Media and other issues

04.08.2022
Media and other issues

Media and other issues

dDuring the recent events in Masjid al-Aqsa, as the Israeli police raided the mosque and chased the young men there, I closely observed many young men, girls and elderly people, men and women, who grabbed their mobile phones and filmed the event.

These people were not journalists and were broadcasting what happened directly on their Facebook pagge.

I stopped and thought, what are we journalists going to do as long as they report every move, every behavior of the Israeli police during the conflict? What do we, as journalists, have to offer more than what non-journalists have to the audience and followers?

Do these people provide all the details, information and everything, or are they just attending the event and taking pictures or talking about the event?

Can radio, television, print or electronic media offer them to their loyal followers as the traditional press?

The work of the journalist in the field; making news or video, relying on a variety of sources and documenting information before publishing it, with or without an image, supported by some to assist the traditional press, lately known as citizen journalism…

Mobile journalism has become the primary source of news and information. However, a false source provides grounds for misinformation, allowing some countries and some security agencies to take advantage of it by publishing false information and false videos. It aims to disturb the local and global public opinion.

By making reality the first victim of what they call social media, it can delight thrill and action seekers with what’s posted to convince them it’s real.

For this reason, journalists who seek excitement and increase the number of followers should return to their professional rules before being tempted by their mobile phones. And providing people with reliable and honest information should be important to the media. We who work in the media must respect the reader and the follower and allow the reader, the audience, and the follower to criticize.

In UNESCO research, (Social Media) users increased from 2.3 billion in 2016 to 4.2 billion in 2021, resulting in a flood of competition in cyberspace content as it increased access to content. However, journalism did not add an absolute value to its content.

When T.S Eliot died in 1965, these words in his poem “Burnt Norton” written in 1936 have become even more meaningful today. In the poem, he says, “the moderns” “did not get distracted by being distracted”; If we’re not careful, that’s exactly what social media is up for debate today…

T.S Eliot was obviously not talking about social media at the time of writing this (because it didn’t exist yet); He made a correct observation about modern culture, which is becoming more and more popular with each passing year.

KHALIL ASSALI