News Blog 7, Question 1 (March 27th)
How have changes in the way we consume media impacted the news media
industry? Where are people getting their news today? And what can journalism
outlets do to keep younger audiences, in particular, engaged? Limit:
12 responses
Note from Mark Contreras...for our discussion Tuesday 3/27
ReplyDeletehttps://www.borrellassociates.com/loac/LOAC2018/Gian_Fulgoni_The%20Future%20of%20Digital%20Platforms%20Final.pdf
A majority in which we consume media today is online and because of this, it has affected the news media industry in particular because now people can see news at a quicker rate than ever before. For example, now people can get notifications of the current news on their iPhone if they wish to, sign up for an online news subscription or just have the app for it. Because we are at this level of technological involvement, the struggle is how these journalists are going to keep younger audiences interested and engaged in their particular news information.
ReplyDeleteWith the rate of mobile device usage rapidly increasing, digital news and social media are continuing to grow, becoming one of the most routine places for Americans to get their news. In a recent study, journalists and media practitioners have gathered their top findings about today’s digital news media landscape. From their study, it was concluded that from 2016 to 2017, television has decreased 57% to 50%, online news media has increased from 38% to 43%, radio news has plateaued (remaining at 20%), and print newspaper has decreased only by 2%, being the only media out of the four that has not decreased. From this information, one can see that “the gap between television and news consumption is narrowing”. Due to this fast-paced need for information, more people are using mobile devices for their news because it is the most convenient. Older adults have caught up to the ‘trend’ as well, as they are the ones driving the growth of mobile news usage. In fact, it is growing so much that two out of the three U.S. adults are now getting their news from some source of social media. However, with this high use for news arises an issue: fake (political) news. Approximately 51% of Americans say that they come across inaccurate news, thus causing them to have less trust when getting news information from any type of social media source. Because “social media and news websites are the most common pathways to online news”, one has to be skeptical as to which news source they are using, for one that directly comes from a news organization is probably more trustworthy and carries more accurate news. The most common source of news is found from either the website itself or news app, its social media platform, search engine, its news organization via email, text, alert, or a family or friend emailing or texting one another, and other category. (Bialik, 2017)
It is assumed that Millennials now-a-days are less interested in news than those who grew up in the pre-digital age. Millennials are, said by researchers, to not take interest in looking at news sites, watching news on television, printed newspaper (or looking to other sources for news)…they just don’t care. Instead of spending time on news sites, they prefer to go on other social networks that are mostly found on mobile devices because that is the most handy/quick way to do so. This creates a worry that Millennials will be naïve about what is going on in the world and will only see news as random elements on their feed rather than something they should be invested in, taking their times to look at and making themselves aware of, “their discovery of events is incidental and passive, and that news is just one of the many random elements in a social feed.” (Media Insight Project 2015)
It is difficult to change these types of people, therefore news media will just have to learn to adapt to these new ways and learn about its audiences. One way to do this is to use the most accessed sources by Millenials and incorporate news in a way that it is one of the primary sources in that media/also making it interesting with digital technology to appeal to their eyes and really catch their attention. “This generation tends not to consume news in discrete sessions or by going directly to news providers. Instead, news and information are woven into an often continuous but mindful way that Millenials connect to the world generally, which mixes news with social connection, problem solving, social action, and entertainment” (Media Insight Project 2015)
DeleteJournalism outlets in particular, are encountering issues with this and must learn ways in which to keep their younger audiences engaged. “The first and most important task of audience development in journalism is to produce good content” (Monteiro 2017). The second step is to make sure that the content produced will be consumed by the public in the digital environment. However, before any of this happens, one needs to have meticulous data to measure the specific audience. Reliable data is key to credibility. Using social media to track audiences is a good way to understand the audience you are aiming for. Using popular sources such as Twitter, YouTube, Snapchat, Facebook, Tumblr, Instagram etc. will help the data because they appeal to the younger audience they are trying to maintain.
