Online Journalism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Online Journalism - Essay Example The main source of journalists and online reporters for the internet medium is the Online News Association which has 800 members. The different forms of online journalism pertain to forums, discussion boards, epapers, online news boards as well as blogs and RSS feeds. The nature of the medium and the ease of information dissemination on the internet have made it a very competitive field for online journalism. The internet is in fact challenging the traditional form of reporting and journalism as the classified advertising as well as advertisements are shifting to the online medium for newspapers. Aside from this the niche as well as general scope of journalism online makes it much more appealing for readers than the hardcopy based newspapers and magazines. People even consider online journalism to be broader in scope, more informative as compared to those conducted through the traditional medium. There is more freedom of speech online, as official journalists as well as volunteers can provide information on various topic. Aside form this online journalism is also considered to be less biased as compared to the traditional medium for journalism. According to Cohen as per her article in the Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media in 2002, online journalism is depicted as a form of journalism which is entirely driven by the market. However, opposition to the benefits of online journalism and its advantages the form of journalism also is considered to be of temporary nature, with the news structure being more random than properly structured. Advantages of Online Journalism As mentioned earlier, the advantage of online journalism pertain to the fact that the online medium is less biased than the traditional medium for journalism, has more information and is more specialized for the niche market of readers. However the most significant benefit that is reported for online journalism is the real time dissemination of information and the immediacy. The publishers in the online medium have the opportunity and the facility to publish news about news and events as it happens. "Other advantages of online journalism relate to other medium-specific characteristics. The incorporation of multimedia elements makes news websites more informative and entertaining. Hyperlinks, blogs and discussion forums allow web-users a more hands on experience, allowing them to be participants in the news process. The archiving ability of news websites is also a great advantage as it provides an extensive research resource to the public." (Rayment, 2004) Other benefits of online journalism also include the positive effect it has on the social and the culture of the people in the regional and global community. Moreover the online news channel is available to the readers twenty four hours a day, seven days a week, making it one of the most accessible medium for disseminating news and opinions. Aside from this the journalism on the online medium also allows the people to access news and opinions which are regional as well as global in nature providing them an increased scope of information and knowledge. The ease and the convenience provided through the online nature of the online journalism is the biggest advantage that is available to readers as well as information publishers in the world of today. This is because people can access epapers as well as forums and new boards