It is important to point out that journalism plays a role of informational availability and enhancement of public knowledge. However, it needs to be noted that the recent shifts in the industry are indicative of the fact that the future of journalism is becoming more sensationalized. Therefore, the given phenomenon of sensationalism, which is driven by attention competition and market forces, paints a dire and undesirable future for journalism.
One should be aware that journalism will evolve into an entity or activity, which will have to compete for reader, viewer, or audience attention due to the implications of sensationalism. These changes will not lead to the overall improvement in journalism because the information will be delivered in a highly inaccurate manner. The main reason is due to the fact that with the emergence of social media platforms and other means of communication, there is an oversaturation of information, which is why journalists will need to face fierce competition from social media posts, entertainment media, and disinformation units in order to be able to grab the people’s attention. Thus, such competitiveness from the wider market forces makes journalists to be likely to use sensationalism-based tools, where information is presented in a “grander” format (Kilgo et al., 2018). Therefore, past information expansion changed the environment of current-day journalism from authenticity towards sensationalism.
In conclusion, the future of journalism is moving away from authenticity towards sensationalism due to market forces and a high degree of competition for people’s attention. It is important to note that journalists are forced to adhere to these means in order to remain relevant and afloat in the current information oversaturated environment, where market forces benefit sensationalism more than authentic journalism rendering explicit information presentation unviable.
Reference
Kilgo, D. K., Harlow, S., García-Perdomo, V., & Salaverría, R. (2018). A new sensation? An international exploration of sensationalism and social media recommendations in online news publications. Journalism, 19(11), 1497–1516. Web.