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| Internet and the News |
The internet has had a dramatic effect on the way news has been disbursed for a long time. News spreads faster through internet channels than before. Because of these new avenues, a number of problems and advantages have emerged.
On one hand, it has caused reporting to be more specific with fact checking. Users can quickly check other sources and history of events. Outting public figures, whistleblowing, and organizing public protests are easier to accomplish as well. Anyone with a camera on their cell phone can quickly take a snap shot of public figures in questionable acts. In cases such as this, the news media can be left out of the loop completely, left playing catch up.
On the other hand, with information moving at a rapid pace and without the time restraints of fact checking or verifying sources, the information is circulating through these channels and can be exceptionally harmful. False reports containing everything from celebrity deaths to major terrorist plots move like wild fire. Propaganda for corporations, political parties, or lobby groups are reporting without any of the rigor of traditional news media. False information is written about on private sites as though it was fact, potentially harming those simple enough to subscribe to them.
Because of this, we've seen a rise in fake news, biased news, and outright conspiracy sites on the internet become a booming business. These sites gain so many followers, legitimate news organizations will pick up these fake stories and report them as news without bothering to check the original sources.
In our society where any press is good press, the equality of the internet has had a stunning effect on what press reaches an audience.
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