Frontline Assignment

Seconds after watching the first segment, something that I’ve heard many times stood out to me more than it ever has. One of the speakers said that people who used to report news were once heroes. I cannot help but look at that phrase and question what they are considered today. What is it that happened that changed the way society viewed these people who were once highly respected professionals? By watching these video clips, it occurred to me exactly how large of a change the phenomenon of the internet has created in the way we view news.

What I found very interesting was the segment that pointed out how one of today’s most influential and most watched news programs airs not on NBC, CNN, or any other profound station, but on Comedy Central. The Daily Show with John Stewart is a perfect example of how our news is changing in front of our eyes. People are beginning to view certain styles of reporting news as a joke, and by watching a show that makes fun of that, and still presents news, it becomes very clear what people are interested in. It seems that news has transformed from truth into entertainment. This explains why people want news that they enjoy watching, and can still learn from, yet at the same time, get involved with. This brings me to another phenomenon that the internet brings to our news; blogs.

Blogging was also pointed out as a way our news is changing. It is becoming more and more prominent, and many young readers (who are only going to continue the trend into future generations) are starting to view blogging as an acceptable form of news. Anybody has the right to blog, and because of that, people do not have a way to tell exactly what is true and what is not. This new form of “journalism”, if you want to call it that, should not always be considered credible, and can cause many issues in effecting the way news is presented. News now days, that was once strictly to report stories, is integrating entertainment, all in order to keep ratings high. New channel’s need for viewers is threatening serious reporting. If everybody has the right to report news, which the internet is now allowing, the concept of “real” news can completely disappear. As the audience of certain news shows, such as 60 minutes, ages, so will the number of viewers, and eventually the concept. The internet, although it offers many positive aspects to news, also has the power to completely change traditional journalism.