Does the Internet Spell the End of Journalism as We Once Knew It?
By giving us the opinions of the uneducated, journalism keeps us in touch with the ignorance of the community. – Oscar Wilde ________________________ (Note: This article, in a slightly different form, was originally posted on JI , July 11, 2009.) On a typical day, as I check my Facebook timeline, I am served up a menu of human interest stories, hard news; selfies; memes (political, comic, inspirational); videos of dancing cats; links to sites, most of them biased toward my point of view; family news; mild cheesecake photos shared by one friend; inspirational shares by friends and acquaintances; and comments by friends. I have noticed that the outrageous, the extreme scenarios, seem to rule as breathless memes shout out the latest stupid and outrageous politician remark (on my timeline, Sarah Palin seems to be the most popular former-politician celebrity to deride). Then there are the blogs I visit, some offering industry news and others pushing their own product