The Importance of Facts

 

       

  

             Technology has greatly changed society’s expectations of mass media and culture. Ther is now an expectation that news and current events be released immediately, as the new happens. Prior to the internet and social media, events were released as soon as possible. 30 years ago, news was primarily reported on television or printed in the paper. Today, because of technological advancements such as the internet and social media, journalist are able to report in real time.

While it is beneficial to have news instantaneously, this can also create time constraints for the journalist. There is added pressure on the journalist to post the news story first. The pressure that the journalist may experience can lead to inaccurate reporting.  In the Jayson Blair Plagiarism story, the former NY Times editor mentioned that he felt the pressure of posting story quickly and states that was one reason some of his stories were inaccurate. This incident happened in 2003, before social media. Now more than ever, journalist have the expectation from the public that the story will post as soon as it occurs.