Social Media has Compromised Journalism

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Social Media has Compromised Journalism

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One of the core functions of journalism is to provide neutral and unbiased information or news on particular issues. The neutrality of journalist while reporting news determines the kind of influence that the news will have on the readers. In that regard, mainstream journalism has been instrumental in providing news that does not lean on a particular side. However, the emergence of social media put a dent to this trend by encouraging relaying information to the users by influencing them to take a specific position (Hermida, 2013, p. 296). It would be essential to note that more often news and opinions shared on social media are taken from a wrong angle. Therefore, the news is relayed to people when the moderator has taken a particular position on the news and consequently passing their ideas to their readers. In such a case, how the reader interprets the news or information would significantly reflect on their judgment on the news. The independence with which a reader can analyze news on social media is limited due to an already formed opinion on the particular news being shared (Hanitzsch, 2007, p. 380). Traditional media has always thrived on strict impartiality and detachment principles that contribute to the transparency of news and information while giving the audience ample time to synthesize and evaluate the news on their own. However, the influx of social media defiles this invaluable role of journalism which leads to misinformation that originates from particular journalists.

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