A MIGHTY REACH: In news industry, online media has proved to be a revolution. Illustration Courtesy- menarmedia.com
Recently I covered a story dealing with discrimination on fellow Indians hailing from Assam, situated in the northeastern corner of India who visited the historic Taj Mahal. It was being initially carried by an online news portal. After covering the nitty-gritty of the story, I filed it around evening 8 pm and apparently it went live in the next one hour. After completion of the procedure I didn’t check for the views or public response, thinking it to be just another news piece.
My next morning began with utter astonishment. That particular news story was trending all over the social media. It was being widely circulated. People were criticizing the concerned authorities for their bigotry behavior with the visitors. While sharing it on social media, many of my friends even ended up tagging me. They didn’t even know that I was the one to initially break the story. The day passed on with my mailbox being bombarded by mails from numerous print, electronic and online media outlets, seeking my permission to replicate the story. Two days later, the story was featured by almost all media of Assam. Though the story was new to them, but two days back the news succeed in creating the much needed noise among the audience. In the aftermath, following to thunderous protest, even the ministry of tourism was compelled to issue an apologia. And all these were the repercussions of that news story of mine, published online.
Until, this episode I only heard stories about how things go viral on internet, power of new media and so on. But, this saga made me actually acquainted to the power of online media. At a time when the world is thronged by speed in various endeavors, the journalism arena too is riding onto a rapid pace. Here certainly, online journalism pops out as the ultimate future of journalism, having immense innate power yet to be unleashed. Among few things that I personally realized about online journalism is certainly it’s electrifying pace. Unlike print or electronic media we don’t need to be equipped with a high tech mechanism. All we need is an internet connection, and the story is on air. Reporting now can be done with ease now, involving minimal or zero cost. Another important aspect of online journalism is the factor of anonymity. If we want to maintain a low profile and only want our story to speak for us, one’s identity is very well protected. Viral nature of internet is certainly another factor making the online medium of journalism, assuredly most sought for.
Online journalism has also laid a platform for citizen journalist. Nowadays, very often stories initially shared over the social media or blogged manages to find a place in the mainstream media. Thus it’s evident enough, that to make our voice reach the masses, we don’t have to depend on the mainland or tradition medium. The new media is there to complete the task for us.
However, my personal account with the power of online journalism cited above also petrified me. Many a times, randomly without taking facts and audiences’ sentiments into consideration we post write ups. Perhaps we barely think about the threat perception that this viral nature of the internet poses. Sometimes, irresponsible reporting could also lead to volatile repercussions. Therefore, after my personal saga of online reporting, it has made me more responsible about what I write and impart among the public. As they say, with great power come great responsibility, so with sensible use of this tool the innate potential of online journalism could very well be unleashed to serve the greater interest of society.
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