Comp-contrast in progress

WARNING- this essay under construction- hard hats required, dangling modifiers may fall any moment.

            In 2008, the Internet passed newspapers as a source of news for Americans. Television remains atop that heap, but only when the population is all Americans. When the population of interest is age 18-29, the Internet is the primary source of news (Pew). This change in the fourth estate may very well change the American democracy at its very core, for without the press, democracy is impossible (Carlyle). With those stakes, this shift can hardly be ignored. The shift can be broadly termed the change from print to digital. The crucial components of news journalism are its focus, ethics, and accuracy. Examining these points will lead to a better understanding of how the shift of news to the internet may affect the world.

            The focus of news, in this context is what stories that news outlet deigns cover. Orwell outlined the concept extraordinarily well in his novel 1984; the concept is that of an “unperson”. An “unperson” is someone who has been simply removed from history, for all practical purposes, they never existed (Orwell). If an event is not covered by reporters and distributed, a similar effect occurs- the event never happens. As news organizations have finite resources and space, they cannot cover all stories, so some news is not distributed. Depending on who it is that pays for the news, the focus shifts correspondingly. Currently, newspapers charge significant amounts for content, in the form of subscription fees, as opposed to relying solely on advertising (Conde). A proposal from the City University of New York Graduate School of Journalism makes a case for hyperlocal blogs as the news of the future (CUNY). The hyperlocal blog would cover only local events, this would shortchange the public information function of journalism (Kovach, Rosenstiel). Without national and international news, as provided by the current model of news, citizens are sorely uninformed. The focus of digital news is, in CUNY’s scenario, shifting to a local standpoint. This shift makes a significant contrast with traditional news.

            The ethics of news reporting is concerned primarily with conflicts of interest. In traditional journalism, the journalist is identified by name, has received training about ethical journalism, and is monitored by their employer. The Internet guarantees none of these things.

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