Today, journalists must not only be capable of writing but also shooting pictures or videos and improving their skills to edit or transmit them live to the audiences.
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Journalists must adapt to the changing world, influenced by the rapid development of the digital universe and social media, Steven Reiner, professor of broadcast and digital journalism at Stony Brook University said.

"Journalists should find new ways to reach people, re-establish credibility with people, and invite more people in," he stated during a workshop of journalism held by American embassy in accordance to the World Press Freedom Day 2017 in Jakarta on Wednesday.

In order to adapt to the changing world, journalists are expected to be familiar with many tools or technologies to disseminate information.

Today, journalists must not only be capable of writing but also shooting pictures or videos and improving their skills to edit or transmit them live to the audiences.

"Secondly, journalists need to know how to think critically and ask hard critical questions," Reiner noted.

Journalists must ensure that they are reporting trustworthy information that are subjected to a process of verification and for which an independent individual or organization is directly accountable.

Such fact-based journalism must be maintained to win back the credibility of the mainstream media, which currently faces the biggest challenge of the spread of fake news.

According to Reiner, people are easily being dragged to believe the fake news because it is more emotionally appealing.

"But a good journalism has only one purpose, which is to inform and not to convince, appeal audiences emotions, or spread the propaganda," he marked.

Indonesian government and the Press Council have been attempting to combat the disseminating of fake news, for instance, by implementing the Electronic Information and Transactions Law; blocking gambling websites and sites containing fraudulent information regarding different ethnic, religious, racial, and social groups; as well as checking the reliability of media companies.

However, according to Reiner, the best solution to solve the great challenge of fake news is through the involvement of the people and the journalism community.

"In this case, you do not want the government getting involved because once they get involved, it would be a slippery slope," he added. (*)

Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2017