ASSIGNMENTS

     
        THE RISE OF SOCIAL MEDIA AND ITS EFFECTS ON MAINSTREAM JOURNALISM AS WELL AS THE STRATEGIES PUT IN PLACE TO MEET THIS CHANGING TREND IN MASS MEDIA WORK


              Citizen journalists are ordinary people who do the work of professional journalists. Citizen journalists are associated with names such as public journalist, democratic journalism, Participatory journalists among others. These journalists have the comfort to do the work of professional journalists due to the introduction of new media; the internet which has brought with it the social media platform like Facebook, whats app, twitter, you tube and so on.

         

        The work of a professional journalist is such that he cannot be everywhere at the same time to cover events and as a result, citizen journalists with sophisticated phones at the time of an incident or event can take pictures, video, audio and disseminate information. Hence act as first hand source of news. Also in societies where the press is censored, these journalists act as an alternative source of news.

           Social media noted as the future of communication is a countless array of internet based tools and platforms that increase and enhance the sharing of information. This new form of media makes the transfer of texts, videos, audio, photos and information in general increasingly fluid among internet users. Platforms like twitter, Facebook, and linked-in have created online communities where people can share as much or as little personal information. Social bookmarking tools and news sites such as Digg, Delici:ous, Reddit and countless others make finding specific information, images or websites simple by assigning or tasking individual sites with searchable keywords.

           Traditional media also known as analogue media or mainstream media comes in the form of print (newspapers, magazines), broadcast (T.V, radio). Grimes(2008) defines the traditional media as ‘those’ companies which create, produce and distribute information and entertainment content which pre-date the commercial business of the internet. He views newspapers, magazines, yellow pages, outdoor advertising, radio and television stations and broadcast networks as traditional media.

             Traditional media can also be thought of as the old way of doing things. A case in point is sending mail through the post office and reading newspapers whereas sending email, reading electronic newspaper articles on the internet, listening to radio via the internet. Also, the use of mobile phones for taking pictures and sharing information is an example of new or modern ways of doing things.

          However, the invention of new media i.e. social media has posed a great threat to the traditional media. The social media has a number of advantages over the traditional media in the following ways;

First and foremost, the new media gives immediate gratification and feedback to its audience. Traditional media does not give its audience the platform to take part in news production. They are dormant; also they do not have the luxury to choose what segment of news to listen to, because of this, maximum gratification is not derived. There is no information flow from audience to the mainstream media thus comments and opinion. With social media, today audience can choose from a large range of news categories to listen to or read e.g. sports news, educational news and so on. Audiences have the opportunity to express opinions on issues and participate in news production.

             Secondly, because professional journalists follow a certain trend in news reportage (hard news formula), there is not much of creativity and style like the citizen journalists makes  news interactive and lively through the use of vodcast and podcast and also comic and other elements to bring the piece to life making it easy to understand.Gatekeeping role as performed by the mainstream media as part of ethics is forgone by citizen journalists who report to the very core of issues. They do not view any issue as sensational like the mainstream does before selecting what qualifies as news. This singular move by citizen journalist with the use of new media is threatening the work of mainstream journalists and media houses in the following light.

                 The fast and quick way of sending and obtaining news and information from citizen journalists via social media has led to a low patronage of traditional news outlets especially the print media. Before these media houses get to the scene of events to cover and process the news before printing, the citizen journalists would have captured and shared to a large number of people within a short period of time, and these audience would not buy a newspaper to read the same news.

Creativity and style displayed by citizen journalists in their reportage makes audience understand news better because it is interactive than the ‘hard’ news from the mainstream media. In addition, due to the gatekeeping role performed by the traditional media as against the exposure of every detail of news by citizen journalists, audiences have lost trust in the traditional media.

             In view of the threat caused by the new media, an entrepreneur and author, Andrew Keen is of the opinion that ‘cult of the amateur’ is undermining great companies who have consistently created value through impacting quality information and education’. Keen says ‘we need to fight back to retain the structures and professions that are in danger of dying out, taking with them concepts such as quality and trust’.It comes as no surprise that a majority of media houses have adopted the ways of the new media in addition to their traditional ways of doing things. Today during news bulletin, audiences are given the platform to share their views on issues and report news around them. For instance, TV3 has a segment in its news called ‘my news’ and ‘viewer comments’, also call-in during radio programs.Some media houses resort to citizen journalists in various regions to obtain information or news especially in those communities or regions they find themselves. This is to get citizens involved in news process. Importantly, the use of ICT infrastructure during news bulletin and programs e.g. laptops and autoscripts, instead of reading news on sheet of papers, IPADs, LCD television among others. Re-structuring of how news is disseminated with reference to infotainment. This is the combination of both information and entertainment in news delivery usually associated with political communication. The use of cartoons in news papers can be an example.

                 

           Finally, traditional media houses have brought their works on-line to reach a larger audience just like citizen journalists e.g. e-newspapers, listening to radio and news bulletins on the internet and sending feedbacks. e.g myjoyonline.com which is news online feed belonging to Joy F.M of Ghana.

Although the work of professional journalists is at the fore front in battle with the emergence of powerful voices who used to be the passive audience but now reporting news as journalists with the use of new media, traditional media as well as professional journalists are gradually joining the train of the new media to uphold their position as the 4^th estate of the realm and the powerful mouthpiece of society.

SOURCES/REFERENCES

1. Socialmediatoday- The rise of citizen journalists

2 .Social media defined- What is Social Media?

3. Tufts.edu/social-media-overview- What is Social Media?

4. Huffington post- How Social Media is supporting a fundamental shift in Journalism.

5. New media: theories and applications, Van Schaik publishers - Traditional media vrs New Media.

 Owusu-Ansah A.H Bridgette.