Being a journalist has never been easy. You need to be at the right place at the right time, have your thoughts in line, and make sure the news is reliable, along with several other responsibilities. The internet has made this job much harder. Your mistakes are on display at a moment’s notice, all over the world.
Journalists have been forced to evolve along with technology. There has been a wave of technology that’s streamlined journalism. From recording to fact-checking, there’s a tool for everything. Let’s take a look at how a modern journalist goes about their day.
Table of Contents
Writing and Editing
It may not be apparent to the viewer, but every article, news story, and tweet goes through several different people. You have authors, co-authors, editors, plagiarism and fact-checkers, and even legal teams, depending on the story. This takes too long for the pace at which we expect our news nowadays.
You’d be surprised at how many journalists use tools like Google Docs to come up with first drafts, and Microsoft Office 365 is a staple for most offices. They let all relevant personnel view and edit documents in real time to save precious time. To this end, we automated grammar correction a long time ago. Grammarly, QuillBot, and Google Docs themselves can check your writing in seconds.
The evolution of AI in the last couple of years has made several layers in the journalistic process obsolete. If you aren’t very concerned about quality, and if you’re on a serious time crunch, you can use one of the several AI chatbots on the market to generate articles for you for free. All you need is an editor to check some of the facts and make corrections. The main chunk of the process is automated. Even the largest news agencies in the world use AI to generate social media captions, subtitles, and content.
Multimedia
Journalism isn’t just confined to text and television. People consume news in several ways and on several different devices. Journalists need to use graphics, animation, and high-grade photography for the most basic story.
Things only animators could accomplish are now accessible to the average journalist with minimal training. You can use Adope Creative Cloud to edit professional photos and videos, or use Descript for audio editing and transcription. They can seamlessly integrate diverse elements into journalistic content at a moment’s notice. You can make posters for Twitter with a simple Canva subscription nowadays.
Social Media Management
It shouldn’t be a surprise that social media dominates news. Journalists and news agencies need to keep an eye on several different platforms, edit content to fit the guidelines and conventions of each platform, and do it quickly.
Hootsuite and Buffer: Social Media Command Centers
There’s a host of tools you can use to monitor social media performance, but Hootsuite and Buffer are most commonly used by journalists. They empower journalists to engage with global audiences.
X Pro, formerly TweetDeck
Twitter is the most important social media platform for journalists. World leaders, politicians, and every important person in the world use the platform to reach their audiences. Naturally, journalists monitor Twitter like hawks for stories.
With Elon’s acquisition and the rebranding of Twitter as X, Tweet Deck changed too. X bought the platforms and made them part of Twitter’s interface. However, you can still use the interface to correct, record, and automate your tweets.
Virtual and Augmented Reality
Gone are the days when VR was a gimmick in sci-fi movies. Companies have been working hard to bring the technology to the masses because of it’s diverse applications. However, the whole point of journalism is to bring the reader into a story and make them care about it. VR transports them into a situation and let’s them experience it with their own eyes.
Adobe Aero/InstaVR
Augmented reality is only slightly different from it’s virtual cousin. It adds digital elements to the real world through a screen, glasses, or headset. It’s quite a complex process, but Adobe Aero makes it accessible for the average journalist. It let’s them create immersive AR experiences without extensive coding knowledge. Similarly, Instagram VR lets you create VR content without technical expertise.
Google Cardboard
Google Cardboard is quite literally a cardboard box that turns any smartphone into a virtual reality viewing experience. You just have to wear it over your head and fix your phone into it. It sounds stupid until you find out the New York Times partnered with Google to send a million of it’s readers a headset. They want to create a new field of 3-D storytelling, and we can expect other major news agencies to follow suit in 2024.
Unlike some jobs, technology won’t be replacing journalism. The field requires a unique human touch that machines can’t touch right now. Instead, we constantly develop technology to make journalism more impactful. From recording entire stories on their mobile phones to making VR films, technology will continue to evolve with journalism.
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FAQs
- How can journalists ensure their content is unbiased when using AI tools?
Journalists can ensure their content remains unbiased by carefully reviewing AI-generated text and verifying information from multiple sources. AI tools should be used as an assistant, not as a substitute for human judgment. It’s important to avoid relying solely on algorithms to make editorial decisions, and always involve diverse perspectives to prevent bias.
- What role does data journalism play in modern reporting?
Data journalism allows reporters to turn raw data into compelling stories. It involves analyzing data to uncover patterns, trends, and insights, which can provide a deeper understanding of issues and events. By using data visualizations and interactive elements, journalists can make complex topics more accessible and relatable to their audience.
- How does the integration of AI impact investigative journalism?
AI can help investigative journalists process large amounts of data quickly, identify patterns, and even track down sources. AI tools such as natural language processing can scan documents, identify key information, and make connections that may have been missed by human researchers. However, it’s essential to maintain a balance between automation and human oversight to ensure accuracy and integrity.
- What challenges do journalists face when using virtual reality to report news?
One of the biggest challenges is the cost and technical skills required to produce VR content. It’s also difficult to ensure that the virtual experience translates the real-world story in an authentic way. Another challenge is that VR may alienate some audiences who don’t have access to the necessary equipment, limiting its reach. Balanced immersive storytelling with accessibility remains a key issue.
- How can journalists maintain credibility while using social media for sourcing information?
Journalists can maintain credibility by verifying the information they find on social media through multiple trusted sources before reporting it. They should be cautious about sharing unverified rumors or claims, and always fact-check before publishing. Using social media as a tool for sourcing should complement traditional reporting practices, not replace them.
