Social Media has changed the role of journalists

The role social and mobile media would come to play in news reporting was incredibly underestimated until recently. I know for myself, when I was deciding to join the field of journalism, I never imagined that understanding how to stream on Facebook or live tweet an would intersect the hard world of news. But knowing how to share information via social media is one of the most important skills a journalist can have nowadays. Regardless of the overwhelmingly large seat Social Media is taking up in our car on the road trip through our everyday lives, it’s a seat it won’t be asked to give up any time in the near future. Embed from Getty Images

I write this because of Syria. I write this because of Chechnya; because of Myanmar and Venezuela. I write this because of the 2016 election of the President of the United States and its repercussions.

Social media is bringing the world to its feet. If the U.S. military blamed media coverage of Vietnam for losing the war and turning public opinion, it ain’t seen nothing yet. Social media is revealing the truth about ourselves to us: that we can’t tolerate war or injustices; and it’s easier to unify ourselves than we once thought.

It’s been the use of social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and even Snapchat that have been responsible for alerting us to what’s happening in the world, and sometimes in our own neighborhoods. The murder of Philando Castille was streamed via Faceook-LIVE. Updates about missing persons, deaths and occurrences regarding Venezuelan protests are shared daily via Twitter. Warnings about armed gunmen whereabouts on college campuses are now sent on Snapchats.

Not only are journalists no longer the only ones sharing news, we find ourselves in an interesting predicament, where, for the first time, we are not the only ones taking the stage to address it, fact-check it and ease public tension or motivate to respond.

With so much information being shared, the role of a journalist is more crucial now than ever before. The public now feels that it can share information without the need for journalists. Sharing news is easy. It’s making sure that the information is accurate and fair that’s hard work. Journalists now must incorporate our audience, account for our audience feedback and host discussion on the topics. This is new territory — for the journalists and the audience.