ABSTRACT
A number of issues will concern the media in the future. It is probable that none of these will change the basic moral problems that face journalists in their daily work, but it is possible that they will make decision making more difficult. Working across international borders, for instance, emphasises the differences in moral approach between cultures and the use of the internet will add other problems. Interactivity is an important new element of the internet. The consumer changes from the passive reader or viewer of what is offered to someone who can actively track down the information he or she requires and respond instantaneously by e-mail and even become a newsgatherer in their own right. Citizen journalism, through weblogs and personal websites and what the NUJ describes as witness contributors will become more and more a feature of future newsgathering operations. The consumer can supply his or her own slant on the news directly to the supplier faster and more efficiently than ever before. Journalists at BBC online are often alerted to stories by readers e-mailing for information on a breaking story. This developing interactive element is seen by many as the most important facet of the internet when it comes to journalism. It should allow more input from a vast range of sources, most of which are more likely to be pushing their own viewpoint. With this wider range of available material, the filtering process, if only in terms of time available to read all this information, will become more difficult. Citizen journalism is also growing with many people producing weblogs that put their view of the news with their own commentary. These are often accessed by professionals and are used as starting points for stories. They are even lifted wholesale by some sources: an unethical process as well as being one that breaches copyright laws in most of the Western world. Citizen journalism has grown at such a pace through the first few years of the new millennium that journalists have been facing a major change on the way breaking stories are gathered. Many people throughout the world have mobile phones, many of which are capable of taking reasonable quality video or still pictures. These can then be sent direct to the news desks of major newspapers or broadcasters. This is described by the NUJ as witness contributions, to distinguish those who have stumbled on a newsworthy event and would like to see their pictures used in the newspapers and possibly earn a fee, from those would-be journalists who write blogs and columns or take pictures and publish on the internet. Already several major news and picture agencies have widened their scope to help witness contributors find a market for their pictures. Cavendish Press, a big Manchester-based news agency invites celebrity-watchers to send in pictures with the promise of big money:
If you have caught THAT picture of a breaking news event, your favourite celebrity, wacky weather, or the cuddliest creatures, we could make you thousands. It doesn’t matter if your picture is taken on a mobile phone, digital camera or professional camera gear, please download them onto your PC and send them to us NOW. The quicker you send them in to us, the bigger chance there is for more cash.