As we can see, media sources are slowly growing each year and will probably continue to grow because of the rapidly moving rate of technological advances.
Journalists will either have to adapt to the younger generation and carefully study their audiences or they will not be able to survive.
Bialik, Kristen and Katerina Eva Matsa. "Key Trends in Social and Digital News Media," Pew Research Center 4 Oct. 2017. Web.
Shearer, Elisa and Jeffrey Gottlfried. "News Use Across Social Media Platforms 2017," Pew Research Center 7 Sept. 2017. Web.
Media Insight Project. "How Millennials Get News," American Press Institute 16 March 2015. Web.
Monteiro, André. “How media outlets and journalists can develop their audiences: advice for tracking and growing your metrics,” Journalism in the Americas 5 July 2017 . Web.
I think it’s no secret that with the popularization of numerous platforms of social media within the last decade or so, these same sites have now turned into people’s primary sources of news. Social media allows for quick and convenient news, all at the user’s benefit. In discussing research results from Pew Research Center, Eliza Shearer and Jeffrey Gottfried state that “About one quarter of all U.S. adults (26%) get news from two or more of these sites, up from 18% in 2016 and 15% in 2013.” I myself, am included within that statistic as I use Facebook as one of my primary news sources. Besides just seeing news articles shared throughout the site, I’ll often look to see what’s trending as well. Even with sites like Twitter and Snapchat, users are able to consume frequent and constantly updating news from whomever they follow. With these platforms as well comes the convenience of modern day technology where news can now be constantly consumed with a device we carry around in our pocket everyday. With this large digital shift in news consumption, we’ve seen the news media industry evolve with this trend. Many news outlet now focus on their digital media, whether that be a focus on their websites or social media. Journalists now have to be on their feet when it comes to reporting a story as anyone can simply take out their phone break the story first.
ReplyDeleteTo keep younger audiences engaged, it’s important that these news media outlets stick with this digital trend. According to Kristen Bialik and Katerina Eva Matsa in discussing research results again from Pew Research Center, they note how “Two-thirds of Americans (67%) get at least some news on social media” and that “as of spring 2017, 45% of U.S. adults often get news on a mobile device, up from 36% in 2016 and 21% in 2013.” It’s clear that it’s not just this younger audience that’s making this digital shift in news consumption. In order to keep up with these evolving audiences, it’s important for journalists to properly utilize and put a large focus towards their social media use. Not only this but take advantage as well of the many new opportunities that social media presents them for news reporting. As Alecia Swasy notes, “For reporters, Twitter expands their readership to an entire globe that was once limited to geographic circulation boundaries.” If these outlets follow the trends that clearly note audiences shift towards social media use in news consumption, then they should know where to put their emphasis. To engage a younger audience then it’s on these companies to stay relevant to what social media platforms that their target audience is using. For example, Snapchat is primarily known for being used among a younger crowd and we’ve seen a large shift in this app’s many uses over the last few years. We now see specific journalists such as Savannah Sellers and Gadi Schwartz from NBC’s Stayed Tune amassing many followers on Snapchat, where they can frequently and easily report to. If news media outlets follow along with these specific digital trends, then they’ll be able to maintain their audience and even reach new audiences in the process.
Bialik, Kristen and Katerina Eva Matsa. "Key Trends in Social and Digital News Media," Pew Research Center 4 Oct. 2017. Web.
Shearer, Elisa and Jeffrey Gottlfried. "News Use Across Social Media Platforms 2017," Pew Research Center 7 Sept. 2017. Web.
