The Fourth Estate: From Traditional to Digital Journalism
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. Among Americans aged 18-29, the Internet is the primary source of news (Internet). [insert interview clip] This change in the fourth estate may well change the American democracy at its very core, for without the press, democracy is impossible (Carlyle). With those stakes, this shift from print to digital can hardly be ignored. 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 outlets deign to cover. This is important for the same reason that an “unperson” existed in George Orwell’s 1984. An “unperson” is someone who has been simply removed from history, so 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 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). Following the money in a similar way for digital journalism, a proposal from the City University of New York Graduate School of Journalism makes a case for hyperlocal blogs, with specialized, targeted ads, as the news of the future (Hyperlocal). The hyperlocal blog would cover only local events, which would shortchange the public information function of journalism (Kovach, Rosenstiel). Without national and international news, as provided by the current model of journalism, citizens are sorely uninformed. The focus of digital news is, in CUNY’s scenario, shifting to a local standpoint. This makes a significant contrast with traditional news.
The ethics of news reporting is concerned primarily with conflicts of interest (SPJ). In traditional journalism, the journalist is identified by name, has received training about ethical journalism, and is monitored by his or her employer. The Internet guarantees none of these things (Rigby). Lapses in ethical journalism are impossible to detect, let alone correct, without the identity of the author. The contrast here is that without identification of an author, there is no fear of posting blatantly false information online in the guise of news. In regards to another aspect of conflicting interests, the Society of Professional Journalists says that journalists are to completely avoid hybrids of news and advertising (SPJ). There are reports of illegal paid for “news” articles which are actually advertisements; this genre of writing is commonly called the “advertorial” or “promotional news” (Erjavec). This is a rather disturbing change, for without public confidence, journalists would be able to report the truth, but people might not believe them, rendering the exercise futile.
The journalistic concept of accuracy is closely related to that of ethics. Both the Society of Professional Journalists’ Code of Ethics and the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism agree that an extremely important obligation of the journalist is to the truth; very much akin to Sgt. Friday’s, “All we want are the facts” (Mikkelson; SPJ; Kovach, Rosenstiel). Without ethical practices, the journalistic commitment to accuracy dissolves quickly, as shown by Shirley Sherrod’s edited and misinterpreted speech. Andrew Breitbart, one of these new digital journalists, released a heavily edited cut of Sherrod’s comments, with the accusation that she was a racist (Blood; Breitbart). [inset clip] Had a traditional journalist, with his profession’s commitment to the truth, been contacted by an anonymous source and given an edited video, he would have attempted to verify that information. No such attempt was made (Boone, Garner). The correction and apology form is another pillar of journalism, it states that when a journalist has made a factual mistake, he should admit it frankly and apologize for it (SPJ). This traditional journalist’s approach, is in this case presented by Bill O’Reilly. He apologized after hyping the clip heavily, when it was clear that the video was incomplete, saying that he “should have done his homework” (Stolberg et. al.). This contrast between traditional and digital journalism is disturbing, if lax fact-checking becomes the standard, stories like the Sherrod controversy could become more common.
Contrasting traditional and digital journalism in theory and in practice shows that while there are effective, ethical digital journalists, there are also rouges. The inherent anonymity afforded by the Internet could, in the future, allow for even less oversight of those who report the news. Without identification, the Sherrod controversy might have been amplified even further, and the question of who will watch the watchers would become even more startlingly relevant. Because of its crucial importance to the American system of government, the evolution of the news media is a worthy topic of discussion (Carlyle). The Internet as a source of news continues to grow in prominence, especially among the youngest Americans, therefore digital journalism will rise correspondingly (Internet). In order to survive, the Fourth Estate must change, but in order to remain the Fourth Estate, it will need to keep the guidelines which made it what it is today. Examining the differences between traditional and digital news shows where both lack, and demonstrates that the solution is likely a middle path. Digital journalism should broaden its focus to include national and international stories, in order to fill the gap left by declining traditional sources. Digital journalism, in short, must mature, much as print journalism evolved through the “yellow” journalism period. If it does so, and adopts the ethical guidelines that traditional journalism did, the Fourth Estate will continue to be more important than all (Carlyle).
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