Cast your mind over these events: the global financial crisis, Brexit, the election of Donald Trump, Netflix, the iPhone, Facebook, Tinder, the refugee crisis, intersectional feminism, Black Lives Matter, the Great Barrier Reef.
It’s becoming increasingly evident, especially in light of these recent events and phenomena, that technology and culture are inextricably linked. And perhaps the reason we find ourselves flabbergasted at an election result, or the collapse of an economy, or the fact that we’re heading out on a date with a stranger based on four fairly acceptable pictures and the fact that they like dogs, is because we don’t really understand the mechanics of how these things came about.
I therefore believe two important values journalists can bring to their work in these wild and whacky times is an openness to new encounters (technological, ideological and cultural) and the ability to adapt to the transient and sometimes turbulent nature of them.
For starters, you can’t talk about something without acknowledging it’s existence.
In order to do so journalists must be extra vigilant to not dismiss new ideas and conversations. This isn’t to say they must endorse or agree with them. It’s saying that things may appear ludicrous, too politically correct or ‘for nerds’, until they gain serious momentum.
For example, how many pundits had an existential crisis upon the result of the 2016 American Election? And Brexit? Perhaps if they had listened more seriously to those feeling disenfranchised and tapped into the channels in which these exchanges occurred, they may have been able to gain insight in the dynamics behind a trend towards right wing conservative politics in the Western world.
On the other side of the ideological spectrum, the emerging dialogues surrounding identity (such as the Black Lives Matter movement) and freedom of information (e.g the controversy surrounding Wikileaks) are also strong examples of phenomena not initially seen as newsworthy, but that have grown to be highly relevant to our lives.
There is a technological facet to this too. Being dismissive of new trends in technology, or neglecting to become literate – or at the very least, acquainted – with them is a sure fire way to miss a story and exempt oneself from the conversation.
Journalists must adapt to advances in technology as it corresponds with the transformation of ideas, culture and world events. This applies to new social media platforms, apps, news gathering technologies and techniques, communication tools and software. These technologies influence not only the way our society behaves, but the way in which we reflect and analyse these behaviours in order to report back to them.
Quite often, technology is both the catalyst and the means for journalistic communication.
Openness and adaptability in a contemporary journalistic context allows us to explain the chain of events surrounding the naming of Trainy McTrainface, as well as disseminate this information through multiple channels to ensure it reaches the largest audience it can.
It allowed Wesley Lowery to understand and report on the #blacklivesmatter movement for three years in Ferguson, Missouri and understand the way the movement could not sustain itself were it not for mobile phones and the internet.
An understanding of contemporary terrorism could not be reached without knowledge of the role technology plays in its implementation, as well as the cultural events and ideas that create, perpetuate and shape it.
