Palvik and the digital age

You would think technology and the media would go hand in hand in news presentation, but it turns out the tension between the two is quit strong. With ethical dilemmas going unnoticed and the increasing advantages that the technological age brings, the media is in a hot and cold relationship with technology.

After reading the article I realized that whenever I see a reporter on the television, they read off their smart phones or tablets, instead of the traditional typed paper. As I read the introduction I came across the phrase “low cost of digital photography”. When I read this, I immediately thought of how the news companies share pictures of its viewers weather it be  to share their joyful moments in a wonderful day or the wreckage left behind a storm, such as hurricane Sandy. When Sandy hit the city, news stations shared pictures from residents all over the city; broadcasting devastated communities and chaotic gymnasiums, filled with people who had lost their homes. By having viewers share their pictures through the media it builds a sense of bondage, unity and loyalty.

The media takes advantage of the social network communities like facebook and twitter to get their broadcasting to people that aren’t in front of the television and instead are actively attentive on their smart phones. Now you have news anchors telling their audience to follow them on twitter and facebook. The media is now available through these social network communities providing easy access to current news from all over the world.

The down fall in this movement towards the technological era is our own journey towards a technological centered society. What I mean is, instead of helping an elderly person on the floor, we now whip out our phones and take pictures of them while in agony. In a society driven by machines, we are slowly becoming robots. We are trading in our humanity, for inanimate objects that bring some form of psychological satisfaction to us. Also another example of this is the picture of a man on the subway tracks as a train approached, that brought out immense controversy and an entire scandal on the newspaper company. Are we as a society willing to give up a life for the next big story in tomorrows paper?

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