The Press Box

The future of journalism is online.

There’s no way around it and its affect on society has been eminent over the past few years. Smartphones and tablets are taking over!

Journalist Joel Achenbach weaves together a fine piece of prose in his article, “I Really Need You to Read This Article, Okay?”, in which he details the innovations of online journalism and the explosion that it has had across the medium.

As journalists, we want to be seen and heard. We want to take pride in our work by having people view and comment on our writing. It makes us feel good and most importantly makes us feel like what we are writing about is important.

Achenbach makes a strong case that in our day and age of instant information, we strive to be the most viewed or the post the brings in the most traffic. This same phenomena draws comparisons to the time of the newspapers hey-day when the front page was the most sought after space in the paper.

Now, that front page means the home page of any major news website on the world wide web or blog in the blogosphere.

What excites me more is the growth of the blogosphere has enhanced the number of people who can share and provide content to a vast audience of readers. Average citizens can record video footage of a political speech, rock concert or a social uprising and post the video along with some background information in a matter of seconds with today’s technology.

This speedy exchange of information provides us with the most up-to-date information and the moniker of the most informed generation in history.

I don’t know about you but as citizens this is an exciting time to be a journalist and to feel like your words are being read and your voice is being heard.