New Delhi | Jagran Lifestyle Desk: The third annual World News Day will be observed on September 28 to raise awareness about the critical role played by journalists in providing credible news especially in the age of misinformation.

Journalism has changed drastically over the past three decades, parting increasingly from the objective news coverage towards opinion-based content.The technological revolution since the beginning of the 21st century has altered how the content is consumed by the audience. With diverse mediums of consuming content came increased competition — a factor that slowly eroded traditional professional values and forever transformed how the news was produced and served by the organsations to the audience. 

Journalism first flourished with the spread of printing press technology across the world and played a significant role in mobalising popular support in favour of the liberal revolutions in the late 18th and 19th century. Newspapers faced the first wave of decline with the arrival of television but an added medium did not shift the content dominantly towards opinion-based. It was not until the explosion of internet in the 1990s, paralleled with the rise of cable network in third world countries, that the first signs of transition in the profession’s traditional values began to reflect.

The technology’s reach in the hands of billions of people ensured that the public sphere was not mediated only by conventional media, but everyone. Parallely, television channels began to develop a personality for themselves with politically partisan on-air presenters and the emphasis shifted from the content to the style of presentation. A part of such content relies on argumentation so as to appeal to people’s emotions. Sensationalism over depth has become a norm as attempts are being made to rig viewer’s mind in order to get highter Television Rating Point (TRP)

Posted By: Lakshay Raja