Journalism and writing has always been the greatest way of spreading ideas and news throughout history. Though recently with now having the internet and media, journalism is changing and it’s for the worse.

     Hundreds of thousands of posts and headlines are posted and at our display every second. With relevant topics like what’s happening in the world to less important ones like celebrity gossip or 5 minute crafts all at our fingertips. But who is writing all of this? Who is editing and fact checking? How is it changing your personal views? What about all the posts you don’t see? Social Media isn’t only affecting how we view news but the way journalists have to write.

     Social media and it’s content is all dependent on the amount of clicks a post gets. Different platforms have different algorithms to alter what we see. To push what’s trending and popular to the forefront. Platforms also offer ways that the people behind the post can ensure that they are viewed. What you start to get are platforms dictating what we consider to be news, not journalists who go through fact checking and revisions.

     But with these new medias, now more than ever journalists have more access to their audience. The ability for a reader to actually reach out to a journalist through Twitter or Instagram is unprecedented, and allows the writers the hear the opinions of their reades and what they see as important. North Harford takes advantage of this by having multiple media accounts including a Twitter that uploads all of the articles.

     Sophomore Harley Grebert has been especially grateful for the media as school has been online. She misses getting the paper every month and reading about all her friends and what was going on with the school and in the world. She makes an effort to go to the Cry of The Hawk website when the paper is released to read and still receive her type of news.

     News travels fast and journalists and reporters are expected to be the first ones covering the scene. With social media news travels lightning fast. The old practice of getting your morning newspaper is all but dead, now social media “influencers” can publish bits and pieces of the story to the masses without getting the whole story that can be uncovered by the news.

     Building a reputation in journalism has never been so easy either. Now the standard byline includes other information like Facebook or Twitter profiles where journalists can interact with readers and share unfiltered thoughts to amass a following that can follow from one job to the next. The problem with moving so fast though is people tend to mess up or even do careless reporting. Pulitzer Prize winner Ellen Goodman said “In journalism, there has always been a tension between getting it first and getting it right.” The race to be first is real and there isn’t always a correlation between fast and correct.