In the article “The Public Sphere,” the authors quote Karl Bucher: “But for the newspaper publisher it meant that he changed from a vendor of recent news to a dealer in public opinion.” This made my mind wonder about how newspapers and/or journalism in general has evolved in the social media era. There is no sole dealer anymore, now days the dealer can be about anyone with access to a computer.
Once upon a time you got your news by having to pick up the newspaper front the front porch, on the newsstand, the coffee shop or the office. Back in the day unless you physically hold the newspaper it was rare that you will find out about all the articles written on it. With social media readers now have access to as many article titles of as many newspapers as they wish too; and there is not even need to go into the official website of the newspaper itself. It is as simple as having a twitter or Facebook account. Personally, that is how I found out what is going around the world, and whenever a title interests me I read them. Since I started to follow newspapers in my twitter account I feel like I have read articles that otherwise I would have never read by going into the official website. Only so many articles are shown on the home page, and honestly I’m not going to browse to every section of the website, I don’t even do it when I have the actual paper in my hands. Sometimes even if you do not follow any news sources on your twitter or Facebook you can find out almost instantly by someone’s status. Social media is not just about sharing your personal life, is about sharing all kinds of information. It has become the latest medium for society to be informed. The day of the tsunami on Japan I had not watch T.V. or browse around the internet. I saw my friend’s status before I saw the New York Times tweet about the Tsunami. Even without my friends status I would have found about it, but the fact that so many people had posts about it just emphasized the gravity of the event. There is no doubt that although the internet is ‘killing’ the newspaper business, at the same time is giving them a new way to reach a broader readership. Most importantly the internet gives the newspaper business the one thing that left the out of the competition with Television and Radio: instant news. And not only by posting it on their official website, but they are actual able to break the news to millions of readers around the world through Facebook and Twitter.
Blogs have also changed the news world. Anyone can start a blog. Although many people use blogs with no other purpose but personal, others use it as a way to open doors for themselves. For whoever wants to be a writer or a journalist, blogs are the perfect way to show the world your talent. Of course is hard given the amount of blogs on the web.
According to Wikipedia.com as of February 16 of this year, there were over 156 million public blogs on existence. Blogs have become part of people’s portfolio. The term I have a ‘personal blog’ is not quite the same as a diary. Once posted online is there for the world to see even if set to private. People not only read blogs to know about someone’s inner feelings, but to read about different views about everything from politics to the coolest show on T.V. The way I see it, blogs serve as a sort of each individual memo statement about life. Blogs are not precisely competing against newspapers, but I do think it posts them with a new challenge. Readers now have access to so many opinions that will make them question even more the editorials written in each edition. In a way public opinion has finally gone totally public as there is no need to rely in a third party to get your opinion out into the world.
Newspapers and every single news source of any type has adapted to the benefits that social media has brought them. Now more than ever in history news travel to every corner in the world in an instant.
In the risk of sounding like a movie line, this is how I will end my blog tonight: “Rule #1 of Social Media: once is posted you can’t take it back.”
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