The role of journalists has expanded beyond the traditional outlets. Bloggers, social media users, etc. now break news and provide commentary. Online journalism, whether from traditional outlets like New York Times or Washington Post or from regular citizens on Twitter, has completely changed what it means to be a journalist. Online journalism also opens the doors for instant feedback, for anyone to comment on. The instant gratification and revolving, never-ending content online forces the news cycle to be constantly running. Breaking news is breaking within minutes of the event, changing the typical cycle of morning, afternoon, and evening news. Convergence has also eliminated the boundaries between print, broadcast, and digital journalism. All journalists must now be trained in multimedia and create content for all platforms. Modular content is popular in online journalism for this reason. Modular content can be reused to different platforms. For example, clips and infographics from a traditional broadcast can be reused online in the digital article, and as separate posts on social media.
Your Digital Self
Unfortunately in today’s climate the news can feel rather depressing and I try to limit consuming traditional news media. I prefer to consume positive news on the local, national, and global levels. There is a local WI journalist, Christina Lorey, that shares uplifting news in Wisconsin on social media. I also keep up with current events in the U.S. from third-party news sources, specifically outlets catering to younger demographics. I gravitate toward channel3000.com, cnn.com, and msnbc.com as traditional sources. Associated Press is my favorite news source. I like knowing it’s a reputable site and compiles the stories from all over the world. I am from Madison and still live there so I do keep up with Madison news as it impacts my daily living. I want to be educated on current topics, issues, and plans within the city. I follow News 3 Now and various city officials for local news in Madison. I use Google to find news specifically when there is a specific topic I want to read about. Then, I will go through the different results to find a reputable source. I will also read articles from multiple outlets, as long as they are trustworthy. I do use AI occasionally. I think it’s important to limit usage to not become reliant on it but also to not lose skills by having AI do it (i.e. reading, writing, problem solving). However, I do not use AI for finding or reading news articles. I mainly read articles and watch news clips. The majority of news media I consume is online. I occasionally watch news broadcasts, but I prefer to consume media in my own time, rather than sitting to watch an hour plus long broadcast. I prefer watching video clips from independent journalists or broadcasts, typically on social media because I enjoy shorter-form content. I also can get a larger variety of sources, journalists, locations, than sticking to one station or website. I toured a local Madison station and watched a live broadcast in the studio. That is one of the experiences that led me to pursue journalism. I interacted with a few different journalists there. I regularly get news through social media. Usually, it is a preview of the official news page that I will follow the link for the rest of the story. I do not use X or Bluesky regularly. I follow some news sites but I think it is harder to find trustworthy posts on X as a lot of it is political discourse riddled with propaganda and misinformation. I read a couple lifestyle and writing blogs on Substack. I also recently got into podcasts, mostly true crime, pop culture, and lifestyle. I have been online for many, many years and have developed online literacy skills to filter through what is real and fake online. There have been times where I read an article and took another look and found the site was not trustworthy. I try to look for established news sites, multiple independent sources, consistent reporting, use of primary sources, and clear attribution and sourcing within articles which I found helps me find reputable news.