The social media, journalism partnership

Journalism is about educating, enlightening, informing and entertaining the public.  

The social media on the other hand allows one to create and share information, ideas and photos, using their computers, smart phones or any other device.

In this 21^st century, journalism is evolving from being analogue to digital.  But, the truth is that some countries are more digital than the others. 

In the years ahead, hard copies of newspapers and magazines will gradually go into extinction and give way to digital journalism.

It is already on and some media houses are down-sizing and right- sizing and journalists are being thrown out of job.

Yes, the social media is uncensored. You get to see and read the good, bad and ugly. Government in various countries seems to be helpless and confused.

But, the social media is a credible platform for every journalist to tap into. It is neither good nor bad.

So, when you subscribe to any or the entire social media platform, your motive and reason matters.

Away from this preamble. Journalism and the social media are blessings to humanity, provided we use them in positive, elevating manners.

In journalism, bad news is good news. But, with the social media, information is freely available to people all over the world in minutes.

If we subscribe to the social media with the aim of committing crimes, we will not run far before payback time comes.

Some of the social media platforms like: facebook, twitter, pincrest, google, wahtsupp, etc, are credible sources of information flow that journalists all over the world tap into.

But, the pain here is that in this modern age, everyone is a reporter. Bad, degrading news, ideas, and photos could easily be spread online and the effect, negative or positive could be felt around the world.

Journalists are trained to work on stories. They have obligations to report accurate, timely information.

It is the business of journalists to carefully collate, edict, analyze, cross check and confirm information and photos before using them.

Some politicians and important personalities with skeletons in their cupboards do not like the social media is being used to spread information online.

However, I still know deep down that with time, the social media should be able to regulate itself over time.

Journalism and the social media are partners in progress. One cannot do without the other in this modern age that our world has become a global family.