As a Gen Z, the first image which comes to mind when one says ‘journalism’ is that of a newspaper. But today, technology has made the flow of information as easy as it was difficult back in the 1700s. This unfortunately, has made modern journalism gain a superfluous attribute.

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It is not the fact that the more information there is in this sea of newspapers, magazines, radio, television and the internet that the less any individual part of it matters; it is the fact that so little of it seems intended to have any meaning (Paxman, 2009). Hence, it comes off as unsurprising that the Library of Congress abandoned its Herculean challenge of archiving all tweets ever tweeted on Twitter (Wamsley, 2017).

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So what really is journalism?

It is the technique of telling factual stories. The job of ‘The Fourth Estate’ – which is the press – is to make public an unknown story.

 

The reach of the concept of journalism has spread so far that a ‘Fifth Estate’ has come into existence i.e. social media, bloggers, individuals and journalists publishing in unofficial media (Cheprasov, 2009).

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When writing a story, one must ask oneself the ‘so what’ question – the ethics involved, how the news would affect people, what difference it would make – there is a whole science involved to it. Lots of news happens every day that does not affect us in any way whatsoever. But that is the essence of news: to be aware of what is happening beyond our immediate surroundings. The range of its disciplines can vary from a war afflicted nation to the stock market to a scandalous celebrity affair (Lomas, 2018).

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One of the more significant theories in journalism is that of the philosophical perspective because journalism is not just about finding news and making it public. A journalist is responsible for the news they put out there, to assess how it affects the public interest, to judge whether the truth would or would not harm anybody and to discern the difference between what must and must not be said (Steensen & Ahva, 2015).

 

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Bibliography:

 

Cheprasov, A. (2009) What is the Fifth Estate? – Definition & Media,

Available: https://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-the-fifth-estate-definition-media.html [Accessed: 28th April 2019]

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Lomas, M. (2018) Journalism Theory [Lecture to 1st year journalism students]. JCM1300 What is Journalism?, Middlesex University Dubai, 17 October.

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Orwell, G. (2003). Shooting an elephant. UK: Penguin.

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Steensen, S. and Ahva, L. (2015). Theories of journalism in a digital age: An exploration and introduction. UK: Routledge.

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Wamsley, L. (2017). Library of Congress Will No Longer Archive Every Tweet, The Two-Way, 26th December. Available: https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/12/26/573609499/library-of-congress-will-no-longer-archive-every-tweet [Accessed: 28th April 2019]

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