Technology and Journalism

DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES AND THE FUTURE OF JOURNALISM
SOURCE ATTRIBUTION

We are at the beginning of another revolutionary era in communication. Digital products like streaming videos and e-books seemed like remote possibilities in the 1990s, but consumer habits have shifted dramatically as technology advanced. While successful entrepreneurs can’t always predict the changes in store for the media industry, they can focus on the potential unleashed by digital technology.  As a former managing editor for commodities at Dow Jones Newswires, Terry Wooten identified the kinds of trends that would move markets. In this case study, Wooten discusses how new digital technologies such as artificial intelligence and blockchain are transforming the way organizations practice journalism.

As commodities editor for the Dow Jones Newswires and two other financial newswires, I and my staff of reporters were always looking ahead, trying to anticipate what would move markets. Although I am not an expert prognosticator, I did learn that sometimes what develops may surprise you. That is because, even at our most creative, we tend to imagine incremental change, instead of transformative change.

Take, for example, the Speed Graphic camera, which was standard issue for press photographers from the early 1900s through the late-1950s. Next came the new and improved 35 mm cameras, commonplace in newsrooms until very recently. Today, the “camera” used by many journalists is the smart phone, which shoots video, as well as still photos, and can be used to record interviews, take notes and connect reporters in the field with editors and sources alike. In other words, this most recent iteration of the “camera” not only transformed the way we think about photography, but also how we go about gathering and disseminating news.

Terry Wooten, former managing editor at Dow Jones Newswires.
It used to take a while for a new technology to be widely adopted. But, with the advent of the digital revolution, the pace of change has accelerated as both new and old technologies are adapted for multiple uses. In medieval times, town criers were the chief means of news communication. Royal proclamations, local bylaws, market days and advertisement of goods were all proclaimed by a bellman or crier moving through the area. Gutenberg changed all that with his introduction of the printing press and movable type to Europe in the 15th century, which brought about the rise of the publishing industry. Next came the broadcast era and the introduction of over-the-air delivery of news in the 20th century. By the late 1990s, 98 percent of U.S. homes had at least one television set, and those sets were on for an average of more than seven hours a day. However, the stage was already set for the most disruptive technological innovation yet. The binary code that powered the digital revolution – a string of zeros and ones – would transform and reshape the media landscape in the 21st century. […]

Scientists, analysts and commentators differ on whether technology will continue its rapid development or whether growth will slow. Some academic economists believe that we have incorporated all the “easy” technological advances and that new breakthroughs will be more difficult, writes Ben Miller in Innovation Files.

No matter the speed of change, all types of news media – including print, broadcast and digital – will continue to be confronted with new opportunities and challenges as they attempt to adapt to emerging technologies. These technologies include artificial intelligence, robotics, virtual and augmented reality, 3-D printing and blockchain.

Artificial Intelligence and Robotics: Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a series of algorithms that allow a computer to “think like a human.” AI is the backbone of the internet and is already in extensive use guiding our decisions. For example, algorithms determine what Amazon shows us when we want to make a purchase online. Google, Twitter and Facebook use algorithms to determine which content appears in front of its users.

The AI industry is expected to expand by a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 50 percent through 2015, when it is projected to be a $127 billion industry, according to a recent report by the World Economic Forum. Some news organizations, including the Associated Press and Washington Post, are using AI to identify data for complex articles about financial transactions, for example. Others are experimenting with using AI to produce simple business and sports articles from the data in corporate earnings reports or game statistics.

AI also powers robots, such as drones, which are being used by many media outlets, as well as first responders and insurance companies, to get images from locations that are difficult to reach on the ground. Robots and AI can also be incorporated into the manufacturing and distribution processes of news organizations to increase the efficiency of publishing news articles and optimizing a medium’s reach.

What does the future hold? According to one timeline laid out by the World Economic Forum, by 2049, we may be reading a New York Times best-seller generated by AI. However, there are still challenges to be surmounted in the widespread use of algorithms and robotics in media companies. Among the challenges: a lack of the sort of “rich data” that allows machines to determine patterns and draw accurate conclusions, the ability to verify the reliability of machine-generated conclusions and the upfront financial investment. All of these challenges may limit the widespread adoption of AI and robotics in smaller news organizations. Nevertheless, Tod Loofbourrow, a former artificial intelligence instructor at Harvard and the CEO of ViralGains, predicted in an article for the online trade magazine Digiday, “We’re at the very beginning of a 20-year megatrend” in which publishers and marketers will make increasing use of AI to learn about individual consumers’ preferences.

