Journal Post #1

Post Broadcast News vs Broadcast News.

News broadcasting used to be prestigious back in the day, if “Anchorman” ever taught us anything, it’s that news anchors were the superstars in their community when news broadcasting was the best source for news available to everyone. Fast forward a few decades, the internet took over the world by storm. Youtube was created, what was meant to be a platform for personal talents showcasing suddenly became a platform where people shared news or real life events that they so happened to encounter and had their smartphones ready at the time. This changed the way news was meant to be distributed, media companies are no longer the only source of news, with internet the consumers have become the providers.

News became more diverse, consumers now have a lot more sources to choose from. Ratings for newsroom shows went down as people are moving on to an era of post broadcast, where news can be obtained online via our smartphones or tablets. This pushed news companies to adapt by either conforming to technology  (introducing apps, setting up websites) or become more varied and introducing an entertaining element into their news broadcasting. Take ‘Daily Show with Jon Stewart’ for example, the show doesnt only present news, they TALK about the news by separating the show into three segments.

First, presenting the news. Second, talk to the correspondent about the news. Lastly, roundtable discussions with experts or credible people on the news.

All of this, with a touch of humour in Jon’s personality.

This really goes to show the pressure that has been brought upon the broadcast industries to adapt coming into the post-broadcast era. The pressure is so much that certain companies would forgo credibility in exchange for spiced up news just to retain the interest of their consumers.

The question worth asking here is, is the post-broadcasting era better than the broadcast era?

I would say that the one big weakness that the post broadcast era has is credibility. With so many sources, and companies trying to attract readers and viewers with inconsistent or exaggerated news. It is hard for consumers to pinpoint accurate news and it is even hard for us to trust in the news that we read on our Facebook feed every day.

But on the other hand, I do think that this has lead to us being smarter consumers. We have learned to question news that are reported and we are learning to not jump onto bandwagons blindly. This era has trained us to be more literate in the media world.

Several news shows like ‘Daily Show with Jon Stewart’ are holding the media industry accountable by broadcasting credible news and pointing out when someone else doesn’t.

The broadcast industry, however outdated it may be, is the still the best source of live news reporting. While certain companies implement live news in their websites, most of them are in the form of texts and not visually helpful in helping consumers understand the event being reported.

As much as mediums in the post broadcast era are becoming more and more prominent and easily accessible to consumers, I still think that the broadcast industry holds an important place in journalism as I feel that the elements of live broadcast brings an irreplaceable feel towards consumer journalism. It feels more professional, more authentic, and there’s just something about receiving news from a physical person on live TV that makes it much better experience.