4. What are some of the advantages and disadvantages of the emergence of online news?

Disadvantage: Variation of quality

- Anyone can put anything online, it's not necessarily good or correct - There's an unlimited number of sources available but some of those sources are terrible - Some of the sources have bias on the topic - You could put fake news out there and it's difficult to distinguish what's real or fake - Television has to take the time to get it right - People on the internet are not under the same pressure to get it right - When the internet gets it wrong, they are hardly ever held accountable - If someone on television gets it wrong they are usually held accountable and are fired Ex: The Boston marathon bombing - a Brown University student was missing and people on Reddit concluded that he was the Boston marathon bomber. The student had nothing to do with a situation and the accusation caused a lot of problems for people. No one was really held accountable despite possibly ruining the lives of some people

Advantage: Decentralization and diversity

- Anytime you're looking at a problem, the more diverse points of view you can get, the more complete solution you'll probably have - The internet helps gain more perspective - There's a lot of sites where we can get information - Breaks up the concentration of power over the control/flow of information - Anyone could potentially be a reporter which exposes people to new points of views Ex: School shootings - the kids caught in this situation became reporters

Disadvantage: Effects of knowledge

- Despite have all kinds of information at our disposal, people will seek out information that simply confirm their preconceived bias Ex: If you believe the earth is flat, you can find just as much information to confirm your bias as you can find information against it

Disadvantage: Loss of investigative power

- In democracy, the media plays one of the most important functions and that is to investigate the government and help hold them accountable - Raise awareness and demand action be taken - Investigative reporting is really expensive in terms of hours and money and generally only larger companies can afford to do this - With the loss of influence, news organizations have also lost money and the ability to investigate

Advantage: Depth

- The depth of the internet - Television news programs are limited on time - They can't afford to get in depth on one topic (unless it's a major event) when they have so little time - Newspapers can't dedicate an entire page to one topic because they're limited on space - The internet is similar to a newspaper because you retain the information better when you read it - And like television, internet also gives you that stimulation and sometimes you need a video to get interested - The internet can combine those two things while television and print media can't - When it comes to the internet, the amount of content you can publish or read is unlimited Ex: If you have a word limit you can still include online videos and hyperlinks to go further in depth

Advantage: Currency (speed)

- They can stay current and they can deliver the news much faster than any other time before - Within a matter of minutes or hours, stories across the globe can reach us - Television news is at a disadvantage because they have to take the time to do their research to avoid mistakes - Public officials will bypass television now and just use the internet Ex: With the Vegas shooting, news broke out on the internet soon after it happened while television still hadn't covered it

Advantage: Convenience

- We can consume information when it is convenient for us and at our pace - With television if you wanted to watch news that day, you had to be present at a specific time - You either had to wait or you had to make yourself available in order to consume it - Now you can stay informed without having to stay at home Ex: You can consume news whenever and wherever you want