Is Journalism Dead

To understand whether journalism is dead we must understand what journalism comprises and who is considered a journalist. The definition of journalism according to the American Press Institute is: the activity of gathering, assessing, creating, and presenting news and information. It is also the product of these activities. This definition can apply to almost any individual including individuals who write articles or books on various subjects. It is not just those who are on the radio, television or reports for newspapers or magazines.

True journalism today is rare not only as an individual but as a media organization. The coverage in the news is nothing like it was in the past. Integrity principles seem to have gone out the window in many of the media resources we hear or see each day. There was a time when the media would check the facts about a news item before publishing or broadcasting it but that time has come and gone. Today reality has taken a back step to covering news events. In some cases the media covers stories that are really not news at all for the sources of the news items are not checked for their reliability before publishing them.

The result of the election has brought out a side of some media sources that we felt and what we felt has come to fruition. This fact or disregard for the truth does not apply to all the media or even authors. Communicating the news to the public is a sacred responsibility and some of the media has gone to the extreme. It appears that the media is taking freedom of the press thinking that they can say anything they want but the public has gotten smarter. The disregard for reporting the news honestly and without bias was set back on their heels with the result of the November 2016 election.

Today there are so many opportunities to get the facts that media sources which are not being honest in their reporting can be found out through the sources now available through the Internet. Granted you must be careful in choosing wisely the source of the news to which you pay attention but it is not difficult to discover who is covering the news without bias and those that are. A good news source does not just present their view on events of the day but presents the other side which may not necessarily agree with their perspective. There are talk radio programs and television programs that present the facts and actually have individuals come on the air and justify their positions on issues of the day. This kind of activity is true journalism. The practice of media sources that just publishes what they want regardless of the facts were basically ignored in the past election.

It has been said that subscribers of newspapers especially those that do not practice true journalism are seeing their subscriber number getting lower. The media and even some politicians need to wake up that the public is so on to their bias. If media sources do not change their ways they may cease to exist in fact some have actually closed their doors. Newspapers will not exist without subscribers or those who purchase their papers. Media sources that do not practice true journalism by validating their news sources hurt their reputation when what they have published is found to be false. In some cases they actually have to publish a retraction but many of them put the retraction in an obscure part of the paper or website so it does not get wide exposure. This kind of activity is a disservice to those who access the information they publish.

There are many fine individuals who write books and articles that present information that the public needs to read. Many books are published each day or even week but presenting information in a true journalism fashion has a positive impact on individuals who read their material. True journalism may not be dead but it needs resurgence in the field of journalism. As previously mention it is not just radio and television personalities that are considered to be journalist for any author or writer is in fact a journalist. The key is whether they are considered to represent true journalism.