Social media taking over journalism

By REBECCA FERNANDEZ

You can ask 99 percent of the people who own a cell phone if they have either Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter, or all three on their phone … and nine times out of 10, they will.

Social media have taken over our lives and they have also taken over the life of traditional journalism.

We are living in the digital information age where nearly half of all Americans get some form of local news on a mobile device and 46 percent of people get their news online at least three times a week.

What’s more, online news sources officially surpassed print newspapers in ad revenue in 2010. Thanks to online news, we’re getting more breaking news than ever before. And thanks to social media, we’re getting news as it happens — sometimes even before news organizations have a chance to report it.

Are more people turning to social media for breaking news? And can we trust the news that social media delivers to be accurate and factual? The changing face of news delivery and how social media may end up leading the charge is extremely evident and all we have to do is look at our cell phones to see it.

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