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Power of Social media to journalism practice

Social media is a term used to describe the type of media that is based on conversation and interaction between people online. It has changed the way news is being reported. It has changed the world and revolutionized how information is stored, published, searched and consumed. Social media has become influential as a communication and news-breaking tool.

News consumption today is not the same as it was at the start of the 21^st century when people waited for their morning papers or evening news on television. News consumption today is not the same as pre-internet news when people tune in to events happening around the world through 24-hour television news channels. More recently, a growing number of readers, viewers and listeners are going online for their news. Television, newspapers and radio are still here but there is a growing competition from interactive online media.

Social media has helped a lot in this transformation since it helps people become journalists. Hence, people (the audience) often customize the information provided to suit their interests. Anybody now with access to internet and basic knowledge on the technologies can become a publisher and share stories to the rest of the world. Today, many stories are received third hand, through Facebook posts or Tweets so that by the time a story is assigned to the reporter, the story in some form or another is already out there in the social media universe. The reporter now has to take that into consideration and find some angle to the story that is not yet being talked about.

A lot of tips or leads these days are from the web or what’s “trending” in social networks like Twitter, Facebook or based on search volume patterns in search engines like Google or Bing. This is radically changing the industry’s concept of what a scoop or breaking news is, and people now want information in real-time.

New-media technology is not only having a serious effect because of its impact on established journalism. It offers the opportunity to transform the news media into a more open, trustworthy and useful forum for information and debate. As news becomes non-linear and open-sourced, journalism will change and is changing. This is about more than posting a comment on a blog or sending in a photo to a website.

William Dutton of the Oxford Internet Institute termed social media as the emergence of the Fifth Estate. In a 2009 interview with Nic Newman, former BBC Media Controller, Dutton said “we are witnessing the emergence of powerful new voices and networks which can act independently of the traditional media. Highly networked individuals (helped by new platforms like social networking and messaging) can move across, undermine and go beyond the boundaries of existing institutions.” This is possible due to the presence of citizen journalists who act primarily as watchdog and corrective for the mainstream.

As much as social media networks open new opportunities for the news industry, they also raise the possibility of a specialized crisis for journalists and media organizations. Reporters are now required to submit stories for multiple platforms – television, radio, print and online. For a journalist in today’s media landscape, it is essential to be multi-skilled.

Pain of New media to journalism practice

New media is changing the face of media practice and journalism in general in the world today. The increasing impacts of new media in the dissemination of information have given room to an increase in both professional and amateur journalism.

Amateur journalism is that of people without professional journalism training using the tools of modern technology and the global distribution of the internet to create, augment or fact-check media on their own. The accessibility of online media has also enhanced the interest for journalism among youth and many websites.

This type of journalism began to flourish enabled by the emerging internet and networking technologies like weblogs, chat rooms and wikis. In Citizen Journalism, the journalists are them that were audiences before in the old media.

Though it has flourished over the years, it has posed serious challenges to the journalism profession. Some of them are:

Objectivity

Citizen journalists may become activists within the communities they write about. Since these journalist don’t have the necessary training in journalism practice, they end up doing their own things which sometimes are contrary to the profession. They rarely quote their sources or fact-check their stories before publishing. Some of them rely on hearsay which is unethical in the journalism practice.

Quality

Quality of information is highly compromised for lack of know how professionally. Though they report in real time, accuracy is undermined. For instance, if there was a fire in the army barracks or state house, people near these places may report of the fire but may not have sufficient information as to what was the cause of the fire.

Publishing of Graphic images

In professional reporting, journalists are cautioned on publishing images of too much graphic content. This can be during a fire outbreak or an attack, they should not publish photos of mutilated bodies or them that have 3^rd degree burns. Unfortunately, amateur journalists bypass this fundamental ethic and publish them. This images are very disturbing and shocking and should be avoided. 

What You See...