Swasy, Alecia. “I studied how journalists used Twitter for two years. Here’s what I learned.” Poynter. 22 March 2017. Web.
https://www.poynter.org/news/i-studied-how-journalists-used-twitter-two-years-heres-what-i-learned
Lorenz, Taylor.“Network News Reporters Are Snapchat’s Biggest Stars” The Daily Beast. 1 Jan. 2018.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/nbcs-most-beloved-anchors-are-on-snapchat?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=THR%27s%20Today%20in%20Entertainment_now_2018-01-29%2010:10:45_rrahman&utm_term=hollywoodreporter_tie
In today’s day and age, physically newspapers are almost becoming obsolete. Aside from post-millennial individuals, the majority of consumers obtain their news through different social media outlets. With this shift, the 24-hour news cycle has become more prevalent than ever before. Instead of having to wait until the next morning to read an article, employees are working countless hours to report on the news almost as soon as it occurs.
ReplyDeleteA study conducted by the Pew Research Center shows that “as of August 2017, two-thirds (67%) of Americans report that they get at least some of their news on social media” (Shearer & Gottfried 2017). I tend to use social media to get my news because I don’t have to go out of my way to search for it. By following different news accounts on Twitter and Instagram, the posts will automatically pop up on my feed without me having to find it myself. I think that this is a great way for journalism outlets to keep younger audiences engaged. With the information given to them with minimal effort, younger generations are more apt to receive the news. Eric Young sums up this idea by saying that “this generation tends not to consume news in discrete sessions or by going directly to news providers. Instead, news and information are woven into an often continuous but mindful way that Millennials connect to the world generally, which mixes news with social connection, problem-solving, social action, and entertainment” (Young 2015).
Another great way that media outlets have been engaging younger audiences is by creating niche news accounts. News that is tailored towards people’s specific interests tends to generate a loyal audience because viewers are aware of the content they opt to receive. For example, I tend to follow entertainment news accounts, news about my hometown, etc., because those are topics that interest me. I also like to follow just one major news outlet like The New York Times for example so that I can stay up to date on current events. I feel that following too many major news sources can be overwhelming, which is why I prefer to follow just one or two.
Unfortunately, we find that the 24-hour news cycle tends to not always work in the consumer's favor. With people being able to report on news ASAP, it can lead to false reporting. It has been seen that some news outlets are so eager to be the first to report on something that they do not fully check the validity of their content. For example, in December, Brian Ross for ABC News had incorrectly reported that during the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump had directed Michael Flynn to make contact with Russian officials before the election. Later that night, “Ross read a clarification on ABC World News Tonight, saying Trump had actually asked Flynn to make contact with Russia after the election when he was president-elect” (Wang 2017). Even small mistakes like this can lead to a much larger impact and influence public opinion.
I feel that the changes in the news industry have actually led more individuals to consume news. Elder generations are still buying newspapers, and younger generations are receiving news in a way that is familiar to them. Journalism outlets are aware of how to target different audiences which is a vital part of making sure your content is spread. I feel that these changes have overall affected the news industry for the better and will continue to change in our favor.
Works Cited
DeleteShearer, Elisa, and Jeffrey Gottfried. “News Use Across Social Media Platforms 2017.” Pew Research Center's Journalism Project, 7 Sept. 2017, www.journalism.org/2017/09/07/news-use-across-social-media-platforms-2017/.
Wang, Amy B. “ABC News Apologizes for 'Serious Error' in Trump Report and Suspends Brian Ross for Four Weeks.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 3 Dec. 2017, www.washingtonpost.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/wp/2017/12/03/abc-news-apologizes-for-serious-error-in-trump-report-suspends-brian-ross-for-four-weeks/?utm_term=.6c26bca614b3.
Young, Eric. How Millennials Get News: Inside the Habits of America’s First Digital Generation . Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research | American Press Institute , Mar. 2015, www.mediainsight.org.
Social media has single handedly changed the way we consume media. The birth of Twitter, Instagram and Facebook has revamped the way we get our news. Instead of watching the news on television before and after work and reading the daily newspaper, we can get news whenever we want with the touch of a button on our smart phones.
