preview

Mainstream Media

Good Essays

Mainstream media such as television, radio, newspapers were the primary source of reliable information before the epoch of the internet. However, the situation has changed. The evolution of modern technology in the world today has led to the continuous increase in the methods of practicing journalism. Social and technological advancements have not only improved the pace and content of this field’s practice, but has extended its genre to online or cybernetic journalism. (Project for Excellence in Journalism, 2007). News websites most of which are owned by major media companies and alternative websites with user generated content such as social networking sites and blogs are gaining grounds in the journalism field of practice. (Nel, n.d). …show more content…

(Bucy, 2009.) Features of this era were continuous news updates online, more interactive chats and online discussions, continuous video and audio news streaming, and programme schedules were posted online, hence leading to the emergence of news communities. (Ferguson, 2000.) With the online newspapers, more multifaceted forms of storytelling with long-term demand developed, (Harper, 1998), and print journalists implemented electronic ways of getting information, and communicating with news sources consistent with the evolution of the internet as a vital news medium. (Barnhurst, 2002.)
The 2000’s saw a complete turn in the evolution of the internet as a news medium. Unlike the first two generations which were characteristically a one way medium of communication with little or no feedback, today, the emergence of hyperlinks, bloggers and improved interactive links that have served in a joined news experience hence attracting the audience in contributing to news developments. (Bucy, 2009.) Brown, (2000, p.26) views this as an era where “the passive newscast and the household newspaper are being replaced”, allowing audiences with specialised interest to watch interviews, press conferences and other events at their convenience. (Bucy, 2009.) Brown (2000, p.26) further sees this third generation of net news as a means of engaging the younger

Get Access