Topic > Social media has changed the way the public consumes news

Journalism as an influential news medium has played a significant role in society since the original founding of journalists formed in the early 19th century. From this foundation, journalists have been able to use their social influence to share different points of view regarding political issues. This is where the term fourth estate comes from, which is how journalists play a key role in political issues through their ability to show or present different points of view to the public. For example, news outlets like The Guardian tend to focus primarily on left-wing politics due to the nature of the political views held by those who founded the newspaper before its first publication in 1821. As presented in the Digital Publishing text, "journalism for the 21st century is being reinvented, and this reinvention will happen at the local level.” This insight into the evolution of journalism is undoubtedly valid when considering the role of journalists as a fourth estate reference to the local level, Salter and Jones clearly imply the growing value of new forms of journalism such as the use of social media as a means of communication. The introduction of a viewing channel that is always accessible throughout the day with the use of apps such as Snapchat and Facebook allow journalists to publish in ever-increasing numbers. not only articles regarding political topics but also media presentations such as images and videos to inform the public about the most up-to-date news. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essayThanks to the introduction of portable devices such as mobile phones and tablets, the public of today's society receives much more information than that of two centuries ago; causing a dramatic change in the way journalists work. This is highlighted prominently in Computing Technology and Survivable Journalism, where Berghel argues that investigative journalism is "losing ground to agenda-driven, stakeholder-friendly journalism." This relates directly to the political views of larger media outlets such as the arguably opposing companies The Guardian and The Daily Mail. Through his argument, Berghel correctly presents the idea that journalists must now release agenda-driven information throughout the day with the use of social media and other easily accessible forms of journalism to inform the increasingly information-hungry public . For example, some news outlets have recently chosen to focus primarily on apps like Facebook and Twitter to keep the public updated on all things political. With the public now wanting short snippets of information to draw their attention to issues, the role of the journalist has changed detrimentally over the past decade with the added pressure of capturing the public's interest with relatively minuscule levels of information against journalism since the 20th century. Despite the changing role of the journalist, both individuals and companies must be careful not to completely convince or "brainwash" the public into thinking one way or another about politics. “The media told people not what to think but rather what to think.” With this in mind, the role of the journalist as the fourth estate must be seen as a position of great importance but continually evolving due to constant changes within society; the media will always have a strong significance regarding issues”.