Why are jounalists needed in the social media age?

Journalists are already a competitive bunch, elbowing each other for stories as we grasp for work in a crowded field surviving on a shrinking pot of funding. We work in a world where TIME  put an Instagram photo on the cover of its magazine a few years ago. With social media, the story is already out there before a journalist can make a buck off of it. There are plenty of ways to keep an edge over the social media savvy. But journalists now need to use those opportunities to close the understanding gap that comes from understanding news, not just breaking it.

If our focus on social media is primarily about how to use them as “tools” for journalism, we risk getting it backward. Social media are not so much mere tools as they are the ocean we’re going to be swimming in—at least until the next chapter of the digital revolution comes along. What needs our attention is how we’re going to play roles that bring journalistic values into this vast social media territory. It is essential to begin by understanding various social media sites and the ways they can enhance the work journalists do. A regular perusal of sites like 10000words.net and savethemedia.com is a great way to do this.