ReplyDeleteAccording to the American Press Institute, “some people, particularly older Millennials, are more inclined to actively seek news, while others tend to let news find them.” I really like the way they put that. I don’t have news apps on my phone but I do follow plenty of organizations on Twitter and Facebook. I look forward to scrolling past tweets from CNN and ABC because that is how I get my news. In a way that means I let the news find me. On that note, I definitely think that social media apps are how news organizations are able to keep their younger audiences. On one single social media app, I am able to find pictures of my friends, posts from my favorite celebrities and also hard news updates. People don’t want to have to go to several different locations for updates; we want everything available to us on one app and social media has allowed that to happen. Instead of waiting for a daily newspaper, we can open Twitter or scroll through Instagram to stay informed on the world around us.
The changes social media has made in the news industry are creating more news junkies. For example, Snapchat is a social media app that hits a younger demographic. News is also appearing on organizations’ Snapchat stories as a way to get the news to younger people. In an ever changing world, news organizations need to keep changing the way we get our news. They need to keep people interested and interactive. According to a Pew Research Center Survey, “more Americans prefer to watch their news than to read it or listen to it.” The research went on to clarify that people 50 and older prefer to watch their news and that may be because they are less likely to be on social media than millennials. This doesn’t mean that all millennials get their news on their smartphones, but just having the opportunity to do so makes the news that much more available.
Kurt Wagner of Recode Media says that this shift in social media news may be due to our “social media-obsessed president in the White House.” As far as al the social apps go, however, Facebook still takes the cake. “Forty-five percent of all American adults say they get some news from Facebook. YouTube is the next on the list, with 18 percent of adults getting news there. Eleven percent of adults get news from Twitter” (Wagner). I find these statistics to be surprising; I have never thought of Youtube as a news source, but I suppose videos have to be posted somewhere. As long as the shift in social media news continues, there will always be a way to get our news. Whether it be a newspaper, a news station, or scrolling through social media, there is always going to be a way to stay informed.
References:
Media Insight Project. "How Millennials Get News," American Press Institute 16 March 2015. Web.
Mitchell, Amy. "Younger Adults More Likely Than Their Elders to Prefer Reading News," Pew Research
Center 8 Oct. 2017. Web.
Wagner, Kurt. "Two-thirds of Americans are now getting news from social media." Recode, 7 Sept.
2017, www.recode.net/2017/9/7/16270900/social-media-news-americans-facebook-twitter. Accessed
26 Mar. 2018.
People used to speculate about the 2000’s and 2010’s wondering if robots or flying cars would deliver the newspaper. As it turns out, we carry access to the news on our person at all times on our mobile phones. Time spent on the internet has nearly tripled in the last seven years, which experts attribute to the rise of smartphones (Fulgoni). Meanwhile, the smartphone and other online methods have taken over the role of newspapers, all while starting to edge out cable as millenials and Gen Xers now spend a lot more time on their mobile devices than watching live TV (Fulgoni). Because of all this, the news media has undergone massive changes.
ReplyDeleteOne of the biggest changes that has come with this is the personalization of news. According to a Pew Research Report, about a quarter of U.S. adults get their news from multiple social media sites (Grieco) As users can subscribe to the news they want through subscribing on social media or downloading apps and customizing their alerts, this has left journalists with serious questions. Specifically, how do journalists deliver news of serious importance if readers can choose what they do and do not want to see? (Friedman)
Because of data analytics, journalists and editors can now see what interests readers which adds tension to the debate between whether journalists should focus more intently on satisfying the reader, or shedding light on important stories. (Friedman)
On top of that, the home page is becoming less and less relevant as users are less likely to go to specific sites for information, but rather following links from search engines and social media platforms. Because of this, editors have been tailoring headlines to appear higher in google searches (Friedman) and in some cases resorting to headlines that flirt with becoming clickbait. They also spend time figuring out how to pull readers by capitalizing on the algorithms that deliver content to social media users. (Friedman)
However, it is important to note that smaller sites have extreme difficulty competing with larger sites due to the expenses of search engine optimization, and must soon find a way to monetize the audience that they have. (Friedman) As it stands, Facebook and Google own 8 of the top 10 mobile apps, (Fulgoni) and this does not bode well for small websites. Meanwhile, 45% of American adults use Facebook for news, and half of Facebook’s news consumers rely on Facebook alone (Grieco). However, for more diverse outlets, about 20 percent of users account for 80 percent of viewing activity. Some publications are trying to push this group into subscriptions in order to profit off of their loyal followings, and that may just work. (Friedman)
Also interesting is the question of what format audiences use to consume news in the future. On the one-hand, it has been found that in Americans aged 18-29 and 30-49, reading is the preferred method of news consumption, while those aged 50-64 and 64+ preferred to watch the news. (Mitchel) This falls in line with the younger age group’s level of comfortability in reading web pages and scrolling on smartphones and tablets.