Virtual Reality: Many baby boomers first met Virtual Reality (VR) through an obsession with “Star Trek.” That television series introduced the concept of the “holodeck” – an enclosed space where characters in the series could create holographic settings and stage “events” that seemed real. VR is an interactive, computer-generated artificial environment. The simplest form is a 3-D image on a personal computer that can be manipulated with a mouse, allowing users to zoom in or out, or view the image from multiple vantage points. More sophisticated efforts involve headgear with wrap-around display screens and actual rooms augmented with wearable computers. Virtual reality is primarily experienced through two of the five senses: sight and sound. Haptic devices – such as suits, gloves and joysticks – add the sensation of touch and allow the user to feel the images as well.

VR is used extensively in art, music, film, video games, as well as in advertising. Large news organizations, such as The New York Times, have also incorporated VR into their daily news streams. The Times has produced more than two dozen films and documentaries enhanced with VR and introduced a series called Daily 360, which produces video from places around the world, including battle zones. The VR films can be watched on Google Cardboard or with smartphone apps.

“VR is great for creating a sense of place,” explained deputy video editor Marcelle Hopkins in a 2017 New York Times interview. “We often use it for stories in which the place is important to the story. … VR can transport our audience to places they otherwise couldn’t or wouldn’t go, as in ‘The Antarctica Series,’ which takes people below and above the ice of Antarctica.”

In a similar vein, augmented reality is a set of technologies that superimpose digital data and images on the physical world. AR is already used extensively in social media and is also being utilized in conjunction with VR in large news organizations, such as The New York Times. Incorporating both VR and AR into daily news feeds requires a “significant change of thinking” and a significant investment in technology, D’Vorkin said. Therefore, cost is a key barrier to wider adoption of these two technologies in smaller news outlets. […]

Blockchain: Of all the new and emerging technologies, blockchain is perhaps the least understood and least exploited by media companies. Most of us know blockchain as the technology that enables cryptocurrencies, such as bitcoin, to be traded on the internet. Blockchain is a shared, immutable ledger for recording the history of transactions. It fosters a new generation of transactional applications that establish accountability and transparency for contracts, deeds, payments. As a result, blockchain technology is already being used widely in in many business and industry sectors. In the media space, there are several interesting start-ups using blockchain. For example, The Colorado Sun news outlet was started recently by former Denver Post editorial staffers using a blockchain format.Technology consultant MarketsandMarkets forecasts the overall use of blockchain in media, advertising and entertainment markets to grow from $51 million in 2018 to $1 billion by 2023. That’s a compound annual increase rate of 81 percent.

Blockchain-enabled applications can improve the distribution and production of content, help prevent illegal file sharing, and enable transparent rights management.Publica is a free blockchain publishing platform that allows authors of books to manage how their work is distributed, and how they’re compensated for it. Po.et is building a universal, blockchain-based licensing and payment platform that allows journalists and other content providers to set up a profile displaying their work and also establish direct channels with interested publishers. “Blockchain technology and the Po.et platform sanction a new network effect to not be ‘owned’ by a single entity but maintained by the collective owners of the content itself,” wrote Jarrod Dicker, the company’s CEO and a former Washington Post executive, in a recent blog post.

What does this mean for the future of journalism?

In this ever-changing landscape, perhaps the late science fiction writer Isaac Asimov summed it up best, “It is change, continuing change, inevitable change that is the dominant factor in society today. No sensible decision can be made any longer without considering not only the world as it is, but the world as it will be.”

How then will journalism schools and departments at universities and colleges teach journalists of the future? According to Dr. Will Norton, dean of the Meek School of Journalism and New Media at the University of Mississippi in Oxford, no medium goes out of existence, but legacy media change as technological developments bring a new medium into existence.

“New media are changing language and thought processes,” Norton said. “They have democratized the reporting process and made it more difficult to identify facts because anybody can use them, and highly-skilled professional reporters are not the only persons doing important media work.”

Journalism or media education tries to teach reporting, writing, speaking and design in a manner similar to the principles of the early proponents of the discipline of rhetoric, Norton said. He said the skills taught should be appropriate to all media.

“When journalism education has focused on a [single] medium, it has been weakened,” he said. “We have to keep from focusing on one medium or another as media develops. We have to focus on what always has prepared folk to be good journalists – get the facts and communicate them well.”

