What Impact Does Social Media Have on Mainstream Media?
Long before the phrase "fake news" was part of social and political vernacular, it was difficult for media to feed a 24-hour news cycle with enough content to keep news programming interesting. Fast-forward to today and not only is there plenty of news programming to spin clocks all day and all night, the traditional news media reporter is working harder and more frantically than ever.
News reporters who were once responsible for writing an article for the morning paper are now trying to keep up with bloggers, citizen journalists, tweeters and anyone else with a handheld device that can post information. They chase down all sorts of leads that pop up online - some of which have little or no credence. Mistakes are made more frequently, typos are more prevalent and information is not always properly fact checked.
It all begs the question: Is the media delivering the same quality of information, and at the same standards it did, say, 20-years ago? 30-years ago? I'm not sure, so I asked a friend to clarify the impact social media has on mainstream media.
Meet Jerry Zgoda, he has worked at the Star Tribune since he graduated in 1984 and is an award-winning sportswriter. He graduated from the University of Minnesota with a degree in journalism. I asked Jerry for his opinion on a number of topics from the demands placed on reporters, the relevance of bloggers in mainstream media and the overall quality of journalism, read on for Jerry's answers.