Outline and assess the major changes to journalism over the past 40 Essay

Outline and assess the major changes to journalism over the past 40 years and explain the extent to which these changes have helped or hindered democracy - Essay Example That is, the concept of democratic journalism has paved way into the academic jargon of the subject matter; implying that social media platforms tend to be launch-pads for such trend which then make news and influence journalists in dramatic ways. Therefore, it would be imperative to see the evolution of journalism from the era of Watergate scandal to the social media age to see how the subject matter and the professionalism in the field has expanded and moved forward (Starkey 2004: 5). Therefore, the paper will aim at exploring how journalism emerged as a forward-moving discipline and how the journalists in the field faced immense challenges and turbulences to bring the discipline where it stands today. Furthermore, the paper will explore how issues like media financing, advertising and political affiliations have impacted the field and therefore, how journalism has impacted democratic developments. Prior to analyzing the evolutionary phases of journalism in the past 40 years, and its contribution towards democracy; it is critical to understand the scope and nature of the discipline of journalism. Journalism incorporates the gathering and processing of news while including dissemination of news and information. Furthermore, journalism may also be understood in context to reporting, editing, writing, photography and even broadcasting of news as part of the business of an organization. Another perspective deals with the academic aspects whereby journalism stands for the coursework which prepared the students for intriguing careers in news writing and broadcasting, even editing. Similarly, considering the opinion formation function of journalism, it may also be understood as thought provoking and research oriented composition which is reflected via newspapers, print media and more recently even the social media. However, the feedback mechanisms must also not be