By Odili Ogochukwu
The adage which says that the house built close together, burn together best explains journalism in a rapidly changing world.
The world around us is changing faster than ever before; and journalism is changing along it. The changes cut across every sphere of human life. It is changing politically, socially, economically and technologically. The changes have implications on every profession in the universe.
Journalism has continued to improve its administrative effectiveness. A person who practiced journalism is known as a journalist. He is saddled with the responsibilities of gathering and reporting of information for the benefit of the general public. Journalism involves the production and distribution of reports on current events based on facts and supported with proof.
Journalism places the world in a better position by informing, educating and enlightening the public of the changes around the world. Change is inevitable as Heraclitus, the Greek philosopher proclaimed that change is the only thing constant in life. The exposure of media practitioners to the rapidly changing world occasioned by advancement of information and communication technologies gave birth to professionalism. The technological advancement reduces human-to-human interactions to increasingly man-to-machine and machine-to-machine interactions improving the service delivery in the field of journalism.
Apart from the electronic and print media which are radio, television, magazine, journals, fliers and other means of dispersing information, internet and social media have made journalism practice easier and faster. Majority of media practitioners have online platforms on which news materials are published for consumption. Journalists used social media handles to quench the thirst for information for individuals who relied on internet for information. It is also believed that a lot of people have lost interest on radio, television, newspapers and magazines.
There is no doubt that the rapidly changing world has in no small measure added credit to journalism. It enhances professionalism by ways of having video footage of news events to authenticate the story.
In the same development, journalists presently enjoy quick publication of news materials online. The modern world extends a hand of fellowship to citizen journalism as it widens journalistic coverage.
No matter how beautifully the chick dances, it will never please the hawk. The rapidly changing world has also given rise to spread of fake news that various world leaders, and the federal government of Nigeria frowned at. But the darkness of the night cannot stop the light of the morning. It has done the journalism profession more good than harm.
During the coronavirus pandemic lockdown that brought the global economy to standstill, journalists followed every step of unfolding events with proper reports and updates.
Journalists played vital roles in containing covid-19 pandemic and potentially saving lives by continuously dishing out information on the possible ways to limit its spread.
The media coverage of EndSars protest in Nigeria and other parts of the world is another evidence of positive response of journalism to the changing world. The role of the Press in the world cannot be relegated.
