In the past, a journalist was by definition a person who was hired by a news outlet, went out, conducted research and interviews, and produced news. However, in modern times with social media allowing anybody to have a platform and put news out there, the definition of a journalist has changed. A journalist can now be anyone, being that anybody can put news out for everybody to see. For example, I could begin a news account for free on Instagram and start putting out whatever news I see fit. That doesn’t necessarily mean that I will have as much success as a traditional journalist at a big news company, or even that what I am saying is true, but I will be a “journalist” nonetheless.
As stated in our textbook, the news cycle has changed from one cycle per day to the modern 24/7 news cycle. Because of the internet, journalists are able to release news stories anytime and anywhere. These stories can then be updated within minutes, making news more relevant and accessible for many. For example, you will often see “this is a developing story” at the bottom of an online news article. Because of the internet, journalists are able to constantly update news stories. On top of this, the internet allows for a larger variety of content to be put out for a single news story. When it was just newspapers or just radio, for example, you could only consume one or two types of news content. For the case of a newspaper, you would only receive text and photos. For radio you would only hear audio news reports. Now with the internet, journalists can publish a story with text, audio, photos, videos, ect. This enriches the experience for the consumer, and is more convenient being that everything is in one place.
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