The Impact of Technology on Journalism

Abstract

The internet - the World Wide Web - has had a major impact on all levels of (information) societies
throughout the world. Running the traditional monopoly to the centralization of the information power in a media like
newspaper is one of the most sensible features in the information age. This article defines online journalism and
discusses it in terms of key characteristics of online publishing –hyper textuality, interactivity, multimodality, policy and
advertisement- and considers the current and potential impacts that this online journalism can have on the ways in which
one can define journalism as it functions in elective democracies worldwide.
In addition, it is argued that lack of responsibility and reliability is the concern subject in online community. One reason
could be a lack of the number of professional journalists who are employing online version especially in third world and
developing countries because the lack of a structured verification process or inaccurate reporting would mislead the
public.
Encouraging the traditional journalists to work or be involved in online journalism as a new generation of journalism is
still not possible, considering the recognition of the journalists’ standpoints. It could help find some effective ways to
encourage professional journalists to use the online version as a means to disseminate information.