Buzzfeed : The Future Of News

In an era of global technology, instant news, infomercials, electronic town meetings, and “Made for TV Documentaries,” the borderlines between news and analysis, news and entertainment, news and fiction are constantly shifting.

News organizations that report on stories in a fair, balanced and ethical manner are essential to the functionality of this nation. A citizen’s ability to make well-informed decisions hinges on a news organization’s ability to relay the most accurate information regarding the state of the nation, the changing condition of communities, and adjustments in the government. Journalism is no longer a one-sided conversation. Journalism is an interactive process that allows for readers and viewers to create a dialogue with journalists by utilizing mediums such as social networking sites and comment sections. Audiences have a say in what stories get reported and how news stories are presented to the masses. When news organizations fail to cover all

Speed, immediacy, global reach- the Internet provides vast, new opportunities for the distribution and reception of news. I had spent the past two weeks, Feb. 13- Feb. 28, observing the front-pages of CNN and Fox News online. Because both are powerful news networks, I focused my attention on the top-featured stories displayed on both web pages, and if stories were featured on both, did the news networks portray the stories similarly or differently. A lot of my attention was also focused on the diversity of both CNN and Fox News. I reviewed diversity by analyzing the difference in headlines, content throughout the story and the writers and reporters.

In his essay “But Enough about You” Brian Williams addresses a very interesting issue about the user- generated media and the Mainstream media in today's society. He believes that the ideal American culture has changed because people are only concerned about themselves. Nowadays people are more interested to watch news if the implied message involves them or if it's good enough to tell someone else. Williams explains how all the new devices, the web, video and the digital cable fill a perceived people need. Therefore, many people are not interesting in reading newspaper or watching news in which it leads the Media to lose viewers. He emphasizes that the audiences that follows the news report are dropped, but the media still work hard to gathering

Despite this similarity, majority of the soft news presented in the Guardian still relates to politics,

Comparing two newspaper articles, one from a tabloid and one from a broadsheet will convey the different techniques that tabloids and broadsheets use to present stories. Media in general, aim to inform and interest the audience which consist of many different types. Diverse emotions and ideas are created by the media; foremost tabloids. Tabloids are papers like ‘The Sun’, ‘The Mirror’, ‘The Daily Mail’, ‘The Express’ and ‘The Star’. In contrast to these are broadsheets like ‘The Times’, ‘The Guardian’ and ‘The Daily Telegraph’. Broadsheets are often known as the ‘quality press’ being more informing and formal in the manner they convey information and news stories.

Status Updates author Alice Marwick is an experienced academic observer of American online culture who subjectively weighs in on the new era of media and where this social media phenomenon is in this country let alone the world. This book takes you on a personal journey sheading light on old and new ideas such as, dot com era, Web 2.0, self- branding, Neoliberal capitalism, the up rise of micro celebrities, and online personas. Although precisely written and full of extensive qualitative research, this book is mostly over opinionated and anecdotal. A good amount of what Marwick is preaching isn’t necessarily true and full of negative rhetoric towards men such as Gary Vaynerchuk, a self-branding guru who she actually dedicates a part of her book too along with others. Most of the book is full of her first hand experiences in northern California tech start up hotbed areas where most of her work was done by good journalism.

Many commercial media outlets are outsourcing many of the services that provides them their information like weather, traffic, and graphic design to name a few. Soon, there will not be a person behind the camera. The trusted news personalities that we knew growing up are slowly being replaced by young attractive faces and skimpier dresses. Most “Millennials” get most of their information via a smartphone. Listening to Tom Brokaw question and answer a politician of race related issues is not as interesting as hearing the same topic being discussed on Power 105.1 FMs “The Breakfast

In her article Mass Media, she talks about how nightly news lead stories are ones of the most recent and extreme disasters or crimes. Things like this attract viewers which then means more money. Akin sees this as a negative to media because these are not the stories that should be the most important. More important stories are pushed aside in favor of the most recent, the most colorful, and the most shocking aspects of a conflict. Groups that understand this dynamic can cater to it in order to gain media attention. Most of the news I watch had more stories of soft news then it did hard. This is because people are more intrigued to stories that are more appealing and interesting at the moment. The more important stories can be seen as boring, when in reality they will have the biggest impact. The news can mislead and withhold important information for ratings and financial success and this in turn does not inform the public

In light of this topic, Buzzfeed’s reliability has come into question on whether or not it’s a trustworthy source for information. The new generation website known as Buzzfeed provides stories and entertainment that are important to day-to-day life and aim to have an impact on their reader’s

Technology is growing fast, as is the new generations branching off with new forms of media and devices that provide us with the news. News and politics have had difficulty when informing its public and community of the events that happen in their community. Now the media and news are growing to reform to the earlier generation’s way of receiving the news and events related to them, by using media and popular culture. According to Wodak, for politics to air and to engage and intrigue its public, it must need scandal, rumour, and speculation (45). The West Wing, is a clear example of where the news and politics enter into the world of entertainment, but still informing its audience of the political world and events they may

Picture this, you’re in your bed with your laptop burning a hole through your thighs as you scroll through the web in search of wholesome entertainment. With the click of a button you are transported and land upon the website homepage of Buzzfeed-a multi-platform social news and entertainment company. Provided are hundreds of links and activities available so that you may, skim through tasty recipies, waste time on interesting yet pointless quizzes, and a fan favorite, watch videos of men and or women trying weird, different things and enduring unusual experiences.

BuzzFeed exhibits their source of power in a number of different ways, such as through formal authority, technology, rules, structure, boundaries, and so on. They are able to continue to foster their power more specifically through their control over the modes and means of production. Modes of production is defined as the “economic conditions that underlie the production process” (Miller). When management has the power to procure surplus work from their employees it can cause a major conflict between the two entities. This was evident at BuzzFeed with another former employee, Kenny Moffitt. In a “Why I Left BuzzFeed” YouTube video, he described his role in the company, and how management emphasized the need for quantity over quality. They were willing to lose value in the work produced by BuzzFeed employees, for the specific reason to gain more profit. In most organizations, this could cause workers to lose interest in

Social media has had a huge impact on the way that journalism is practiced and the way that the general public perceive news in the present day.

So while traditional media’s old channels – print and broadcast – are floundering, their online properties are thriving.  In fact, I’d argue that the influence of traditional media outlets like theNew York Times and CNN are greater than ever.