Where are we going to draw the line? When everyone today
with the aid of technology can present themselves as information disseminator?
When people online can present real-time information while “trained”
journalists are still busy gathering beats to verify the information presented
online?
Where do we draw the line, as student journalists, when our
generation comes with easier means to gather information, while others not
taking our course can also present the same things we know are worth posting
and publishing?
What would we do when everyone who has access to the
internet can post information about what is happening in their community,
making them as our competitors?
That is our edge. As student- journalists training for the
profession, WE CAN VERIFY THE NEWS
CONTENT BY TAKING BOTH SIDES OF THE STORY AND PRESENTING NEWS ANGLE S THAT
COULD MAKE THE REPORTS WORTH READING BY THE PUBLIC.
The online community is always an avenue for competition on
immediacy versus accuracy. But the essence of good journalism is a discipline
of verification.
In school, we are trained to be competitive enough so when
we go on field, we know what to do with the gathered information and how to
present it guided by the principles of good journalism. Because as our journalism instructors and
professors always tell us, “Journalists have the duty and privilege to seek and
report the truth.”
With the tight competition online, journalists can still be
original by:
1.
Providing
news stories that are subjected to public’s criticism and compromise. The
members of the news media already established their identities as carriers of
public [online or not] discussions about the community, if not the country. And
it is their sole responsibility to represent the different viewpoints and opinion
of the mass for them to have a balance ground of presenting the news context.
2.
Making
the news stories comprehensive. For different people in different culture
to fully understand what people from news organization are trying to present.
That they present it with such confident that people can rely on the
information for them not to lag behind about the current events in the society.
3.
Adapting
to changes. By changes I meant are changes in the media ecology; that
everything is fleeting online. The technological advancements are so
fast-changing and fast- improving that journalists must be flexible enough to
go with the flow without the pressure of changing their original writing
styles.
4.
Upholding
the profession asked of them. That they have accepted the obligation of
presenting the truth, guided by journalism standards and ethics, the time they
stepped out of their personal lives creating someone out of themselves that
know how to balance their interests.
5.
Knowing
how to sensitive. That not everything is worth publishing. That they should
be cautious about the information from their sources. That they should know
what to do in times of disasters and other dilemmas. That they are sensitive
about the feelings of the people around and the public at large.
There are many ways to be original. As our instructor said
in our online journalism class: “ADMIT MISTAKES AND CORRECT THEM PROMPTLY.”
Because journalists can show their originality by knowing when to use their
pride and, of course, their accountability.
For the last note and from the eyes of a student-journalist:
Trained, professional and even amateur journalists can be original by
presenting their own writing styles and original works without sacrificing
their credibility and by presenting balance news stories.
