How has the voice of Journalism changed over the years?

With the rise in AI and social media, the way we present the news is forever changed.

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Photo from Getty Images

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​These days, nearly anyone with a phone can create and share content online. That’s both exciting… and scary?
 
On the positive side, social media gives more people a voice. Users can share their own stories, and breaking news often comes straight from regular people on social media before it hits TV, especially in the social media age. However, there are downsides. Misinformation can spread fast, people don’t always know what or who to trust.
 
While the sheer amount of content can be a lot sometimes, this new reality of sharing the news, in my opinion, hasn’t changed the relationship between journalists and the public that much. Journalists are still sharing the news, but instead of just telling it on tv, readers can now comment, share, fact-check, and even criticize stories in real time. Sometimes the audience even helps report the news, by posting videos or photos from events as they happen, which in turn end up being used my tv stations or big social media outlets. While it makes journalism less of a one-way street and more of a conversation, there is still a clear distinction between journalists and everyday citizens.

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Mobile devices and social media affect journalists in three big ways: how they gather news, how they share it, and how they connect with audiences. For gathering, think of reporters using Twitter/X or TikTok during a storm to find real-time videos from people on the ground or events from a sports game, like SU Football running sprints last week, a single video from someone’s phone went mega-viral. For sharing, outlets like The New York Times or ESPN will send push notifications straight to your phone or post quick-scrollable updates on Instagram. For engagement, people hold IG or TikTok lives now all the time to get audience engagement, or post polls on X for LIVE responses all the time.
 
While the challenges are big, the opportunity to connect with audiences in new ways is bigger.