In a world saturated with truth and falsehoods, information that people read has inevitably required new levels of analysis and research. In these instances, journalists have had to develop new methods to counter the wash of ‘fake news’ and channel new distribution avenues in order to reach its desired audience.
Now having witnessed, the US president Donald Trump’s attack on news outlets, journalism appears to be in a time of uncertainty and criticism. In P.Kim Bui’s Nieman Lab 2017 predication, she sketched out a method that would require readers be trained to analyse the content they are viewing; as such would subsequently debunk the ongoing circulation of fake media. It’s time that the public check out what they are reading and ensure that information they see is accurate and just. This behaviour can eliminate the nasty falsehoods that circulate the public forum.
In Amy O’Leary’s prediction, she too empathised the importance on fact- checking news material however concentrated closely on the journalist’s role in spreading news. This recognised popular news domains, particularly social media and news feeds where there is a likelihood of the public being exposed to an unlimited supply of information. Once a journalist recognises “how their stories travel”, journalism will be able to reach a broader manner of people. This logical and realistic prediction relayed an excellent perspective on why fake news has the success it does. By channelling new distribution avenues, journalists will be able to target its audience “technically, structurally and emotionally” (O’Leary A).
In a combined analysis of these predictions, Journalism is in need of a big face-lift: capturing competent and modern journalists who can access communities and human attention. In doing this, the public will factually accept stories of truth and debunk those that are false.
In 2017, it appears that new levels of sophistication are required from both journalists and readers; this is 100% true.
