Transformation: Examining the Implications of Emerging Technology for Journalism, Media and Society

Abstract

This paper examines the transformational implications of emerging technologies for journalism, media and society. An array of increasingly ubiquitous, global and networked technological developments is driving a sea-change in the nature and function of journalism, media and society. While low-cost, widespread digital technologies are empowering individuals to communicate and innovate, these same technologies are enabling governments, industry and others to engage in surveillance, censorship and control. This paper proposes that technological developments are reshaping media and society in four fundamental ways: 1) the participatory nature of journalism and media, 2) the methods of doing journalism and creating media, 3) the content and paracontent of journalism and media, and 4) the organizational structures, culture and institutional controls of journalism, media and society.