Technology is rapidly changing the way we get information. It seems that people are more likely to go to the internet to find new information, facts or summaries rather than read an entire article in the paper. With blogs, Twitter and Facebook, news is traveling fast around the entire globe. Citizen journalists are “reporting news” on their blogs as quilcky as it come in. This leaves us to the GREAT JOURNALISTIC DEBATE:
What is the role of the traditional reporter in today’s technological society? What do you think a good journalist in today’s world should be able to do in order to report newsworthy stories?
Leave me a comment so we can start discussing our roles as journalists in today’s technology-advanced world. Here are some things to help you start thinking about how technology is changing the way we report.
Trends in Journalism 
The challenge with blog journalism is establishing credibility. Anyone can have a blog, and publish any information that promotes one’s own perspective.
Online journalism, and those who consume the information, must be aware of the need to separate reporting from commentary, and be on guard against misinformation.
One of the greatest challenges that faces online journalists is the issue of credibility. Anyone can have a blog, and these blogs may be the result of a desire to promote a particular point of view, rather than an objective approach to the topic. Since this is the case, both bloggers and those who consume blogs need to be aware of bias. While all media reporting can be subject to bias, blogs can be particularly difficult to assess, especially when the reporter has no previous credentials.
Blogging can be an especially useful outlet for alternative media reporting, but consumers need to be aware of the need for fact-checking, as well as being particularly cognizant of the separation between reporting and commentary.
Finally, bloggers and their consumers need to be aware of the legal issues surrounding intellectual property, in order to avoid issues such as plagiarism, which can creep into one’s reporting if safeguards are not taken up front.
Thanks Noller. Bias and plagiarism cause ethical issues in journalism and most citizen bloggers are not trained on how to handle these issues as journalists. Technology has made it easy for anyone to jump into world of reporting with blogs and video blogging, although most have not been trained in the ethics of good reporting. Thanks for your reply.