However, there is data that could be a threat to written news, even online. Among 18-24 year olds, the top apps by unique number of users (Snapchat, Instagram, YouTube) deal almost entirely in visual media with little, if any, print. (Fulgoni)
This contradiction could foreshadow even less stability in the future of news media, but the reliance on mobile consumption of news is by no means a threat to the industry, but more of a reshuffling of the deck as outlets have been scrambling and will continue to scramble for attention.
Works Cited
DeleteFriedman, Ann. “How to Build an Audience.” Columbia Journalism Review, Oct. 2014, www.cjr.org/innovations/how_to_build_an_audience.php.
Fulgoni, Gian. "The Future of Digital Platforms," Local Online Advertising Conference 2018, 12 March 2018, New York City.
Grieco, Elizabeth. "More Americans are Turning to Multiple Social Media Sites for News," Pew Research Center 2 Nov. 2017. Web.
Mitchell, Amy. "Younger Adults More Likely Than Their Elders to Prefer Reading News," Pew Research Center 8 Oct. 2017. Web.
As our society has becoming increasingly digital, the news media has had to adapt to this shift in order to keep in touch and at pace with their audiences. We seldom see people receiving their news in print form nowadays, as online sources have become more convenient and efficient. Many people have begun gathering news from social media forums as well, twitter especially, as it provides news that is both quick and concise, two features that our generation desires. According to the Pew Research Center, “As of August 2017, two-thirds (67%) of Americans report that they get at least some of their news on social media”(Shearer and Gottlfried). The idea of getting news through social media is brilliant; it is free, easy, convenient, and instant. The efficiency at which people can read, respond to, and share news is rather amazing, but it has completely changed the pace at which the news media industry must work.
ReplyDeleteWhile much of this transition is positive, the high dominance of social media in providing news creates some challenges for the news media industry. The biggest threat is the “fake news” epidemic. According to the Pew Research Center, “Americans have low trust in information from social media. Just 5% of web-using U.S. adults have a lot of trust in the information they get from social media” (Bialik and Eva Matsa). In order to continue the digital trend successfully, journalism outlets will have to work even harder to remain credible sources in the eyes of their audiences. In today’s digital news world, news quickly gets twisted or distorted, and ultimately becomes decreasingly credible.
Another challenge facing news media is the economical downturn that exists in making online versions of newspapers. Roy Greenslade discusses this idea in his article, writing: “ many “US newspapers’ online ventures... are stuck between a shrinking market for their print product and an unsuccessful experiment with digital offerings. They claim that “digital first” has been a losing strategy for most newspaper companies and call for “a critical re-examination of unchecked assumptions about the future of newspapers”(Greenslade). The problem lies in the fact that online subscriptions for newspapers have been on the decline, and while many abandon print news, they do not migrate to online versions. Is this decline as a result of the dominance of social media news? Possibly, but either way the news media must figure out how to keep readers engaged in online news, amidst the allure of free social media news. Taking advantage of the fake news issue that exists within social media is a great way for news media to regain reader loyalty. This sector of news media has maintained credibility while social media has barely seemed to establish any. Ultimately, it is evident that the digital era of news is here to stay, so journalists must find a way to connect to their audiences in order to remain successful within the industry.
