Online Journalism Today

Task 1 – The first British Newspaper Online

In 1994 The Daily Telegraph launched Britain’s first newspaper website known as Telegraph.co.uk which has later gone on to be known as the Electronic Telegraph, in those years, journalism and newspapers being written online has blown up more than expected. The web has changed the way we look at and consume information, no longer does the average reader of a newspaper buy or get delivered a copy because of the shear accessibility and size the internet has become since 1994. An example of this is that in 1994 there were only around 10,000 websites, now there are more than 100 billion.

The Daily Telegraph decided to take their news to the digital world because of the massive opportunity it provided and by 1998 the site became a rolling news site and started to experiment with web-only content, images and videos. Information being online allowed for people to view it quicker and faster than if they were to go out and find it. This is what changed and shaped the world of journalism and newspaper publishing and since, many other newspapers all over the world have taken to the internet and produce content for both their websites and physical copies.

Task 2 – The pros and cons of using online reporting
Nothing is fit or created without its pros and cons, and despite people’s best efforts to create and try make things as perfect and great as possible, some things are unavoidable. In the world of online reporting these cons can be just as problematic as the risks and issues a journalist faces when writing for a print-based product. In addition, online newspapers give different benefits to what a print-based product can.

Pros:

1. The news online is more accessible

Because the news is published online, rather than printed out, this makes the news a lot more accessible to people. By July 1st 2014, over 2.9 billion people (40.4% Approx.) of the worlds population had access to the internet and use it regularly and the steady decrease in sales for print-based publications are justified by the Dailymail.co.uk website receiving over 11.34 million visitors daily in August of 2014.

( Stats cited from - http://www.internetlivestats.com/internet-users/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mail_Online )

2. Online news is able to be updated as the story develops

This is a big difference between news being printed and news being published online. With news being printed, once its out there its not directly editable without shipping out the developed story later on in the day or the next day. News develops faster than that and because its being reported online, direct edits and fixes can be mad because of how easy it is to.

3. News can be presented in more ways than one

News online doesn’t just have to be words or images like how a print-based product would present it as. News can also be in the form of audio and visual elements which aid the reader and give a bigger idea to the subject at hand. Sites are also able to direct you to different sites and articles which back up the information used and can provide a more in-depth and raw factual look into what the reader is looking at.

4. Online newspapers allow for more interactivity with its readers

Online articles often have web 2.0 tool, this means they allow for users to make comments on the article and discuss with other users about the topic being reported on. Interactivity is also presented in the form on polls as well though, polls are useful because they help the company gage and understanding idea of what each viewer thinks and what the majorities take is to a certain article or their site and the stories written.

Cons:

1. Journalists are now trained differently to how they used to be

Journalists nowadays are trained and taught differently, the core lectures and techniques are still taught but everything is usually done digitally now. This is a con because existing and older journalists have to adapt to the surge in popularity and accessibility of the internet. They also have to adapt to the use of twitter and crowdsourcing online, which is ever so prevalent in todays media and reporting.

2. Print form newspapers have been out for over 100 years

The argument and con here is that newspapers in the printed form have been out way before the invention of the world wide web and so its considered a tradition by many. Going from consuming the news from papers to an online form is seen as abandoning the old form of news reporting. Personally, I think this is dependant on what you think as an individual, I don’t see a problem with reading news online instead.

3. Local papers and statewide papers will suffer

Because of the rise in online papers, smaller printing companies have already had to lay off reporters, this is because less people now read printed newspapers and the news can be found globally now by bigger and better companies. This isn’t so much a bad thing about online reporting but one of the negative effects it has.

4. There are no standards in online reporting

Its true that there is common writing practice in which journalists under go, they are also taught to write up a story professionally and what is a do and don’t when writing it up. But the issues lies with that anyone can write up a blog or spread false information as well as try and pass it off as if its correct and real. This is why you should be cautious about what you read online and only trust big names and companies out there in the field of journalism and story reporting. They aren’t hard to find and it’s a lot nicer than being lied to and deceived. This risk is even larger when trying to crowdsource information via social media.