Monday, January 24, 2011

Reflection No. 1- Grace Tan

1. Based on your understanding of facts and opinions, why do you think this is important for a journalist/ reporter in the world of online news reporting?

I think it is important for a journalist/ reporter in the world of online news reporting to know facts from opinions as what they post have to be honest, fair and have respect for others. If they post an article online based totally on what they think, people who have other views and opinions about it may get offended. I think it is important to post facts as the readers want to know what really happened, not what might have happened or might not have happened. The journalist/ reporter must be able to provide evidence for what they are reporting so that it can convince readers to believe in what they reported. Posting articles online is fast and easy, but if they post wrong content they would be in trouble. One the article is on the internet, it is impossible to take off. Online journalism has many ethical issues. The information and pictures posted there can be archived indefinitely and anyone around the globe can access it, thus if they posted unethical material, it would be recorded forever.


2. How can some of the problems raised in the articles be controlled?

Problems like hyperlinks brining users to websites with inaccurate, offensive or inappropriate content can be solved if links are monitored and internet users keep in mind what they might be linked to. Some new information that have not been verified can be altered by anyone and can be changed to inappropriate content. The content is then changed to be inaccurate and can mislead people, even though it was correct before it was verified. In order to control that, there should be a system to let the journalist verify as soon as possible so as to prevent such incidents from happening.


3. What are some responsibilities of discerning readers?

Discerning readers should avoid reading inappropriate content and should not change content that has not been verified yet. They should respect other readers as well as the journalists so that factual news can be spread to everyone.

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