Ever since I chose to follow my passion for journalism, I have heard people question me constantly. They’ve told me how journalism is dying in this era, even though everybody can be a citizen journalist with just a click of a button. A lot of people say that it is such a bad thing that the public has so much access on the Internet, where different kinds of news without accuracy flow around before the newspaper or broadcast channel delivers the news. Why can’t we look at the good side of journalism in this digital era? Why can’t we benefit from all the information we can get nowadays?
Is there such a thing as a career in journalism if no journalists deliver accurate news to the public anymore? What do we know about what is right or wrong, true or false? People in the U.S. should not take freedom of speech for granted; it is certainly a privilege of receiving information in this society. And I will tell you that not everyone in the world enjoys this privilege.
Back in Hong Kong, there are only one or two mainstream broadcast channels that the general public gets the news from. Unfortunately, after the Umbrella Movement last year, the content is no longer in control of the journalists’ hands. Content and subjects of the news were being modified or being corrected under the government’s watch. A lot of people got one-sided news from these channels and did not understand the whole truth about news items. The newspaper or updates that were sent by citizens then turned into one of the main sources for the general public to receive news from different angles.
You might also know that Internet access is very limited and restricted in China — Google, YouTube and Facebook are all restrained. And the reason for all of this is that the government tries to limit the information that citizens can get in order to suppress riots or any rebels. Living in China then becomes living in a bubble, where you receive information that the government wants you to believe in.
Crowdsourcing is a good way for people to get news that is happening around the world. People nowadays have developed a habit of recording almost anything with their phones. Thanks to this advance in technology, a lot of times when protests, riots or even fights break out, there are always pedestrians who will pull out their phone to record live footage. These are great sources for journalists and the public to deliver and receive information respectively. Without it, how are we able to know what is happening in the world?
It is a true privilege to collect, gather and report information in the U.S. Although a lot of news can be delivered with the Internet, it is still crucial for journalists or citizen journalists around the world to cooperate and work together to create a world with truthful and accurate news. It will not work without either of them. People in the U.S. should appreciate their freedom to express and the information that can be received from the number of platforms. Not everyone in the world can enjoy this privilege to gather fair and impartial information.