Or, as the CEO Paul Daugherty, co-author of the book Human + Machine: Reimagining Work in the Age of AI, explains: communication is both an art form and a science.  At a 2018 virtual gathering of executives from various industries sponsored by Fortune, he focused on the sort of skills companies will need in the age of AI.  “It isn’t necessarily the STEM skills, and it isn’t necessarily the coders and machine learning specialists. . . . Tere is one new set of jobs where people will need to help AI, to help the machines, and we call these ‘trainers, explainers and sustainers’ . . . . We have been hiring people like sociologists, psychologists and even poetry majors who really understand the nuance of language and can help train the engineers and the machines.”

(Edited for length. Original here.)

HOW TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENTS WILL SHAPE THE FUTURE OF JOURNALISM
SOURCE ATTRIBUTION

The field of journalism is changing rapidly. Desktops have been replaced by laptops and notebook computers. The internet has created vast new sources of content linked around the world. News organizations like the Associated Press and the Los Angeles Times have started to use artificial intelligence to generate automated content, tag digital text, and reformat articles.

As technology advances, news outlets continue to rely on journalists to cover everything from breaking news to local events, including forums on public policy, board of education meetings, and elections. Technology may be shaping the future of journalism, but it won’t replace the need for qualified, experienced reporters.

Technology is also creating a need for writers and editors who are able and willing to adapt to changes in the industry. If you aspire to pursue a career in journalism, enrolling in an online Bachelor of Arts in English program can help you augment your writing techniques, hone your ability to analyze data, and enhance your communication skills.

Here’s an overview of trends that are shaping the future of journalism and how those in the field can use them to enhance their careers.

The Role of Data and AI in the Future of Magazines, Newspapers, and Other Media Outlets
The incorporation of artificial intelligence (AI) into the news reporting process could help future magazine publishers and newsrooms work more efficiently. AI platforms can be used to help journalists fact-check in real time and generate automated news coverage. Journalism is also benefiting from AI technology since it largely involves gathering and analyzing datasets to determine if a story exists. The trend is a lot more mainstream than one might think.

In March 2018, it was reported that Reuters was building a tool aimed at helping journalists analyze data and suggest story ideas. That product, Lynx Insight, has since been rolled out to newsrooms across the globe. Magazines are also starting to embrace the AI for data journalism model.

Yet those interested in becoming reporters should know that, while AI can assist with content creation, it cannot substitute for human reporting. For example, Reuters’ Lynx Insight does not replace reporters, but instead is designed to sort through data to spot patterns, and allow human staff to ask questions and understand context.

Human journalists are skilled in developing relationships with sources, providing in-depth analysis of data, and determining whether a given topic is newsworthy — all of which AI simply cannot do.

The Impact of Podcasts, Social Media, and ‘Brand Journalism’
New media storytelling platforms such as podcasts and social media have become increasingly prevalent in recent years, and these channels will likely become even more important in the future of journalism.

Recent data from Edison Research and Triton Digital states podcasting has grown to having 51% of Americans 12+ listened to a podcast, with 32% having listened in the past month.

The growth trajectory of podcast consumption is steep; according to a report by Inc., National Public Radio (NPR) has indicated that roughly half of the potential audience base for podcasts still doesn’t know this type of media exists. As media outlets increase their efforts to market their audio content, the need for journalists who can produce it could continue to grow.

Social media platforms are also shaping trends in journalism, as a growing number of newsrooms are using Facebook and Twitter to break stories in real time. Reporters who have adapted to social media’s influence on news gathering and reporting have found they’re better able to communicate with their audiences. Those interested in pursuing this career path will need to be comfortable embracing trends and changes in social media platforms as they emerge.

The future of this field is also being shaped by brand journalism, which is a mix of corporate communications, public relations, and content marketing. Brand journalists focus on content such as blog posts, online articles, social media stories, and email blasts that highlight a company’s value. These types of stories encourage readers to learn more about an organization’s products or offerings, and are unlikely to include anything negative about the company.

Blockchain as a Means of Combating Fake News
Best known for enabling the exchange of cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, blockchain-based systems could also provide a number of benefits in the future of journalism. Specifically, this emerging technology could eventually help newsrooms build public trust while increasing financial sustainability, according to the Columbia Journalism Review (CJR).

Individuals and organizations can use blockchains to permanently store and track records of online transactions and digital communications. Information within a blockchain system can be easily authenticated and tracked back to its source, making it easier for readers to verify that a given story was published by its stated author, potentially helping prevent the spread of hoax news articles. Blockchain-powered content could also create new ways for journalists to charge for premium content using microtransactions, CJR reports.

(Edited for length. Original here.)

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