What You See…
In a world where digital manipulation is the order of the day, one has to be careful because what you see is not always what you get. It all started innocently with people editing pictures to suit their liking in order to be appreciated on social sites such as Facebook. These editing procedures hardly required complicated technologies, a few tricks here and there and voila!!!You are what you wanted…virtually.
Digital manipulation has since crept into the media industry. Journalists have been found to employ these techniques to prove a point or even use manipulated content for emphasis. The earliest cases of digital manipulation in the media were evident when a picture of a man was presented in a darker form as compared to what the original copy looked like. This, then, was not a major issue but could have passed for house style.
In an era where people value their reputation, digital manipulation can lead to lawsuits owing to agreed upon media laws and ethics. When one can prove that a content has been manipulated leading to defamation, for example, this can land one into serious trouble. Journalists, therefore, cannot fully enjoy digital manipulation because there is a fine line between a joke and professionalism.
It has been proven that power cannot protect one from application of digital manipulation to make them look good or bad. Former Kenyan president, Mwai Kibaki, has had trending manipulated pictures shared across various social platforms. I received one recently and wondered what the poor guy had done.
All the same, people in such positions can allow new media technologies to make or break them. Kibaki, for example was never really bothered by such pictures and that is how to survive such ‘storms’. Content will continue to be manipulated for laughs and others malice but it is important to note that this may be harmful to the media industry because when will you know what’s real and what’s not? This is a case of credibility in trial.

GROUP PRESENTATION...

Introduction
New media is comprised of various platforms that use the internet and advanced technologies that allow for sharing and storing of information. The society uses new media for the following online journalism, blogging and social media among others. The wide use of new media in various fields such as journalism has led to the rise of ethical issues due to the newness of the same which may not go along with traditional methods of handling issues. The society, therefore, requires a proper guideline to help handle issues in an ethical manner. Knowledge and application of media ethics, in the field of journalism for example, is are applied to provide a guideline on how best to handle sources or stories. Organizations have also come up to protect professionals and the profession as the rate of citizen journalism increases putting individuals in compromising situations where the law is concerned. Digital media ethics looks into problems, practices and norms of digital news media.
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is the act of copying someone’s ideas, text or presenting it as one’s own. This is in most cases, without the owners consent or knowledge. Using copyrighted content without permission is unethical. This is not allowed in various institutions in the society. Many learning institutions across the world do not tolerate plagiarism hence the need to acknowledge sources used to complete assignments. In the media industry various individuals have suffered the consequences for plagiarism.  According to Kinsley (2015), Fareed Zakaria, a famous journalist in the United States of America lost his job with after admitting to plagiarism. Though he got another job, this makes many question his credibility and intensions on his stories and columns. Organizations are investing heavily on plagiarism-detecting technologies to encourage people to be original and creative.
Anonymity
New media allows for anonymity and use incorrect information. This is not promoted in traditional mainstream media. On various occasions, people use new media platforms to send or publish irresponsible and harmful comments. Most mainstream media organizations allow this online but this is hardly the case when the same information is published on newspapers. Most editors chose to leave out comments from anonymous sources that can be termed irresponsible. This helps avoid unnecessary lawsuits. Leaving comments from anonymous individuals who do not want to be traced makes it hard to determine if it is worth it to have the comments accessible even if the information is true. Anonymity has been found to bring doubt on the content presented by a journalist or any persona sharing vital information. Fareed Zakaria’s stories and columns have since been questioned due to use of many anonymous sources.
Propaganda
Content spreads fast on new media platforms some of which may not be true. Facebook for example, allows one to share content with friends and other individuals within a short time as long as they have access to the technology required. This content can be humiliating leaving one deprived of their dignity. Many cases of harassment, defamation and issuing of threats in Kenya are emerging in the new media platforms. It is unethical to spread false information despite the discipline or field one is in. various courts have had to handle lawsuits on defamation, terming it as libel because despite the medium of access, the content is in written form. This has led to questions on whether service providers ought to be charged with libel because they allow the same. There are various arguments but many individuals agree that service providers should not be blamed for giving the user freedom to express themselves. They, however, should pull down information that is harmful or malicious.
Insecurity
New media technology is affecting the society positively and negatively. Security is am major concern when handling new media cases. There are various techniques that can be applied to acquire sensitive information about individuals leading to cases of insecurity. Tracking systems are readily available but their use can be viewed as unethical. This is evident in cases of kidnap simply because one shared their personal information on a new media platform such as a social site like Facebook. Cyber crimes are common with cases of hacking being experienced even in top governmental departments. The Americas is a victim of the same.
Digital manipulation
Digital manipulation- refers to altering of content to suit one’s needs. This includes addition or subtraction of content. This manipulation also applies to audio content. It is not wrong to crop a picture to get a better view of a subject despite this being a form of digital manipulation. However, it is wrong when a journalist, for example, makes a subject appear in a manner that is rather malicious in order to make a story sell. Many journalists have been taken to court for using manipulated pictures that have been found to be unethical. This is despite the fact that the technologies used in digital manipulation of content are easily available and affordable.
Reporters and new media
Reporters are encouraged to use social media to gather information. They also have personal accounts on which they use to share their opinions and view on particular events taking place. This provides a chance to promoting one’s own brand. On the other hand, this also creates a loophole because most reporters tend to contradict themselves. While they are expected to be unbiased, using personal accounts such as on social sites and blogs makes them rather unethical in their professions and the society in general. Unless one is doing an opinion piece many end up facing a lot of criticism which may even affect their jobs in terms of readership or viewership. This can be very unfair and unethical because one is judged on the basis of their online activities. This is also evident when companies use new media platforms as part of interviews when looking into ones behaviour and not their skills in a discipline.
Sensationalism
Many media organizations using new media platforms to relay information tend to be sensationalists. These, in Kenya, have since increased leading to unprofessionalism in the media industry. This may affect the thinking of a reader because the stories may not portray the reality on the ground. Stories written are often on the basis of a writer’s feeling towards a subject yet they are not opinion pieces. For example www.mipasho.com is one such site that is known to have sensational stories. They also tend to use misleading headings to attract readers.
Invasion of Privacy
Sites are making money out of compiling publicly available information about private citizens.  Sites such as Dig Dirt or WeSpy4U build a dossier on virtually any individual, in exchange for a fee. Newspapers have traditionally been a major compiler of such information. The advancing technology has made it possible for individuals to access information in questionable ways including tapping phones and using secret cameras. In Kenya, photographs of Ababu Namwamba, a politician, leaked on social media, an indication that no one is safe from invasion of privacy as far as new media technologies are concerned.
In conclusion new media technologies are widely used in various fields because they make work easier. It is important, however, to note that they come with their own disadvantages and many ethical issues related to them. It is therefore important that one uses the technology in a manner that is will not leave the other feeling violated. This helps avoid getting into trouble with the law. It also brings out the importance of providing clear guidelines on what is expected of the society when using new media.










