Kang-credibility still matters

The readings for this week give us an opportunity to think of journalism in the context of the growing role of the online media environment. As online media, such as blogs, play a significant role in the public sphere, they are not only regarded as alternative media—which reinforces the weak points found in traditional media—but which also challenge the role of the traditional media in engaging in public discourse. However, even though the role of online media has grown in our society, it must still accomplish significant tasks to be considered as truthful a source or performer as the traditional media in terms of its service to the public.

Online and offline media are similar in that their main role is delivering news. However, we must pay increased attention to their differences. The main differences are the level of interactivity between media and readers (consumers) compared to the traditional media’s one-way communication. Online media gives the public an opportunity to experience interactive communication by emailing journalists, commenting on articles, and reading other articles and journalists via hyperlink. In this environment, readers are no longer passive; rather, they are active users. In other words, the public that engages with online media have more opportunities to share information not only with journalists but also with other members of the public. Thus, online media weakens the influence held previously by offline media, which traditionally sets the agenda for the public. In addition, the public has become part of the news production process; thus, they deliver lively news to journalists and the public. For example, bloggers open their own blogs and post their opinions or reports; they are not only reporters, but are also publishers and editors. Relative to the differences between offline and online media, bloggers give the public other sides of the stories that were not reported by offline media. Thus, they give the public the opportunity to express opinions and communicate each other without barriers.

However, we cannot ignore the problem associated with online media, news credibility. As online media delivers news much faster than offline media, the public can receive their news in real-time and they can post the news they want to see online. Herein lies the problem; much of the information posted by the public has not been proved as being truthful; therefore, we might be surrounded by false information. Thus, this problem has influenced the credibility of online media, and it is a chief task to be addressed by online media in order to become sufficiently influential to deliver correct and truthful information to the public.