How is social media changing the journalism game?

Change can be terrifying — trust me, I get it. However, in the world of journalism change is necessary and journalists cannot be apprehensive to the idea of the changing newsroom.

For newspaper lovers and people who got into this industry because of newspapers, like me, the idea that print is dying can be difficult to wrap your head around. Go digital! Digital is on the rise! Both are incredibly common phrases heard nowadays in newsrooms. But going digital does not mean that print has to fully step into the grave. Both can coexist — journalists just have to be ready and willing to make that change.

But that is not the only change. As mentioned in “Mobile and Social Media Journalism” by Anthony Adornato, business models for news organizations are also changing. To paywall or not to paywall? A paywall will inevitably turn people away who do not want to pay, but a paywall will also bring in more money to an already struggling industry. In order to remain competitive and relevant news organizations have to rethink how they do business.

While the business world is changing, journalists cannot forget about the pivotal part of their work: the reader. From the New York Times article “Looking Forward to 2020, Here are 10 Themes for News” people want transparency. It is no longer enough to just report and write the story and pass it off to readers. Why does this story exist? Why should I care? Journalists have to adapt to the audience’s drive and want to know more and in order to do this journalists can turn to social media. Tweet something quick about the article you just wrote. Start up a conversation in the replies with readers who want to gain more of an insight. Provide thoughtful and interesting tidbits about the reporting.

Mobile devices and social media are also changing the journalism world. The majority of people read the news or get the news on their phones via social media. It is so easy nowadays to tweet out a news story or to live tweet a news event. People all around the world can tune in to see instantaneous news. I already talked about how print journalism is unfortunately dying, but couldn’t it be argued that so is broadcast? No one has time to sit down and actually watch a newscast. But everyone has the time to read 180 characters.