Reaction to Readings and Lecture Material on Magazines and Journalism
Name Institutional Affiliation
Reaction to Readings and Lecture Material on Magazines and Journalism Magazines The reading material on magazines makes a clear presentation on its development. The magazines’ existence dates back to the 16th century and worth mentioning is how it has maintained relevancy until this generation despite the genesis of reliable alternative media platforms. This is not adequately handled in the material we used. A critical analysis of the ancient magazines suggests that they were not popular. Several factors impact the success of print media, unlike other media platforms. The American Colonial Magazine of 1741 was unsuccessful thanks to an illiterate audience and an ineffective postal system. Although the magazine’s popularity rose between 1825 and 1825 (Mott, 1938), it is arguable that its popularity would be more had people become literate. With numerous publications currently in the United States, magazine publishers are adopting diverse ways to guarantee relevance in this niche. Both internal and external competition is becoming stiffer each day. Internally, the publishers are competing for customers while externally, technology is becoming advanced and individuals rather read news from the web than from print media. From the reading material, it is evident that previous magazines were not visually appealing. Ancient publishers can be pardoned since there was no equipment to print beautiful magazines. Currently, technology allows for the outlets to print colored materials. The availability of sophisticated cameras also ensures that images on these materials are advanced. Moreover, institutions seblamevices from adequately trained personnel who guarantee competitive publications. Unlike the past, literacy levels are high and the demand for magazines has skyrocket. Although the trend can be perceived as a blessing it presents an onerous situation for the publishers. This is because individuals now know what they want or expect from the magazines, thus presenting a crucial need for specialization. While the situation has led to the failure of some magazine outlets, others have thrived from it. Magazines are beginning to specialize in specifics such as Fashion, Political News, State Achievements, Sports, Technology and Agriculture. Some have narrowed down into entities such as Female Fashion and Male Fashion. This is a clear manifestation of what a literate audience expects. Although technological advancement has uplifted the magazine’s existence by enhancing its aesthetic features, it has negatively affected in several ways. For instance, the invention of television significantly reduces the number of magazine subscribers because of its efficient nature. Individuals would rather watch the news from a television set than reading it from a hard copy. The television’s ability to validate news using video clips makes the broadcasts more believable. The web presents a flexible media platform too unlike the magazine. This is because of the accessibility of devices to connect to it unlike for a case of the magazine whereby one has to purchase it from a store daily, weekly, and monthly or yearly. Journalism Although the reading material on journalism clearly illustrates the role of media in guaranteeing a democratic nation and journalism’s upheavals, they do not suggest ways to ensure that this domain remains free and independent. Arguably, the fourth estate is deeply compromised both internally and externally. Internally, journalists are ditching professionalism in a bid for their organizations to remain relevant in business. On the other hand, public figures have penetrated the world of journalism ensuring that their opinions are prioritized. These trends call for individual and government participation journalism I opine that objective journalism is currently a thing of the past. Since it is no longer a marketing strategy as it was in the past, media companies no longer separate facts from opinions. Cases of sharing unconfirmed information are rampant. This explains the reason behind more than half of America’s population perceiving the press as untrustworthy. They believe that the news they receive are politically bias. Politics is the major reason that has rendered media outlets selectively partisan. Journalistic outlets prefer reporting political strategies to core political news. Professor Roberson’s extensive research (Jones, 2019) suggests that news organizations have become compromised such that they are no longer dependable. Currently, there are few news outlets that one can consider to be reliable. Bearing in mind the trends in journalism, Abramson (2017) believes that the journalistic display is not trilling anymore and only “The Washington Post” and “The Times” are among the remaining dependable few. Although politicians should be the ones maintaining an enabling environment to journalism, they are to blames for most of the upheavals. President Donald Trump’s twitter account is an epitome of extraordinary and overt journalism bullying. Although everyone has freedom of speech, we should not abuse it by suppressing the media’s freedom to share reliable information. The United States’ President’s twitter wall is popular for “fake news”, “failing @nytimes” among other anti-media-independence phrases (Abramson, 2017). By law, he has the freedom to express himself. However, his opinions are not characteristic to a democratic nation and in a bid to restore democracy, such actions call for a reaction. There are several ways that individuals or nations can react to a compromised journalism environment. To begin with, individual participation is effective. Citizens have to shun bias media organizations. Apart from making the involved organizations irrelevant in the market they will serve as examples to other media outlets that intend to be biased in the future. The government can participate in the quest for reliable journalism by formulating relevant laws as well. These laws should ensure that individuals, no matter their social class, do not bully journalists into sharing what they want. In conclusion, media institutions ought to maintain accountable journalism no matter the situations they face.
References Abramson, J. (2017). When all the news that fits is Trump. Retrieved 18 October 2019, from www.cjr.org/special_report/when-all-the-news-that-fits-is-trump.php Jones, E. (2019). Five reasons why we don’t have a free and independent press in the UK and what we can do about it. Retrieved 18 October 2019, from www.opendemocracy.net/en/opendemocracyuk/five-reasons-why-we-don-t-have-free-and-independent-press-in-uk-and-what-we-can-do-about/ Mott, F. (1938). A History of American Magazines, 1850-1865 (2nd Ed.). Harvard University Press.

Subscribe For Latest Updates
Let us notify you each time there is a new assignment, book recommendation, assignment resource, or free essay and updates