Being a journalist student, I found this question extremely intriguing. When looking at media change it is important to take a look at the first forms of media. Going back before the age of the computer and even newspapers and books, the only way of distributing news would have been orally. However, when distributing news through word of mouth, we come across many issues. Firstly, information being passed orally often gets distorted and the initial ‘news’ would have no real relevance or credibility by the time it had reached a mass of people. A great example to back this up would be the age old game of ‘Chinese whispers’. anybody who has taken part in a game of Chinese whispers will understand how easily and quickly information can become distorted.
As you can see the ‘news’ would not have been distributed throughout a large proportion of society and still remain credible.
The importance of news in society is not to be under-estimated. News is important within society as people constantly have the need to either tell stories, gain an opinion on current events that effect their everyday lives and news also has the ability to bring society together.
“The rapid circulation of news is evidence of more than just the desire of individuals to know and tell; it is evidence of societal commitment.” Michael Stephens, a history of news pg 15. This quote backs up my opinion of news in society.
Advancements in technology have certainly improved the availability of news on a huge scale. Take for instance the humble newspaper. Newspapers are available on a local scale, containing news from your local constituency and filled with issues that are effecting your area. However newspapers are now available on a national and international scale, and are made available to everyone, paving the way for societies need for accurate, relevant and credible news to be fulfilled.
Further advancements in technology such as the internet and computers, have prompted an explosion in the amount of information made available across all media platforms. Take for example the internet which nowadays is available globally, therefore any information posted on the internet can be viewed by masses of people in an instance. A great advantage of online news is clearly the ease of which the information can be accessed. In the click of a button we can see news from, the US, Asia, Europe, the Americas and so forth, allowing the user to gain a wider perspective on current affairs.
It cannot be questioned that with great advancements in technology, society has become a fountain of knowledge with infinite amounts of information no more than a click away.
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