Bialik, Kristen and Katerina Eva Matsa. "Key Trends in Social and Digital News Media," Pew Research Center 4 Oct. 2017. Web.
Greenslade, Roy. “Back to the Future: Were Newspaper Publishers Wrong to Go Digital?” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 19 Oct. 2016
Shearer, Elisa and Jeffrey Gottlfried. "News Use Across Social Media Platforms 2017," Pew Research Center 7 Sept. 2017. Web.
The past several years has witnessed a drastic change in how audiences today consume media. Twenty to thirty years ago, you would buy the morning paper and read it while having coffee outside next to a news stand. Today, you drink your coffee and catch up with the news on your phone. From data collected in 2017, 43% of Americans said they get their news online, while 50% get it on television. When they get out of work, many older individuals turn on the 5 or 6 o’clock news on their television sets. About 67% percent of Americans get their news from social media sites. From data collected in 2017 by the Pew Research Center, Kristen Bialik wrote “However social media is not seen as a trustworthy outlet in comparison to traditional news outlets” (Bialik). Social media is not seen as very trustworthy, as most people just post what they define as newsworthy compared to a journalism outlet.
ReplyDeleteAudiences are getting their news from general websites, apps and even social media today. In 2017, about 45% of U.S. adults said they receive their news from a mobile device compared to around 31% of desktop users. From data collected in 2017 by the Pew Research Center, Amy Mitchell wrote “…younger adults who prefer to watch their news are beginning to make the transition to doing so on a computer rather than a television” (Mitchell). In an effort to save money on cable fees, you are seeing this younger audience resorting to a cost-effective strategy where it is just easier to catch up on the news on a computer. Today, many people use a computer in some part of their day, so it easier for them to pull up the news even while they are working. Still, close to 60% of Americans prefer to get their news through television.
For journalists to keep younger audiences engaged, they have to reach them on the platforms they use. Shannon Younger wrote in an article from Chicago Now, “Even scrolling is designed to keep users on an app. People keep scrolling wondering what they'll find next” (Younger). To reach younger audiences today, there are two main ways. Apps and social media are designed perfectly for continuous scrolling. This curiosity drives their audiences for more. News outlets use this scrolling option to increase the amount of articles a person is exposed to.
Most news organizations put the biggest articles such as national news on top, followed by regional news or less newsworthy articles at the bottom. Today, most young adults are still not as interested as older adults in the news altogether. But for those who are, they use digital methods to get it, rather than classical television and print. As of 2017, about 81% of young adults prefer to get their news digitally over print. For journalism outlets to keep younger audiences engaged, they will have to continue to come up with strategies other than just scrolling. Audiences need to have interactivity to stay engaged. The more interactivity that is provided by these news outlets, the younger the audience they will attract.
Bialik, Kristen and Katerina Eva Matsa. "Key Trends in Social and Digital News Media," Pew Research Center 4 Oct. 2017. Web.
Mitchell, Amy. "Younger Adults More Likely Than Their Elders to Prefer Reading News," Pew Research Center 8 Oct. 2017. Web.
Younger, S. (n.d.). What your teen needs to understand to be a smart social media user & consumer. Retrieved March 25, 2018, from http://www.chicagonow.com/between-us-parents/2017/04/social-media-manipulates-users-to-make-money/
Over the past few years, it has become evident that technology and social media has completely taken over the news media industry. Newspapers have pretty much become a thing of the past. We now have all of the news and information that we could possibly want right at our fingertips through Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, etc. Newspapers aren’t expensive by any means, but why go to the store and spend 25 cents or whatever it is when you can stay in the comfort of your own home and get news for free? This new era also has a positive impact on the reporters because now they have the ability to break a story whenever they see fit.
