In today’s digital age, it is important for journalists to stick to their values, one of which is independence. Without, journalism could become the fake news of uninspired stories. Independence is a value which has always been essential to any type of journalism. If journalists are supposed to hold those in power to account, then they must be free from influence, and independent, free to work with curiosity and discover the truth, away from those guiding the story through outside interests.
Where trust in journalism is decreasing, maintaining not only independence, but a sense of independence to the audience, will move for trust in the journalism being told, as it being accurate, true stories. In terms of technological tools, these can show the audience, in real-time, the accuracy of the stories being told and convey journalism’s independence. This is why it is essential to the journalism industry, and technological advancements are only going to develop this further.
With an increasing amount of technologies becoming central to how we define journalism, it is values such as independence which will also help us gain the advantage over changing technologies.
With social media, an influence on journalism in which people have easy access to ‘fake news’ sites and blogging, opinions shared on social media and videos going viral, the opinion of our friends on Facebook often becomes how we read the news. It can be difficult to find independent, well told, good journalism, as opposed to the quick work of journalism with commercial interests.
It is important, however, that we approach the digital tools of the world today, with this idea of independence in mind. If we look to social media, mobile apps, the internet and an unending number of technological devices, we can use these to develop longer pieces of journalism which are good, true, independent and interesting, telling storied which couldn’t be told without access to these technologies, nor if private interests were involved. These are clearly told, independent stories. It is the movement of podcast listening, wide-spread video making, and the freedom to explore.
(Featured photo by Ernest Duffoo is licensed under CC BY 2.0)
