week 2 - The future of the Media Industries
06:54
Sunday 16th October
This week we were introduced to a guest
lecturer: Dave Mason, who is a knowledgeable journalist with great experiences
within the media industry, particularly in radio journalism, broadcast and correspondence
reporting. He brought about the discussion that the advancement of the media
industry has, and will, continuously change.
This of course reflects on the
conception of Globalisation and the progression of the digital age we are
living in. He principally focused on the effects that media progression has
brought to journalism; deeming that the traditional journalism profession is no
longer what it used to be as a consequent of its progression. With the ability
to share or stream a video captured from a mobile phone straight to a large
social networking platform within an instant, Mason stated that “the public are
the reporters”, and journalists simply collects and gathers the pieces together
– rather than uncovering the story themselves. Due to technologies innovation, digital
storage systems such as ‘The Cloud’ have brought about the focus on the quality
of our journalism – is it sinking? Mason suggested that anyone who shares information
is a reporter, but isn’t quality better than quantity? This is a factor that
will widen as the future of technology and its machinery develops even further.
Some progressive elements were looked up however – such as the evolution of
streaming to social networks i.e. Facebook. Anyone from across the world can
take part in ‘Facebook Live’, which, as it says on the tin, allows others to
watch you as you broadcast publicly. This amplifies the concept of Globalisation
as it instantaneously breaks down cultural barriers, permitting people to
really see the world we live in. For example, I was able to see a live stream
of someone attending the Rio Olympic Games, live and direct as it was happening.
What is instore for the future of
the media industry? I believe it will persistently improve in terms of
accessibility due to digitalisation which is improving with each passing day. However I believe that the content and quality can and should be questioned, as with easy accessibility comes a lack of depth. It's like a game of Chinese whispers - how much that we read will be true if it'll be sourced from various other places? How much has been fabricated or miss told along the way, once it reaches its journalistic destination?
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