Journalism is a highly competitive field. While reporters individually work to gain exclusive interviews or the next bit of information that can advance a story, news organizations are competing to do the same. Producers and news division presidents are always working to position themselves to provide a new perspective or level of coverage that other news organizations lack, and technology is giving them more methods to gather information than ever before.
The Profiles Series is looking at how the journalism field is taking advantage of new technologies to position themselves to better cover the events that shape our world.
Years ago, Abraham Zapruder stood near Dealey Plaza in Dallas and took perhaps the most well known piece of film in the history of news. His home movie of the assassination of John Kennedy has been one of the most analyzed pieces of tape in history.
Image for a moment if that event had taken place in the smartphone age. There would have been countless people in Dealey Plaza that day shooing the motorcade with cameras they had in their pockets. Immediately, they could have uploaded the video to news organizations.
The proliferation of cameras in our lives has in some ways created news. Events that would not have been highly covered without video now go viral in the age of the camera phone.
For the true journalists, technology has made the work of delivering the news to audiences much more logistically possible. Television reports from remote locations no longer have to be transmitted by large satellite uplinks. An internet connection allows reporters to move video from remote locations and into our living rooms, utilizing technology to give us a better awareness about our world.
To see new reports from this leading magazine program on cable television, check local listings for the Profiles Series TV show.