Week 2: The 21st Century Issue

The news landscape has been trending away from the standard print. In the words of Brainbridge et al. (2015), newspaper agencies have found new avenues to create a digital following with ideas such as “weekly politics podcasts”. However, a new problem has arisen as a result. Pew Research Center (2024) found that an increasing number of Americans began tuning in to “news influencers” who share the news from social media platforms such as YouTube or TikTok. 77% of news influencers have no prior background in journalism. Although I do not personally follow any, I recognize that audiences around the world have grown distrustful of legacy media. News agencies may scoff at them now, but I fear that a growing number of the youth may turn to these individuals because their style of storytelling may be seen as more personal. Journalists must remain unbiased and rigid, but there may be a bigger need to cater to a digital audience.

REFERENCE LIST

Bainbridge, J., Goc, N., & Tynan, L. (2015).

Media and journalism : new approaches to theory

and practice. Oxford University Press.

Pew Research Center. (2024, November 18). 

America’s News Influencers. Pew Research Center; Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/2024/11/18/americas-news-

influencers/