Analysts to a large extent agree that social media has been an important instrument for revolutionizing contemporary journalism. As a tool it casts a long shadow within the contemporary evolving scenario. This factor enables journalists to be nimbler and more unfaltering in generating news contents because of social media interactions. This tool for social inter-active engagement action with numerous people online has allowed the journalist to identify potential stories in a more inexpensive way. It also allows a reporter to get feedback or the views from readers sooner than later after the news report has been published online. This enables the journalist also to get notified in case of any change having taken place after the comments have been published online without any time-consuming effort.
For example, in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic, journalists had a comparatively difficult time when it came to obtaining the real picture of infection rate in Bangladesh. This created a degree of overall dissatisfaction amongst the general public about the way the government was trying to handle this outbreak situation. Many media representatives also faced difficulty in tracking the information which was being given from Government health organizations. This led to most journalists looking at social media posts published from any family member of the infected person. This in turn created many unnecessary controversies about the actual scenario of the epidemic. However, gradually the situation changed towards a positive direction when there was more interactive engagement between the relevant parties through discussions. The relevant government authorities realized the need to assist the journalists and decided to open the windows, particularly when it bame to secure vaccinations and booster doses.
It would be fitting at this point to recall what had happened during the initial stages of the Covid pandemic as it erupted in China. A journalist must have the attributes of both professional and public accountability when it comes to publishing news in digital media and that was challenged by growing intimidation from state powers. For example, Chinese media outlets were heavily curtailed with regard to publishing the true extent of devastating effects of COVID-19 by CCP, the ruling party in China.
The general public knew the actual number of deaths and infected persons with novel corona-virus was much higher than the reported ones but the media was completely on the government side on this sensitive subject.
Their online voices to call out the discrepancies on actual figures of mortality are now being silenced with heavy punishment with the help of state-imposed laws and regulation. This has helped online mass media to follow the basic guidelines of objectivity and accountability, same as their traditional media counterpart in order to maintain social code of ethics and responsibilities with regards to publishing any news content regardless of platform.
Such an approach with regard to social media has been playing a prominent role in also achieving the Sustainable Development Goals or SDGs, which were primarily set in 2015 by United Nations Members.
One major role it has been playing is building awareness among the netizens about the goals objective and target criteria of achieving them by 2030. Most importantly, the users of social media can now be connected through online campaigns and other promotional activities to get them onboard with the agendas of SDGs, where a large portion of the users are from young demography.
The challenges of SDGs are not easy but they are now more achievable by the target- end of 2030- with the help of the younger generation. For example, there are now various Facebook groups which are being run by young socialites advocating equal rights and justice regardless of gender, religion or social classes in the country. They are continuously providing support to those who are in need of any advocacy or legal support without any fee at all.
All someone needs to do is seek help through their designated Facebook page. Furthermore, there are numerous online groups that are currently helping out with regards to every aspect of 17 SDGs, such as, reducing food shortages, educating street children or creating climate change awareness within the community. All of these activities are now funded and operated by the online communities around the world. This truly displays the power of Social Media as the driving force for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals by the end of this decade.
However, it seems that, with the rise of citizen journalists sharing potentially interesting data on social media, the need for professional journalists is greater than ever. Social media is useful to source information, but perhaps its most useful function is community engagement. The digital age has given journalists the gift of easy, real-time intercourse with their readers, whereby readers can contribute to, comment on and help distribute a story. This enhances the connection between story and reader, allowing a community to form and engage in a two-way process with story and writer.
In modern day journalism, online platforms are taking the place of conventional media more rapidly than ever before. The internet has presented both challenges and opportunities for a reporter to maintain objectivity and accountability in their reports. These are two of the most important guiding principles for any journalist and in a world of online media platforms, maintaining such principles are not that easy these days.
Objective journalism denotes the means of fair, and unbiased view of any event and publishing the story with clear and precise facts and figures. A reader must receive a sense of impartiality in the news that are presented online. This is getting more difficult nowadays as the online media universe is continuously expanding its space and journalists are bombarded with twisted facts and biased views from the online community every second.
Journalists sometimes tend to give more attention to sensationalizing a story for their audience. This is becoming an increasingly popular trend than ever before. This hurts the core of an ideal journalistic approach, despite the modern revolution in journalism in online media. One needs to also understand that thanks to the rising political chaos around the world, journalism is now facing the greatest challenge of maintaining objectivity in digital mass media. At times, certain political, religious or social views also lead to disregard the possibility of creating an objective report. Consequently, journalists need to be more vigilant in the process of constructing news reports in digital mass media with actual facts and figures so that their report will not be disregarded as biased or unfair to their audience.
Accountability in digital media, according to analyst McQuail, also plays a crucial part which denotes “voluntary or involuntary processes by which the media answer directly or indirectly to their society for the quality and/or consequences of publication”. We need to remember that online news media has become more accessible for the audience in much greater proportion than any other media outlet in the modern-day world.
As such, it is absolutely critical for any journalist to keep the report on check and balance with actual facts and publish it without any fear of online backlash from the public.
(Muhammad Zamir, a former Ambassador, is an analyst specialized in foreign affairs, right to information and good governance, can be reached at
(muhammadzamir0@gmail.com)-
