Unit 2 Portfolio

Human life has always striven towards innovation. The mind has created things that were at one time, unimaginable, and now society is at a place that is a whirlwind of technology and accessibility of whatever information a person wants, or needs, in an instant. This innovation of information has led the way to new ideals, values, and a way of life that the world has never seen. I often catch myself thinking about how technological advancements are affecting our society, but I am always conflicted to if it is helping or hurting it. It is connecting the entire world, increasing economies and trade, and giving people voices, who usually do not have one, that they use to share their opinions with anyone who will look or listen, and those are just some of the positives. On the contrary, even though there is an increase in digital connections, it is causing humans to become desensitized, decreasing face to face communication and compassion, and exposing our children to change whatever they want about themselves, whatever they can find on the internet, and allowing them to participate in the fake reality of social media. There is the upside and downside of connecting, where it can allow loved ones to make contact with each other if they have not seen each other in a long time, while it is also decreasing the impact of face to face communication in relationships. There are pros and cons of journalism with technology, where it can stories can be shared that are very important to a cause that will not necessarily be put on the news because of prejudices or perceived value, while the other side is that there are a lot of fake news accounts and stories that are being put out into society. There are benefits and pitfalls of having social media, such as giving people a voice who do not usually have one, and giving them a medium to share and create amazing things, but is also having a negative effect on the children in our society. I would like to pose a piece that shows the virtues, despite all the shortcomings, of the technological advancements, such as communication, journalism, and alternative journalism through social media, our society has generated.

Innovations such as the technological ones made in our own society today are similar to ones that have always been made. Even though it is a new “category” of innovation, it is still something that is changing the world, and is hard to be accepted.  "As the old technologies become automatic and invisible, we find ourselves more concerned with fighting or embracing what’s new. Ten years ago math teachers worried that if students were allowed to use calculators, they wouldn’t learn their arithmetic tables. Regardless of the value parents and teachers still place on knowing math facts, calculators are now indispensable in math class. When we began to use computers in university writing classes, instructors didn’t tell students about the spell-check programs on their word processors, fearing the students would forget how to spell." (Baron,11) .I think that Baron was successful in stating how all advancements are hard to be accepted. He made it very clear that the advancements of the computer did change the way literacy works, but also no more than the innovations of the pencil, telephone, and the telegraph. He touched on the idea that even though technology can be somewhat untrustworthy, they eventually contributed to a second cognitive revolution. Without the technological advancements in our society today, where would we be in the processing of paperwork, communicating across oceans to loved ones in different time zones, and also communication that is received in a literal nanosecond. Even though Baron is describing innovation in a sense of literal writing, his ideas are still very relevant to innovation as a whole, and especially relate able to technological advancements that have absolutely altered our society.

The innovation that comes from technology and communicating also provides a new way for our news to be heard, and that is a journalistic aspect of the technological advancements that have been made. Journalism is so different now than even 20 years ago. It has aspects that are able to be accessed in an instant, and can be turned onto any device you have. If there is a threat, a major event, or something of similar sort, most of the world knows within minutes. "This article proposes that technological change influences journalism in at least four ways. Technological change affects: (1) the way journalists do their job; (2) the nature of news content; (3) the structure and organization of the newsroom and the news industry; and (4) the nature of the relationships between and among news organizations, journalists and their many public's, including audiences, competitors, news sources, sponsors and those who seek to regulate or control the press." (Pavlik, 1) This states how technology has changed the way journalists do their job, how that has changed over the years, and also how technology has changed what is being reported in their articles. The reason I chose this article was because I eventually want to tie in the aspect of how technology is allowing people to be their own journalists. Whether it is from blogs or just from their social media accounts, people can post videos or stories that the news will not cover, but is an important movement in society, for example, the black lives matter movement, equality for gay and trans communities, and gender equality. I think this fits into the larger conversation of my topic of communication, journalism and self image because it is showing the change of communication and journalism. It is showing how communication and jobs are changing through technology, and specifying the journalism industry.

The other aspect of journalism is not as well known because it is slightly oppressed by regular journalism; it is called alternative journalism. Alternative journalism is a type of media that differ from established or dominant types of media in terms of their content, production, or distribution. Alternative media take many forms including print, audio, video, Internet and street art. Alternative journalism has become very significant in our society, especially over the past couple of years because more and more people are using it to get their stories out about their lives that are not being covered in the news. A lot of these come from movements that are not usually covered by news shows such as the Black Lives Matter movement, or the more recent March for our lives. One example is the Chicago protests and how people were urged to use social media in order to gain awareness from the outside community and how social media is now being seen as a sort of alternative journalism in some aspects. We have to remember that some things are not true, but that when some things come up on social media, it may be because the news will not cover it for political reasons or it is too controversial. "This particular use of social media is studied in the light of the history and theory of alternative journalism. Analyzing a set of 11,556 tweets, 222 videos, and 3,338 photos, the article assesses user participation in social media protest reporting, as well as the resulting protest accounts." (Powell and Borra, Abstract).This is an example of how the alternate form of journalism can affect society and also show the start of different kinds of movements. Alternate journalism is on the come up, especially when things that are happening to poor and minority groups, and it is not being covered on the news.Alternate journalism comes in many different forms of technology and allows people and their ideals to be shown as technology grows and the global connection grows. Also, it is showing that people's voices can be heard and they do not have to have a degree in journalism to take action about something that is not being covered on the news, and affecting their lives.

As part of the first generation to have these things and be affected by it while in early adulthood I feel like it is my duty to show how it is benefiting society, even though it does contain some issues. I feel that it is my obligation to point out the good so it can be increased, and that as many people can gain access and knowledge of it to use it to their advantage. There is many people that do not have their voices heard or shared, and that needs to change. Technology can be cathartic, a forum for thoughts, feelings, and actions, and a grounds for starting a movement. Innovation is a hard thing to accept, even in a society that is constantly changing, but if the technological innovations are used to bring people together and help create a better world, then I feel like it would be more accepted globally.

References

Baron, Dennis. “Pencils to Pixels.” English EDU, Illinois, www.english.illinois.edu/-people-/faculty/debaron/essays/pencils.htm.

Borra, Erik. Powell, Thomas. “Twitter, YouTube, and Flickr as Platforms of Alternative Journalism.” SagePub-  http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1464884911431533

John Pavlik (2000) The Impact of Technology on Journalism, Journalism Studies, 1:2, 229-237, DOI: 10.1080/14616700050028226