In the past few decades, the face of journalism has undergone some major enhancements, not just cosmetically but technologically, as well.
Social media has changed journalism to the extent that people don’t rely on news broadcasts to get news updates. They check their phones.
Times are changing rapidly, and people don’t have the time to catch up with the news on TV any more. Newspapers are harder to come by, that is, at someone’s doorstep.
Headlines show up in the top trends on Twitter.
Articles that used to be found in print are now online – for free – and the next article can be just a click away. Links can be shared to social networks so effortlessly almost anyone can accomplish it.
Even sites such as YouTube make it simple to catch a past news segment with the ability to search for one thing and one thing only.
Access to new technology such as smartphones makes it easy for anyone to simply post a photo. There is, however, a difference between journalism and being a journalist.
Anyone who posts a photo or an opinion or writes about an event on any website or social network could theoretically be considered a reporter.
Why is a field like such as journalism so important and why do people decide to dedicate their lives to it, if any old nobody on the street could buy a digital camera and shoot a picture?
The difference is the passion and an impartial view on the subject at hand.
Middletown High School’s intro and advanced journalism classes try not only to keep the field alive, but also encourage other students to appreciate and become engaged in their community.
Every morning at MHS, classes take a few minutes out of their day to watch the morning announcements. The broadcast usually features two talents, and the occasional feature video.
The announcements tend to draw interest to the class. Students find themselves wanting to have their 15 minutes of fame on TV in front of the school. However, journalism class is not all about the broadcast aspects.
Advanced classes focus on creating individual projects while the intro classes’ main concerns are social networks and learning the foundations of journalism.
This school year, MHS journalism classes have started using Instagram, and even have live-streamed football games and a pre-game show before the states game.
Technological advances have brought new things to The Round Table, and the student body has started to notice. The Round Table Twitter account has blown up since last year, and Facebook and Instagram are not far behind.
It has been said, “if the pen is mightier than the sword, what does that make a microphone, camcorder and laptop in a Wi-Fi hotspot?”
The answer is simple. New technology sparks new ideas. As skills develop and equipment advances, the ever-changing field becomes nearly unstoppable. Journalism will only ever slow down the moment it is taken for granted.
