THE FUTURE OF JOURNALISM: HOW WOMEN, MILLENNIALS, AND TECHNOLOGY ARE CHANGING THE FIELD

Date
2017-05
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Publisher
University of Delaware
Abstract
This thesis serves to analyze the field of journalism through multidisciplinary research at the intersection of professional writing, reporting, and technology. There is no clear answer emerging from debates about the future role of journalists in our society and the related technology trends involving social media; however, based on interviews with professional journalists about current and past trends in the field, this thesis proposes a possible direction for the future of journalism. A viable future for journalism depends on three major factors that each influence the field: women, millennials, and technology. Based on background reading and a series of interviews with professional journalists, the author has come to the conclusion that the future of journalism no longer lies in the network of experienced, older men; rather, the field is changing to the point where young women, mostly millennials, are becoming the reporters, and they are using technology that was unheard of even fifteen years ago. After extensive qualitative content analysis, the author was able to provide new insights to the existing literature regarding four major themes from this research: the relationship between millennials and technology is crucial to the future of the field; young journalists need to adopt some of the networks of legacy journalists; journalism will be better, faster, and cheaper in the future; and the place of women in journalism is still very complicated.
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Keywords
English, JOURNALISM, WOMEN, MILLENNIALS,TECHNOLOGY
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