Karen Allen
Not long ago, journalism tools comprised a notebook, a typewriter and possibly some coins for a telephone box to phone copy into the news desk. Then computers, email and cell phones brought speed, connectivity and the potential to demand greater accountability of the world’s leaders, as the media took advantage of improved communications technologies.
After the 1993 Black Hawk Down incident in Somalia, which was broadcast around the world and shaped the future of counter-terrorism operations, the 2002 Iraq war marked a new era of 24/7 news broadcasting.
Round-the-clock coverage enabled newsrooms to expose global events in real time. The Broadband Global Area Network satellite system relayed quality images and audio at speed. It was replaced by systems like LiveU, an industry standard using multiple cellphone connections to deliver broadcast news.
Each new iteration of technology has left the basic principles of news journalism intact. Key to the profession is the ability to hold power to account as part of the constitutionally guaranteed right to a free press.
However, a worrying trend is the abuse of emerging technologies to pollute the information environment. This can be done by distorting what we see or read, manipulating how information is delivered, or impersonating the messenger. That is, mimicking journalists, who traditionally have been considered a credible source for fact-based information.
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