Join the Club

Technology and journalism. Admittedly this is a subject I’ve gotten really tired of discussing. It’s here, it’s not going anywhere, so we better just get used to it and learn how to use it responsibly. Bloggers aren’t going away either, so we should accept them and their effects on our craft and people’s perceptions of the media. We can complain and feel as entitled as we want, but that’s not going to change the evolving reality of our field.

Technology is great for journalism. It gives us exposure to more people. Even though I’m sitting in Columbia, MO, I can watch my hometown news or read my hometown newspaper on their respective websites. Now, anyone can read the New York Times if she wants to. It helps to keep more people more informed on any subject they want. Isn’t it a main part of our job to disseminate information – why would we be against something that could help us do that in a more widespread and efficient manner? Technology is such an amazing asset to journalism. At one point it was revolutionary to have 24 hour news on TV. Then it moved to breaking news at any time on websites. Now we have the ability to get to people through their cell phones, which they most likely have with them at all times!

Technology, if used responsibly, can only make stories better and more accurate. Anything can be looked up at any moment. It makes it much easier to fact check. It makes it much easier to find sources, through the huge number of social networking sites that are available. When I did my NewSunday cover story on ethanol, finding people to talk to was a piece of cake. I found farmers through the Missouri Corn Growers’ Association webiste. I found ethanol plants in Missouri by googling “ethanol plants in Missouri.” The only source that I found the “old-fashioned way” was a restaurant owner in the extremely small town where a large ethanol plant is located. I cannot imagine how much more difficult it was for journalists to find a multitude of sources before the internet.

Now while I am a huge proponent of technology, I realize that it can have some drawbacks. With the rapid pace of news that technology spurs on there is going to be more competition. This seemed to be Jason Leopold’s problem as described in News Junkie. There is so much pressure to be first and fastest that people often make errors trying to break a story. Also, not every website out there is credible. However, if journalists are just educated about how to find credible websites and check their facts against other sources then this would not be a problem.

I think this is something that definitely needs to be addressed at the J-school. There are students out there who think that Wikipedia or some “expert’s” blog is a credible source. Clearly this is not so. Wikipedia is frequently wrong, and anyone out there could call himself an expert. Education is the key. If there was a small unit in one of the introductory journalism classes addressing this, then I think it would go a long way.

Technology also gives ample opportunity for cheating and plagiarism. However it also makes it easier to catch someone who is making numerous errors or plagiarizing. Almost every news outlet has a searchable website. If someone is so bold to copy something from another news outlet without crediting them, then they are just looking to get caught. As it happens, those people will be punished (probably fired) and made examples of (i.e. Jayson Blair) and fewer instances of plagiarism will occur.

While technology can sometimes hurt, it is much more likely to help journalists. It’s going to continue to grow and develop. Those who refuse to accept it will fall behind or always feel it nipping at their heels. They might as well just join the club now.