Professional Journalism

Introduction

Professional journalism is a diverse field offering variety of career opportunities that range from editorial review to investigative reporting. Regardless of one’s job within journalism, the expected end result is dissemination of information to a specific target group or to the general public. In professional journalism information is disseminated through different forms of print media, such as magazines and newspapers, or electronic media such as radio, television and the internet. Some of the roles within professional journalism include correspondents, analysts, writers and editors. These individuals gather information, prepare stories for different mediums and present them to their audience. They offer their target audience with information concerning the local, national and international events. Such individuals present their points of view on current occurrences, report on behavior of executives, officials, and celebrities as well as the common citizens. The image of the world as a global village has however brought a new dimension to journalism through new communication technology. Development in media technologies has created increasingly different opinions among different scholars on its effects to professional journalism. The new developments have made it possible for individuals to differently integrate news and information from various perfectives without a biased point of view. This paper aims at critically assessing the notion that professional journalism is no longer necessary in the context of developments in media technologies. The widespread understanding in globalization of media is that the developing media system and network is increasingly becoming global in terms of ownership, governance, production, structure, distribution and consumption.

The Professional Journalism and media development

In modern fast-changing society, majority of people are increasing turning to their cell phones, Bluetooth devices and computers for informational updates ranging from weather predictions to Facebook updates. With the advance of smart phones and social networking services, there is a rapid increase in the number of individuals turning to technology as the primary source of receiving new information. Technological developments are making it easy for people to learn what is happening around the world within a few minutes after occurrence hence rendering professional journalism less effective which takes more time to pass the same information. Aspects of professional journalism like the print media are slowly being cast aside since more people are choosing not to purchase newspapers by turning to the internet for their information needs. Journalism landscape is therefore evolving at a quick rate with new mediums and technologies re-defining relationship between the public and news media.

National media

The national media is characterized by information transmitted by traditional media through the television and radio relating to events and occurrences within a given country. Although national media houses transmit information on international occurrences, it tends to censure the information and only broadcasting that which fits within its interests. The monopoly of knowledge previously enjoyed by the national journalists has crumpled with the rise of new technologies; people can now choose how they get information. Moreover, journalist are no longer privileged with the position being the exclusive sources of information for the public to access information, except perhaps only for specific cases like the breaking news. Currently any person with access to the modern technology communication devices has access to unlimited body of information as opposed to traditional journalism which doctors and censures information to fit within its interests. Moreover, the technological developments have greatly changed and altered the relationship between professional journalists and their audience. Such changes make it hard to argue that professional journalists are still in control of their work.