act as gatekeepers of information and manipulate the flow of news. This issue can be addressed through legal regulations.
In the most recent example in Gaza, we are confronted with abject hypocrisy, where the most influential and established global media organisations reduce the loss of Palestinian lives at the hands of unhinged Israeli occupation forces into a self-defence act. They erased the suffering of an entire people under occupation to perpetuate relations of domination and imperialism.
To challenge such binaries, which are a byproduct of deep-seated prejudice against the Global South, especially Muslims, it has become essential for trustable and impartial media organisations to provide profound insights and rigorous journalism to their audiences. This enables them to distinguish between disinformation and facts.
Therefore, news stories written with nuance can also prove effective in combating polarisation and allow people to have empathy towards people suffering in armed conflicts. It will also help them make informed electoral decisions in time of elections as many unscrupulous elements on social media are repeatedly spreading fear for political reasons.
Not everything is doom and gloom, While the changes brought about by technological developments pose new challenges, they also bring new opportunities. News media remains essential for societies to develop a clear and comprehensive understanding of events, to provide appropriate, healthy, and balanced responses and to make the right choices. Journalists and media organisations that seek to strengthen the voice of truth have a serious responsibility to understand and address the challenges and opportunities of the digital age. This is important because it has the potential to shape not only the future of journalism but also the future of society.