ReplyDeleteAccording to an article by Elisa Shearer and Jeffrey Gottfried, “As of August 2017, two-thirds (67%) of Americans report that they get at least some of their news on social media – with two-in-ten doing so often, according to a new survey from Pew Research Center. This is a modest increase since early 2016, when (during the height of the presidential primaries) 62% of U.S. adults reported getting news from social media.” This is not just because of young people. The article goes on to mention that “For the first time in the Center’s surveys, more than half (55%) of Americans ages 50 or older report getting news on social media sites. That is 10 percentage points higher than the 45% who said so in 2016. Those under 50, meanwhile, remain more likely than their elders to get news from these sites (78% do, unchanged from 2016)” (Shearer and Gottfried.)
According to an article by Elizabeth Grieco, Facebook is the most popular place where people get their news from. Following Facebook is Reddit, YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instragram, Snapchat, and WhatsApp (Grieco.) While Twitter, which is my preferred news source, is fourth on this list, it has recently made strides in the right direction. Kurt Wagner provides some insight to this in one of his articles. He states, “But while Twitter still lags far behind Facebook in total news consumers, it still seems to be benefiting from President Trump, who is a heavy tweeter. Pew found that 74 percent of U.S. adults who use Twitter say they get news there, up from 59 percent of the site’s users in 2016” (Wagner.)
In order to keep younger audiences engaged, I believe that journalists should continue to capitalize on this digital era. They can do this by posting their articles on their social media accounts, which most of them already do. I cannot speak for everyone but I am much more likely to click on a story and read it when I am scrolling through my social media timeline. Another trend that I have noticed throughout this digital era is that people have less interest in long stories. I think the most effective way to get younger people engaged in your work is to try your best to keep it short and to the point.
Shearer, Elisa, and Jeffrey Gottfried . “News Use Across Social Media Platforms.” Pew Research Center , 7 Sept. 2017.
Grieco , Elizabeth. “More Americans Are Turning to Multiple Social Media for News.” Pew Research Center , 2 Nov. 2017.
Wagner, Kurt. “Two-Thirds of Americans Are Now Getting News from Social Media.” Recode, Recode, 7 Sept. 2017.
People today are now getting their media from nontraditional media sources in droves. This is occurrence is happening for both entertainment media as well as news media. In the news realm we see the shift to web based news gathering gaining ground rapidly. According the Pew Research Center’s Kristen Bialik and Katerina Eva Matsa, “As of August 2017, 43% of Americans report often getting news online, a share just 7 percentage points lower than the 50% who often get news on television. The gap between the two news platforms was 19 points in early 2016, more than twice as large. The share of Americans who often get news from TV – whether from local TV news, nightly network TV news or cable news – has fallen, while the portion of Americans often getting news online – either from news websites/apps or social media – has grown.” A growing portion of the news that is gathered online is also from social media. In fact The Pew News center also reports in their article News Use Across Social Media Platforms 2017 that about two-thirds of Americans get some of their news from social media feeds.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion this has greatly shifted the way in which stories get reported. Now that people have the freedom to get their news from wherever they so choose to get their news from, and media outlets rely on advertising dollars that are determined by clicks on articles there is a greater emphasis on giving the reader what they want. For a company to make more money than its competitors in the online news business they have to play into the readership’s unconscious desire for the confirmation bias. A news outlet can make more money by framing a news story from a certain political angle so that readers read what they want to believe. As jaded as some people are getting about the current state of news I genuinely believe the sad truth is that this is the best way for outlets to keep audiences engaged. According to Amy Mitchell’s Pew Research Center’s article Younger Adults More Likely Than Their Elders to Prefer Reading News, “To be sure, younger adults consistently demonstrate less interest in the news overall. But our research also reveals that, in the digital realm, they often get news at equal or higher rates than older Americans, whether intentionally or not.” In the article Mitchell also points out that younger audiences are far more likely to read their news when they do go out and find news media. To keep younger audiences engaged it makes practical sense for a news outlet to post written articles, social media posts on places such as twitter and Facebook and to stick to the confirmation bias formula. I hope that people become more aware of this, and make adjustments for the sake of maintaining an informed public.