References
Ess, Charles. (2009). Digital Media Ethics. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Friend, Cecilia and Jane Singer. (2007). Online journalism ethics: Traditions and Transitions. Armonk, N.Y.: M.E Sharpe.
Kinsley, M. (2015). Parsing the Plagarism of Fareed Zakaria.Vanity Fair. Retrieved July 28, 2015 from www.vanityfair.com/news/2015/02/michael-kinsley-fareed-zakaria-plagarism

Plagiarism, the Disease
New media has made it easy to access and share information to a wide audience. This was taken to be the best thing to happen to a new generation of journalists who were no longer barred by distance in terms of getting and sharing information.

Plagiarism has become the order of the day when many journalists are sharing information in a manner that is not ethical. When a journalist is guilty of plagiarism, a lot of questions are raised on the credibility of the stories done by the reporter.

In such an event, the name of the media organization, despite enjoying wide readership or viewership, will not protect a journalist’s name. Fareed Zakaria’s case is one such example. He lost his job with a prominent media organization and many are on his neck upon realization that a number of his stories are plagiarized.

Creativity is a vital ingredient that can be used in fighting plagiarism. It is important to identify our uniqueness and work hard to move up the success ladder in the media industry. Plagiarism limits one in that the story filed is not original hence no urge to go out and get sources and stories that will see one rise.
Plagiarism, like cancer, is a disease that eats into one slowly but kills quickly. For a first timer, it may seem small and the guilt may not be enough to make one regret but the consequences can cost one his career.

http://theweek.com/articles/442125/three-major-publications-have-acknowledged-plagiarism-by-fareed-zakaria-does-cnn-have-no-shame