The debate over whether or not journalism will be replaced by social media is nothing new, but instead of going at each other’s throats about it. We should focus on seeing how to make the most of them both, seeing how they can complement instead of competing with each other in the information and digital age. 

The invention of the internet in 1983 and the world wide web in 1989 made accessing information more easily for people. While for journalism, it was an opportunity to evolve and maximize the new phenomenon of the time to have greater impact in society. Some of the first digital publications were the Columbus Dispatch, the New York Times’ first online edition launched in 1996 to name a few.

Online journalism has always had the ability to reach more people faster, bringing breaking news and real time updates, the cost of distribution and production is drastically less as compared to print journalism. Internet connection and access seemed to be the major hurdles to the online journalism.

Until the rise of social media….

The threat

Social media came rapidly redefining human interactions and information sharing, such as X previously Twitter and other platforms that became virtual villages for discussion and sharing content. It was meant for entertainment and connecting with people. Then, it got more serious then it was supposed to be.

The doomsters went on and on how social media will replace journalism. Especially with the rise of news influencers who according to Forbes are defined as a creator who consistently shares breaking insights on current events and civic issues across social media platforms.

The grave concern is that, this form of news reporting is heavily vulnerable to bias omitting critical details. Thus spreading misinformation and disinformation and since we believe what we see, many will go with what is being said without getting the full picture.

Trapping ourselves in an echo chamber of what we want to hear and read about, limiting our view of the world.

As Aaron Bur from Hamilton the play said; there is enough space for both social media and journalism to exist and complement each other. News outlets must go to where the audience, therefore creating accounts on where they can easily be seen and reached by viewers.

Social media can also foster public discussion especially on topics the mainstream media might miss or be slow to report due to various reasons. Take for example the Georgian egg farm story, that hasn’t received as much media attention and cover as it should.

While journalism, on the other hand can help see the bigger picture from various angles, employing the opinions of experts on complex issues, simplifying important topics amongst other things.

Such as the recently concluded German election covered by journalists made sense of the chaos especially how the voting is done, who are the key players to observe and the impact of the election results, grounded in facts and not exaggerated claims as one would find on social media.

Text: Daniel Trevor Kimera
Featured image: Pixabay