Bialik, Kristen, and Katerina Matsa. "Key Trends In Social And Digital News Media." Pew Research Center. N.p., 2018. Web. 27 Mar. 2018.
Mitchell, Amy. "Younger Adults More Likely Than Their Elders To Prefer Reading News." Pew Research Center. N.p., 2018. Web. 27 Mar. 2018.
Shearer, Elisa, and Jeffrey Gottfried. "News Use Across Social Media Platforms 2017." Pew Research Center's Journalism Project. N.p., 2018. Web. 27 Mar. 2018.
Technology has changed dramatically over the course of the past 20 years and consequentially transformed the ways in which we consume media. In the past we relied on Newspapers to learn about current events, radio for music, Television for entertainment, computers for Internet, and phones for communication. The shift towards the use of smartphones has revolutionized the way we receive and respond to media.
ReplyDeleteThe all-in-one smartphone devices have obscured our need for multiple mediums. The convenience and mobility of these devices simply fits the fast-paced, ever-changing lifestyle of American society. Smartphone applications such as Facebook and Twitter have made their mark, namely on the millennial generation by creating an easy portal of accessing multiple forms of media. These two applications in particular offer entertainment, communication, and more recently news.
According to the Pew Research Center,“When it comes to technology’s influence on America’s young adults, reading is not dead – at least not the news. When asked whether one prefers to read, watch or listen to their news, younger adults are far more likely than older ones to opt for text, and most of that reading takes place on the web”(Mitchell). The trend of social media becoming involved in producing news media isn’t necessarily hurting news media, but it certainly is changing the way news media is consumed.
With this, however, there are many who believe that this new way of consuming news media is damaging the quality of its content. According to The Outline, “The social network wants to expand, brutally, inexhaustibly, endlessly — lurching ever forward to more eyes, more time, more data, and more money. A more perfect Internet, the kind that looks and feels just enough like the real thing, just enough to make some money, but without all those sharp edges. A nanny state with fringe benefits”(Topolsky). What the author is ultimately trying to drive at is the reality that social media platforms such as Facebook are only concerned with making money. The lack of regulation over true and legitimized news is lacking, and if a majority of people is receiving their news from social media this can cause a major crises and spread of false information.
If journalism outlets want to stay relevant in this media environment, they have to appeal to the millennial generation. According to Adweek, “Social sites have the advantage when it comes to news readership, with the collected audiences browsing relentlessly. The relationship is mostly symbiotic, as social sites need the content to provide keep users engaged throughout the day”(Morrison). They should present themselves in the form of applications that are easy-to-use because of the high volume of distractions that pop up on screens are the number one way readers are deterred. It is in their best interest to keep users engaged through the use of limited quality content, striking headlines, and visual media.
Works Cited
Mitchell, Amy. “Younger Adults More Likely Than Their Elders to Prefer Reading News.” Pew Research Center. 6 Oct, 2016.
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/10/06/younger-adults-more-likely-than-their-elders-to-prefer-reading-news/ft_16_09_30_newsbyage/
Morrison, Kimberly. “Social, Mobile Driving Millennial News Consumption (Infographic).” Adweek. 1 Aug, 2016.
http://www.adweek.com/digital/social-mobile-driving-millennial-news-consumption-infographic/
Topolsky, Joshua. “Facebook Killing News is the Best Thing That Ever Happened to News.” The Outline. 15 Jan, 2018.
https://theoutline.com/post/2936/facebook-news-feed-changes-are-actually-good-for-news?zd=8