Journalism is different than it was during and before the summer of 2001. A string of significant events, beginning with the terrorist attacks of 9/11, have brought stimulated three main trends in journalism. First, there as a been a clear shift in what news is told. Three main areas of news are getting significantly more coverage than they were six years ago: happenings in Iraq, commentary, and shocking or attention grabbing news. The second major trend is how the advancement of technology and development of the Internet have altered news presentation. Present day ABC's use of blogs and podcasts are completely new additions relative to the 2001 version, and the use of videos and photos has definitely increased drastically.
Last, as one would expect, there has been a significant change in the appearance of the ABC News website. It looks more professional, more polished. It's interesting to see how these fundamental changes in the site interact with one another. For example, the development of technology clearly fuels the change in appearance, while it also gives news reporters a wide array of ways to cover major focal areas such as Iraq and the White House. Furthermore, the increased coverage of war news changes the look of the site. Each of these three major trends comment on how journalism itself has changed in the last several years, and how major events such as September 11th, the war in Iraq, and Hurricane Katrina have brought about these shifts.
I chose to compare today's abcnews.com to that of a month or so before the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 because those attacks were the first of many momentous events that have occurred over the past five or six years; the war in Iraq, the close presidential race of 2004, and the Hurricane Katrina were among the others. Each of these events helped shape how media function today. The attacks on the World Trade Center, and the ensuing war in Iraq, have certainly left their mark on the abcnews.com. As one would expect, post-9/11 America discusses Iraq more than any other foreign nation. So much so that Iraq news commands its own section of ABC's international news page (ABC News, 2007).
The site's “Iraq In-Depth” component is a new addition relative to it's 2001 embodiment. Likewise, stories about Iraq are more predominant on both the home page and world news page today than they were in the summer of 2001 (ABC News, 2001). This is important to note because an increase in Iraq news results in a decrease in other global news, which means our knowledge of other nations declines. This is something newsreaders must be aware of. To think that the U.S. and Iraq are the only important nations on the globe is a very narrow perspective. Such an approach blinds us to important issues in the world such as genocide in Sudan.
While the number of stories about Iraq has certainly spiked, certain genres of writing, regardless of specific content, have also emerged. The government's responses to the string of crises that have hit America leave plenty of room for the recent surge in opinion pieces in the news. Such pieces are far more prevalent on today's site than they were just before September 11th(ABC News, 2001). The current ABC News website has an entire section called “Blogs and Opinion” (ABC News, 2007). The significant events of the past five or six years, both positive and negative, were all dealt with, at least in part, by President Bush and his administration. The more the government has on its plate, the more chances it has to garner praise or condemnation.
Thus, with so much going on, the press has had many big opportunities to opine. Furthermore, the media have had more chances to report on how the American people feel, and then give its two cents about that. Additionally, this has caused certain members of the media to voice their opinions of their colleagues. Liberals will criticize conservatives and vice versa (Hargittai et al.). This has all come together to generate a considerable change in what proportion of the news is opinion and what proportion is fact. This increase in the level of opinion reporting is another element of modern news that media consumers must be aware of. Newsreaders separate what is fact and what is opinion or their view of the world will be skewed. Since the days before September 11th, the amount of opinion has definitely increased.
Another type of writing that has increasingly made its mark on abcnews.com is attention-getting sensationalism. The “It's Outrageous!” section of the ABC News front page provides evidence for ABC's recent affinity for sensational news that captivates readers. Headlines such as “Rapping Squirrel Takes on Poetry” (ABC News, 2007) show just how far they will go to command attention. In 2001, there were very few unbelievable stories like this. In a world where fewer and fewer people are reading the news, even a major news organization like ABC will spice up their content to attract readers. Nowadays, when the news has to compete with shows such as “Fear Factor” and “Survivor,” the most recent debate in Congress will not have readers on the edge of their seats. A story about a man with a twin living in side of him just might do the trick.
Very interesting. I hate sensationalism, and this election has driven it to new levels. I like your survey of how events change journalism. On that note, it is so sad that Americans get so little international coverage. It takes a war to bring us out. When I am living overseas, I enjoy hearing about the world, even if it is only CNN International. In the US, I get nothing, so thank God for the Internet. I also appreciate your thoughts on the interaction between fact and opinion. Fascinating.
