Journalism
has to do with gathering, processing and dissemination of news information
through various means of mass communication such as print means and broadcast
means. In recent times, journalism in Pavlik J. V’s view of 2001 tends to
undergo a fundamental transformation which gives rise to the emergence of a new
form of journalism whose distinguishing qualities include ubiquitous news,
global information access, instantaneous reporting, interactivity, multimedia
content and extreme content customization. This era is that of the new media
which foster online journalism.
From
the foreground, one can infer that journalism is fundamentally the same and
that the difference between the conventional ways of journalism and the newest
way: online journalism is in the medium at which both disseminate their contents.
As such, online journalism can be conceived as the media share of digital
revolution which combines with core journalism skills of reporting, editing of
news and features production and programming. The central idea about online
journalism is that it is soft (that is, you cannot touch it), notwithstanding
it contents can be made available in hard copies.
In
essence, online journalism is the gathering, processing and dissemination of
contents (which can be news or other human interest issues, stories and
information) via new media by professional journalists. However, until a news
and information is packaged and disseminated on the web by professionals in the
field of journalism or by professional outlets that such qualifies as online
journalism.
Generally
speaking, before news information can get online, it must be gathered; and
means of gathering such data (or unprocessed information) is not restricted to online
(primary or secondary) sources alone. However, in tackling the subject of
discourse, what follow after gathering stage of information, is the processing
stage and then the last; which is the dissemination stage.
The differences between online
processing and online dissemination are as follow:
- Online processing is the next stage
of content preparation or planning for online journalism after gathering stage.
As such, it is after raw information is gathered and processed that there will be
online dissemination. That is, if content is not processed, it cannot be
available online for online audience.
- Besides, content disseminated online
can still be restrictive to a particular audience in the case for a paid online
news medium even though those contents might have passed through online
gathering and processing. In other words, it is not all contents gathered are being
processed and not all contents processed online get to the online audience for
free. Some sites require one to pay for subscription or registration before one
can access their contents.
- Online processing involves checking
and cross checking of gathered data and verification and referencing of sources
identified, mentioned or quoted to ensure authority, authenticity, accuracy,
credibility, and reliability on such content before it is channeled to online
audience. While online dissemination involves simultaneous spreading of processed
information (online) to the online audience with the aim of maintaining online
audience and winning more audience.
- Content checking and cross checking
in online processing is geared towards correcting errors and catering for legal
litigation in the publication of a story can bring. That is, it is at the stage
of online processing that libelous and defamatory statements are put in check
before such content is published. It is the end product of online processing that
result to online dissemination.
-
Content can be disseminated
online through replica means (that has to do with making available of exert
copies of newspaper contents published on the same day on a newspaper company’s
site), online real time (i.e. sending information out as its unfold) and what a
few. While online processing involves creation of hyperlink(s) for a processed
content to be disseminated.
- Online processing also includes transcription and translation of information
which will be presented to the audience via internet in a meaningful form and it
is not only done in online journalism,
conventional journalism equally adopt it as it as to do with editing of
gathered data. While, online
dissemination as a last stage of journalistic reporting has to do with
spreading of information or news that was gathered and processed; and online
dissemination is done mainly for online journalism or web reporting.
- Online processing is journalistic
inclined in online journalism, in that, it is the professionals that handles
it, while online dissemination is more of audience inclined such that the
processed information is targeted at meeting the readers’ information need, which
they need in making decision, understanding and interpreting political,
economic and social issues; and in relating with people in the society.
All
in all, online processing bores to the fact that it is paramount to online
dissemination because it is a process that requires that raw information
gathered be processed before it can be spread or made available online for
online audience. Online audience include but not limited to news consumers, bloggers,
content analysts, columnists, opinion leaders, government and private officers
including media practitioners so far he or she or it is not the originator of such news or information.
Penned by: Abdulhafeez T. Oyewole
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