Week 12 entry: JOURNALISMS CHANGING FACES

 "Is the news agenda shrinking?"

Richard Aedy, radio presenter

In a broadcast released on Friday the 19^th of October, ABC radio presenter, Richard Aedy, put forth a very pressing question, is the news agenda shrinking? In an interview with Jim Parker, a former journalist who writes the blog The Failed Estate, this very question was debated. They both argued that journalism is a changing industry in which ‘young blood’ is taking over and experience lacks. Aedy suggested that with the increasing demand within the industry for immediate news in a very efficient manner, the content available is now becoming limited. While Aedy states he doesn’t want to “impugn the quality of the young journalists in our newsrooms because some of them are outstanding,” he also explains that without older journalists that have “maybe been around [this] block before,” prospective lacks. Parker also suggests that with the new ’24-7’ news cycle that has prevailed, very much relying on the use of websites, “the media just basically repeat a lot of stuff that hasn’t really been scrutinised that closely. The journalists don’t get a chance to actually sit back and say, well is this true? Let’s go away and look at this. Let’s put it in perspective. And often previously what might have seemed to have been a story earlier in the day would have got junked before it actually got published. But everything gets through now. So the filtering process doesn’t exist. Or if it does exist, it’s pretty light.”

Transcript available at: http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/mediareport/is-the-news-agenda-shrinking3f/4323476#transcript

 

 What Media Mayhem says:

Jake Sturmer, winner of the 2012
Walkley Young Journalist of the Year 

 As a studying journalist, I found this transcript particularly captivating. While my opinion may be slightly bias as I am obviously going to encourage the use of young journalists within the workforce, I fully understand the argument that both Aedy and Parker are presenting. However, news providers need to adhere to demand and as it currently stands, 24-7 online news is what’s on request. While older journalists may have experience in their chosen fields and their knowledge may be extensive, if they are unable to meet the changing demands of their industry, their knowledge and prospective may become completely unrequired.  Perhaps, like what Parker argues, news is becoming less filtered and content less scrutinized, but it’s still being read, nonetheless. Young journalists like Jake Sturmer, ABC presesnter and winner of the 2012 Walkley Young Journalist of the year, for his investigation into sexual abuse at a government-run hostel, “Katanning Hostel Abuse” (ABC Online, 2012), are continueing to prove their worth. With that said, experience needs to be respected and there should always be a place within the journalism industry, for it to remain. Experience and knowledge need to meet technology and accessibility half way, because if the older journalists are open to it, they could learn as much from ‘young blood’ as we can from ‘experience and prospective,’ allowing both the old and the new, to excel.  

References:

http://about.abc.net.au/2012/07/jake-sturmer-wins-young-journalist-of-the-year/

Image one:

http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/richard-aedy/2913352

Image two:

http://about.abc.net.au/2012/07/jake-sturmer-wins-young-journalist-of-the-year/