Matthew V. Aurelio
The earliest form of a journalistic product can be dated back to Ancient Rome around 59 BCE. However, the first regularly published newspapers appeared in German cities around 1609. But Journalism did not thrive till the 18th century as it was hindered by censorship, taxes, and other restrictions; only when the 18th century reared its head did newspapers come to witness the “reportorial freedom” it enjoys today. Journalism of the past, however, did not have the degree of social responsibility that it does have today, at least not until the late 19th century. The earliest “socially responsible” newspapers and journals were generally violently partisan in politics and were mainly focused on advocating their own party’s agenda. This was known as Yellow Journalism, a type of journalism that used sensationalism to capture an audience, and even today; it exists in many forms in the modern world.
Similar to every other industry journalism is finding its path to adapt in the Age of The Internet. A technological leap like no other, the internet has had profound effects on our society. Media Companies have found a variety of options that are suddenly open and available to them other than cable news–digital slideshows, which include engaging in social platforms (Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, etc.), and mobile apps. In turn, the average content viewer is also no longer limited to just cable networks for their source of news; those previous options for media are also available to all media consumers. With the advent of social media, an increasing number of news organizations have started to report events in those platforms (e.g., Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, etc.).
With countless sources to provide the news at any given moment, media corporations need to do something more than having a "self-respect to stay on top," and that would be crisis. Crisis and sensational headlines create more engagement and attract more viewers. This means that there is an incentive to create a widespread sense of crisis at all times.
The Media Bias Chart (AdFontes)
Inferring from the chart above, a majority of these media corporations (CNN, Huffington Post, MSNBC, Fox News, etc.) do not practice journalism. They do not follow the standard code of ethics of journalism, which is to maintain objectivity in reporting. However, it would be useless to discuss how opinion pieces and inflammatory headlines create more engagement or how multi-national conglomerates would most often have some motive in spinning the news. It is useless simply because the revenue a media corporation can earn depends on its viewers. Most often than not, these viewers are attracted to sensationalist/crisis stories. It is this simple logic that allows the ad infinitum supply of crisis to be produced and fuel the beast that is the 24-hour cable network.
Either way, whether it’d be cable or digital network, the opinion that the modern landscape of news having long gone astray from the principles of Journalism is nothing new. Whether it would be the constant feeds of sensationalist headlines squeezing every ounce from a story or the political talk-shows or just straight-up propaganda, all this is nothing new. After all, Yellow Journalism, journalism that is also based on sensationalism, has been around since the late 19th century in the United States. However, what is new is how this crisis is applied to the current media platform on the internet.
So, what does the crisis have to do with social media and the internet? It is the fact that the internet became an echo chamber for crisis. Crisis will proliferate amongst the populace indefinitely. The reason why opinions on the internet may appear to have no sensibility is due to the fact that sensible opinions do not proliferate well. In contrast, irrational opinions do, because what comes with crisis is exactly those irrational opinions. As discussed before, journalism now holds a social responsibility, as its idealistic goal is to be a weapon of the masses against an oppressive government; however, as always, nothing is ever perfect. The consequence of a media that does not abide by the ethical rules of conduct of journalism has never been more impactful than it is today. As sensationalist headlines hit the front page every week or so with the sole purpose to hook viewers into an anxiety-filled analysis of the world in shambles or how an orange is running the most powerful country in the world, it is essential to remember that we all have our daily lives. With the news astray, we must be careful not to let it lead us astray; it is essential to stay grounded and to think twice before we echo those irrational opinions we saw not five minutes ago in a tweet.
Berger, Jonah, and Katherine L. Milkman. “What Makes Online Content Viral?” Journal of Marketing Research, vol. 49, no. 2, 2012, pp. 192–205., doi:10.1509/jmr.10.0353.
David, Clarissa C., et al. “Reliance on Facebook for News and Its Influence on Political Engagement.” Plos One, vol. 14, no. 3, 2019, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0212263.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. “Journalism.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 6 May 2020, www.britannica.com/topic/journalism.
Grabowicz, Paul. “The Transition to Digital Journalism.” Berkeley Advanced Media Institute, 22 Feb. 2019, multimedia.journalism.berkeley.edu/tutorials/digital-transform/.
“Interactive Media Bias Chart.” The Media Bias Chart, Ad Fontes Media, 1 Feb. 2020, www.adfontesmedia.com/interactive-media-bias-chart/.
Comments