Some people may never truly understand and appreciate the complexity of online journalism, but online journalism is very important for the future of journalism. Firstly, everything you can think of is now located on the web. For the art of journalism to continue existing, ‘moving’ it online only makes perfect sense.
There are certain aspects or features that people expect of online journalism and journalists and editors work very hard to meet this expectation. Surprisingly, many years ago, the articles “Snow Fall The Avalanche at Tunnel Creek,” written by John Branch and “Kowloon Walled City: The People”, posted on the Wall Street Journal, were published, that seemed futuristic at the time, but are true examples of what online journalism should be.
The article, “Snow Fall The Avalanche at Tunnel Creek,” is an article about an avalanche occurrence that some people experienced. This article is almost as long as a psychology abstract, and its length could possibly be a turn off for several readers. The smart approach Branch, the author, took was littering his piece with several pictures, videos of persons that experienced the avalanche, and even gifs (graphics interchange format) of snow and even a special video showing the weather patterns of the storm that caused the avalanche. What these added features did was add to the already qualitative information in the article. Now, just imagine reading that described article in a newspaper. Maybe the article would contain one picture of a snowy mountain. How many readers would this lengthy article have attracted?
The second article, “Kowloon Walled City: The People,” posted on the Wall Street Journal was, in my opinion, even more impressive than the previous article mentioned. This article featured a city, claimed both by Britain and China, where many immigrants lived. The city was home to many and transformed from a squatter area to an area cluttered with concrete tower blocks. Simply writing a well-articulated article about this city may have caught the attention of a few persons, but the author of this article did something even more impressive.
The author of this article, very technically, and strategically, inserted a map of the city that had images from around the city that gave you a virtual tour of the map. He/she even included images of the transformation of the city. Being able to read, and see, the transformation of the city, as well as movies that were inspired by the city, ensured a personal feeling of proudness. If this piece was just a descriptive piece, excluding all the technicalities, I am positive the feeling towards this piece would have been the opposite.
These two articles are flawless examples of why online journalism is so important. Having the ability to publish online gives journalists an advantage to broaden their area of expertise and provide improved content to readers and viewers. As society grows and changes, we should all strive to grow with it and not be left in a state where we feel digitally excluded.
So the answer to the question, “Is online journalism really important,” is yes. The appreciation for technology is growing every day so it only makes perfect sense that journalism’s presence is seen online.
I do agree with you that online Journalism is important more so with the expansion of technology . The younger generation certainly have no problem with it because this is all they know but I often wonder how do we help most of the older generation to readily accept the growing trend of the subject . When I say older I mean our grandparents or great grand parents and even some parents who are still stuck in the past and refuses to use a cell phone or turn on the TV rather they still use the radio .As a young person what can you suggest to help these folks who may not be stubborn but are just left behind ?