New media journalism is the distribution of news through the internet through videos, podcasts, and social media rather than traditional methods such as television and newspapers. Legacy media as it’s called, is what has been done for years. Think of organizations like CNN, FOX, NBC, The New York Times, and the Washington Post. However, recently people angry or skeptical about larger media companies have been able to compete through the internet using things like blogs and podcasts.
It’s obvious that mainstream media has been under attack in the last few years, and not completely without cause. But the voice against legacy media has grown a lot. A survey conducted by Pew Research Center in 2020 revealed that over half of the adults had little or no confidence in journalists to act in the best interest of the public. Things have only gotten worse for the legacy media since then. Currently, American trust in the media is at an all time low.
Legacy media has the ability to gatekeep the information that is distributed to suit the narrative they want, according to critics. And because of its massive influence, some argue that this can prevent the truth from reaching millions of people. It sounds really bad, and l is a legitimate concern, but that ‘gatekeeping’ also prevents the amplification of lies and misinformation.
The influence of new media has grown in the wake of the 2024 election. This is no coincidence. President Trump has been one of the most outspoken critics of the mainstream media, so it’s not surprising that his administration is giving new media access to the White House press pool.
New media presents an alternative to reserved, traditional media, but it has the opposite problem: people can say whatever they want. This enables people to say things that are blatantly untrue. In these cases,it falls on the consumer to judge the credibility of the information. It might be unrealistic to expect people to take their own time to verify the news they get. Then again, people thought it would be unrealistic to expect everyone to wear seatbelts when driving. In the end, you should always be skeptical, and verify the things you learn.
Is new media worth it? I say yes. It gives people the opportunity to cover stories that the legacy media won’t. While there is the risk of false information, it gives more power to the people to prevent story selection and partisan bias.
